Assignment: Analysis of Challenger disaster
Assignment: Analysis of Challenger disaster
This is an essay quiz with multiple choice items that are to be followed by short-answer essays that cite evidence or research to explain/support your answer.
Your essay answers must be in your own words with paraphrasing properly source credited. Quotes in lieu of answering in your own words will not receive points.
Conceptual
1 According to Aronson’s analysis of the Challenger disaster, which of the following most likely did not contribute to the disaster?
• NASA had already conducted two dozen successful launches.
• A school teacher was on board, which had created more publicity than normal.
• At NASA a lift-off decision was a more desirable decision than a delay.
• NASA engineers assured management that all safety measures had been taken.
Explain why you selected this answer.
Applied
2. Suppose you saw a small child eating lima beans with obvious reluctance. When asked why she was eating them if she wasn’t fond of them, she replied, “Because Big Bird eats his vegetables, and I want to be like him!” What type of conformity is she displaying?
• identification
• internalization
• reactance
• compliance
Research/textbook
3. Aronson and O’Leary conducted a study designed to encourage water conservation among male students showering at the university field house. Under what conditions were students less likely to conserve water. Explain the conditions under which students were more likely to conserve water (by turning off the shower while soaping up).
Research/reader
Article #4
4. Why did Milgram conduct his experiments on obedience? What features, according to this article, helped to account for the high levels of obedience displayed by Milgram’s subjects?
Personal Relevance
5. Define and give examples of compliance, identification, and internalization. Which of these has the most permanent influence on an individual’s behavior? Select one of these responses and describe an instance of your own behavior which might be or have been the result of this particular type of social influence.
Why is this the best answer and what might explain this type of conformity in a small child?
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Summary
6. Why don’t bystanders come to the aid of victims of injury or crime? Summarize the reasons for non-intervention by bystanders. Summarize the conditions under which some bystanders do respond to someone in distress.
