Study Guide & Strategies
Anything discussed in class or in the readings is “fair game” for the test. Below is a list of questions that will help guide your preparations.
1. Know the methodology and general pattern of results for all the experimental (e.g., non-review) articles.
2. For each article, understand why the effect under investigation occurred. That is, know the processes responsible for the results reported in the readings.
For example: Hastie and Kumar (1979) found that information that is inconsistent
with a person’s traits is recalled better than information that is consistent. Why?
3. What do Hastie and Kumar’s results say about schema models?
4. In the discussion section of their article, Hastie and Kumar propose a “hierarchical network structure” to account for their findings. They also present a “depth of processing” account to explain their findings. Be sure to understand each of these explanations.
5. In class, I showed you an associative-network model developed by Srull & Wyer to explain why we recall inconsistent information about individuals. Be sure you understand this model and how it combines elements of both of Hastie and Kumar’s original explanations for their data.
6. Fyock & Stangor showed in their meta-analysis that we tend to recall information that is consistent (rather than inconsistent) with stereotypes. Why?
7. Fyock & Stangor examined 5 potential moderators of the stereotype-consistent memory effect. Know what these moderators are, why and how they believed these variables influence the stereotype-consistent memory effect, and what their results showed.
8. Why did Srull & Wyer (1979) believe that priming participants with trait-related scrambled sentences would influence their perceptions of the target person (Donald)?
9. Why did Srull & Wyer (1979) believe that increases in the delay between priming and impression formation might reduce priming effects? Did their results support this view?
10. Srull and Wyer (1979) examined judgments of the target person (Donald) on both “evaluatively” and “descriptively” related traits. What is meant by these two terms, and what did their results show?
11. Be sure to know how prime extremity and target ambiguity influence priming effects (See Herr, Sherman & Fazio, 1983)
12. Be sure you know what Herr, Sherman and Fazio (1983) predicted in each “cell” of their experimental design (i.e., assimilation or contrast) and why they made those predictions.
13. Know the conditions under which priming will and will not affect our behavior (see Bargh, Chen, & Burrows, 1996).
14. Dijksterhuis (and colleagues) examined the effects of primes on behavior, just as Bargh, Chen and Burrows did. How does the work of Dijksterhuis et al. differ from the work of Bargh et al.?
15. Understand when primes will cause assimilation effects versus contrast effects on our behavior.
16. Why does priming participants with extreme exemplars result in contrast effects on behavior (according to Dijksterhuis et al.)? What evidence do these researchers have to support this explanation?
17. For the Bargh (1994) “Four Horsemen of Automaticity” article, be able to identify and define those 4 components and cite examples of experiments that illustrate each.
18. What is the “traditional” definition of automaticity and how does it differ from Bargh’s (1994) definition?
19. Know the ways in which one might be unaware of a mental process.
20. Why study subliminal perception? Since we mainly encounter subliminal primes only in laboratory settings (i.e., not in “real life”), why bother using subliminal techniques in our research?
21. What is a misattribution effect? Be able to describe an experiment that illustrates a misattribution effect.
22. Many mental processes are thought to involve two stages—the first being automatic and the second being controlled. What are some situational and internal factors that may lead one to engage in controlled processes?
Important Terms to Know:
Inconsistency ResolutionAutomatic process
SchemaControlled process
Associative Network ModelModerator
PrimingMeta-analysis
AccessibilitySubliminal
Assimilation EffectContrast Effect
Exemplar
Tips & Hints
Be able to apply knowledge/theory from the readings to new situations.
Be able to clearly and efficiently summarize major theoretical points from the readings.
Be able to compare/contrast ideas across readings.
Be able to synthesize information from different readings.
Be able to generate hypotheses consistent with the theories/results in the readings.
Be prepared to back up any claims you make by citing results from experiments as evidence.