Influence of Others

Question 1

Social Facilitation - Triplett’s Hypothesis

Answer 1

The increased performance that occurs in the presence of co-actors or an audience

Question 2

Complications of Triplett’s Hypothesis

Answer 2

in some cases, the presence of others can hinder performance in certain tasks

Question 3

Zajonc’s Solution

Answer 3

the presence of others increases arousal to improve performance on simple tasks and decrease performance on complex tasks

Question 4

Bandura’s Social Learning Theory

Answer 4

you can learn certain behaviours by modelling and imitating the behaviour of others without the requirement of explicit reinforcement to devlop

Question 5

Bobo Doll Experiment

Answer 5

adult would model aggressive or passive behaviour, where the model of aggressive behaviour lead to aggressive behaviour in the child (and same for passive behaviour)

Question 6

Muzafer Sherif’s AutoKinetic Effect

Answer 6

red dot is mistaken for movement - after several days of testing, responses will gradually converge with the others, despite different starting points.

Question 7

Asch’s Line Test

Answer 7

confederates agree on clearly incorrect answers, but after a while subjects would conform and say the same answer as everyone else

Question 8

Normative Function

Answer 8

the role of others in setting standards for our conduct based on a fear of rejection

Question 9

Comparative Function

Answer 9

the role of others in providing information about an ambiguous situation

Question 10

Risky Shift

Answer 10

Group decision making strengthens the original inclinations of the individual group members. (move towards the closer extreme)

Question 11

Groupthink

Answer 11

a group decision environment that occurs when a group cohesiveness becomes so strong that it overrides realistic appraisals of reality and alternative opinions

Question 12

Ways groupthink can be prevented

Answer 12

be impartial
critical evaluation
devils advocate
subdivide the group
provide a second chance

Question 13

Kitty Genovese

Answer 13

an example of the bystander effect

Question 14

Bystander Effect

Answer 14

the presence of others reduces helping behaviour

Question 15

Questions required to respond

Answer 15

Is it an emergency?

Is my response required?

Question 16

Collective Ignorance

Answer 16

When each individual in a group see nobody responding in a given situation, they conclude that the situation is not an emergency (trying not to overreact when other people are around - everyone else is doing the same thing)

Question 17

Diffusion of Responsibility

Answer 17

In deciding whether we have to act, we determine that someone else in the group is more qualified

Question 18

How to ensure that help is recieved

Answer 18

single out someone in the crowd to help out

seeing someone else help would increase helpful behaviour

Question 19

Social Loafing

Answer 19

individuals are less motivated when working in a group than alone - tendency to take a free ride in a group

Question 20

Milgram’s Experiment

Answer 20

Subject increasingly shocks the learner answers a wrong question and reaches a point where the learner sounds to be in serious pain and desperate to quit. Subject is influenced by authority to keep going despite cries of pain

65% obeyed! - most people would say that they wouldn’t continue but actual data says differently

Question 21

Implications of Milgram’s Experiment

Answer 21

there is a strong tendency of obedience towards authority, and you aren’t an accurate judge on how you would behave in a given situation

Question 22

Factors that affect Milgram’s Experiment

Answer 22

Increase in Prestige of faculty - increased obedience
Professional to Grad student - lowered obedience
Decrease in Proximity of teacher to experimenter - lowered obedience
Increased Distance between subject and learner - decreased obedience

Question 23

Holfing et al. Study

Answer 23

Doctor asked nurse to administer a drug which by doing so would violate several rules
Tendency to obey can be irresistible under a variety of circumstances and you can never know how you are going to act placed in a given situation

Question 24

Cognitive Dissonance

Answer 24

Your attitudes aren’t always consistent with your behaiour

Question 25

Festinger and Carlsmith Experiment

Answer 25

Lying to next subject about experience for $1 or $20 - $1 rated more positively, $20 said they did it for the money, while $1 had less justification and changed their attitude to match their behaviour

Question 26

Overjustification Effect

Answer 26

external incentive in money or prizes decreases a person’s motivation to perform and cognitive dissonance

Question 27

Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment

Answer 27

Subjects assigned to be guards and prisoners, where prisoners agreed to have suspended civil liberties and guards were told to maintain degree of order.
Was cut short because guards showed sadistic, dehumanizing behaviour (despite previous psychological stability screening) and prisoners experienced depression and anxiety and believed they wouldn’t get out.

Reveals power of circumstance and assigned roles on behaviour (deindividuation)

Question 28

Deindividuation

Answer 28

in a group setting, (anonymity leads to) the loss of a sense of personal responsibility and restraint

Question 29

Persuasive Communicator

Answer 29

Similarity to communicator - Lifestyle Choice
Credibility of communicator - Objective Fact
Physical Attractiveness
Concise speech, speech speed, eye contact

Question 30

Persuasive Message

Answer 30

One sided if audience is initially in agreement

Two-sided if audience is initially in disagreement

Question 31

Central Appeal

Answer 31

well reasoned, factual, two-sided arguments are more effective for intelligent audiences

Question 32

Peripheral Appeal

Answer 32

well presented, easy to understand messages are more effective for unintelligent audiences

Question 33

Foot in the Door Effect

Answer 33

a gradual escalation of demands increases obedience - a request that seems outrageous in isolation seems more reasonable in increasing magnitude

Question 34

Low Ball Technique

Answer 34

an escalation of the term of an agreement after someone has already agreed - announcing additional costs after low cost is found attractive

Involves cognitive dissonance