1. Social Cognition, Attitude, Conformity and Obedience
Social Psychology
Social Cognition, Attitude, Conformity and Obedience

2. Bell Ringer
If you could do anything humanly possible with complete assurance that you would not be detected or held responsible, what would you do?
Keep your responses anonymous.

3. objective Identify what social psychologists study.
Discuss how we tend to explain others’ behavior and our own.
Describe automatic mimicry, and explain how conformity experiments reveal the power of social influence.

4. Discussion
If a very good friend gets angry with you how would you explain his or her behavior?
If someone you have recently gotten to know walks by you in the hall but doesn’t say hello, what would you think about that person?
How do you explain poverty or unemployment?

5. Social Psychology Focus on same person, different situations
Social schemas – consistent perceptions
Top-down processing
Self-fulfilling prophecy
Attribution theory
Fundamental attribution error
Western vs. Asian culture
Personal reflection
Social and economic
Actor-observer bias
Self-serving bias
Just-world hypothesis
False-consensus effect

6. attitude ABC’s of attitude Peripheral v. central route persuasion
Affective – emotional
Behavioral – action
Cognitive – belief
Peripheral v. central route persuasion
Persuasion changes attitude = changed behavior
Attitude follows behavior
Foot-in-the-door phenomenon
Role playing morphs into real life
Phillip Zimbardo – Prison Exp.
Cognitive dissonance theory (Festinger, 1957)
Ex: US invasion of Iraq

7. Aggression Genetics Neural Biochemical Psychosocial Reinforcement
Found in twin studies
Neural
Amygdala, frontal lobe
Biochemical
Testosterone correlation
Psychosocial
Frustration-aggression principle
Reinforcement
Passive parents
Social scripts

8. Aggression Media – pg. 794 “We are what we repeatedly do.” Video games
Hostile
Desensitized
Dehumanized perceptions

9. Attraction Mere-exposure effect Reward Theory of Attraction
Familiarity breeds fondness
Survival value is hardwired; perception is key
Similarity breeds content
Reward Theory of Attraction
Adrenaline makes the heart grow fonder
Equity and self- disclosure are key

10. Social Cognition, Group Behavior, Prejudice and Discrimination
Social Psychology
Social Cognition, Group Behavior, Prejudice and Discrimination

11. Bell ringer Reading #38 – 40 Studies that changed psychology
Assignment – Conformity and Cults

12. Objective
Determine how our behavior is affected by the presence of others.
Describe how behavior is influenced by cultural norms.
Identify the social, emotional and cognitive roots of prejudice.

13. Conformity The chameleon effect  empathy = good and bad
Cultural truisms
Norms
Solomon Asch, why we conform
Normative social influence
Informational social influence
Cross-cultural = W. Europeans (ind.), Latin Am., Asia, Africa (group)

14. obedience Stanley Milgram brings controversy = stress, deception
Replication  Jerry Burger (2009) slight decrease
Historical examples
The Holocaust
The “Birkenhead drill”
Lesson learned…
“Do I adhere to my own standards or respond to others?”

15. The Presence of Others – the Good and the Bad
Social facilitation  arousal amplifies actions
Ex: the “home advantage”, crowding
Social loafing
men vs. women

16. Conflict Kitty Genovese (1964)
John Darley & Bibb Latane (1968) – the bystander effect
Happiness breeds helpfulness
Norms
Social exchange theory
Reciprocity norm
Social responsibility norm

17. Conflict: Causes and Resolutions
Mirror-image perceptions lead to self-fulfilling prophecy
Peace is promoted through contact, cooperation, communication and conciliation

18. The Presence of others – The good and the Bad
Adverse effects of SF/SL  deindividuation
Ex: tribal warriors, Internet bullies
Beliefs strengthen with group polarization
Separation+ Conversation = Polarization
Desire for harmony = group think

19. Discussion – Identifying Stereotypes
“Tide – My Tide TV Commercial – Tide Dad Short Version”
Very Funny Pepsi Commercial with Chinese Monks
Dr. Pepper 10 Commercial
“Old Spice – The Man Your Man Could Smell Like”

20. The roots of prejudice Prejudice = attitude Discrimination = behavior
Social
Ingroup/outgroup
Emotional
Scapegoat theory
Cognitive
Scapegoating and ethnocentrism