Social Psychology Notes PDF

✓What is Stress? Agenda ✓Effects of Stress on Health ✓Stress Management Social Psychology Chapter 13 The connected mind Page 499-530   Introduction to Social Psychology  First Impressions and Attributions  Attitudes and Persuasion Agenda  Prejudice...

✓What is Stress? Agenda ✓Effects of Stress on Health ✓Stress Management Social Psychology Chapter 13 The connected mind Page 499-530   Introduction to Social Psychology  First Impressions and Attributions  Attitudes and Persuasion Agenda  Prejudice and Stereotypes  Groups Why are humans so social? Humans need other humans  Earliest human ancestors lived in small social groups  Social interaction is a basic human need (e.g., attachment) Social isolation is detrimental  Poor sleep  Negative mood  Earlier mortality Social Psychology The scientific study of how people influence other people’s:  Behavior  Thoughts  Feelings  ✓Introduction to Social Psychology  First Impressions and Attributions Agenda  Attitudes and Persuasion  Prejudice and Stereotypes  Groups First impression  Formed rapidly (sometimes within seconds)  Long-lasting  …even in the face of contradictory information  A judgement about the cause of a person’s behavior Attribution  Why did that just happen? Attribution: Why did that just happen? Attribution  Dispositional (Internal) attribution: Personal qualities → Behavior  Situational (External) attribution: Environment → Behavior Correspondence Bias Correspondence bias Disposition → Behavior > Situational factors → Behavior Correspondence Bias Correspondence bias Disposition → Behavior > Situational factors → Behavior Defensive Attributions  Actor-observer bias: Tendency to make…  Situational attributions about our own behavior  Dispositional attributions about the behavior of others Defensive Attributions  Self-serving bias: Viewing our successes differently than our failures  Success = Dispositional attribution  Failure = Situational attribution Defensive Attributions  Just-world belief: Good things happen to good people, bad things happen to bad people.  Highly correlated with negative attitudes about:  Poor people  People with HIV/AIDS  The elderly  The unemployed  Cultural Influences on Attribution COLLECTIVISTIC CULTURES INDIVIDUALISTIC CULTURES More emphasis on situational More emphasis on dispositional factors factors More likely to show group- More likely to use self-serving serving bias bias and the just-world belief Cultural influence on attribution  ✓Introduction to Social Psychology ✓First Impressions and Attributions Agenda  Attitudes and Persuasion  Prejudice and Stereotypes  Groups Attitude Attitudes: Favorable or unfavorable evaluations that predispose behavior Positivity Positive Ambivalent Indifferent Negative Negativity Attitude Attitudes: Favorable or unfavorable evaluations that predispose behavior  Affect (i.e., emotion)  Behavior  Cognition How are attitudes formed? Personal experience Other people Observation Genetics Twin studies Attitude Cognitive Dissonance  The uncomfortable state when your behaviors don’t match your attitudes  Powerful tool for changing attitudes Cognitive Dissonance  Reducing Dissonance 1. Change one of the two cognitions/behaviors 2. Introduce a new cognition 3. Reduce importance domain Cognitive dissonance Get paid for $1 or $20 to tell another person that the task was fun Persuasion Persuasion: A change in attitude in response to information provided by another person The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM):  A model predicting response to persuasion through two routes:  Central route  Peripheral route Richard Petty The ELM and Persuasion  Central route: When a person considers persuasive arguments carefully and thoughtfully  Peripheral route: When a person responds to peripheral cues without considering the quality of the argument What Influences Persuasion?  ↑ Motivation → central  ↑ Education → central  ↑ Time → central  Emotions → peripheral  Characteristics of the person  How the message is communicated  Age of audience Persuasion and Social Media  How do people of different generations view the credibility of persuasive messages from professional vs. user-generated sources? Persuasion and Social Media  ✓Introduction to Social Psychology ✓First Impressions and Attributions Agenda ✓Attitudes and Persuasion  Prejudice and Stereotypes  Groups Key Terminology  Stereotype: Simplified sets of traits associated with group membership (cognition)  Prejudice: A pre-judgment or attitude (usually negative) towards a person based on group membership.  Discrimination: Unfair behavior based on stereotyping and prejudice Prejudice and stereotypes  Stereotype: “All blondes are dumb.”  Prejudice: “I don’t like this person because she is blonde.”  Discrimination: “I would never accept a blonde into my law school.” Sources of Prejudice and Stereotyping  Humans categorize information  Humans misjudge correlations between groups and their stereotypical behaviors  Direct experience  Learned from others  Emotional responses (amygdala) Outcomes of Prejudice Stereotype threat: Fear of confirming a negative group stereotype  Anxiety of confirming stereotype prevents you from doing your best work Stereotype Threat (Steele & Aronson, 1995) Measuring Prejudice  Implicit Association Test (IAT): uses reaction time to assess people’s unconscious attitudes  https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/  Bias does not necessarily mean Prejudice Reducing Prejudice  Increased contact  Increased cooperation  Expand definition of in-group  ✓Introduction to Social Psychology ✓First Impressions and Attributions Agenda ✓Attitudes and Persuasion ✓Prejudice and Stereotypes  Groups and Social Influence Why Do We Go Along With the Group? Social norms: rules for behavior in social settings  Example: stand at the back of the Starbucks line  Example: stand forwards facing in an elevator door Conformity: matching your behavior and appearance to the perceived social norms of a group Asch’s conformity study The Stanford Prison Study Why Do We Conform?  Useful in ambiguous situations  Reduce risk of rejection Compliance  Compliance: agreement with a request from a person with no perceived authority  Reciprocation: we feel obligated to give something back to people who have given something to us.  A POWERFUL tool for social influence How can we get people to comply?  Door-in-the-face:  A large, unreasonable demand is followed by a smaller one  Effective in gaining compliance through reciprocation How can we get people to comply?  Foot-in-the-door:  A small request is followed up by a larger request  Effective in gaining compliance through consistency How can we get people to comply?  Low balling: Making further requests of a person who has already committed to a course of action 78 79 80 Obedience  Compliance with the request of an authority figure.  Stanley Milgram’s Obedience Study  Would people administer near-lethal shocks to an innocent person? Milgram’s Obedience Study  Participant: “teacher”  Confederate: “learner”  Experimenter: “authority figure,” gives instructions  “Shocks” for wrong answers ▪ Effect of proximity (teacher-learner and teacher-experimenter) “Ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process. Moreover, even when the destructive effects of their work become patently clear, and they are asked to carry out actions incompatible with their fundamental standards of morality, relatively few people have the resources needed to resist authority.” Social Facilitation Social facilitation: The presence of other people changes individual performance Yerkes-Dodson law: The effect of arousal on performance depends on the complexity of the task  Simple tasks: Performance improves with arousal  Complex tasks: Performance improves at first, then becomes impaired as arousal continues to grow Social Loafing  The reduced motivation and effort shown by individuals working in a group as opposed to working alone Deindividuation  Immersion of the individual within a group, which makes the individual relatively anonymous. Group Polarization  The intensifying of an original attitude following discussion Why does this happen?  Conformity  Tendency to associate with similar people  New reasons for holding attitude Groupthink Group members suppress dissenting opinions in the interests of group cohesion.  ✓Introduction to Social Psychology ✓First Impressions and Attributions Agenda ✓Attitudes and Persuasion ✓Prejudice and Stereotypes ✓Groups Individual difference - Intelligence Chapter 10: Pages 392-395, 399 - 403  What is Intelligence? Types of Intelligence Agenda Measuring Intelligence Extremes of Intelligence  Who are some of the smartest people you know? What makes them smart? What is Intelligence? Intelligence is the ability to…  Understand complex ideas  Adapt effectively to the environment  Learn from experience  Engage in reasoning  Overcome obstacles The real answer? We don’t really know… ▪Differing opinions across the field ▪Overall, theories focus on either – ▪ Overall abilities ▪ Specific types of abilities ▪No one agrees upon a universal definition  ✓What is Intelligence? ✓Types of Intelligence Agenda Measuring Intelligence Extremes of Intelligence Spearman’s ‘g’ General intelligence (g): A measure of an individual’s overall intelligence  Positive correlations between different intellectual abilities ‘g’: Raymond B. Cattell  Fluid intelligence: Ability to think logically without using learned knowledge  Peaks in young adulthood  Crystallized intelligence: Ability to think logically using specific learned knowledge  Stable through adulthood General Intelligence Fluid Crystallized Intelligence Intelligence Spearman’s Two-Factor Theory  Every task requires a combination of ‘g’ and ‘s’  ‘g’ = general intelligence  ‘s’ = task-related skills ‘s’ ‘s’ ‘g’ ‘s’ ‘s’ Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory  Analytical Intelligence: Identify, define, and solve problems  Creative Intelligence: Generate novel solutions  Practical Intelligence: Apply and use solutions in everyday life Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences  People vary in their ability levels across different domains of intelligence Emotional Intelligence Emotional intelligence: Ability to reason about emotions and to use emotions to enhance reasoning  Higher emotional intelligence → More friends, better romantic relationships, happier Social Intelligence Social intelligence: Ability to interpret and navigate complicated social environments and relationships  Often hand-in-hand with emotional intelligence  Neither are typically included on standard IQ tests  Both can be trained! Beliefs Influence Intelligence  Growth mindset: Belief that you are capable of improving an ability  ✓What is Intelligence? ✓Types of Intelligence Agenda Measuring Intelligence Extremes of Intelligence Intelligence Test Binet-Simon Intelligence Test, 1904 Academic performance Intelligence Quotient (IQ) Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales (Terman, 1916)  BUT mental ages peaks at 16 on these tests… Intelligence Quotient (IQ)  Modern IQ scores are relative: 𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑢𝑎𝑙 ′ 𝑠 𝑇𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝐼𝑄 = × 100 𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑇𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑃𝑒𝑒𝑟𝑠 IQ Across the Lifespan  Relative IQ stays the same, absolute IQ changes  Modern IQ Tests  Stanford-Binet  Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)  Wechsler was described as “feebleminded” by early IQ tests  Tests various mental abilities Pros and Cons of IQ Tests Advantages Disadvantages  Strong correlations with  Low correlations with art and math and verbal skills design skills  Culture-free(?) tests available  Susceptible to bias from  Great predictor of success in culture, SES, etc. school  Doesn’t necessarily predict success in life  ✓What is Intelligence? ✓Types of Intelligence Agenda ✓Measuring Intelligence Extremes of Intelligence Where does intelligence come from?  Nature and Nurture!  Biological & genetic influences  Environmental influences Where does intelligence come from?  Genes might establish a certain range that our IQ is likely to be in  Environment may help determine the specific score that results Environmental Influences  Socioeconomic status (SES)  Poverty correlated with low IQ scores  Possible third variables:  Nutrition  Quantity/quality of education  Medical care  Breastfeeding  Stress Distribution of Intelligence  95% of population falls between 70 and 130  Remaining 5% has IQ 130 (gifted) Intellectual Disability (ID) Intellectual disability: Diagnosed in individuals with IQ scores < 70 and poor adaptive behaviors/life skills  *Formerly known as mental retardation  Affects 1-3% of the population Types of ID  Mild  IQ: 55-70  Usually results from environmental causes (e.g. poverty)  Can learn to live independently with proper intervention  Moderate  IQ: 40-55  Usually due to genetic or medical conditions (e.g. Down syndrome)  Usually require some assisted living Types of ID  Severe  IQ: 25-40  May learn a few words and adaptive behaviors  Require significant assistance  Profound  IQ: below 25  Will likely never function independently Giftedness Giftedness: Having an IQ score of 130 or above  Genius: giftedness + creativity and achievement  Challenges in traditional school system:  Need programs tailored to their abilities  ✓What is Intelligence? ✓Measuring Intelligence ✓Types of Intelligence Agenda ✓Sources of Intelligence ✓Extremes of Intelligence Individual difference - Personality Chapter 12: Pages 457-459; 465-476  What is Personality? Historical approaches to Personality Agenda Trait Theories Social-Cognitive Theories What is Personality? Personality: An individual’s characteristic style of behaving, thinking, and feeling How do we assess personality?  Two broad types of measures: 1. Personality inventories 2. Projective techniques  ✓What is Personality? Historical approaches to Personality Agenda Trait Theories Social-Cognitive Theories Historical Approaches Psychodynamic Behaviorist Humanistic Sigmund Freud  Famous for treating patients with hysteria (now known as somatic symptom disorder)  Created the “Psychodynamic” approach to psychology  Psychoanalysis – A treatment approach based on his psychodynamic theory. Sigmund Freud (1856 – 1939) Sigmund Freud Psychodynamic – A word describing how “psychic” energy moves among the compartments of the personality: Id, ego, and superego. Sigmund Freud (1856 – 1939) Parts of the Psyche Id – primitive pleasure-seeking drives Superego – the conscience; morality imposed by society Ego – the decider (the “self”); coordinates our desires with reality The Unconscious Mind  The part of mental activity that cannot be voluntarily retrieved Defense Mechanisms According to Freud – protective behaviors that reduce anxiety  E.g., Sublimation – channeling unacceptable urges into socially acceptable behaviors Behaviorist Approach  Emphasize learning  Personalities change over time  Response tendencies  Operant conditioning → Development of flexible responses to the environment that can appear trait-like BF Skinner (1904 – 1990) (operant conditioning guy) Humanistic Approach  Humans are unique  Psychology should focus on the study Abraham Maslow of exceptional people & why they succeed  Humans strive towards self- actualization (achieving one’s full potential) Carl Rogers  ✓What is Personality? ✓Historical approaches to Personality Agenda Trait Theories Social-Cognitive Theories What are some personality traits? Trait Theories  Trait: stable personality characteristic  E.g. honesty, pride, kindness, vanity, etc. Trait Theories of Personality  Trait theory started as a list of 4,500 words!!  Narrowed down to 16  Now, we have the Big 5 Theory The Big Five Theory  Openness  Conscientiousness  Extroversion  Agreeableness  Neuroticism  Relatively stable across lifetime  Accounts for most individual differences in personality Traits fall on a continuum… Low High The Big Five: Openness  Openness: appreciation for fantasy, feelings, actions, ideas, values, and aesthetics Low: High: Practical Curious Traditional Unconventional Conforming Imaginative The Big Five: Conscientiousness  Conscientiousness: competence, order, dutifulness, achievement striving, self-discipline, and deliberation Low: High: Unreliable Reliable Lazy Work hard Undependable Complete tasks on time The Big Five: Extroversion  Extroversion: warmth, gregariousness, assertiveness, activity, excitement seeking, and positive emotion Low: High: Reserved Gregarious Passive Assertive Reflective Seek excitement The Big Five: Agreeableness  Agreeableness: trustworthiness, altruism, trust, compliance, modesty, and tender mindedness Low: High: Cynical Trusting Uncooperative Altruistic Rude Compliant The Big Five: Neuroticism  Neuroticism: anxiety, angry hostility, depression, self- consciousness, impulsivity, and vulnerability Low: High: Calm Worried Secure Angry Emotionally-stable Self-conscious The Big Five: Do they work?  Highly reliable across cultures  Strong external validity with observed behavior  Criticisms:  5 traits are not enough to explain ALL of personality  Based on data, not theory  Usually relies on self-report (prosocial bias)  ✓What is Personality? ✓Historical approaches to Personality Agenda ✓Trait Theories Social-Cognitive Theories What would you do?  Situation Matters! Low Extroversion Low Conscientiousness High Extroversion Social-Cognitive Learning Theories  Emphasize the roles of the social environment Social-Cognitive Learning Theories  Personality is influenced by motivations, emotions, and cognitions  Influential social-cognitive learning theories:  Locus of control  Reciprocal determinism  If-then relationships Locus of Control  A person’s tendency to perceive the source of individual outcomes as either internal or external  Internal: In control of our own destiny (individual effort)  External: World will decide fate (chance, luck) Locus of Control - Behaviors  Internal locus of control:  More efficient stress management  Use seat belts more consistently  More likely to practice effective birth control Reciprocal Determinism  The person and the situation mutually influence each other  Observing behavior of others plays an important role in the development of personality Reciprocal Determinism  Self-efficacy: level of confidence you have in your abilities to gain reinforcement  High: leads to feeling like you will succeed  Low: leads to giving up or putting in less effort  Can be situation-specific If-Then Relationships  Behavior arises from how an individual interprets situations, not from traits  IF a certain situation is experienced, THEN a particular stable behavior emerges  ✓What is Personality? ✓Historical approaches to Personality Agenda ✓Trait Theories ✓Social-Cognitive Theories Psychological Disorders Page 547-581, 260-262  How Prevalent are Psychological Disorders?  An estimated 1 in 7 people in Hong Kong will experience a common mental disorder at any given time  Higher prevalence in young adults!  Lifetime prevalence: more than 70 % Comorbidity: Co-occurrence of two or more disorders in a single individual Have You Ever…  Felt depressed or down?  Been anxious about giving a presentation?  Been dissatisfied with your appearance?  Had trouble concentrating? Did you answer yes?  Congrats! You’re a human!  Medical Students’ Syndrome: Tendency for students to perceive themselves as having the symptoms of an illness they’re studying  Ask yourself:  Are my symptoms occasional or chronic?  Are my symptoms interfering with my life? Resources  Counseling and Wellness Center (https://counsel.hkust.edu.hk/page.php?section=Personal+Cou nseling&anchor=makeanappointment)  School Wellness Manager Vanessa at [email protected] or 2358-6955. Respect Person First Language How we refer to people with psychological disorders  A person with schizophrenia (not a schizophrenic person)  A child who has autism (not an autistic child)   “Abnormal” Psychology and Diagnosis  Neurodevelopmental Disorders  Schizophrenia  Major Depressive Disorder  Bipolar Disorder Agenda  Anxiety Disorders  Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Body Dysmorphic Disorder  Posttraumatic Stress Disorder  Eating Disorders “Abnormal” Psychology  The study of psychological disorders What is normality? Normal or Abnormal? Statistical Normal  Abnormal  ab = “away from”  norma = “the rule” Cultural Normal  Normality is culture dependent. What is Abnormal Behavior?  Abnormal behavior is…  Unusual  Distressing  Harmful to self or others What are psychological disorders? All psychological disorders are associated with a cluster of symptoms and these key elements:  Disturbances in behavior, thoughts, or emotions  Significant personal distress or impairment  Internal dysfunction (biological, psychological, or both) Diagnosing psychological disorders  Based on observable behavior and self- reported experience  Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5)  International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) Diagnosing Psychological Disorders  Promotes consistency in the diagnosis of psychological disorders  Why is it so important to have consistency? Problems with the DSM Differentiating normal from abnormal  “We’re all a little ‘crazy’” The manifestation of disorders often vary across individual; the DSM doesn’t take this into account  A set number of symptoms X, Y, Z, etc. are required  Your level of symptom X must meet threshold Y  Symptoms must last X number of months It’s not perfect, but it’s still useful! Why do psychological disorders develop? Biological Factors Environmental Factors  Genetics Poor socialization  Biochemical imbalances Stressful life circumstances  Structural brain abnormalities Cultural and social inequalities Psychological Factors  Maladaptive learning and coping Gene x Environment!  Cognitive biases  Dysfunctional attitudes  Interpersonal problems Why do psychological disorders develop?  The Diathesis-Stress Model Environmental Stress Environmental Stress Genetic Predisposition Genetic Predisposition  ✓“Abnormal” Psychology and Diagnosis  Neurodevelopmental Disorders  Schizophrenia  Major Depressive Disorder  Bipolar Disorder Agenda  Anxiety Disorders  Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Body Dysmorphic Disorder  Posttraumatic Stress Disorder  Eating Disorders Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)  Characterized by deficits in social relatedness and communication skills  Often accompanied by repetitive, ritualistic behavior  Key Symptoms:  Lack of social-emotional reciprocity  Unawareness of others’ perspectives  Trouble developing and maintaining relationships  Insistence on routine  Repetitive behaviors/rituals  Unusually increased/decreased sensitivity to stimuli  Restricted interests Prevalence of ASD  1 out of every 68 children  Boys: 1/42  Girls: 1/189 Causes of ASD  Biological  Genetics: 76-88% concordance rate in identical twins  Brain structure/connective abnormalities  Environmental  Parental age  Prenatal exposure to infection  Prenatal exposure to certain medications  Nutrition Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Characterized by either unusual inattentiveness, hyperactivity with impulsivity, or both Key Symptoms:  Inattention: Inability to focus on a task for an age- appropriate length of time  Hyperactivity: High level of motor activity  Impulsivity: Act without thinking  Prevalence of ADHD Global Prevalence Hong Kong Prevalence https://www.letstalkadhd.org.hk/adhd-statistic Causes of ADHD  Biological  Genetics: 70% concordance rate in twins  Structural/functional differences in the brain  Environmental  Lead contamination  Low birth weight  Prenatal exposure to tobacco, alcohol, or other drugs  ✓“Abnormal” Psychology and Diagnosis ✓Neurodevelopmental Disorders  Schizophrenia  Major Depressive Disorder  Bipolar Disorder Agenda  Anxiety Disorders  Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Body Dysmorphic Disorder  Posttraumatic Stress Disorder  Eating Disorders  Symptoms of Schizophrenia  Psychotic disorder characterized by positive and negative symptoms Key Positive Symptoms (+): Key Negative Symptoms (-): Delusions Emotional/Social Withdrawal Hallucinations Apathy Disorganized speech/behavior Avolition Delusions  Delusions: Unrealistic beliefs  Paranoia (persecution by others)  Grandiosity (feelings of power or importance)  Control (beliefs that others are directing one’s behavior)  Thought broadcasting  Thought insertion  Delusions of reference Hallucinations  Hallucinations: False perceptions  Auditory hallucinations are the most common Disorganized Speech Disorganized speech: Jump from topic to topic Disorganized motor Behavior Disorganized motor behavior  Ranges from unusually active to barely moving  Unusual grimaces and gestures  Catatonia – maintaining awkward or unusual body positions for hours at a time More Symptoms Emotional withdrawal: Failure to show typical outward signs of emotion (expressions, tone of voice) Causes of Schizophrenia  Biological  50% concordance rate in identical twins  Neural degeneration  Reduced frontal lobe activity  Dopamine hypothesis  Environmental  Extreme stress  Low SES  Prenatal exposure to viruses  Marijuana use Enlarged ventricles