Week 6 Review - Group Processes Flashcards
What is group cohesiveness?
the extent to which forces push group members closer together such as through feelings of intimacy, unity, and commitment to group goals
What are roles?
a set of expected behaviours; can be formal or informal
What was Zimbardo’s prison study and what did it find?
simulated prison in psychology department basement: students allocated as ‘prisoners’ or ‘guards’: study halted early due to extreme role adoption
What are norms?
The rules of conduct for group members. They can influence the individual in the absence of the group: the group is carried in the head of an individual in the form of a norm
What is social facilitation?
process whereby the presence of others enhances performance on easy tasks but impairs performance on difficult tasks.
What is Zajonc’s (1965) drive theory?
arousal drives energy to produce dominant response (others’ mere presence produces social facilitation)
What is Cottrell’s evaluation apprehension theory?
Attentive others produce fear of evaluation (not just mere presence).
What is Baron’s distraction-conflict theory?
attentional conflict - distraction from task the key to social facilitation (doesn’t need to be a person)
What is social loafing?
group-produced reduction in individual output on tasks where contributions are pooled
What did Latane’s clapping/cheering studies find?
University students were told to cheer or clap as loudly as they could. The noise produced by each of them decreased as the size of the group increased.
What are some things that explain social loafing?
- output equity (expect others to loaf)
- evaluation apprehension
- matching to standard (no obvious performance standards to follow)
What are some factors that influence social loafing?
greater anonymity: ↑ loafing
valuing/involvement in task: ↓ loafing
believing one can help achieve desired outcome: ↓ loafing
intergroup comparison (vs. outgroup): ↓ loafing
anticipated loafing of others (compensation): ↓ loafing
What is deindividuation?
A loss of a person’s sense of individuality and the reduction of normal constraints against deviant behaviour.
What is brainstorming?
A technique that attempts to increase production of creative ideas by encouraging group members to speak freely without criticising their own or others’ contributions.
Why does brainstorming not often work?
evaluation apprehension
social loafing/free-riding
production blocking (interference effects)
performance matching (basing our efforts on matching to others’ inferior performance)
What is Groupthink?
Group decision-making style characterised by an excessive tendency among group members to seek concurrence.
How do we prevent groupthink?
wide consultation with outsiders
encouragement of criticism
use of sub-groups to discuss issues
follow-up meetings to review major decisions
What is group polarisation?
The tendency for groups to show a shift towards the extremes of decision-making when compared to decisions made by individuals.
Why does Group polarisation happen?
persuasive arguments: exposed to a greater number and more persuasive arguments
social comparison: need for social approval (shift to more extreme views)
self-categorisation theory: a way in which an ingroup can distinguish themselves from outgroups
What is a social dilemma?
A situation in which a self-interested choice by everyone will create the worst outcome for everyone.
What is the Prisoner’s dilemma?
Each of 2 criminals is offered immunity from prosecution in exchange for a confession.
If both stay silent both get off with a light sentence. If both confess, both recieve a moderate sentence. If one confesses while the other doesn’t, the confessing criminal goes free while the silent one has recieves a long sentence.
What is the tragedy of the commons?
A situation in which individuals with access to a public resource (also called a common) act in their own interest and, in doing so, ultimately deplete the resource.
How does the race of the accused influence a jury?
racial composition of juries can have an effect (e.g., White jurors in more diverse juries convict minority race defendants less)
for weak evidence, more lenient to own race defendants but for strong evidence, harsher
when race a prominent part of case, greater processing of evidence may lead to less racial bias
