Psychology Question

Part A: Comprehension questions 1. In your own words, explain how the development of social psychology was affected by the rise of Nazism, WWII and the Holocaust. 2. Outline some differences between high and low self-monitors. 3. Explain why Paul Ekman’s research among the South Fore tribe in New Guinea is taken as evidence of the universality of facial expressions of emotion? 4. Explain the relationship between values and attitudes. 5. Illustrate how the proximity effect may lead to friendships and future relationships. 6. Illustrate the ‘lowballing’ compliance technique. 7. Explain and illustrate the social cure. 8. Outline some criticisms of implicit bias training. 9. Explain how pluralistic ignorance might prevent someone from offering help in an emergency? 10. Outline the role of executive functioning in regulating aggressive behaviour.

Part B: Application questions Answer each of these questions with reference to the course material. 1. Blaithín idly looked up prices for sun holidays online, and now she is being bombarded by targeted ads telling her to “Be Beach Body Ready by Summer!”. What aspect of the self are these ads targeting? What effect might they possibly have on Blaithín’s self-esteem? 2. Caroline has recently started a new job, but has been working from home so far because of the pandemic, so hasn’t yet met any of her co-workers. She soon discovers that her new co-worker David, seems to be very popular with the rest of the team. Caroline’s a bit puzzled by this, as she’s only talked to David on the phone, and found him moderately pleasant but a bit dull – but her coworkers keep talking about how sound David is, what a great sense of humour he has, how smart he is etc. Things become a bit clearer when Caroline finally meets David, and realizes that he’s astonishingly handsome. What social psychological effect might explain David’s popularity?

3. Séamus is puzzled that despite the government saying that masks were no longer compulsory in shops, most people in his local supermarket are still wearing them. However, when he travels to the bigger supermarket in the town 20 minutes drive away, most people are not wearing them. Based on your study of group norms, how would you explain to Séamus why this might be?

4. Liam and Paul both did CPR training as part of a first aid course 2 years ago. By sheer coincidence, both men recently came across situations where administering CPR would have been appropriate – Liam came across someone who had collapsed while walking on his own in the woods, while Paul came across someone who had collapsed in the middle of a busy supermarket. Liam started CPR straight away, but Paul hesitated and wondered whether he should wait for a paramedic instead. Based on your study of prosocial behaviour, why might Paul have hesitated?

5. Darren, who comes from a deprived area in the city, is convicted of assault after getting into a fight with other young men who come from a wealthier suburb. In the newspaper reports of his conviction, Darren’s regular violent video game playing is highlighted: particularly his fondness for the collaborative online game Siege where players work together online to protect an army base from alien invasion. Is Darren’s video game playing likely to have caused his violent behaviour? What might be an alternative explanation?

Part C: Knowledge and Evaluation of Social Psychological Theories and ‘Classic’ Studies Question 1: Outline, explain and illustrate one of the social psychological theories below: a. Moscovici’s conversion theory of minority social influence. b. Bandura’s social learning theory c. Festinger’s social comparison theory Question 2: Summarise one of the following classic social psychological studies. a. Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment b. Latané & Darley’s ‘smoke-filled room’ bystander studies c. Triplett’s competition studies

Part D: Write a short essay (approx. 500 words) on one of the following two topics: i. How has what you’ve learned from this module on social psychology helped you understand your experiences over the last two years of the pandemic? ii. How might the Irish Government use insights from social psychology to encourage people to provide assistance to Ukrainian refugees?

Harvard

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