PSY 251 - Social Psychology

1. Describe the basic methodology, results, and impact of seminal research studies in social psychology (e.g., Milgram’s study, Asch’s study, Festinger’s study, etc.)
2. Explain how the notion of the “self” contributes to cognitive processes in social interaction.
3. Identify the mechanisms behind attitude change and social persuasion
4. Describe the cognitive and affective theories/components linked to stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination.
5. Identify the basic properties of and factors involved in interpersonal attraction and the formation and maintenance of both individual and group relationships.
6. Compare and contrast different types of aggression and discuss research techniques for studying aggressive behaviors.
7. Identify factors that affect a person’s decision to help or not help other people.

Course Objectives:

Topic 1: Social Psychology:

1. Define social psychology as an approach to knowledge, discussing contemporary research trends.
2. Describe the relationship between evolution and social behavior.
3. Contrast the advantages and limitations of different methods of research: systematic observations, the survey method, the correlational method, the experimental method, and the use of inferential statistics and meta-analysis.
4. Define “theory” and describe the procedure involved in building theories.
5. Discuss how deception is used in social psychological research using informed consent and debriefing.

Topic 2: Social Cognition

1. Discuss what is meant by “social cognition” stating the purpose and function of schemas.
2. Show understanding of the concepts: self-fulfilling prophecy, use of heuristics, priming, and automatic processing and their use in social thought.
3. Examine our tendency to show a negativity bias, and also the prevalence of the optimistic bias.
4. Identify the effects of counterfactual thinking, “magical thinking,” and thought suppression may have on patterns of cognition and processing social information.
5. Consider how affect can influence cognition through mood-dependent memory, mood congruence effects, and the ways that cognition itself can influence affect.

Topic 3: Social Perception

1. Discuss the different aspects of social perception, by first describing nonverbal communication through eye contact and touching, and how facial expressions and body language can communicate emotion.
2. Define linguistic style and nonverbal cues relative to detecting deception.
3. Compare and contrast the key elements of theories of communication, the discounting and augmenting principles, and the attribution theory.
4. Discuss how attribution theory has been applied to the study of depression and sexual harassment in the workplace.
5. Discuss Asch’s research on central and peripheral traits in forming impressions, and how individual traits are implicit in personality theories.
6. List self enhancement tactics used in impression management, and its relationship with our cognitive load.

Topic 4: The Self

1. Understand the components of a person’s social identity, and how it be affected by social context.
2. Define the three types of self-awareness, and how we evaluate our self-esteem often using social comparison.
3. Discuss consequences of low versus high self-esteem, the gender differences in self-esteem, and how the self-evaluation maintenance model protects self-esteem.
4. Define the above-average effect and relate it to the self-serving bias.
5. Describe the impact of discrimination on views of the self, and stereotype threat.

Topic 5: Attitudes

1. Describe attitudes and their basic functions, and how acquired through learning and social comparison.
2. Outline the link between attitudes and behavior, and the theories of the attitude-behavior link. 
3. State the key factors of successful persuasion, such as systematic and heuristic processing, and how we may resist persuasion by discussing reactance, forewarning, selective avoidance, and biased assimilation.
4. Describe the experience of cognitive dissonance, how unpleasant for most individuals, and ways to reduce cognitive dissonance.

Topic 7: Stereotyping, Prejudice, and Discrimination

1. Contrast the key differences between stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination and tokenism.
2. Describe how schemas and negative emotions, illusory correlations, in-group differentiation, and out-group homogeneity all relate to the development of stereotypes.
3. Explain sexism, and how sexism and discrimination-particularly in the workplace-may still persist.
4. State why prejudice persists, how modern racism operates, and how realistic conflict theory helps understand prejudice.
5. Describe the effects of social categorization, and relevance of ultimate attribution error and social identity theory.
6. Understand how individuals cope with prejudice, and how the social learning view affects how a person develops attitudes about other racial or ethnic groups.
7. Consider how contact, recategorizations, cognitive interventions, collective guilt, and social influence can all be used to reduce prejudice.

Topic 8: Interpersonal Attraction and Close Relationships

1. Provide an overview of the key factors involved in interpersonal attraction.
2. Describe the key characteristics of need for affiliation and modes of expression including the influence of affect on attraction.
3. Understand how emotions, similarity and proximity can influence attraction, and how physical attractiveness is evaluated, including the role of the affect-centered model of attraction.
4. Note the key features of physical attractiveness including the effect of stereotypes on it.
5. Explain the repulsion hypothesis and highlight the key predictions of balance theory.
6. Outline the concept of interdependence and its relevance to parent-child and sibling relationships.
7. Describe the nature of close friendships, the functions of same-sex and opposite-sex friendships, and the parameters of loneliness.
8. Clarify how romantic relationships differ from close friendships, and how passionate love differs from unrequited and companionate love.
9. Explain Hendrick and Hendrick’s (1986) love styles and Sternberg’s (1986) triangular model of love.
10. Outline how sexuality and sexual practices have changed in past decades, and discuss the importance and role of similarity, assumed similarity, individual differences, and sexual interactions in a marriage.
11. Consider the benefits and challenges of marriage, how the concept of marriage has been changing, and give helpful ways married couples can resolve problematic issues.

Topic 10: Social Influence

1. Explain the differences between conformity, compliance, obedience, and symbolic social influence.
2. Explain and define “social norm” and its functions, and how social norms persist.
3. Contrast descriptive and injunctive norms, and also normative and informational social influence.
4. Consider how group size affects conformity, and how the minority can influence the majority.
5. List the six basic principles of compliance and the seven tactics used for gaining compliance.
6. Overview the various studies on obedience, the effects of destructive obedience, and social influence tactics which can be used in the workplace.

Topic 11: Prosocial Behavior

1. Explain the key difference between “prosocial behavior” and “altruism.”
2. Discuss situational factors that enhance or inhibit helping, and the choosing to help in an emergency.
3. Discuss the nature and development of empathy and outline other personality factors associated with prosocial behavior and the altruistic personality.
4. Contrast the following terms: egoism, self-interest, moral integrity, and moral hypocrisy.
5. Explain various motives for volunteering and delineate the four key hypotheses on motivations for prosocial behavior.

Topic 12: Aggression

1. Contrast the views of Freud, Lorenz, and evolutionary perspectives in terms of how aggression develops.
2. State the purpose and implications of the various models and theories of aggression including: the general aggression model, the disputed frustration-aggression hypothesis and the excitation transfer theory.
3. Discuss the linkage of societal violence to the media and to pornography, and how temperature and alcohol may influence aggression.
4. Define “cultures of honor,” discuss the issue of sexual jealousy, and the gender differences in aggression.
5. Identify individual causes of aggression by discussing the Type A behavior pattern, hostile and instrumental aggression, and the hostile attributional bias.
6. Discuss the characteristics and possible means of handling bullying behavior, and the handling of workplace violence.
7. Evaluate the veracity of the catharsis hypothesis, whether punishment can be an effective deterrent to violence, while identifying the various techniques useful to reducing aggression.

Topic 13: Groups and Individuals

1. Define what is meant by a “group,” and identify how roles, status, norms, and cohesiveness allow a group to function.
2. Define what is meant by “social facilitation,” and why social loafing and deindividuation occur.
3. Contrast the terms “cooperation” and “conflict,” and explain the dynamics of a social dilemma.
4. Discuss how reciprocity, personal orientations, and communication may encourage cooperation, and yet also cause conflicts.
5. Explain the importance of perceived fairness, perceived unfairness, and categories of justice in groups.
6. Discuss the nature and how both group polarization and groupthink may influence decision making, and how the devil’s advocate technique and authentic dissent may improve group decisions.