Psychology 001Introduction to Psychology

Christopher Gade, PhDOffice: 621 Heafey

Office hours: F 3-6 and by apt. Email: gadecj@gmail.com

Class WF 7:00-8:30 Heafey 650

In Class Activity For the next five minutes, we will

split the class into halves and have you write mini-essays. I’ll detail the specifics now.

The world of social psychology Social psychologists examine the world from a

number of angles. Their goal is to study the interaction of people with and within their environment. This can be done in a number of different ways.

The next few classes will cover some of the major perspectives taken by social psychologists in today’s world. Forming perceptions of others Developing opinions and changing these opinions The influence of others on us and the group The effects of influence on society and its extremes

Forming perceptions of others

There are a number of critical questions that are raised when discussing the formation of perceptions. When are these perceptions formed? Do we form perceptions of groups in the

same way that we form perceptions of individuals?

Can and how do we change these perceptions?

Are our perceptions of others formed in the same way as our perceptions of ourselves?

When are our perceptions ofothers formed?

Primacy effect – the first information learned about someone influences us more that later information This means that first

impressions are very important.

Why is this the case? Self-fulfilling prophecies –

expectations that change one’s own behavior in such a way as to increase the probability of the predicted event. The beautiful people example The Pygmalion effect

11:50-13:50

Stereotypes and Prejudices In the same way that we form perceptions of

individuals, we also form perceptions of groups. Stereotypes – a generalized belief or expectation

about a group of people. Stereotypes can be both bad and good. Stereotypes are often beneficial and necessary.

Prejudice – an unfavorable attitude toward a group of people.

Prejudices can be based on almost anything imaginable and be learned in a very short period of time.

5:47-11:48 Discrimination – unequal treatment of different groups.

OR

OR

How do we detect andovercome prejudices?

Some implicit measures have been used to get at prejudices that are not seen as socially acceptable. IAT (we already discussed this in the last section

of class)

Despite the predominance of prejudices in our society, researchers have contended that there are ways to reduce the influences of prejudices in our society. More exposure Common goals

Robber’s cave example

So how do we form perceptions of others and ourselves?

Attributions - the set of thought processes we use to assign causes to behavior. Internal attributions –

explaining behaviors based on the internal characteristics of the person in question.

External attributions – explaining behaviors based on the situation and surrounding environment.

Attribution tendencies we have when describing the behavior of

others? Fundamental

attribution error – our tendency to attribute behaviors to internal attributions when looking at the behaviors of others. Pro/Anti-Castro

essay example Differences

amongst cultures 1:50-5:00

Is our attribution tendencies different for ourselves?

Actor-observer effect – the tendency to make internal attributions for others, while making external attributions for ourselves. This actor effect can be found in the

descriptions of familiar others as well. Self/Family Member/Walter Cronkite

example

Self-serving bias – the tendency to attribute personal failures to the situation, while attributing personal successes to the ourselves.

So what have we learned? How and when perceptions of others

are formed.

The shortcomings of and ways to reduce the pervasiveness of these perceptions.

Our attribution tendencies of ourselves and others.

In the next class… Attitudes,

persuasion, and conformity.

Note: there’s additional information about attraction and altruism in the book, if you’re interested, read about it.