Living in a Social World
Psy 324: Advanced Social Psychology

Guidelines for Team Humor Projects

1. Selection and Content: The item selected should be a graphical depiction of some humorous event or situation (i.e. a cartoon or photograph) that lends itself to social psychological analysis.

The item can be something from a World Wide Web site (preferrable), or from a magazine, newspaper, or book. The content must be in reasonable good taste, as judged by the PIG (Professor is God) standard. If the item is from the Web, the team must provide the exact url of the page where it is found so that I can locate it and link it to our website. If it is from some other source, a good quality photocopy of the item should be provided, or in the case of newspaper or magazine cartoons, the item as it appeared in print. In either case, provide the exact reference for the item (e.g., Berry's World, New York Times, June 15, 1996).

Note: The selection process should be a team effort. It is suggested that team members individually search for items, then come together to discuss them and to choose the final item.

The social psychological principles that are illustrated by the item, or that are used to analyze the item need not be those that are being studied at the time according to the course schedule. Use any relevant material from the text as a resource to inform and enrich your analysis, regardless of our current topic. You may also supplement your analysis using other texts or journal articles.

2. Production and Presentation:The assistants for the course will help you produce an overhead of your item and any handouts you want to have for your team's class presentation. They must have the materials 2 days before the presentation in order to do this, however. The assistants will also help you plan your presentation to make it more effective.

The item selected for your analysis will be displayed on our class website prior to the meeting in which it is discussed. In order for me to have enough time to post the item, I must have the item's url or a photocopy 3 days in advance.  In addition, at the same time the team should jointly suggest, through discussion and negotiation, a title for the selection.  The first part of the title should refer to a major principle being illustrated ("Norms in Action," or "Gender Roles & Attractiveness").  The second part should refer to the general content of the cartoon (" Vikings' Version of Simon Says,'" or " Stigma of the 'Ugly Single Male'").  See "Social Psychological Principles in Humor" for other examples.


The presentation of your analysis should have the following qualities:

a. It should involve all members of the team.

b. It should stimulate discussion among members of the class, rather than just being a lecture.

Due by 5:00 p.m. on the fourth day following your presentation is a 2-page summary of the team's analysis, written in APA style and with references when appropriate. The summary should be sent to me in electronic format, and I will then post it to our website so that it will appear with the item.  See "Social Psychological Principles in Humor" for examples.

3.Grading and Evaluation: The project will be evaluated along the following dimensions: (a) clarity and appropriateness of the link between the item and social psychological principles; (b) clarity, rigor, and informativeness of the analysis; (c) effectiveness of the class presentation; (d) involvement of all team members.

As with all team projects, each member of the team will receive a separate grade assigned according to our procedures for assessing individual contributions to the team effort.

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