Applied Scenarios Social 2021-22

1. Teachers at a local school use various reward based systems in order to support
children in learning, for example, in succeeding to remember their weekly spelling
words, or if they complete all their homework correctly. However there has been
some disagreements between teachers about the most appropriate times to use
rewards, and types of rewards to use. Put yourself in the role of a psychologist who
has been asked to provide evidence-based guidance to the teachers at the school so
that they can update their understanding of rewards, and use rewards appropriately
to support children with their learning at school.

2. You are in charge of recruitment in a large firm. Recently your firm has been accused
of not being diverse enough in the ethnicity of its employees. Please provide an
analysis for the company director, of processes that may have led to a lack of
diversity in recruitment processes.

3. Steven travels a short distance to a shop and then realises he doesn’t have a face
mask, although current guidelines state that it is compulsory to wear in the shop. He
feels a strong uncomfortable tension between going inside anyway and returning
home to get a mask, but eventually he decides to go inside anyway. Subsequently he
decides to stop wearing masks so often and does not feel bad about it. Use social
psychology theory to explain to Steven why he might feel and behave this way.

4. A teacher has noticed that his class is divided. There are two groups of students that
will never sit together or interact with one another, except to insult each other. He
has noticed that the two groups support opposing football teams and the insults are
worse in the days that follow the football matches. Imagine you are the school
psychologist and you have to (a) explain to the teacher why this situation is
happening and (b) recommend an intervention he could use to resolve the tension in
his classroom.

5. Every Tuesday evening Linda attends her local community centre to participate in a
discussion group. This week the discussion was on the benefits of a plant-based diet.
Linda noticed that the opinions of group members became more extreme over the
course of the discussion. Linda is puzzled as to why members’ opinions changed this
noticeably over the course of an evening. Use relevant social psychological theory
and evidence to explain to Linda why this happened.

6. You pick up a local free newspaper at the station while waiting for your train. You
come across a story about how a man was struck three times by lightning and is in a
critical condition at the hospital. Later that evening, you tell your friend about the
story and remark on how unfortunate the man was to have experienced that. To
your surprise, your friend doesn't think that it is that unfortunate, commenting that
the man was previously fired from his job for theft. Use social psychological theory
and evidence to provide a scientific analysis for an academic audience explaining
why your friend may have reacted this way to the story.