Monday, May 28, 2012

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MORALITY: TIME TO BE HONEST


Published: March 31st, 2012; The Economist, http://www.economist.com

Level of Difficulty: ***

Note to the reader: Firstly, this reading activity has been designed as a precursor to “Why We Lie”; also on this blog. Secondly, the word “die” is not a spelling mistake but an accepted plural form for the word dice.

QUESTIONS

Read the whole of this little text carefully annotating and underlining as you go. When you have done so, answer the following three questions. When you have checked your answers, move right on to “Why We Lie”

1.       What exactly was the initial purpose of the experimenters?

2.       The first experiment proved that ……………………………………………………………………………………………

3.       After reading the second experiment, what would you say is the take home point concerning cheating? Use your own words.

KEY AND TEACHER’S NOTES

I discovered this little gem just after completing work on “Why We Lie” and couldn’t believe my eyes. They are a marriage made in heaven and should be done on the same day in tandem with an appropriate video and a writing task.

1.       To find out whether people were more likely to lie about the result of a dice roll when asked the result immediately or when given time to think.

2.       Both groups lied but those who had had more time for reflection lied less.

3.       Possible answer: Cheating is inborn, original a natural tendency or a similar answer

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