Psychology 489/689
FGSS 488/688
Fall, 2006
Daryl J. Bem

Review Questions for Final Exam

The exam will not contain questions that ask for your opinions on issues.

First, you should review the midterm examination. One or more of the midterm questions may reappear on the final.

Second, you should review all the weekly Commentary Questions. One or more of these—but not the opinion questions—may reappear on the final.

Third, reread Bem’s opening essay for the course: “Introduction to Beliefs, Attitudes, and Ideologies.” There will be at least one question drawn from this essay.

Fourth, in addition to Hunter and the other major books, don’t forget to review the shorter articles you were assigned (e.g., the pamphlet by Catholics for a Free Choice on abortion and the Catholic Church).

Finally, here are some more specific study questions (drawn primarily from the second half of the course because the Midterm provides review guidance for the first half).

1. What are Crenshaw’s arguments against the view that the disputed interaction between Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill (assuming it occurred) simply represents a different relational style between the sexes in black culture and shouldn’t be judged by white, middle-class, feminist standards?

 2. What kind of affirmative action is Stephen Carter for and what kind is he against? What is his “Affirmative-Action Pyramid” proposal?

 3. Why has a selfidentified deaf culture developed but not a self-identified blind culture? What similarity do deaf individuals and gay individuals share that distinguishes them from members of most other stigmatized groups such as ethnic minorities?  Why are cochlear implants for the deaf different from Braille readers for the blind?  That is, why are cochlear implants a threat to many members of the Deaf community?

 4. What is a metaphysical proposition? How does science violate its own proscription against such propositions? In what sense is a scientist (as a scientist) an agnostic? In what sense are atheists and believers the same ideologically? What is Popper’s falsifiability criterion?

 5. An extreme form of cultural relativism might claim that “primitive” people’s theories of reproduction are just as “good” as our own, so-called scientific theory or that Intelligent Design is as good as evolutionary theory in explaining the origins of life. Explain how the criteria presented in class would lead scientists to prefer one theory over another in these debates.

 6. Describe the several ways in which science embodies ideologies. What was Bem’s epistemological “punch line” about empiricism and determinism? (See “How does science violate…” in question 4 above.)

7. What is Peter Singer’s distinction between a creature that is conscious and one that is self-conscious and what role does this distinction play in his ethical prescriptions? On what basis does Singer argue for animal rights and for killing severely retarded infants at birth?  What are his primitives? What does he mean by the term “interests”?

 8. What does Sam Harris (The End of Faith) have against non-fundamentalist (i.e., moderate) religious believers? How can he argue against religion in most of the book but then advocate a “spritiual” approach in his final chapter? That is, what is his underlying epistemological premise?

9. What are Rauch’s main points about the polarization of America’s politics and culture (“Bipolar Disorder”)? How do you evaluate his challenge to Hunter’s thesis?

10. What is Steinhorn’s main point about American politics and culture (“Scrooge’s Nightmare”)?

11. Briefly describe Hunter’s prescriptions for calming or civilizing America’s Culture Wars. Do they seem realistic to you? Why? (OK, so this is an opinion question.)

12. Do the results of the recent election challenge or provide any support for the analyses of Hunter, Rauch, or Steinhorn? More generally, do they tell us anything informative about America’s Culture War? If so, what?  If not, why not?

13. What is a trope? Give an example.

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