Study Guide, Sociology 3701, First Exam, Instructor: Bruce Mork

I. Multiple choice. Be familiar with the following concepts, theories, theorists, and videos:
social psychology, culture, norms, socialization, primary group, looking glass self, the "I" and the "me", syntax, semantics, pragmatics, scaffolding , generative property of language,categorization, behaviorism and rational choice theory as closely related approaches to social psychology, cognitive psychology, symbolic interactionism; research methods--experiment, participant observation, intensive interviewing; psychologism (also known in sociology as the fundamental attribution error), reification, naming, symbolic meaning, Mead's stages in taking the role of the other: imitative, play, game, generalized other, approaches to deaf education: oralism, manualism, American Sign Language (ASL), deaf vs Deaf, language acquisition device, , social interactionism, race as a social construction, Noam Chomsky, B.F. Skinner, W. I. Thomas, Charles Horton Cooley, George Herbert Mead
Videos: "Baby Talk, " "Through Deaf Eyes," "Waasa Inaabidaa: Selections "

II. Essay questions. The essay questions on your first exam will be drawn from the following: :
1. Analyze the differences between symbolic interactionism and rational choice theory) in terms of their assumptions about human nature and its view of the relation between self and society.

2. From the symbolic interactionist perspective, describe the relationship among language, culture, and identity, using examples from the experience of the Deaf community and from the video, "Waasa Inaabidaa."

3. Use "Baby Talk" as an example to show how theories are created and modified by a community of scholars through a process of communication and mutual criticism. Be sure to include some consideration of Babbie's contention that even in the scientific community, "truth" is the product of agreement within the scientific community, rather than some ultimate reality.

4. Draw on the two articles about marijuana use to support the view that that our experiences and meanings are to a great degree the product of interaction mediated by language. .

5. Show how the use of symbols is essential to understanding both our freedom and the influence that other people have upon us; draw on Mead and Cooley as well as examples from the readings.

6. Use the symbolic interactionist perspective to analyze the likely implications for self and society if a language is systematically suppressed or destroyed or, on the other hand, if there is a linguistic revival.