PSY 3891: Exam 2

You are to answer a total of four questions, each worth five points. You may use any sources to inform your answers, and be sure to list those sources when you do. Answering question 1 is mandatory; for questions 2 – 5, pick any three of the four. Turn in your answers no later than 5 PM, April 28^th. If you send your answers as an attachment to an email, be sure to include your last name in the file name. And please number the pages of your document.

Mandatory question:

1. Project yourself twenty years into the future. Imagine that you have enrolled in a continuing education course designed to provide an overview of contemporary psychology, circa 2036. The stated aims of the course are these: to examine a sample of important topics within contemporary psychology and to learn how current thinking about those topics has been shaped by landmark advances in the field of psychology made two decades earlier. What do you imagine would be one seminal topic/phenomenon included in that course, and what landmark advance would have sparked its impact on the field? A full-credit answer to this question requires i) support for your believing in the importance of the topic and ii) your informed opinion about what is presently happening in psychology that is likely to advance our understanding of that problem/phenomenon.

Pick three of the following four to answer.

2. Many psychologists believe that humans can perceive unconsciously, i.e., that people`s judgments and/or behavior can be impacted by visual sensory stimuli that are too weak or too degraded to support perceptual awareness. To quote a sentence from a recent paper on the topic: A primary culprit in this controversy is the problem of criterion bias: an observer`s report of unseen doesn not necessarily imply complete lack of awareness, only that the strength of the stimulus fell below some arbitrary boundary for reporting `seen`. What does that sentence mean and how have investigators attempted to deal with this concern? In answering this question, consider the distinction between subjective measures of awareness and objective measures of awareness, and how that distinction relates to the evidence/conclusions concerning the existence of subliminal perception.

3. As graduating seniors, you owe it to yourselves to listen to this commencement speech given by David Foster Wallace to the graduating class at Kenyon College. This exam question is to motivate you to do that. After listening to (and thinking about) this speech, answer the following questions:

- Do you see support for his ideas in any of the topics/readings/discussions we have had this semester? If not – and I can imagine that might be the case - explain your negative answer. If so – and I can imagine that might be the case – explain your positive answer.

- Whether you answered yes or no to the question above, how do you react to his message?

The link above is to a YouTube video but I strongly urge you to ignore the visuals and just listen to the words. Close your eyes or turn your back to the computer monitor – IMHO the images just get in the way of what he is saying. You will find it helpful to read a transcript of the speech, so you can reflect on your reactions as you develop your answers to the questions above.

4. During Week 12 you read an essay in which the author wrote: The long-running debate about nature versus nurture takes on a new complexion in light of this emerging understanding of how epigenetics affects organisms form and function. The boundary between nature and nurture turns out to be rather porous. What is the gist of this emerging understanding about epigenetics? How has it changed the debate?

5. In his in-class presentation, Joe Gelmen introduced us to the distinction made by Daniel Kahneman between thinking fast and thinking slow, i.e., the two alternative cognitive styles we employ when making decisions that guide our actions. Some psychologists have drawn links between the Fast/System 1 style of thinking and the kinds of biases associated with self-fulfilling prophecy (which you read about and wrote about during Week 13). I want to know whether or not you see any connections between the two. You might think about it this way: If people were able to engage only in System 2 slow thinking would self-fulfilling prophecy effects cease to exist? Support your answer with reasons. I can be persuaded either way.