Social Psychology

Question 1

social psychology

Answer 1

scientific study of the nature and causes of individual behavior in social situations

Question 2

Platow et al

Answer 2

• La Trobe University students were instructed to listen to a tape of a stand up comedian telling jokes
• group 1 listened to the tape with canned laughter after each joke and were told that the tape was recorded at a show attended by students from their university
• group 2 listened to the tape with no canned laughter and were told that the tape was recorded at a show attended by a political group
• results showed that group 1 rated the jokes as funnier than group 2
• concluded that influence on groups to which we belong is stronger if we identify with the group

Question 3

social influence

Answer 3

happens when we change our behavior in response to other people
- presence of others can influence the way we perform tasks successfully or unsuccessfully

Question 4

social facilitation

Answer 4

boost in performance due to presence of others, especially with simple or well learned tasks

Question 5

social inhibition

Answer 5

decreased performance due to presence of others, especially with difficult or new tasks

Question 6

Norman Triplett

Answer 6

• observed that cyclists rode faster when raced against each other than when raced against the clock
• hypothesised that presence of others boosted performance
• tested this idea by asking adolescents to wind in a reel as quickly as they could
• found that adolescents wind in a reel faster when with another person performing the same task compared to winding alone

Question 7

boost in performance depends on 2 factors

Answer 7

• level of arousal: people generally perform best at moderate levels of arousal
• • performance level drops when under aroused or over aroused
• type of task: optimal level of arousal for best performance depends on the type of task
• • we perform better at relatively high levels of arousal with simple or well learned tasks
• • we perform better with lower arousal for difficult or new tasks

Question 8

Myers and Bishop

Answer 8

• found that when students who were low in prejudice talked together about racial issues, their attitudes become more accepting
• when highly prejudiced students talked about the same issues, they become even more prejudiced

Question 9

group polarization

Answer 9

individuals in groups with others who hold similar attitudes or beliefs within the group tend to strengthen opinions

Question 10

conformity

Answer 10

change in behavior and attitude in response to group pressure

Question 11

Asch

Answer 11

• in groups of 8 to 10, participants are asked to sit around a table and were shown 2 cards
• there was a set of 3 lines of different lengths on the first card and a single line on the other
• one by one participants were asked which line of the three was the same length as the single line
• unbeknown to the real participant, the rest were confederates
• 18 comparison trails were conducted and on the first few trials, everyone gave correct answers
• on the 12 to 18 trial, the confederates agreed to give wrong answers
• found that 75% of the participants agreed with the confederates on at least one trial, 50% echoed the confederates answers on 6 or more trials and only a quarter stuck with their own answer

Question 12

factors that influences the extent to which we conform

Answer 12

• group size: conformity increases up to a group size of 4, increasing the group size above 4 has little influence
• degree of unanimity: when it is difficult to stand out when others in a group agree completely

Question 13

Bond and Smith

Answer 13

• compared 133 Asch type studies carried out in 17 countries
• highest level of conformity was found in collectivistic cultures
• lower levels of conformity was found in individualistic cultures

Question 14

2 reasons as to why we conform

Answer 14

• normative social influence: pressure on individual to change their behavior to conform to group standards in order to be accepted by group
• • breaking social norms can lead to disapproval or exclusion from group
• informative social influence: pressure on individual in strange situations to behave in the manner of those around them

Question 15

obedience

Answer 15

change in behavior in response to instruction or direct request from authority figure

Question 16

Milgram

Answer 16

• aims to investigate how far people would go in obeying instruction if it involved harming another person
• 40 men were led to believe that they were participating in an experiment which tested the effects of punishment on learning
• these participants were the teachers while the confederates were the learners
• the teachers observed the learner being attached to all the wires necessary and was taken to another room to be shown the shock equipment
• teachers were told to administer progressively larger shocks for every mistake made by learner and did as such even when they could hear the learner screech and groan when higher voltages were applied
• at 150 volts, the learner would yell out that he had to get out as he had heart trouble and refused to continue
• the experimenter kept cool and instructed the teacher to continue administering shocks
• results showed that 26 out of 40 participants administered 450 volts knowing that they were hurting someone else
• all participants administered 300 volts but 5 refused to continue as the learner stopped responding to the shocks

Question 17

factors influencing obedience

Answer 17

• proximity of authority figure
• proximity to individual
• authority of experimenter

Question 18

reasons why we obey

Answer 18

• belief in legitimate authority
• lack of disobedient role models
• lack of personal responsibility

Question 19

social roles

Answer 19

pattern of behavior that is expected of a person in a particular social position

Question 20

Zimbardo et al

Answer 20

• aims to determine the effects of being either a prisoner or guard for 2 weeks
• experiment took place in the basement of the psychology building in Stanford University, complete with cells, security doors and drab surroundings
• 24 healthy men with no psychological problems were selected and were randomly assigned to either prisoner or guard
• guards were issued with uniform, batons and handcuffs
• prisoners were sprayed for lice, issued with smocks and had to share a cell with one other inmate
• guards developed rules to keep the prisoners in their place but became increasingly brutal by humiliating them
• on day 2, the prisoners staged a revolt but was quickly rushed by the guards who became more aggressive
• within the first 4 days, prisoners became dejected and dehumanised and some were released due to severe negative reactions such as hysteria and rage
• after 6 days, the experiment was cancelled and the roles became a reality for those involved
• concluded that social roles influence behavior in more complex ways than Zimbardo had ever realised
• social environment of the prison and roles of the participants influenced the way the guards and prisoners behaved

Question 21

attribution theory

Answer 21

theory of how we infer the reasons behind the behaviors of others

Question 22

types of attribution theory

Answer 22

• internal attribution: inferring that something about the person such as their personality or attitude is responsible for their behavior
• external attribution: inferring that an external factor is responsible for their behavior

Question 23

fundamental attribution error

Answer 23

tendency to attribute other’s behavior to personal factors rather than considering external factors

Question 24

Jones and Heider

Answer 24

• participants were asked to judge the true attitude of a debater after reading limited information on a controversial topic presented in a debate script
• first group read a pro Castro script and were told that the debater chose to write the script
• second group read a pro Castro and were told that the debater was asked to write the script
• participants inferred that the debater held an attitude towards Castro that was close to the one argued in the debate
• internal attribution was stronger than external attribution

Question 25

Crick and Dodge

Answer 25

found that children showing reactive aggression are likely to show attribution bias and interpret situations as hostile when no hostility was intended

Question 26

self serving bias

Answer 26

distortion of facts to maintain one’s self esteem

Question 27

information people use to make attributions

Answer 27

• person: considers the individual’s personality or attitude
• time: looks into the occurrence of the situation across different times
• entities: comprises of other relevant information about the situation

Question 28

components on how people make attributions

Answer 28

• consensus: the extent to which other people behave in the same way in a similar situation
• distinctiveness: the extent to which a person behaves in the same way in similar situations
• consistency: the extent to which a person behaves the same way every time the situation occurs

Question 29

cognitive dissonance

Answer 29

when people experience discomfort or psychological tension when they behave in ways that are inconsistent with their beliefs

Question 30

outcomes of cognitive dissonance

Answer 30

• change in belief
• change in behavior
• adopt new belief

Question 31

Festinger and Carlsmith

Answer 31

• investigates if making people perform a dull task would create cognitive dissonance
• asked participants to perform series of dull tasks and offered either $1 or $20 upon completion to tell a waiting participant that the tasks were interesting and fun
• all participants did as such and were asked to rate how much they enjoyed the tasks
• participants who were paid only $1 rated the task as more fun and enjoyable than participants paid $20
• being paid $1 is not a sufficient incentive for lying and so they experienced cognitive dissonance and could only overcome that dissonance by believing that the tasks were interesting and enjoyable