ch 12: groups

Question 1

groups

Answer 1

two or more people who for longer than a few moments interact and influence each other

Question 2

social facilitation (studying for example)

Answer 2

when we are with other people, we do better on tasks

Question 3

why do ants dig and perform better in groups

Answer 3

social facilitation

Question 4

social inhibition (playing cod)

Answer 4

presence of other people can hinder our performance

Question 5

do other peoples presence help or inhibit our performance ?

Answer 5

depends, sometimes it can help, other times it can make it worse.

Question 6

what was Hunt & Hillery’s Maze study about ?

Answer 6

when P’s were with other people to solve an easy maze, they performed better
when P’s were with other people to solve a difficult maze, they performed worse
- this study is an example of inhibition AND help

Question 7

what was Michaels et al., Pool Players study about?

Answer 7

good pool players hit most their shots whether they were being watched from far away or close up.
Some people just perform better at something they’re good at especially if they know they’re being watched and vice versa if your bad at something.

Question 8

what are the two main reasons we are aroused in the presence of others

Answer 8

1. Mere Presence: there’s something about other people being around you that creates physiological arousal.
2. Evaluation apprehension: concern about potential embarrassment.

Question 9

social loafing

Answer 9

decreased individual effort on task under conditions of low identifiability and low evaluation.

Question 10

what are some studies that prove social loafing?

Answer 10

• Ingham’s - Tug of War study
• Williams & Harkins - Clapping and Shouting study

Question 11

groupthink

Answer 11

shitty decisions resulting from “ingroup” pressure

Question 12

what are some examples of groupthink

Answer 12

• Bay of Pigs 1961
• Iraq war decision
• Space shuttle accident that could’ve been avoided

Question 13

isolated group

Answer 13

the group that is vital to a decision but no one listens to them because they are not part of the cohesive group

Question 14

illusion of invulnerability

Answer 14

just because something has gone right a few times in the past, doesn’t always mean it could go right again in the future without double checking

Question 15

rationalization

Answer 15

after we make a decision, we try to justify it

Question 16

self-censorship

Answer 16

not agreeing with a decision but not speaking up that it’s the wrong decision

Question 17

mind- guarding

Answer 17

decision makers are protected by other people who want to change their mind

Question 18

what are some ways to prevent groupthink?

Answer 18

1. Don’t publicly advocate (eppy)
2. Choose someone to play devils advocate
3. Breaking into smaller groups
4. Bringing in other people to hear their opinions
5. Last minute meetings

Question 19

group polarization

Answer 19

people who think the same have strong opinions

Question 20

deindividuation

Answer 20

loss of self-awareness and evaluation apprehension

Question 21

what was Gergen & Gergen’s - Deviance in the Dark study about?

Answer 21

-2 groups of people who talked either in dark room or light room.
-Results were that, people who sat in the dark room had more important topics to talk about and they touched and hugged each other.
-People in the light room talked more but not about important topics.