Download Social Psychology

Social Psychology
Social psychology is the study of how people and groups interact. Scholars in this interdisciplinary area are
typically either psychologists or sociologists, though all social psychologists use both the individual and the
group as their subject to study. Their approach to the field focuses on the individual and attempts to explain
how other people influence the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of individuals. Psychologically oriented
researchers emphasize the immediate social situation and the interaction between the person and the situation.
Their research tends to be empirical and quantitative, and it is often centered around laboratory experiments.
Psychologists who study social psychology are interested in such topics as attitudes, social cognition, cognitive
dissonance, social influence, and interpersonal behaviors such as altruism and aggression.
Social psychology and sociology tend to differ in their goals, approaches, methods, and terminology. Social
psychology tends to focus on the way individuals think, act, and feel when around other people, where
sociology tends to focus on how groups think, act, and feel.
Objectives:
1. To describe how social psychology is unique from other fields of psychology.
2. To identify important psychologists in social psychology, and describe their experiments and their
findings.
3. To be able to use new vocabulary associated with social psychology.
4. To use important concepts of social psychology to explain why people think and behave in various
situations.
5. To watch video clips of Milgram’s and Zimbardo’s experiments and write a thoughtful reaction and
analysis of the experiments.
Assignments:
Read the textbook sections listed below and complete the 9 x 12 chart that was started in class. Your chart
should be labeled as follows and each box should be equal in size.
Concept
Definition Psychologist Experiment
Findings
Real World Important
Examples
Concepts
Conformity
Obedience
Group
Behavior &
Altruism
Moral
Development
Perception &
Attraction
Attitudes &
Prejudice
Aggression
& Authority
Reading Assignments to Take Notes On:
 Chapter 21, Sections 2,3 (pg. 484-489) Conformity and Obedience
Due: ________________
 Chapter 21, Sections 1,5 Group behavior (pg. 480-484), Altruism (494-495), Moral Development (246-247)
Due: ________________
 Chapter 21, Section 4
(pg. 490-492) Authority and Aggression
Due: ________________
 Chapter 20, Sections 1,3 (pg. 460-462, 465-468) Attitudes and Prejudice
Due: ________________
 Chapter 20, Sections 4,5 (pg. 468-475) Attraction, Perception
Due: ________________