PSYC 202

8/28/14
Office Hours
o Tuesday 12 PM 1 PM
There are three things extremely hard: steel, diamond, . Benjamin Franklin
Conformity vs Nonconformity
o Conformity has both good and bad parts
o We are social animals.
Social Psychology study of the way people think about, influence, and interact with others;
individual psyche relates to groups
Sociology observing groups of people
What do Social Psychologists do?
o Academics psychology, marketing, OB
o Health Psychology health promotion, stress management
o Organizational Psychology personnel selection, training
o Consumer Psychology advertising, marketing, sales, consumerism
o Political Psychology election polling, policy making
o Psychology and Law jury decision making, criminal justice
o Environmental Psychology urban planning, conservation
o Bargaining/Conflict Resolution negotiation, mediation
Cognitive dissonance making excuses because youre doing something wrong
History and Methods
o Norm Triplett (Coats and Feldman) did the first social psychology experiment
1897.
1
st
study recorded bicycle buff being with others releases extra energy
Dyamogenic factors in social facilitation when physically aroused, dominant
response is strengthened
Brain worry as amount of worry increases, pacing is difficult
Hypnotic suggestion wheels
Automatic movement
Shelter from the wind draft
Encouragement spirits up
Suction vacuum draft
Develops a fishing rod device; goes with social facilitation or failure
o History of Social Psychology
o Infancy
Tripletts experiment ( 1897)
1908 textbooks
1920 Floyd Allports social book excellent
o Adolescent
Sherif examines social norms ( 1935; 1936)
WWII shapes social psychology
Kurt Lewin founder (will be on the test)
B = f(P+e) interactionist perspective
Kurt Lewin
Behavior is a function of the person and the situation.
There is nothing so practical as a good theory.
No research without action and no action without research.
o Adulthood End of WWII
Golden period for Social Psych
Solve social problems
Topics related to war: prejudice, conformity, obedience, conflict resolution,
intergroup relations
1950s decade of the group
What can the individual do to not conform to the group
1960s consistency seekers
Cognitive dissonance and Leon Festinger
o Leon Festinger
Humans dislike inconsistency.
o Crisis 1960s and 1970s
Lab experiment (unethical, not applicable)
Low status of s.p. (relative to white coats)
Identity crisis (sociology vs. psychology)
o Today
Emphasis in cognition
Basic and applied research
Mostly lab experiments
More multicultural in scope
o Also Today
Greater Links with Business I/O, organizational behavior, management
Links with Neuroscience
o Ellen Bersheids Article ( from Coats and Feldman)
Three Main Points
Presence of Women
Centrality of Social in Psychology links to many other disciplines
Decrease in Funding Opportunities but still managing
First Bias
Self-serving bias the tendency to see ourselves more favorably han
we actually might be.
o better than average demo
Second Bias
I knew it all along phenomenon
Third Bias: Randomness
Imagine an urn with 10 balls in it, numbered 1-10; Choose 30 #s.