Question

Researchers had participants look at photos of African American and white young men holding various objects in their hand. The participants’ job was to determine if the object in the hand was a gun or not, and to press a button labeled "shoot" if the object was a gun. This research demonstrated a greater likelihood to
a. press the button and "shoot" the black young men, regardless of what they were holding.
b. press the button and "shoot" the white young men, regardless of what they were holding.
c. not press the button at all and thereby be shot themselves.
d. press the button for every young man they saw.

Answer 1

Answer:

a. press the button and "shoot" the black young men, regardless of what they were holding.

Explanation:

This research is a racial profiling study.  After the shooting of Amadou Diallo in 1999 and subsequent cases of shooting of innocent black males by the police force, several studies were carried out to investigate racial profiling. In the study in the question above, the participants were more likely to press and shoot the young black men regardless of what they were holding. This is an example of racial profiling.