Carrie B. Fried

• Winona State University

Research (Bushman, 2005; Bushman & Bonacci, 2002) has claimed to demonstrate that sexual and violent content in television programs inhibits viewers' memory for advertisements. However, that research failed to adequately control other aspects of the programs' content, making interpretation problematic. The present paper attempts to correct these fl...

Recently, a debate has begun over whether in-class laptops aid or hinder learning. While some research demonstrates that laptops can be an important learning tool, anecdotal evidence suggests more and more faculty are banning laptops from their classrooms because of perceptions that they distract students and detract from learning. The current rese...

Two studies examine the effects of reporting rumors of sexual assaults on a college campus. Participants read headlines and short articles about an unfamiliar college. Key headlines and articles reported an increase in sexual assaults as a fact, a rumor, a denied rumor, or a proven falsehood. Participants then rated perceptions of the college, incl...

This article provides commentary on a recent survey (Levy & Peters, 2002) of students' views of the characteristics of the “best” college courses. Levy and Peters's study and conclusions were limited to only certain aspects of faculty, course, and student characteristics that students recognize are relevant when evaluating their academic experience...

The recent emphasis on assessment and career preparation has placed a spotlight on the skills that the undergraduate psychology major provides. Although there has been some assessment of the skills psychology graduates value and possess, there is little to no evidence linking the development of specific knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) to sp...

The current study examines the stereotypes that people hold about fans of heavy metal and rap music. Based on pervious research, it was hypothesized that stereotypes of fans of heavy metal would focus on traits and behaviors that are self-destructive, while stereotypes of fans of rap music would focus on traits and behaviors that threaten to others...

Introduction to the Psychology Major is a course required for beginning psychology majors. Participants (N = 190) completed a pretest and posttest examining their knowledge and perceptions regarding course goals, such as PsycLIT database familiarity, career options with a bachelor's degree in psychology, curriculum requirements, and graduate school...

The recent emphasis on careers and career training in baccalaure' ate-level psychology programs has led some to suggest alternate educational tracks for students bound for graduate school versus immediate employment. This perspective suggests that these students have different educational needs, require different skills, and may benefit from taking...

African American college students tend to obtain lower grades than their White counterparts, even when they enter college with equivalent test scores. Past research suggests that negative stereotypes impugning Black students' intellectual abilities play a role in this underperformance. Awareness of these stereotypes can psychologically threaten Afr...

This research examines the recent public outcry against violent rap songs. It was hypothesized that rap music receives more negative criticism than do other types of music, regardless of the actual content of the lyrics. Participants read a violent lyrical passage and were led to believe that it was either a rap song or a country song. They then re...

Two studies were conducted to see how changes from the typical hypocrisy paradigm affect dissonance arousal and reduction. The effects of directly and personally identifying participants with their transgressions were examined. In both studies, participants made pro-recycling advocacies and were then asked to recall times when they had failed to re...

The use of the feature film "12 Angry Men" (1957) as an integrative review of social psychology is described. Students view the film, and then discuss the many aspects of social psychology represented in the interactions among the jurors. Discussion involves tying the movie examples back to social psychological research and theory as well as analyz...

This research examines the recent public outcry against violent rap songs such as Ice T's “Cop Killer.” It was hypothesized that rap lyrics receive more negative criticism than other types of lyrics, perhaps because of their association with Black culture. Two experiments were conducted to examine the effect of musical genre and race of singer on r...

Recent experiments involving hypocrisy have been theorized to be a form of cognitive dissonance induction. As such, hypocrisy would constitute a new experimental paradigm for dissonance induction. However, these hypocrisy studies are open to alternative explanations. The present study attempts to rule out these alternative explanations by providing...

This experiment applied a new twist on cognitive dissonance theory to the problem of AIDS prevention among sexually active young adults. Dissonance was created after a proattitudinal advocacy by inducing hypocrisy-having subjects publicly advocate the importance of safe sex and then systematically making the subjects mindful of their own past failu...

Feelings of hypocrisy were induced in college students to increase condom use. Hypocrisy was created by making subjects mindful of their past failure to use condoms and then having them persuade others about the importance of condoms for AIDS prevention. The induction of hypocrisy decreased denial and led to greater intent to improve condom use rel...