Topics in Social Psychology: Further Classroom Demonstrations

Singleton (1978) has described several classroom demonstrations of abstract principles in social psychology that involve having students complete questionnaires. The interest value of these exercises can be increased by developing several features of the classroom demonstration--for example, interactions among the students, student presentations in front of the class, feedback about the students and their interpersonal relationships, and coverage of topics that are related to student experiences. Four classroom demonstrations which incorporate these features for stimulating student interest are presented in detail with supporting data from one or more classes in social psychology. The topics of these demonstrations include individual versus group decisions, nonverbal communication, romantic love, and ethnic stereotypes. Discussion ideas are suggested for each demonstration.