1. "Aren't you curious to know more about the studies in the chapter?" Phil asked Stanley. Stanley responded, "Of course. Introductory Psychology is like an appetizer that makes you hungry for the entrée. I want to know what some of the participants were thinking when they 'just went along with the crowd' or 'did what they were told.'" Phil and Stanley can get more insight into some early studies—Asch's conformity study, Sherif's intergroup conflict research, Festinger and Carlsmith's research with cognitive dissonance, Milgram's obedience study, and Zimbardo's prison study, and more—by going to two websites from the United Kingdom, one developed by Gerard Keegan, the other a psychology study course at Holah.co.uk:

2. "Okay--now I KNOW I want to be a social psychologist 'when I grow up,'" quipped Hannah. "What a rich field--it's all about how people influence and are influenced by each other. Totally awesome!" she exclaimed. "I feel like we only scratched the surface," she continued. Hannah can find links to different topics discussed in the chapter, from groups and social influence, to attitudes and persuasion, to interpersonal relationships, as well as articles from research around the world and much more at the website of Social Psychology Network--join her in finding the treasures that are just a mouse click away:

3. "After reading about social psychology, do you feel like humans are totally manipulated by others?" Stuart asked. Amy thought for a bit and replied, "Yeah. On the one hand I believe in the concept of free will, on the other hand it's kind of scary seeing how much influence groups and other people have over us. I'd like to understand more about group influence so I can kind of 'inoculate' myself and be more certain that I'm making my own decisions based on my own moral underpinnings." Amy and Stuart can go much more in-depth into the research on group influences at the website of Professor Donelson R. Forsyth from the University of Richmond:

4. Craig was having coffee with some classmates. He started the conversation saying, "It's pretty eerie to think that an old experiment like Zimbardo's prison study gets played out in the real world today. The parallels between that study and Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq are horrifying—plus you know that Abu Ghraib can't be an isolated event." Craig's comments began a boisterous discussion among his friends as they talked about what Professor Zimbardo found in his research—and why he had to stop the study early—and how people are treated in places like Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, and even the Sudan. They wanted to learn more about these parallels, and also wanted to know if other psychologists agreed with Professor Zimbardo's views. They can see a slide-show of the Prison study and learn about its application to current events at Professor Zimbardo's website, and they can find an interesting article questioning the application of the Prison study to the Abu Ghraib prison scandal by William Saletan, "Situationist Ethics: The Stanford Prison Experiment doesn't explain Abu Ghraib" at:

5. "For me," stated Nadir, "the most interesting part of the chapter was on interpersonal attraction—like how we get into relationships and, more importantly, how we maintain them." Nadir can get a glimpse into these issues (and, among other things, "select his ideal mate") at the fun, activity-based website summarizing research by David Buss, an evolutionary psychologist. After playing around at that site, he should read several short articles that compare Buss' evolutionary theory with social structural explanations of interpersonal attraction and mate selection.

6. "Somehow it never occurred to me that 'human diversity' would include people with physical challenges," mused Jill. "That was really interesting and opened my eyes a bit, making me want to interact with some of the students I've noticed in my classes—and people at work. I've been uncomfortable about them before, and now hope I can get to know them as individuals, not as members of a stereotyped or stigmatized group." The Americans with Disability Act (ADA) website provides a wealth of information on the laws protecting Americans with disabilities and much more: