Chapter 12 - Introduction to Psychology

What do Social Psychologists study?

People, groups of people, and how they interact with and react to others

What are some topics of Social Psychology?

1. Prejudice and discrimination (i.e., homophobia, sexism, racism)

2. Social cognition

3. Attitudes

4. Persuasion, propaganda, and marketing

5. Attraction, romance, and love

6. Nonverbal communication

7. Prosocial behavior

8. Leadership

What are the three types of Social Psychology?

1. Social Influences

2. Social Behavior

3. Social Thought

What are Social Influences?

Investigates how strongly influenced we are by what other people do and say

How many Social Influences are there?

3

What are the three Social Influences?

1. Conformity

2. Compliance

3. Obedience

What is Conformity?

A type of social influence in which individuals change their attitudes or behaviors in order to adhere to existing social norms

What is a Social Norm?

Refers to rules indicating how individuals are to behave in specific situations

Who identified Conformity?

Solomon Asch

When was Solomon Asch alive?

(1907 - 1996)

What experiment did Solomon Asch design?

A perception experiment. “Which of the other lines matches X?”

What is Compliance?

A form of social influence in which one or more persons acquiesce to direct requests from one or more others

What is an example of Compliance?

The “Foot-in-the-Door Technique”

What is Obedience?

A form of social influence in which one or more individuals behave in specific ways in response to direct orders from someone in authority. This is a form of compliance, but must involve an authority figure

Who identified Obedience?

Stanley Milgram

When was Stanley Milgram alive?

(1933 - 1984)

Where did Stanley Milgram conduct his research?

Yale University

What was Stanley Milgram interested in researching?

Learning and Memory study of everyday people

What experiment was Stanley Milgram known for?

Electric shock experiment. Lab coat gave authority

What is Social Behavior?

Interacting with Others

What are the two topics in Social Behavior?

1. Prejudice

2. Discrimination

What is Prejudice?

This is a negative attitude about people who are not members of what we consider our “group”, or on the basis of their membership in some “group”

What is Discrimination?

This is an expression of prejudice

What is an example of Discrimination?

Stereotypes

What are Stereotypes?

A set of beliefs about the characteristics of people in a particular group that is generalized to all members of that group

What is Self-Fulfilling Prophecy?

A problem that is an expectancy that leads us to a certain pattern of behavior whose consequencesnconfirm the expectancy

What is Social Thought?

The entire process of thinking about people and social interactions

What is a topic of Social Thought?

Attribution

What is Attribution?

A set of thought processes used to assign causes to our own behavior and the behavior of others

How many behaviors are assigned to Attribution?

2

What are the two behaviors assigned to Attribution?

1. Internal/Dispositional

2. External/Situational

What is Internal/Dispositional Behavior?

This comes from within a person’s stable characteristics (attitudes or beliefs)

What is External/Situational Behavior?

This comes from the situation (stimuli, the environment, rewards, events, etc.)

What is Actor-Observer Bias?

Actor = external explanation, Observer = internal explanationWhat a

What are the three problems associated with attributing causes to behaviors?

1. Discounting Principle

2. FundamentalWhat -Attribution Error

3. Self-Serving Bias

What is the Discounting Principle?

We attribute a person’s behavior to one obvious cause and tend to discount (ignore) the possibility of other causes

What is the Fundamental-Attribution Error?

This is the tendency to overemphasize internal explanations of behavior and underemphasize external explanations

What is Self-Serving Bias?

This is the tendency for people to take credit for positive outcomes by attributing to internal causes of behavior, but to blame negative outcomes on external causes