Return to module


Social Psychology I

INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY

    Define social psychology.

    Give examples of the types of questions social psychologists ask.

GROUP INFLUENCE

    Define norms and give examples of them.

Conformity: Going Along To Get Along

    Define conformity.

    Define informational influence.

    Define normative influence.

    Be prepared to discuss the normative and informational pressures that operate in the Asch paradigm.

    Give examples of situations where normative pressure is high or low.

    Give examples of situations where informational pressure is high or low.

    Be prepared to explain the effects that group size, stress, group cohesion, and self-confidence have on conformity.

    Be prepared to explain the effects that unanimity has on conformity

Obedience To Authority: Commands And Demands

    Give examples of positive obedience.

    Give examples of destructive obedience.

    Describe the Milgram procedure.

    Summarize Milgram's main findings.

Why obey?

    Explain the effects that power, entrapment, and personal responsibility have on obedience.

Reactions to the obedience studies

    Be able to defend or criticize the notion that Milgram's experiments have little relevance to modern society.

    Be prepared to discuss the ethics of Milgram's study.

Group Decisions

Group polarization

    Be able to describe what Stoner found in his group decision study.

    Define group polarization.

Informational influence

    Explain how informational influence can lead to group polarization.

Normative influence

    Explain how normative influence can lead to group polarization.

    Define social comparison.

Groupthink: When good people make bad decisions

    Define groupthink.

    Identify the four symptoms of groupthink.

    Explain how groupthink contributed to the Bay of Pigs incident and be prepared to apply groupthink to other "real world" situations.

SOCIAL THINKING

    Define social cognition.

Perceiving Other Persons

    Describe the Asch's impression formation procedure.

Forming impressions

    Summarize Asch's findings.

    Know what a central trait is.

    Describe the order effects Asch observed.

Social schemas

    Define a social schema.

    Describe the two perceptual problems schemas solve.

    Describe the ways in which schemas shape our perceptions of others. Be prepared to give examples.

    Describe how different situational framings alter perceptions.

Physical appearance and impression formation

    Describe the role that "baby-faced" features play in impression formation.

Making attributions

    Define attribution.

    Describe the functions attributions serve.

External versus internal causes

    Explain what it means to make an external attribution.

    Explain what it means to make an internal attribution.

The fundamental attribution error

    Describe the fundamental attribution error (or correspondence bias) and be prepared to give examples.

    Describe the effects that individualistic and collectivist cultures have on the fundamental attribution error.

Self-serving biases

    Define self-serving bias and give examples of it.

    Describe the relationship between the self-serving bias and attributions for success and failure.

Do attributions really matter?

    Define self-handicapping and give examples of it.

    Be prepared to explain the difference between an excuse and a self-handicapping behavior.

    Be able to defend or criticize the statement that "Attributions do not really matter."

    Describe the actor/observer effect.

    Describe the relationship between the actor/observer effect and the fundamental attribution error.

Interpersonal Attraction: Liking And Loving

Liking

    Be able to distinguish between liking and loving.

Proximity

    Describe the relationship between proximity and liking.

    Describe the mere exposure effect.

Similarity

    Describe the relationship between similarity and liking.

Appearance

    Describe the relationship between appearance and liking.

    Describe the instinct hypothesis of physical attraction.

    Be prepared to defend or criticize the instinct hypothesis of physical attraction.

Love

    Distinguish among caring, attachment, and intimacy.

Passionate love and companionate love

    Define passionate love.

    Define companionate love.

    Be prepared to defend or criticize the notion that "love" can be studied scientifically.

The triangular model of love

    Describe the three components of Sternberg's triangular model of love.

Attachment: The cradle of love?

    Define attachment styles.

    Be able to distinguish among secure, avoidant, and anxious-ambivalent attachment styles.

    Describe the effects these different attachment styles can have on adult romantic relationships.

Attitudes and Attitude Change

The ABCs of attitudes

    Define attitudes.

    Explain what it means to say that attitudes have affective, behavioral, and cognitive dimensions.

Persuasion: Changing attitudes

The communication approach to persuasion

    Summarize the communication approach to persuasion in a sentence.

    Describe the effects that source, message, and audience factors have on persuasion. Be prepared to give examples of each.

The cognitive approach to persuasion

    Describe the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) of persuasion.

    Distinguish between central and peripheral routes to persuasion.

    Give examples of communications that target the central route and communications that target the peripheral route.

Attitudes and behavior

    Describe LaPiere's study and be able to summarize his findings.

Asking the right questions — attitude specificity

    Be able to explain why general attitudes often fail to predict behaviors.

    Describe the roles that direct experience and self-relevance play in shaping the relationships between attitudes and behavior.

Balancing things out — cognitive dissonance

    Define cognitive dissonance.

    Describe the ways that balance can be restored.

    Be prepared to give examples of situations that are likely to produce dissonance.