Social Psychology Temp

Question 1

Myers and Bishop

Answer 1

1970
GROUP POLARISATION
When students who were low on racial prejudice talked about racial issues, their attitudes became even more accepting. When highly prejudiced students talked about racial issues, they became even more prejudiced

Question 2

Main and Walker

Answer 2

1973
GROUP POLARISATION
Analysed the decisions of Federal district court judges sitting either alone or in groups of three to see if group discussions were a factor. In the 1500 cases where judges sat alone they took an extreme course of action only 30% of the time. However, when sitting in a group of three this figure more than doubles to 65%. Trained, professional decision-makers are subject to the forces of group polarisation

Question 3

McCauley

Answer 3

2002
GROUP POLARISATION
Stated that a terrorist mentality does not come out of thin air; rather it arises when people with shared grievance get together and talk in a group in which there are no moderating influences

Question 4

Darley and Bateson

Answer 4

1973
FIVE STAGE DECISION MODEL (STAGE 1)
Students at a theological college on their way to present a sermon on helping passed a man slumped and groaning in a doorway. 10% of students that thought they were late helped. 63% who thought they were early helped. Some didn’t notice the victim

Question 5

Clark and Word

Answer 5

1972
FIVE STAGE DECISION MODEL (STAGE 2)
Asked participants to fill in a questionnaire either individually or in groups. In either condition, if a man walked through the room carrying a ladder and then screamed ‘oh my back’, all participants helped, compared to 30% when they heard just a crash

Question 6

Cramer et al

Answer 6

1988
FIVE STAGE DECISION MODEL (STAGE 4)
Found that bystanders trained in first aid are more likely to help

Question 7

Asch

Answer 7

1955
CONFORMITY
Participants believed they were talking part in a psychological experiment on visual judgement
Participants not aware that others in the group were confederates that had been instructed to answer incorrectly
Participants had to decide on giving the same answer (conforming) or giving the answer they believed was correct
Results:
- 75% conformed at least once
- 33% conformed for half or more
- 24% didn’t conform

Question 8

Milgram

Answer 8

1963
OBEDIENCE
40 participants between 20-50
Participants told they were apart of a study on the ‘effects of punishment on learning/memory’
Confederate (learner) and participant (teacher)
When the learner got the question wrong they got electrocuted, increasing by 15volts
No one stopped before 300 volts
65% continued at 450 volts
Women were shown to have the same rate

Question 9

Zimbardo

Answer 9

1971
OBEDIENCE
Designed to go for 2 weeks, only lasted 6 days
Half of the male participants were guards and half were prisoners
They ran a fake prison in the basement of the Stanford Psychology Building
Wanted to see how the different roles would effect the participants behaviour

Question 10

Heider

Answer 10

1958
ATTRIBUTION THEORY
Inventor of the attribution theory
People attempt to understand the behaviour of others by attributing feelings, beliefs and intentions to them

Question 11

Jones and Harris

Answer 11

1967
ATTRIBUTION THEORY
Participants asked to determine the true attitude of a person after reading an essay by them on a controversial topic
Either in support or opposition
Participants told the person had been assigned their role
Participants still inferred that the person held an attitude close to what they wrote about
Internal attribution is stronger than external attribution

Question 12

De Michele et al

Answer 12

1998
ATTRIBUTION THEORY
Suggest we distort the facts and make external attributions to maintain self-esteem
Known as self serving bias

Question 13

Kelly

Answer 13

1973
THEORY OF CASUAL ATTRIBUTION
Logical model for judging whether a particular action should be attributed to a characteristic (internal) of the person or the environment (external)
Use 3 types of information
- persons
- time
- entities (other relevant information)

Question 14

Festinger

Answer 14

1957
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE
Examined the relationship between cognitions (beliefs and attitudes) and behaviour
People experiencing discomfort or psychological tension when they hold two beliefs that are in conflict or when they hold two beliefs that are in conflict or when they behave in ways that are inconsistent with their beliefs

Question 15

Festinger and Carlsmith

Answer 15

1959
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE
Asked participants to perform a series of dull tasks
Participants paid either $1 or $20 to tell a waiting participant that the tasks were interesting
Found:
- participants paid $1 reevaluated the experiment, rating the tasks more fun
- those paid $1 found it not a sufficient enough incentive. Could only overcome the dissonance by believing the tasks were fun