Overview
You will conduct 2 individual projects during the semester, each worth 75 points. These projects are meant to be a fun and interesting way to increase your comprehension of course material and to help you apply social psychological principles to everyday life. They are also meant to work in a creative and innovative manner in integrating multiple social psychological concepts. There are 8 potential projects to choose from, 4 for each due date. Choose projects which you will enjoy (i.e., which fit your own interests, skills, and creativity level) and which will stimulate your thinking about topics in this course. A brief description of potential projects is listed below; some have handouts that explain the projects in further detail. Be aware that some projects may require you to read ahead in the text or get outside sources. You must hand in a short, typed proposal (briefly describing the project you will do and any relevant details) at least 3 weeks before each project due date. Please note that these projects can require several weeks to complete, so plan accordingly (i.e., do not procrastinate!). Also, please hand in 2 complete copies of your project
Grading Criteria
A C paper is one that answers the questions adequately, without being particularly innovative. A paper receiving this grade may not properly draw on social psychological concepts, nor integrate them in a logical fashion. Papers that are not well-thought out, do not reflect a great deal of effort, are not well written, and/or include noticeable carelessness, will receive this grade. Projects that seem to "take the easy way out" are more likely to receive this grade.
A B paper addresses the question in an interesting, logical manner. Concepts and relevant research are applied accurately and cleverly integrated. Such papers are well written, do not reflect much carelessness, and reflect a fair amount of thought and effort. Novel approaches are not necessarily taken, but the project satisfactorily addresses the question in a toughtful way.
An A paper is one that
approaches the question in a creative, innovative manner. Several
social psychological concepts are clearly and logically integrated, and
links (in some case, novel links) are made to current research on the topic.
Such papers reflect extremely careful attention to detail, are very well
written, and often offer interesting new approaches to the problem at hand.
Projects earning this grade usually reflect an impressive amount of though
and rigor.
Project #1: Self handicapping on campus.
In your role as a reporter for a television newsmagazine, you are asked to developed a 5-8 minute segment on the nature and dangers of self handicapping. Put together such a segment, and then arrange to show it to two groups on campus that perform in some capacity (e.g., athletic teams, musical groups). Ask your audience to provide examples of self handicapping strategies that students in this type of group may employ (not necessarily from their own experience). Finally, summarize your film segment and the student's reactions to it in a 3-5 page paper, making references to research on self handicapping. If you choose this option, note that you will need to make arrangements with the groups in advance. Also for this project you are allowed to work in groups of 2, although you may also work alone. If you work with a partner you would collaborate on producing and presenting the video, but write up the paper individually. If you work in pairs the end product is expected to be more extensive than if you work alone.
Project #2: Self-fulfilling prophecies in interviews.
Imagine that you are putting together an instructional program for business executives. This week you want to teach them the dangers of self-fulfilling prophecies in interviews. Prepare an audio tape (or videotape) of a mock 5-8 minute interview in which the principles of self-fulfilling prophecies are illustrated. At the end of the interview, describe on tape (in less than 5 minutes) how this interview conveyed these principles, making reference to relevant research (you may want to locate a copy of Word, Zanna, & Cooper, 1974). Please note that the success of this project depends on making a good, quality videotape (e.g., you should memorize rather than read scripts, use a quiet background setting, have actors who are good at their roles). If you don't have access to a camcorder, you can arrange to borrow mine.
Project #3: Create a web tutorial.
For this project, you will
create a web page devoted to a specific topic or theory in social psychology.
The overall goal of the tutorial is to inform and educate a visitor to
the website about your chosen topic. You should assume that your visitor
is intelligent but not necessarily familiar with the field of psychology
(i.e., aim at the level of an introductory psychology student). Your site
should be both useful and visually interesting, and should contain (a)
pictures or graphics, (b) hot links to related information or relevant
sites, and (c) references.
Project #4: Social psychology
in the media.
For this project, students
will be allowed to work in pairs; however, pairs of students will be expected
to produce more content than will individuals working alone.
Note that students are responsible for getting their projects up and running on the web. The day the assignment is due, you will simply turn in the correct URL, and I will grade it directly on the web. 
Useful HTML Links - Help with creating web pages
Web Tutorials in Psychology - Similar projects from a Social Psychology class at Miami University
Installing your page - How to install your page on Southwestern's serverRecent projects from this class
For this project, you will assemble a portfolio of media clippings that illustrate social psychological concepts. As you read magazines or newspapers or watch TV, you should keep your eye out for media clippings or segments that relate to course concepts. Potential media sources include magazine or newspaper articles, editorials, advertisements, advice columns, photographs, and cartoons; you may also include a few video segments (from TV shows or movies) if you'd like. Aim for maximum diversity of concepts and media sources; that is, clippings should not be on the same topic (e.g., all relevant to prejudice) and they should not come from the same source (e.g., all advertisements or all articles). A minimum of 8 clippings (10 is suggested) must be turned in for this project; each clipping must have its exact source and date noted and be accompanied by at least a 2-paragraph description that introduces relevant social psychological concept and explains specifically how the clipping illustrates the concept. Please note that this project is not as easy as it seems and has resulted in the most variable grades in the past. If you don't regularly read magazines and newspapers outside of class, you should probably pick another project, as it is really difficult (if not impossible) to try to find appropriate and relevant clippings in a day or two.
Project #2: Select one of the 4 projects below
Project #1: Write a children's story
Write a short story of any length for children. Include acts of altruism, aggression and discrimination. Make sure to look at a few children's stories in order to get an idea of how to proceed. You can aim your story at any age level below 10 (but be sure to specify your story's target audience). Write a 3-5 page paper explaning (1) whether any of the acts committed in the story might be emulated by the readers, (2) which events would have the created impact on the readers, given past research, and (3) whether your story is dangerous and should be withheld from children. Make appropriate references to the textbook and articles you have read (you will need to read Chapter 11 on aggression, which we don't cover in class). Please note that your story should be neatly presented (i.e., like an actual book) and should contain illustrations (if you can't draw, you can get pictures from the internet or elsewhere).
Project #2: Design a public service campaign
For this project, imagine that you are a professional specializing in persuasive communications and that you have been hired to bring about a positive change in people's behavior (e.g., you might want to get people to stop discriminating against a particular minority group, to adopt one or more conservation behaviors, to volunteer, to wear seat belts, or to adhere to medical treatment recommendations). Your final product will consist of a 3-5 page typed paper that includes a list of your specific goals, an outline of the steps you would take to achieve them, and a thorough discussion of the theoretical principles (e.g., modeling, reinforcement, dissonance) that underlie your persuasive techniques. You are strongly encouraged (but not required) to provide tangible evidence of your campaign (e.g., a videoclip, pamphlet, etc.)
Project #3: Conduct an experiment on cartoons and aggression
Conduct the following experiment. Videotape a television cartoon (or rent one) that contains a lot of violence, and one that contains virtually no violence. Then recruit 6 participants to watch the violent cartoon, and 6 participants to watch the mild cartoon. You may use college students, staff, non-students, etc. ... choose any group of adults you wish, but make sure to get all 12 individuals from the same group. You should also try to have the same number of males and females in each group. After participants watch the cartoon, give them a sheet of paper and ask them to write a one paragraph story about a boy named Tim. Read these stories (taking care not to see which condition each participant is in), and code them on a 4-point scale from "not much aggression in story" to "a lot of aggression in story." Next, see if your mean rating of the stories in the two groups is different (using a t-test). (If you would prefer to use another measure of aggression, that's OK, but check with me first). Did you find more aggression in one of the groups? Write a 3-5 page APA-style paper describing the results of your experiment, including a section on whether or not your findings are consistent with past research (see Chapter 11 in the text). Note: this project requires IRB approval, so plan ahead accordingly.
Project #4: Social psychology at the movies.
This project helps you to see the relevance of social psychology in everyday life as it is depicted in the movies. For this project, you will apply a wide variety of social psychological concepts to a popular feature film. You will be given a selection of films to choose from Be sure you pick the one that will best allow you write a good paper. Your final product will be a 7-9 page paper reviewing the events in the film from a social psychological perspective.
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