"I get the feeling that if Veronica had been Keith junior that her upbringing would have been less training bras and murder investigations, more Full Metal Jacket bootcamp." Logan quipped to Wallace as he slid into his seat.
"Gunnery Sergeant Hartman? Somehow I can't see it. The guy still does a fake donut run when he wakes up at my moms house, like Darrell ain't 6 going on 16 already." Wallace joked.
Breakfast stilted by conversation as everyone danced around the more unpleasant topics that were still very much on everyone's mind. The Neptune Dark Forces were trying to oust Keith as Sheriff. The Mars duo had dominated the chat with lively theories about enemies with eye patches, sitting around stroking their cats but Veronica had been concerned about her dads health. Young Darrell had needed to see his older brother after a meltdown at school when he'd overheard faculty talking about the recent shooting, that worry…it was a stark reminder of how alone Logan felt sometimes.
How alone he'd truly have been if Dick hadn't made it…
Sitting in class felt absurd but Logan had to keep busy. His friend wouldn't be getting transferred to a recovery suite in the Neptune Grand for a few days, which was probably a good thing. He got the sense that after Dick's behaviour towards Mac, that they both could benefit from breathing space.
Should he be reaching out to the short brunette, or playing wingman to his friend?
There were a million things left unsaid with Veronica, were they going to tell her dad about their engagement?
Were they still...? Things had gotten left in the air the last few days.
Was she going to ask him about Caitlin?
Did he want her to?
Logan watched as his sociology professor walked into the room, kicking the door closed. He nodded towards his TA to start distributing a stack of papers which he placed on his desk.
"OK class. Settle down." Dr Kinny ordered, gaining the attention of his students.
"Today, we will be discussing the reliability of witnesses. The 1974 Car Crash Experiment by Loftus and Palmer was designed to prove just how deceiving memories can be and evaluate whether wording questions a certain way could influence a participant's recall by twisting their memories of a specific event. We will be using this to analyse the murder case of Kitty Genovese." The professor said switching on the smartboard showing a black and white image of a young woman with short dark hair.
"The event of Kitty Genovese being savagely attacked and murdered in Queens, New York in 1964 was never intended to be a psychological experiment, however it ended up having serious implications for this field. The New York Times claimed, almost forty neighbors witnessed, but not one neighbor called the police for help. This experiment became known for…? Anyone?" Dr Kinny asked. "I know how much you all enjoyed the prison experiment."
"That's my favorite t-shirt." Logan sighed whimsically.
"And yes, the we have Robbers Cave Experiment arranged for collaboration with our fellow intellectuals over at San Diego State, but we still have an assigned syllabus and I will fail you for non-participation in class." Dr Kinny warned earning a collective groan from the students.
"It changed the CPR rules." A short red-haired girl volunteered.
"Close Krista, I assume you mean that new learners are now taught that they must assign a bystander to alert the authorities to minimize the chances of no one calling for assistance, like was suggested in this case. That was one of the changes in medicine, psychology and many other areas. What Krista means to communicate is the idea that the more bystanders that are present in a social situation, the less likely it is that anyone will step in and help." The professor said, clicking the button to reveal the words.
"Bystander Effect,"
"Everyone can relate to this, we have all seen it in action in high schools when the bully or Mean Girls are tormenting their victims, and the other students fail to intervene. If questioned about it later then cognitive dissonance research later suggests that memory can be easily manipulated by the questions used to gather information creating incorrect recall or false details to merge with the memory of an event. This is referred to as…" he said casting a critical eye around the room.
"Confabulation." A student seated behind Wallace offered.
"Thank you, Mr Clover. This concept has very important implications for the questions used in police interviews of eyewitnesses, and so despite the information reported to the New York Times at the time of researching their article these facts were exaggerated and there were actually only a dozen witnesses to Kitty Genovese murder and records show that some calls to police were made." Dr Kinny explained and changed the screen to a definition, followed by a short video presentation summarizing the media reporting of the case and its implications for the investigation afterwards.
"Does any of that even matter unless you consider the Good Samaritan Experiment 1973, by John Darley and Daniel Batson, investigating causes that underlie altruistic behavior?" the student interrupted.
"You mean unless someone provides cake, and a yay team?" Dr Kinny joked, unlike his usual rigid teaching style. "If you would prefer Mr Clover you can conduct a series of short credits to present to that class if you can provide a coherent hypothesis, and relay your findings."
Logan exchanged an eye-roll with Wallace, the guy was aiming for a summer internship and future TA post with the professor.
"This kind of ass-smooching was why I skip this class." Logan muttered to Wallace who hid a smirk behind his hand.
"As for the rest of you, yes, yes I know the last few days have been very exciting, with murder, and shootings but we still have work to do. I am assigning a research paper for each of you on the Halo Effect, and its role in cognitive dissonance and our legal system." Dr Kinny said turning his attention towards the two of them.
"This should be easy for you Mr Echolls. It's based on the idea that people generally assume that people who are physically attractive are more likely to be intelligent, friendly, and display good judgment. A pretty face that influences individual's personal judgments and inferences…" the professor continued as Logan sat up a little straighter in his chair. The tone of voice made Logan nostalgic for Mr Daniels class.
"Like referring to some students by their first name or surnames based on their chest size?" Logan hinting towards Krista in the front row.
"The Halo Effect creates a series of problematic complex social behaviors for everyone, ranging from favoritism in class, our positions on the social totem pole and the likelihood an individual with certain less aesthetically pleasing characteristics would become a victim of violence…. " Dr Kinny continued casting a look around the room towards a young man Wallace recognised as a Pizza delivery guy and back to Logan. "Or whether a jury would allow a person to get away with murder simply because they look like a movie star."
