WHY WE CHEAT

“Scientists are unraveling the causes of fraud and dishonesty and devising new strategies for rooting them out”

By: Ferric C. Fang and Arturo Casadevall

Published: Scientific American Mind; May- June 2013; http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-we-cheat
Alternatively, access a free copy by copy pasting the following: http://www.readcube.com/articles/10.1038/scientificamericanmind0513-30

Level of Difficulty: ****

Note to the student: This text comes out of Scientific American Mind and you will need to pay for access or subscribe to the magazine unless your institution subscribes to it.

BEFORE YOU READ

·         Have you ever cheated? Do you know anyone who has cheated?

·         Under what circumstances do people cheat? Provide some examples.

·         How widespread is cheating? Do animals cheat too or is it a human characteristic?

·         How would you go about preventing cheating in life?

QUESTIONS

1.       What conclusion can be drawn from the examples in the first paragraph?

2.       For cheating to occur, there has /have to be …………………………………………………………………………

3.       Read the whole of paragraph 3. The points made in this paragraph justify……………………………..

4.       What does “These triggers” in paragraph 4 refer to?

5.       The case of the Pseudomonas bacteria and the saccharomyces yeast cells both prove that…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

6.       Read the example of the cleaner fish to the end. This example is proof that cheating or the prevention of it can be linked to ……………………………………………………………………………………………

7.       The case of the juvenile baboons is an example of…………………………………………………………………

8.       We can safely assume that there is a great deal more cheating in primates and complex mammals because ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

9.       In the experiment at Duke University, What does the increase in cheating depend on? What did the new results depend on?

10.   Ariely made a surprising discovery in his experiment with students when he increased the reward. What were the two  possible reasons for this?

11.   The positive correlation between increased creativity and the propensity to cheat are down to the facts that: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

12.   What surprising revelation does the writer make concerning the relationship between gender and cheating?

13.   What appears to trigger the increased cheating observed in scientific research?

14.   In Donald Kornfeld’s study, it was observed that the major reason for cheating was a desire…………………….So strong was this desire that all…………………………………..seemed to fade away.

15.   Why does the “What the hell” response kick in?

16.   In the University of Lublin Experiment, why did copy cat behavior occur?

17.   If one gets away with cheating on a small scale, one ………………………………(tweak the text)

18.   It is stated in the text that the modern antivaccine movement is based on………………………..(use your own words)

19.   The fact that people try hard to rationalize cheating indicates that………………………………………

20.   In some swimming pools, a chemical is added to the water that makes urine turn red.Why is this measure effective?

21.   Why would recognizing successful teams be a better way to observe academic excellence? Use your own words.

22.   What does “Such instruction” in the phrase “Such instruction might reduce…” refer to? There are two answers; find both.

23.   Read the words of Justice Louis Brandeis. What do his words imply?

24.   Read the writer’s conjecture concerning Van Parjis. What is this view based on?

25.   The concluding paragraph of the text consists of ………………………………………………………………….

WRITING TASK: THE FIRST ALTERNATIVE

Discuss the disadvantages of cheating.

In your introduction, state how common cheating is and discuss what motivates it

·         Creativity

·         Dread and fear of loss

·         The observation of dishonest behavior (cheating can be contagious)

·         Potential gain

End your introduction with a thesis statement indicating you will be discussing the disadvantages.

In your development, discuss the disadvantages:

·         Cheaters stigmatized and lose their jobs

·         Resources squandered on fraudulent work

·         Collateral damage: honest people bullied into going along with the cheating

·         Dishonest scientific research can misdirect ( the antivaccine movement)

·         Individuals who play by the rules are deprived of the rewards they deserve

In your conclusion, suggest a few solutions

WRITING TASK: THE SECOND ALTERNATIVE

Discuss the solutions to the problem of widespread cheating in all walks of life.

In your introduction, introduce cheating and mention its negative effects on innocent third parties, the individual himself and society. See the first writing task.

In your development, discuss the solutions:

·         Education to reinforce and instill personal barriers

·         Emphasizing self image by focusing on the honor code

·         A reward system to improve on the individuals sense of security

·         Ethics instruction

·          Surveillance and enforcement of penalties

In your conclusion, write a restatement.

WHY WE CHEAT KEY AND TEACHER’S NOTES

This is another fascinating text out of my new favorite magazine Scientific American Mind. The information in the reading passage will come as a surprise to some extent and the text is therefore bound to fly. It has a wow factor in other words. Like all texts out of this magazine, it lends itself to some super questions and not one but two writing tasks both closely linked to the text.

1. Cheating is actually astoundingly common
2. Limited resources
3. Effective constraints on cheating
4. Creativity, fear of loss and the observation of dishonest behavior
5. Cheating has evolved as a way for organisms to gain advantage over others without incurring the cost of effort
6. Balancing costs and benefits
7. Tactical Cheating
8. They have a bigger neocortex,
9. A change in the experimental conditions; many students cheating a little
10. A person’s conscience; the likelihood of attracting attention
11. They are both products of the neocortex; creative individuals are better at deception OR they are both anatomically and causally connected
12. Men are overrepresented among the culprits; OR, just as they commit more crimes in society at large, males appear more likely to become charlatans in academia
13. Pressure and competition for research grants and academic jobs
14. To advance in their career; ethical constraints
15. Because once one has overcome the initial barrier to cheating, subsequent hurdles to dishonest behavior may seem smaller and trivial to surmount
16. Because unchecked dishonesty can promote the perception that one must cheat to…
17. One may go on to more egregious misconduct
18. Possible answers: erroneous, wrong, fraudulent information, misinformation
19. Self image is a powerful constraint
20. Because it shames people into observing the rule
21. Possible answer: It’s much harder to cheat; you have to get everyone on board to cheat
22. Ethics courses or ethics instruction
23. The problem of misconduct must be openly acknowledged and discussed.
24. The broken windows theory of crime
25. A summary of the solutions