Social Psychology Comprehensive

Topics B list Topic list: 1. Roots and history of modern social psychology. Dominant approaches in the US and Europe 
 2. Gestalt school in social Psychology 
 3. Behaviorism in social psychology 
 4. Cognitive social psychology: information processing and motivated social 
 cognition 
 5. Economic approach in social psychology 
 6. Societal, cross- cultural and cultural social psychology 
 7. Evolutionary approach to social psychology 
 1 Topic 1 Roots and history of modern social psychology. Dominant approaches in the US and Europe Roots of social psychology The first social psychology study was published in 1898 by Norman Triplett and it was on the phenomenon of social facilitation. It was around this time that modern social psychology emerged from the United States, but the field already had a solid foundation prior to this. An important character in social psychology during the early 20th century was William McDougall. He wrote several books about psychology, and he was important in developing the theory of instinct and social psychology itself. Contrary to most Anglo-American psychologists in his time, he was an opponent of behaviourism but he was still respected for his work. 
 Hormic psychology: Approach developed by McDougall which opposed behaviourism and argued that most behaviour was goal-oriented and purposive.
 In the theory of motivation, McDougall claimed that individuals are motivated by a number of inherited instincts rhat they might not be in control of or even aware of. In 1908, McDougall published his book “An introduction to social psychology”. Edwin Alsworth Ross(1886-1951) was a sociologist who worked in the United states until he retired in 1937, and he was a quite controversial character. He openly expressed opinions supporting racism and sterilization as a punishment for crime. He also supported the alcohol prohibition, eugenics and immigration restriction. He wrote many works, one of them being “Social psychology: an outline and guide book” which was published in 1908. Norman Triplett(1861-1931): The first to publish a study in social psychology, it originated from the fact that he noticed that cyclists would have faster times when they had an opponent as opposed to when cycling alone. He tested this in a laboratory experiment, which ended up being the one he published in 1908. Maximillien Ringelmann(1861-1931): French professor of agricultural engineering who is mostly famous for discovering the “Ringelmann effect” which states that when working in a group, the average performance decreases as the number of individuals in the group increases. This can be explained by loss of motivation which can be solved using the following methods: increasing identifiability, minimizing free-riding, setting goals and increasing involvement. Loss of coordination can also contribute to the Ringelmann effect. Crowd psychology: A branch of social psychology that focuses on how the psychology of a crowd differs from that of the individual. Gustave LeBon was one of the major names within this branch, and he held that crowds existed in three stages; submergence, contagion and suggestion. During submergence, group members lose their sense of individual self and personal responsibility, and this is caused by the anonymity of the group. Contagion refers to the stage where the group members willingly and without question follow the predominant ideas and emotions of the crowd. According to LeBon, this effect is capable of spreading between submissive people much like a disease (hence the name). Suggestion refers to the stage where the ideas and emotions of the crown are primarily drawn from a shared racial unconscious. 2 LeBon thought that groups could be a powerful source of destruction, and he as well as others indicated that group members were less likely to feel a sense of legal culpability (which is quite well established these days). National identity (Note: I couldn’t find anything on “nation characterology but I believe it is the same as national identity): Defined by Rupert Emerson as “a body of people who feel that they are a nation”. This was endorsed by Henri Tajfel who formulated the social identity theory together with John Turner. Psychoanalytic approach to social psychology: Freud’s crowd behaviour theory consists of the idea that becoming a member of a group unlocks the unconscious mind, which occurs because the superego (moral center of consciousness) is displaced by the large crowd and replaced with a charismatic leader. Similar to McDougall, he thought that the overall shared emotional experience is likely to be a primitive one because it reverts to the least common denominator. Behaviourist approach: Behaviourism holds that behaviour is learned from observation and that the learner has a passive role, while in social psychology (ex. Social learning theory) it is a crucial point that the learner takes an active role in learning behaviour because we can choose what to learn and we can choose when/where to reproduce the behaviour. Gestalt approach: Kurt Lewin was instrumental in introducing Gestalt ideas to social psychology, such as social cognition (how people store, process and apply information about people and social situations). He incorporated the Gestalt principle of holism into social psychology and stated that the behaviour can only be understood within the context of the perceived “field” in which they find themselves. Behaviour is not only a reflection of who we are, but also where we are. Lewin wanted researchers to seek to understand the individual’s construct of reality. These tenets helped lay the foundation on which social cognition and research in the field was built. The effect of Nazism and WWII on social psychology: The Second World War is a fascinating topic within social psychology and it sparked many questions about human nature; how was Hitler able to gather such a massive following? How was it possible for regular people to commit gruesome acts of murder and torture? The (in)famous Milgram experiment was inspired by the question on how willing people were to follow the orders of an authority figure and whether people were so willing to listen to authority that they would do things they would never decide to do on their own. Theodor W. Adorno(1903-1969): German philosopher and sociologist who collaborated on influential studies of authoritarianism, antisemitism and propaganda which would later serve as models for sociological studies carried out by Institute in post-war Germany. He also produced a series of influential works on psychological fascist traits. Samuel A. Stouffer(1900-1960): American Sociologist and developer of survey research techniques. In 1949 Stouffer and a distinguished team of social scientists surveyed over half a million American soldiers with over 200 questionnaires in order to determine their attitudes on a variety of topics relevant to the war. Stouffler and his colleagues developed the concept of “relative deprivation” which states that one determines one’s status based on a comparison against others. In the summer of 1954, 500 interviewers under Stouffer’s supervision polled a cross section of over 6000 Americans in order to determine their attitudes on nonconformist behaviour. Carl I. Hovland(1912-1961): Psychologist who studies mainly attitude change and persuasion. Hovland collaborated with Janis to create the theory of groupthink (A psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity 3 in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome), which he is most famous for. He also developed the social judgement theory (The perception and evaluation of an idea by comparing it with current attitudes) of attitude change. Cognitive approach: Focuses on the role that cognitive processes play in interactions. Social cognition came to prominence with the rise of cognitive psychology in the late 1960’s/early 1970’s and it is now the dominant model and approach in social psychology, concepts such as schemas, attributions, and stereotypes are examples of well-established concepts in social psychology which are all cognitive processes. Dominant approaches in Europe and the US: There is a difference, even if not very pronounced, between European and American social psychologists; Generally, American psychologists have focused mostly on the individual, whereas European psychologists have been more focused on group level phenomena. Henri Tajfel(1919-1982): Most famous for developing the Social Identity Theory. Tajfel (1979) proposed that the groups (e.g. social class, family, football team etc.) which people belonged to were an important source of pride and self-esteem. Groups give us a sense of social identity: a sense of belonging to the social world. John Turner(1929-present): Developed the Self-categorization theory (Theory that describes the circumstances under which a person will perceive collections of people (including themselves) as a group, as well as the consequences of perceiving people in group terms.) as a companion theory to the Social Identity Theory. Serge Moscovici(1925-2014): French social psychologist who focused on group psychology, and is most famous for studying the minority influence. His study “Influences of a consistent minority on the responses of a majority in a colour perception task” is now seen as one of the defining investigations into the effects of minority influence. In the study, participants were placed in groups which has 4 participants and two confederates. They were shown 36 slides of different shades of blue, and were then asked to state the colour of the slide. There were two groups; one where the confederates were consistent in giving the wrong answer, and one group where they were inconsistent. Overall, 32% of the participants agreed to the wrong answer at least once. The study suggested that minorities can indeed exert an effect over the opinion of a majority. Not to the same degree as majority influence, but the fact that almost a third of people agreed at least once is significant. Steven D. Reicher: His social identity model of crowd behaviour suggests that people are able to act as one in crowd events not because of 'contagion' or social facilitation but because they share a common social identity. This social identity specifies what counts as normative conduct Modern approaches to social psychology Social Neuroscience: Recent studies have shown that damages to the brain tissue can affect one’s cognitive processes. Depending on where the damage occurs it can affect a wide range of things like language, emotions etc. (Famous example – Phineas Gage) and disrupt social cognitive processes. Psychological disorders such as autism, PTSD, psychosis, mood disorders and so on show differences in social behaviours compared to their peers. This is an increasingly popular approach to social psychology. Evolutionary psychology: A theoretical approach to psychology that examines psychology from a modern evolutionary perspective and it seeks to identify which human psychological traits are evolved adaptations. Evolutionary psychologists hold that behaviours or traits that occur 4 universally in all cultures are good candidates for evolutionary adaptations including the abilities to infer others' emotions, discern kin from non-kin, identify and prefer healthier mates, and cooperate with others. Replication: Social psychology has recently found itself in a bit of a “replication crisis”, where some psychological findings are proving very difficult to replicate. Questionable Research Practices(QRP) have been identified in the field, while not necessarily intentionally fraudulent, involve converting undesirable outcomes into desired outcomes by manipulating the statistical analyses, sample size or data management, most often to convert non-significant findings into significant ones. A lesser contributor to the current crisis is several recent scandals involving fraudulent research, for example the fabricated data by Diedrik Stapel. Several effects in social psychology have proven difficult to replicate even before the crisis, For example, the scientific journal Judgment and Decision Making has published several studies over the years that fail to provide support for the unconscious thought theory. Replications appear particularly difficult when research trials are pre-registered and conducted by research groups not highly invested in the theory under questioning. Topic 2 Gestalt school in social Psychology As nazi domination spread across Europe in the 1930s, a number of psychologists fled their homelands to continue distinguished scientific careers in North America. This influx og European researchers consolidated social psychology´s special emphasis on how people interpret the world and how they are influenced by others. Most European researchers were trained not in the behaviorist tradition that was prominent in North America, but in gestalt theory, which sought to understand the rules underlying the organization of perception. This school of thought took for granted the role cognitive processes play in interpretations of the social world. Around the same time, researcher became increasingly impressed by anthropologists´accounts of the pervasiveness of cultural influences on people´s thoughts and behavior. It fell to social psychologists to identify the mechanisms by which such influences occurred, and they soon developed techniques to perform realistic studies of complex social influences in the laboratory. Muzafer Sherif´s elegant experiments for example, showed that a social group can influence even a person´s perception and interpretation of physical reality. 
 -Revelations of nazi genocide led a horrified world to ask questions about the roots of prejudice (Adorno, Brunswik, Levinson and Sanford). 
 -It is actually said that the one person who had the most impact on the development of social psychology in North America is Hitler. 
 -Social psychologists flocked to applied research willingly, realizing that they would be able to develop and test general theories of behavior, even as they solved practical problems. 
 -During this crucial period of research and theory building, the work of one social psychologist in particular embodied in the themes that characterized the young discipline. Kurt Lewin, one of the scientists who had fled Hitler, held that all behavior depends on the individual´s life space, which he defines as a subjective map of the individual´s current goals and his or her social environment. 
 -Gestalt psychologists also fought strongly against the behaviorist view that mental processes should not be studied because they cannot be observed (Moskowitz, 2005). They were among the first in the field to focus on cognition and though their emphasis was primarily on object perception, many of their principles (e.g. the principle of figure-and-ground) have been applied in social cognition to aid in our understanding of person perception. It is important to note also that the criticisms which Gestalt psychologists leveled against the behaviorists helped to spark the cognitive revolution which further paved the way for the development of social cognition. 5 -Kurt Lewin was particularly instrumental in carrying Gestalt ideas over into social psychology and, by extension, social cognition (Barone, Maddux & Snyder, 1997). In his famous ‘field theory,’ he incorporated the Gestalt principle of holism, stating that individuals’ behavior can only be understood within the context of the subjectively perceived ‘field’ in which they find themselves (Moskowitz, 2005). Behavior is therefore a reflection not only of the person but also of the situation, not merely a result of who we are but also where we are. Lewin was an advocate of the Gestalt method of phenomenology, arguing that researchers should seek to understand the individual’s construction of reality, their unique subjective world (Fiske & Taylor 1991). These main tenets, which grew out of the Gestalt tradition, helped to lay the foundation upon which social cognition and research in the field was built. -In the early part of the 20th century, Max Wertheimer published a paper demonstrating that individuals perceived motion in rapidly flickering static images—an insight that came to him as he used a child’s toy tachistoscope. Wertheimer, and his assistants Wolfgang Köhler and Kurt Koffka, who later became his partners, believed that perception involved more than simply combining sensory stimuli. This belief led to a new movement within the field of psychology known as Gestalt psychology. The word gestalt literally means form or pattern, but its use reflects the idea that the whole is different from the sum of its parts. In other words, the brain creates a perception that is more than simply the sum of available sensory inputs, and it does so in predictable ways. Gestalt psychologists translated these predictable ways into principles by which we organize sensory information. As a result, Gestalt psychology has been extremely influential in the area of sensation and perception (Rock & Palmer, 1990).
 The gestalt principles:
 -Law of similarity: holds that a person can normally recognize stimuli that has physical resemblance at some degree as part of the same object.
 -Law of proximity: states that humans perceive stimuli that are close to each other by grouping them and recognizing them as part of the same object. Enables us to group elements together into larger sets. It also relieves us from processing so many small stimuli. 
 -Law of closure: the idea that the brain tends to perceive forms and figures in their complete appearance despite the absence of one or more of their parts. 
 -Law of symmetry: states that the mind perceives objects as being symmetrical and forming around a centerpoint. 
 -Law of common fate: states that objects are perceived as lines that move along the smoothest path.
 -The law of continuity: states that the elements of objects tend to be grouped together, and therefore integrated into perceptual wholes if they are aligned within an object. 
 -Law of good gestalt/the law of Pragnanz: explains that elements of objects tend to be perceptually grouped together if they form a pattern that is regular, simple and orderly. This law implies that as individuals perceive the world, they eliminate complexity and unfamiliarity so they can observe a reality in its most simplistic form. 
 -Law of past experience: implies that under some circumstances visual stimuli are categorized according to past experience. Kurt lewin: 
 -The father of social psychology. 
 -He was the doctoral supervisor to Festinger; who gave the world the social comparison theory and cognitive dissonance theory. 
 -Lewin not only adapted Gestalt principles but further applied them to a theory of personality and development into what is now known as the Psychological Field Theory. He translated Gestalt philosophy into social experience involving people who should be considered as wholes instead of being composed of discrete parts. A person is presented as a whole system consisting of subsystems that are somewhat separate yet are still capable of interacting and combining with each other.
 -Kurt Lewin is commonly identified as the founder of the movement to study groups scientifically. He coined the term group dynamics to describe the way groups and individuals act and react to changing circumstances. 
 -It is not an exaggeration to say that Kurt Lewin had a profound impact on a generation of researchers and thinkers concerned with group dynamics. Brown argues that two key ideas emerged out of field 6 theory that are crucial to an appreciation of group process: interdependence of fate, and task interdependence. -Interdependence of fate. Here the basic line of argument is that groups come into being in a psychological sense ‘not because their members necessarily are similar to one another (although they may be); rather, a group exists when people in it realize their fate depends on the fate of the group as a whole’. 
 -Task interdependence. Interdependence of fate can be a fairly weak form of interdependence in many groups, argued Lewin. A more significant factor is where there is interdependence in the goals of group members. In other words, if the group’s task is such that members of the group are dependent on each other for achievement, then a powerful dynamic is created.
 
 -One of the most interesting pieces of work in which Lewin was involved concerned the exploration of different styles or types of leadership on group structure and member behaviour. This entailed a collaboration with Ronald Lippitt, among others. They looked to three classic group leadership models – democratic, autocratic and laissez-faire – and concluded that there was more originality, group- mindedness and friendliness in democratic groups. In contrast, there was more aggression, hostility, scapegoating and discontent in laissez-faire and autocratic groups. Lewin concludes that the difference in behaviour in autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire situations is not, on the whole, a result of individual differences.  -Despite the valuable contribution made by Gestalt psychology to social cognition, that approach was not enough to stimulate the emergence of social cognition as we know it today. Gestalt theories were limited inasmuch as they related more to inanimate objects than to people and described mental processes as passive rather than active. The constructivist movement, however, picked up where the Gestalt tradition left off. 
 Solomon Asch - Conformity Experiment Asch believed that the main problem with Sherif's (1935) conformity experiment was that there was no correct answer to the ambiguous autokinetic experiment.  How could we be sure that a person conformed when there was no correct answer?  Asch (1951) devised what is now regarded as a classic experiment in social psychology, whereby there was an obvious answer to a line judgment task.  If the participant gave an incorrect answer it would be clear that this was due to group pressure. Aim: Solomon Asch (1951) conducted an experiment to investigate the extent to which social pressure from a majority group could affect a person to conform. Procedure: Asch used a lab experiment to study conformity, whereby 50 male students from Swarthmore College in the USA participated in a ‘vision test.’ Using a line judgment task, Asch put a naive participant in a room with seven confederates. The confederates had agreed in advance what their responses would be when presented with the line task.  The real participant did not know this and was led to believe that the other seven participants were also real participants like themselves. 7 https://www.simplypsychology.org/conformity.html Each person in the room had to state aloud which comparison line (A, B or C) was most like the target line. The answer was always obvious.  The real participant sat at the end of the row and gave his or her answer last. There were 18 trials in total, and the confederates gave the wrong answer on 12 trails (called the critical trials).  Asch was interested to see if the real participant would conform to the majority view. Asch's experiment also had a control condition where there were no confederates, only a "real participant." Results: Asch measured the number of times each participant conformed to the majority view.  On average, about one third (32%) of the participants who were placed in this situation went along and conformed with the clearly incorrect majority on the critical trials. Over the 12 critical trials, about 75% of participants conformed at least once, and 25% of participant never conformed. In the control group, with no pressure to conform to confederates, less than 1% of participants gave the wrong answer. Conclusion: Why did the participants conform so readily?  When they were interviewed after the experiment, most of them said that they did not really believe their conforming answers, but had gone along with the group for fear of being ridiculed or thought "peculiar."  A few of them said that they really did believe the group's answers were correct.
 
 Apparently, people conform for two main reasons: because they want to fit in with the group (normative influence) and because they believe the group is better informed than they are (informational influence). 8 Topic 3 Behaviorism in social psychology Influence in social psychology (methodological): - Psychology as the behaviorist views it is a purely objective experimental branch of natural science. Its theoretical goal is the prediction and control of behavior. Introspection forms no essential part of its methods, nor is the scientific value of its data dependent upon the readiness with which they lend themselves to interpretation in terms of consciousness - No fundamental (qualitative) distinction between human and animal behavior. Therefore, research can be carried out on animals as well as humans - While behaviorists often accept the existence of cognitions and emotions, they prefer not to study them, as only observable (external) behavior can be objectively and scientifically measured. Therefore, internal events, such as thinking should be explained through behavioral terms The roots of behaviorism 9 The behaviorist movement began in 1913 when John Watson wrote an article entitled 'Psychology as the behaviorist views it,' which set out a number of underlying assumptions regarding methodology and behavioral analysis. Behaviorism refers to a psychological approach which emphasizes scientific and objective methods of investigation. The approach is only concerned with observable stimulus-response behaviors, and states all behaviors are learned through interaction with the environment. John B. Watson was an American psychologist who established the psychological school of behaviorism (which was largely centered in the USA). Through his behaviorist approach, Watson conducted research on: animal behavior, child rearing, and advertising. He also conducted the controversial “Little Albert” experiment 
 (controlled experiment showing empirical evidence of classical conditioning in humans. The aim was to condition a phobia in an emotionally stable child. For this method, they chose nine- month old Albert from a hospital, and they followed the same procedures which Pavlov had used in his experiments with dogs.) Watson’s famous statement: “Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select – doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors. I am going beyond my facts and I admit it, but so have the advocates of the contrary and they have been doing it for many thousands of years” Black box theory Mind is inaccessible and what’s going on inside of mind is also irrelevant, sealed and closed. The only way we know what’s going on in the mind is to look at observable behavior, which is primarily determined by environmental contingencies (input) that are coming in as stimulus. This influence behavior, and gets (which can be good/bad), and this experience gets stored in “the black box” and affects response to future stimuli. (S-R) theories are central to the principles of conditioning. They are based on the assumption that human behavior is learned. One of the early contributors to the field, American psychologist Edward Thorndike postulated The Law of Effect which stated that those behavioral responses (R) that were most closely followed by a satisfactory result were most likely to become established patterns and to reoccur in response to the same stimulus (S). This basic S-R scheme is referred to as unmediated. When an individual organism (O) affects the stimuli in any way—for example, by thinking about a response—the response is considered mediated. The S-O- R theories of behavior are often drawn to explain social interaction between individuals or groups. Classical conditioning/Pavlovian conditioning: Reactions can be required by associating one stimulus with another 
 - Two conditions: 
 1. (Unconditioned) Response must occur reliably and automatically whenever the stimulus occurs. Reflex: when you touch a hot oven, you pull your hands away. Some are learned, some are innate. 
 2. (Conditioned) The stimulus in the reflex must become associated in time and place with another stimulus. Second stimulus is usually neutral at first. 
 10 - Conditioned response: a behavior that does not come naturally, but must be learned by the individual by pairing a neutral stimulus with a potent stimulus. The potent stimulus is one that does not require any learning or conditioning to respond to appropriately. Correct response has to be learned through repeated pairings with a potent stimulus Hovland’s contribution to behaviorism/social psychology: ! Psychologist working primarily at Yale university, and for the US army during world war II - Studied attitude change and persuasion - Sleeper effect: when people are exposed to a persuasive message followed by a discounting cue, people tend to be more persuaded over time - revolutionized persuasive research - “Measuring attitudes and investigating factors involved in attitude change” - SMCR model: source, variables, message variables, channel variables, receiver variables. Hovland employed experimental research in his studies, and was therefore able to trace causality between variables. Osgood’s stimulus-response theory In order to understand Osgood’s theory, you need to think of a specific person in a specific situation. In this case, imagine a young father named Tom, with his daughter by a lake. Suddenly there’s a noise of thunder. Osgood says that Tom will process the thunder on three separate levels: 1. The first and most basic process level is raw sensation. Tom hears the sudden crack of static discharge in the atmosphere and experiences a reflexive tightening in the muscles of his stomach. This is a classic stimulus-response (S- R) reaction 2. Perception takes place on the second process level. The perceptual process integrates the input of our ears, eyes, nose, throat, and skin with our past experience. In that sense, perceiving reflects not what is, but what we expect it to be. 3. From watching a hundred thunderstorms over the course of his life, Tom has developed the expectation that dark rolling clouds, lightning, thunder, and driving rain go together. He makes this association because these natural phenomena often all occur at roughly the same time. That’s why he won’t let his daughter swim in the lake when he hears rumbling from the sky. The sound won’t hurt her, but a high-voltage discharge could easily kill. Social learning theory  Albert Bandura was influential in the transition between behaviorism and cognitive psychology. He is known as the originator of social learning theory and the theoretical construct self- efficacy, and is also responsible for the influential 1961 Bobo doll experiment. Banduras theory of learning and social behavior proposes that new behaviors can be acquired by observing and imitating others. It states that learning is a cognitive process that takes place in a social context and can occur purely through observation or direct instruction, even in the absence of motor 11 12 Topic 3 Cognitive social psychology: information processing and motivated social cognition - consistency theories 
 - the mind as a computer 
 - the mind as an associative network 
 - schema, mental representations Consistency Theories: Cognitive consistency theories have their origins in the principles of Gestalt psychology, which suggests that people seek to perceive the environment in ways that are simple and coherent (Kohler 1929). Cognitive consistency theories have their beginnings in a number of seemingly unrelated research areas (Eagly and Chaiken 1993). Early consistency theorists drew upon theories of conflict (Lewin 1935; Miller 1944), memory (Miller 1956), and the intolerance for ambiguity by those with an authoritarian personality (Adorno, Frenkel-Brunswick, Levinson, and Stanford 1950). According to Newcomb (1968a), social scientists should not have been surprised at the rise of cognitive consistency theories. He points to a truism that in any field of scientific inquiry, there is an inevitable movement from description of the elements of the field, to understanding the relationships between them. At the heart of cognitive consistency theories is the assumption that people are motivated to seek coherent attitudes, thoughts, beliefs, values, behaviors, and feelings. If these are inconsistent, they will produce a ”tension state” in the individual, and motivate the individual to reduce this tension. Individuals reduce this tension, according to consistency theories, by making their relevant cognitions consistent The Mind as a computer: Cognitive psychology sees the individual as a processor of information, in much the same way that a computer takes in information and follows a program to produce an output. Cognitive psychology compares the human mind to a computer, suggesting that we too are information processors and that it is possible and desirable to study the internal mental / mediational processes that lie between the stimuli (in our environment) and the response we make. Basic Assumptions The information processing approach is based on a number of assumptions, including: (1) information made available by the environment is processed by a series of processing systems (e.g. attention, perception, short-term memory); (2) these processing systems transform or alter the information in systematic ways; (3) the aim of research is to specify the processes and structures that underlie cognitive performance; (4) information processing in humans resembles that in computers. The development of the computer in the 1950s and 1960s had an important influence on psychology and was, in part, responsible for the cognitive approach becoming the dominant approach in modern psychology (taking over from behaviorism). 
 The computer gave cognitive psychologists a metaphor, or analogy, to which they could compare human mental processing. The use of the computer as a tool for thinking how the human mind handles information is known as the computer analogy. 
 Essentially, a computer codes (i.e. changes) information, stores information, uses information, and produces an output (retrieves info). The idea of information processing was adopted by cognitive psychologists as a model of how human thought works. 
 For example, the eye receives visual information and codes information into electric neural activity which is fed back to the brain where it is “stored” and “coded”. This information is can be used by other parts of the brain relating to mental activities such as memory, perception and attention. The output (i.e. behavior) might be, for example, to read what you can see on a printed page. 
 Hence the information processing approach characterizes thinking as the environment providing input of data, which is then transformed by our senses. The information can be stored, retrieved and transformed using “mental programs”, with the results being behavioral responses. 
 13 Cognitive psychology has influenced and integrated with many other approaches and areas of study to produce, for example, social learning theory, cognitive neuropsychology and artificial intelligence (AI). Information Processing & Attention: When we are selectively attending to one activity, we tend to ignore other stimulation, although our attention can be distracted by something else, like the telephone ringing or someone using our name. Psychologists are interested in what makes us attend to one thing rather than another (selective attention); why we sometimes switch our attention to something that was previously unattended (e.g. Cocktail Party Syndrome), and how many things we can attend to at the same time (attentional capacity). One way of conceptualizing attention is to think of humans as information processors who can only process a limited amount of information at a time without becoming overloaded. Broadbent and others in the 1950's adopted a model of the brain as a limited capacity information processing system, through which external input is transmitted. The Information Processing System: Information processing models consist of a series of stages, or boxes, which represent stages of processing. Arrows indicate the flow of information from one stage to the next. 
 * Input processes are concerned with the analysis of the stimuli. 
 * Storage processes cover everything that happens to stimuli internally in the brain and can include coding and manipulation of the stimuli. 
 * Output processes are responsible for preparing an appropriate response to a stimulus. Associative Networks: 
 Definition: Associative networks are cognitive models that incorporate long-known principles of association to represent key features of human memory. When two things (e.g., “bacon” and “eggs”) are thought about simultaneously, they may become linked in memory. Subsequently, when one thinks about bacon, eggs are likely to come to mind as well. Over 2,000 years ago, Aristotle described some of the principles governing the role of such associations in memory. Similar principles were elaborated by British philosophers in the 1700s, and contributed to a variety of psychological theories, including those developed by contemporary cognitive psychologists to model memory. Basic Models of Associative Networks In associative network models, memory is construed as a metaphorical network of cognitive concepts (e.g., objects, events and ideas) interconnected by links (or pathways) reflecting the strength of association between pairs of concepts. Such models commonly incorporate ideas about “spreading activation” to represent the processes of memory retrieval. According to such models, concepts that are currently being thought about are said to be “activated,” and “excitation” spreads from these down connecting pathways to associated concepts. Associations that have been encountered more frequently in the past are likely to be stronger and are represented in associative network models by pathways through which excitation can spread more quickly. Once sufficient excitation has passed from previously activated concepts to a new concept, so that its level of accumulated excitation surpasses some threshold, that new concept will also be brought to mind. Associative Networks Model Details: 
 Serial search models assume that excitation traverses one pathway after another until needed concepts are discovered and retrieved from memory. More common are parallel processing models, which view excitation as simultaneously traversing all connecting pathways, converging most quickly at concepts that have multiple connections to those already activated. Consequently, thinking about “bacon,” “eggs,” and “juice” is more likely to activate “breakfast” than might any of those concepts. Schema: A schema is a mental structure we use to organize and simplify our knowledge the world around us. Schemas can relate to one another, sometimes in a hierarchy. Shemas affect what we notice, how we interpret things and how we make decisions and act. They act like filters, accentuating and downplaying various elements. We use them to classify things, such as classifying people. They also help us forecast, predicting what will happen. We even remember and recall things via schemas, using them to encode memories. Once we have created or accepted a schema, we will fight hard to sustain it, for example ignoring the force-fitting observations that do not comply with the schema. Schemas are often shared within cultures, allowing short-cut communications. Some schemas are easier to change than other, and in general some people are more open in changing schemas 14 Topic 5 Economic approach in social psychology - rational choice - social exchange theory - game theory Homo Economicus is a term that describes the rational human being assumed by some economists when deriving, explaining and verifying theories and models. Homo economicus, or economic human, is the figurative human being characterized by the infinite ability to make rational decisions. Rational choice theory & Heuristics
 Economics plays a huge role in human behavior. That is, people are often motivated by money and the possibility of making a profit, calculating the likely costs and benefits of any action before deciding what to do. This way of thinking is called rational choice theory. Rational choice theory, also called rational action theory or choice theory, school of thought based on the assumption that individuals choose a course of action that is most in line with their personal preferences. Rational choice theory is used to model human decision making, especially in the context of microeconomics, where it helps economists better understand the behaviour of a society in terms of individual actions as explained through rationality, in which choices are consistent because they are made according to personal preference. Rational choice theory increasingly is applied to other areas as well, including evolutionary theory, political science, and warfare. 15 Rational choice theory was pioneered by sociologist George Homas, who in 1961 laid the basic framework for exchange theory, which he grounded in assumptions drawn from behavioral psychology. During the 1960s and 1970s, other theorists (Blau, Coleman, and Cook) extended and enlarged his framework and helped to develop a more formal model of rational choice. Heuristics In psychology, heuristics are simple, efficient rules which people often use to form judgments and make decisions. They are mental shortcuts that usually involve focusing on one aspect of a complex problem and ignoring others. These rules work well under most circumstances, but they can lead to systematic deviations from logic, probability or rational choice theory. The resulting errors are called "cognitive biases" and many different types have been documented. Social exchange theory Social exchange theory proposes that social behavior is the result of an exchange process. The purpose of this exchange is to maximize benefits and minimize costs. According to this theory, people weigh the potential benefits and risks of social relationships. When the risks outweigh the rewards, people will terminate or abandon that relationship. How Does Social Exchange Theory Work? Most relationships are made up of a certain amount of give-and-take, but this does not mean that they are always equal. Social exchange suggests that it is the valuing of the benefits and costs of each relationship that determine whether or not we choose to continue a social association. Costs Versus Benefits in the Social Exchange Process? Costs involve things that are seen as negatives to the individual such as having to put money, time, and effort into a relationship. For example, if you have a friend that always has to borrow money from you, then this would be seen as a high cost. The benefits are things that the individual gets out of the relationship such as fun, friendship, companionship, and social support. Your friend might be a bit of a freeloader, but he brings a lot of fun and excitement to your life. As you are determining the value of the friendship, you might decide that the benefits outweigh the potential costs. Social exchange theory suggests that we essentially take the benefits and minus the costs in order to determine how much a relationship is worth. Positive relationships are those in which the benefits outweigh the costs while negative relationships occur when the costs are greater than the benefits. 16 Expectations and Comparison Levels Cost-benefits analysis plays a major role in the social exchange process, but so do expectations. As people weigh the benefits of a relationship against the costs of the relationship, they do so by establishing a comparison level that is often influenced by social expectations and past experiences. If you have always had poor friendships, your comparison levels at the start of a relationship will be much lower than a person who has always a close-knit circle of supportive and caring friends. For example, if your previous romantic partner showered you with displays of affection, your comparison level for you next relationship is going to be quite high when it comes to levels of affection. If your next romantic partner tends to be more reserved and less emotional, that person might not measure up to your high expectations. Evaluating the Alternatives Another aspect of the social exchange process involves looking at the possible alternatives. After analysing the costs and benefits against and contrasting these against your comparison levels, you might start to look at the possible alternatives. The relationship might not measure up to your comparison levels, but as you survey the potential alternatives, you might determine that the relationship is still better than anything else that is available. As a result, you might go back and reassess the relationship in terms of what may be now a somewhat lower comparison level. Equity norm refers to a social standard that encourages distributing rewards and resources in proportion to their inputs. Reciprocity is a social norm of responding to a positive action with another positive action, rewarding kind actions. As a social construct, reciprocity means that in response to friendly actions, people are frequently much nicer and much more cooperative than predicted by the self-interest model; conversely, in response to hostile actions they are frequently much more nasty and even brutal. Game theory Game theory is the study of human conflict and cooperation within a competitive situation. In some respects, game theory is the science of strategy, or at least the optimal decision-making of independent and competing actors in a strategic setting. The key pioneers of game theory were mathematicians John von Neumann and John Nash, as well as economist Oskar Morgenstern. Game theory creates a language and formal structure of analysis for making logical decisions in competitive environments. The term “game” can be misleading. Even though game theory applies to recreational games, the concept of “game” simply means any interactive situation in which independent actors share more-or-less formal rules and consequences. The formal application of game theory requires knowledge of the following details: ! the identity of independent actors, their preferences, what they know, which strategic acts they are allowed to make and, ! how each decision influences the outcome of the game. 17 Depending on the model, various other requirements or assumptions may be necessary. Finally, each independent actor is assumed to be rational. Game theory assumes that individuals are rational actors motivated to maximize their utilities. Utility is often narrowly defined in terms of people's economic self-interest. Game theory thus predicts a non- cooperative outcome in a social dilemma. Although this is a useful starting premise there are many circumstances in which people may deviate from individual rationality, demonstrating the limitations of economic game theory. A social dilemma is a situation in which an individual profits from selfishness unless everyone chooses the selfish alternative, in which case the whole group loses.[1] Problems arise when too many group members choose to pursue individual profit and immediate satisfaction rather than behave in the group’s best long-term interests. Topic 6 Societal, cross- cultural and cultural social psychology Cross cultural psychology: 
 - Cross cultural psychology is the study of similarities and differences in individual psychological functioning in various cultural and ethnic group to develop a culture-inclusive and universal psychology. Seeks for information across cultures. Something between experimental and cultural psychology. - The International Association of Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP) was established in 1972, and this branch of psychology has continued to grow and develop since that time. Today, increasing numbers of psychologists investigate how behavior differs among various cultures throughout the world. Many cross-cultural psychologists choose to focus on one of two approaches: ! The etic approach focuses on studying how different cultures are similar. ! The emic approach focuses on studying the differences between cultures. 18 Ethnocentrism refers to a tendency to use your own culture as the standard by which to judge and evaluate other cultures. In other words, taking an ethnocentric point of view means using your understanding of your own culture to gauge what is "normal." This can lead to biases and a tendency to view cultural differences as abnormal or in a negative light. It can also make it difficult to see how your own cultural background influences your behaviors. Cross-cultural psychologists often look at how ethnocentrism influences our behaviors and thoughts, including how we interact with individuals from other cultures. Psychologists are also concerned with how ethnocentrism can influence the research process. For example, a study might be criticized for having an ethnocentric bias.
 
 19 Comparison of cross- cultural and cultural psychology Cross- cultural: – Comparison – Psycic unity as a starting point – Universial laws of human behaviour – Uses methods of mainstream psychology – Relationship between culture and behavior is explained by “Humans behaviour is a consequence of the culture” – Culture is outside of the person – Focus of investigation: Attributes of individuals
 
 Cultural – Not comparison – Does not believe in psycic unity – Questions the universial laws of human behaviour – More critical about methology – Relationshop between culture and behaviour is explained by “Culture and behaviour is intertwined” – Culture is inside the person – Focus of investigation: Action in context 
 - Importance of social context: Social Context is how someone reacts to something depending on their immediate social or physical environment. Social context can influence how someone perceives something. For example, a person who is trying a new food in an unwelcoming or harsh environment might perceive the food as tasting bad and not like it in the future. But if they had been in a fun and relaxing environment when they first tried it they may have perceived the food as tasting good and end up enjoying it. Our understanding of emotional expression is also influenced by the social context. 
 System justification theory, Jost 
 - Sees system-justifying beliefs as a psychologically relieving function. 
 It proposes that people have several underlying needs, which vary from individual to individual, that can be satisfied by the defense and justification of the status quo, even when the system may be disadvantageous to certain people. 
 - People have epistemic, existential, and relational needs that are met by and manifest as ideological support for the prevailing structure of social, economic, and political norms. Need for order and stability, and thus resistance to change or alternatives, for example, can be a motivator for individuals to see the status quo as good, legitimate, and even desirable.
 Different kinds of justification:
 Ego- justification Desire to hold favourable attitudes about themselves Group- justification: Desire to hold favourable attitudes about the group they belong to
 System- justification/ group favouritism: Desire to hold favourable attitudes about the overarching social structure in which they are entwined and find themselves obligated to. 
 Social dominance theory, Sidanius and Pratto 1999 
 - Very similar to the system justification theory. 20 - A theory that attempts to explain the persistent inequality of some groups in the society. - Examples of the discriminated groups can be on the basis of gender, race, age, economic status, etc.
 - These hierarchies influence how equitable the allocation of resources is, and how the distribution of undesirable work and/or roles are assigned.
 - Group-based inequalities are maintained through three primary intergroup behaviours: 
 1. Specifically institutional discrimination
 2. Aggregated individual discrimination 3. Behavioural asymmetry. - Example: In modern western society, the white male hierarchy is more dominant than minority racial groups. It stays this way due to white males 
 will allocate resources based on their self-interest and assign undesired roles, such as working dangerous jobs or living in undesirable locations, to subordinate groups. Change or stability of stereotype How to change a stereotype? Stereotypes are very stable and difficult to change. A suggested solution: The contact hypothesis, G. W Allport 1954 
 This hypothesis suggests that direct contact between the members of hostile groups will reduce the stereotypes and prejudice connected to the groups. 
 Three factors must be intact for this hypothesis to work: 1. The information needs to be repeated. When met with new, inconsistent information, perciever might try to explain it away as a coincidence, blame environmental factors etc. Therefore, the information/impression needs to be repeated.
 2. It has to involve many group members. If perciever only meets one person that does not fit in the stereotype, they might categorize this person into a subtype.
 3. The group members are “typical”. Group members who are atypical for their group and thus violate the stereotype may simply be considered highly unusual individuals, and therefore have no impact on impressions of “typical” group members. This is called the contrast effect. This effect can be overcome if individual stereotype violators provide strong and consistent reminders of their group membership 
 More on this in the summary A4!
 A comparison of individualism and collectivism:
 Collectivists: Africa, Asia, Latin America • Interdependent Self • Focus on belonging and relatedness to the group • Groups as the basic units of social perception • Focus on needs of my in-groups, take care of your group • Behaviour explained as reflecting group norms. Frequent use of “We”. • Success is attributed to help from others • Failure is attributed to lack of effort 
 • Prefer working in groups and giving/receiving advice
 • Harmony in group should always be obtained 21 
 Individualists: Europe, US • Independent Self
 • Focus on the right of privacy and rationality • Individuals as the basic unit of perception • Focus on my needs, rights, capacity, expected to take care of yourself • Behaviour explained by reference to personality, traits, principles, attitudes. Frequent use of “I” • Success is attributed to own ability • Failure is attributed to external factors. • Prefers to work alone and rely on private self- knowledge 
 • Expressing your opinions is healthy, even thought they differ from others
 22 Socialization: a continuing process whereby an individual acquires a personal identity and learns the norms, values, behavior, and social skills appropriate to his or her social position. 
 Group socialization: the cognitive, affective, and behavioral changes that occur as individuals join and leave groups
 
 Social norms: Whether a judgment task is clear-cut or ambiguous, trivial or important, individual members’ views converge to form a social norm. Norms reflect the group’s generally accepted way of thinking, feeling, or acting. Descriptive social norms are what people think, feel, or do whereas injunctive social norms specify what people should think, feel, or do. 
 Universal norms: Most norms differ from cultures, but some norms are universial across cultures. 
 - According to the book, the most universial norm is the norm of reciprocity; the shared view that people are obligated to return to others the goods, services, and concessions they offer to us. The offer of a valued favour triggers the norm of reprocity. It is often used by market managers and survey reseachers, free samples and coupons. This activate the feeling that you should do something in return. Proven to work in for instance door-to-door sale, if give something free, the person is more likely to purchase more.
 - Another example of a universal norm is the taboo of incest. 
 
 Intercultural differences: The definition of intercultural is something that occurs between people of different cultures including different religious groups or people of different national origins. Topic 7 Evolutionary approach to social psychology A tip from Ingrid: Try to stay as much on the topic of social psychology, relating the evolutionary perspective to the individual and groups. Be careful not to talk too much about evolutionary psychology without connecting it to the course material in social psych. 23 Index: Group hierarchy Social dominance theory (Sidanius & Pratto) Group norms & Conformity Altruism and prosocial behaviour: - Kin selection - Reciprocity Mate preference Aggression: instrumental (brief) Link to further reads Group hierarchy A reason that social hierarchies exist in human societies is that they were necessary for surviving competition between prehistoric groups over limited resources. Groups that were organised in hierarchies were more efficient in combat than other groups, giving them a competitive advantage. Social dominance theory (Sidanius & Pratto): Social Dominance Theory is description of group conflicts, describing human society as consisting of oppressive group-based hierarchy structures. 
 Group-based inequalities are maintained through three primary intergroup behaviours: 1. Specifically institutional discrimination (ordinary discrimination) 2. Aggregated individual discrimination (discrimination by governmental and business institutions). An example is police violence against minorities. 3. Behavioural asymmetry (such as minorities favouring socially dominant individuals, self- handicapping, and conservatism increasing along with social status) Widely shared cultural ideologies, called legitimizing myths, provide the moral and intellectual justification for these intergroup behaviours. An example is thinking that the leadership of one social group serves the society because it looks after “incapable minorities” (Paternalistic myths). The key principles of Social Dominance Theory are: ! Individuals are categorized by age, sex and group. Group identification is based on ethnicity, religion, nationality, and so on. ! Human social hierarchy consists of a socially dominant (=hegemonic) group at the top and negative reference groups at the bottom. ! As a role gets more powerful, it is increasingly probable that it is occupied by a socially dominant individual (Law of increasing proportion). An example is an older, upper class, white male in the role as the president of the US (the current one is orange but you get the idea). ! Males are more dominant than females; they possess more political power. Males will hold most high- power positions. Biologically, higher dominance can be explained by higher male levels of androgens (testosterone). ! Racism, Sexism, Nationalism and Classism are all manifestations of this same principle of social hierarchy. 24 Group norms & Conformity Conformity, or adhering to group norms is an evolutionary adaptive behavioural strategy. The tendency can be derived from the motive of forming cooperative groups for the sake of sharing resources, accessing mates and enhancing self-protection. Humans seek belongingness and connectedness, as it ultimately enhances the survival of their genes. Because of this, conformity can be especially strong when the risk of social exclusion is high – for instance when ones own opinions and attitudes deviate from group norms. Conformity also increases when the task is difficult (individual looks at others for guidance) or in the presence of higher-status group members (“following the qualified leader”). Paradoxically, men will show anti-conforming tendencies (standing out) in a competitive mating context because it can increase their reproductive fitness. Connectedness is part of the 3 fundamental motivational principles of social psychology: ! Mastery: Seeking to understand/predict events in the social world to get rewards. People like to feel competent and effective and will work to obtain these feelings. ! Connectedness: Seeking support, liking, and acceptance from people/groups they care about. People will behave in ways that increase liking from these groups. ! Valuing “me and mine”: Collecting information that shows the individual (and groups associated with the individual) from a positive side, and distorting the information that doesn’t. People like to have a positive view of themselves. These principles are all adaptive functions that enhance survival. Altruism and pro-social behaviour Altruism is the unselfish concern for other people; doing things simply out of a desire to help, not because you feel obligated to out of duty, loyalty, or religious reasons. Altruistic behavior in humans can be related to kin selection, reciprocity, and group selection in an evolutional/social psych view. Prosocial behavior refers to any action that benefits other people, no matter the motive or how the giver benefits from the action.  Kin selection: the evolutionary strategy that favours the reproductive success of an individual’s relatives, even at a cost to the organism's own survival and reproduction. Kin altruism is altruistic behaviour driven by kin selection. Nurture kinship: In humans, altruistic acts that can be categorized as kin selection are often mediated by circumstantial cues such as shared developmental environment, familiarity and social bonding. This means that it’s the context that matters in bonding and expressing altruistic behaviors, not really genetic relatedness. Kin can enhance reproductive fitness in humans by offering each other help with work (say, with agriculture) Norm of reciprocity: a social expectation in which we feel pressured to help others if they have already done something for us. Mate preference: (from Smith & Mackie: “Mate preference: Who’s looking for what?” – Attraction, relationships and Love. 25 There’s a gender difference when it comes to mate preference. An explanation proposed by evolutionary psychologists is the imbalance in costs when it comes to successful reproduction. The stakes are a lot higher for women than for men, because of pregnancy, nursing, and childrearing (Trivers, 1972). Men can maximize their reproductive success by having a large number of healthy children, and therefore focus on physically attractive cues that signal good genetic health and fertility in a partner. Such cues can be symmetry, as asymmetry in the body or face can imply infections or previous damages. Broad hips (“birthing hips”) and a normal body fat percentage are also considered evolutionally attractive in women. Women also look for good genes, but because of the greater costs of reproduction, it’s also important to seek out a partner that will help with childrearing. High social status, resources (wealth) and dominance are therefore preferred by women. But when the social context is specified, researchers have found less gender differences in preference: ! One-night stands: Physical attractiveness valued most ! Long-term relationships: traits like agreeableness, trustworthiness, honesty and warmth are emphasized, along with access to resources. This makes evolutionary sense given that the survival of children depends on the shared resources of the parents. Instrumental functions of aggression: Using aggression as a means to get a reward, evolutionary adaptive in intergroup competition for survival etc. Further reads: Evolutionary social psychology: http://evolution.binghamton.edu/evos/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/ neuberg05.pdf 26 http://evolution.binghamton.edu/evos/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/neuberg05.pdf Topics B list Topic list: 1. Roots and history of modern social psychology. Dominant approaches in the US and Europe 
 2. Gestalt school in social Psychology 
 3. Behaviorism in social psychology 
 4. Cognitive social psychology: information processing and motivated social 
 cognition 
 5. Economic approach in social psychology 
 6. Societal, cross- cultural and cultural social psychology 
 7. Evolutionary approach to social psychology 
 1 Topic 1 Roots and history of modern social psychology. Dominant approaches in the US and Europe Roots of social psychology The first social psychology study was published in 1898 by Norman Triplett and it was on the phenomenon of social facilitation. It was around this time that modern social psychology emerged from the United States, but the field already had a solid foundation prior to this. An important character in social psychology during the early 20th century was William McDougall. He wrote several books about psychology, and he was important in developing the theory of instinct and social psychology itself. Contrary to most Anglo-American psychologists in his time, he was an opponent of behaviourism but he was still respected for his work. 
 Hormic psychology: Approach developed by McDougall which opposed behaviourism and argued that most behaviour was goal-oriented and purposive.
 In the theory of motivation, McDougall claimed that individuals are motivated by a number of inherited instincts rhat they might not be in control of or even aware of. In 1908, McDougall published his book “An introduction to social psychology”. Edwin Alsworth Ross(1886-1951) was a sociologist who worked in the United states until he retired in 1937, and he was a quite controversial character. He openly expressed opinions supporting racism and sterilization as a punishment for crime. He also supported the alcohol prohibition, eugenics and immigration restriction. He wrote many works, one of them being “Social psychology: an outline and guide book” which was published in 1908. Norman Triplett(1861-1931): The first to publish a study in social psychology, it originated from the fact that he noticed that cyclists would have faster times when they had an opponent as opposed to when cycling alone. He tested this in a laboratory experiment, which ended up being the one he published in 1908. Maximillien Ringelmann(1861-1931): French professor of agricultural engineering who is mostly famous for discovering the “Ringelmann effect” which states that when working in a group, the average performance decreases as the number of individuals in the group increases. This can be explained by loss of motivation which can be solved using the following methods: increasing identifiability, minimizing free-riding, setting goals and increasing involvement. Loss of coordination can also contribute to the Ringelmann effect. Crowd psychology: A branch of social psychology that focuses on how the psychology of a crowd differs from that of the individual. Gustave LeBon was one of the major names within this branch, and he held that crowds existed in three stages; submergence, contagion and suggestion. During submergence, group members lose their sense of individual self and personal responsibility, and this is caused by the anonymity of the group. Contagion refers to the stage where the group members willingly and without question follow the predominant ideas and emotions of the crowd. According to LeBon, this effect is capable of spreading between submissive people much like a disease (hence the name). Suggestion refers to the stage where the ideas and emotions of the crown are primarily drawn from a shared racial unconscious. 2 LeBon thought that groups could be a powerful source of destruction, and he as well as others indicated that group members were less likely to feel a sense of legal culpability (which is quite well established these days). National identity (Note: I couldn’t find anything on “nation characterology but I believe it is the same as national identity): Defined by Rupert Emerson as “a body of people who feel that they are a nation”. This was endorsed by Henri Tajfel who formulated the social identity theory together with John Turner. Psychoanalytic approach to social psychology: Freud’s crowd behaviour theory consists of the idea that becoming a member of a group unlocks the unconscious mind, which occurs because the superego (moral center of consciousness) is displaced by the large crowd and replaced with a charismatic leader. Similar to McDougall, he thought that the overall shared emotional experience is likely to be a primitive one because it reverts to the least common denominator. Behaviourist approach: Behaviourism holds that behaviour is learned from observation and that the learner has a passive role, while in social psychology (ex. Social learning theory) it is a crucial point that the learner takes an active role in learning behaviour because we can choose what to learn and we can choose when/where to reproduce the behaviour. Gestalt approach: Kurt Lewin was instrumental in introducing Gestalt ideas to social psychology, such as social cognition (how people store, process and apply information about people and social situations). He incorporated the Gestalt principle of holism into social psychology and stated that the behaviour can only be understood within the context of the perceived “field” in which they find themselves. Behaviour is not only a reflection of who we are, but also where we are. Lewin wanted researchers to seek to understand the individual’s construct of reality. These tenets helped lay the foundation on which social cognition and research in the field was built. The effect of Nazism and WWII on social psychology: The Second World War is a fascinating topic within social psychology and it sparked many questions about human nature; how was Hitler able to gather such a massive following? How was it possible for regular people to commit gruesome acts of murder and torture? The (in)famous Milgram experiment was inspired by the question on how willing people were to follow the orders of an authority figure and whether people were so willing to listen to authority that they would do things they would never decide to do on their own. Theodor W. Adorno(1903-1969): German philosopher and sociologist who collaborated on influential studies of authoritarianism, antisemitism and propaganda which would later serve as models for sociological studies carried out by Institute in post-war Germany. He also produced a series of influential works on psychological fascist traits. Samuel A. Stouffer(1900-1960): American Sociologist and developer of survey research techniques. In 1949 Stouffer and a distinguished team of social scientists surveyed over half a million American soldiers with over 200 questionnaires in order to determine their attitudes on a variety of topics relevant to the war. Stouffler and his colleagues developed the concept of “relative deprivation” which states that one determines one’s status based on a comparison against others. In the summer of 1954, 500 interviewers under Stouffer’s supervision polled a cross section of over 6000 Americans in order to determine their attitudes on nonconformist behaviour. Carl I. Hovland(1912-1961): Psychologist who studies mainly attitude change and persuasion. Hovland collaborated with Janis to create the theory of groupthink (A psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity 3 in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome), which he is most famous for. He also developed the social judgement theory (The perception and evaluation of an idea by comparing it with current attitudes) of attitude change. Cognitive approach: Focuses on the role that cognitive processes play in interactions. Social cognition came to prominence with the rise of cognitive psychology in the late 1960’s/early 1970’s and it is now the dominant model and approach in social psychology, concepts such as schemas, attributions, and stereotypes are examples of well-established concepts in social psychology which are all cognitive processes. Dominant approaches in Europe and the US: There is a difference, even if not very pronounced, between European and American social psychologists; Generally, American psychologists have focused mostly on the individual, whereas European psychologists have been more focused on group level phenomena. Henri Tajfel(1919-1982): Most famous for developing the Social Identity Theory. Tajfel (1979) proposed that the groups (e.g. social class, family, football team etc.) which people belonged to were an important source of pride and self-esteem. Groups give us a sense of social identity: a sense of belonging to the social world. John Turner(1929-present): Developed the Self-categorization theory (Theory that describes the circumstances under which a person will perceive collections of people (including themselves) as a group, as well as the consequences of perceiving people in group terms.) as a companion theory to the Social Identity Theory. Serge Moscovici(1925-2014): French social psychologist who focused on group psychology, and is most famous for studying the minority influence. His study “Influences of a consistent minority on the responses of a majority in a colour perception task” is now seen as one of the defining investigations into the effects of minority influence. In the study, participants were placed in groups which has 4 participants and two confederates. They were shown 36 slides of different shades of blue, and were then asked to state the colour of the slide. There were two groups; one where the confederates were consistent in giving the wrong answer, and one group where they were inconsistent. Overall, 32% of the participants agreed to the wrong answer at least once. The study suggested that minorities can indeed exert an effect over the opinion of a majority. Not to the same degree as majority influence, but the fact that almost a third of people agreed at least once is significant. Steven D. Reicher: His social identity model of crowd behaviour suggests that people are able to act as one in crowd events not because of 'contagion' or social facilitation but because they share a common social identity. This social identity specifies what counts as normative conduct Modern approaches to social psychology Social Neuroscience: Recent studies have shown that damages to the brain tissue can affect one’s cognitive processes. Depending on where the damage occurs it can affect a wide range of things like language, emotions etc. (Famous example – Phineas Gage) and disrupt social cognitive processes. Psychological disorders such as autism, PTSD, psychosis, mood disorders and so on show differences in social behaviours compared to their peers. This is an increasingly popular approach to social psychology. Evolutionary psychology: A theoretical approach to psychology that examines psychology from a modern evolutionary perspective and it seeks to identify which human psychological traits are evolved adaptations. Evolutionary psychologists hold that behaviours or traits that occur 4 universally in all cultures are good candidates for evolutionary adaptations including the abilities to infer others' emotions, discern kin from non-kin, identify and prefer healthier mates, and cooperate with others. Replication: Social psychology has recently found itself in a bit of a “replication crisis”, where some psychological findings are proving very difficult to replicate. Questionable Research Practices(QRP) have been identified in the field, while not necessarily intentionally fraudulent, involve converting undesirable outcomes into desired outcomes by manipulating the statistical analyses, sample size or data management, most often to convert non-significant findings into significant ones. A lesser contributor to the current crisis is several recent scandals involving fraudulent research, for example the fabricated data by Diedrik Stapel. Several effects in social psychology have proven difficult to replicate even before the crisis, For example, the scientific journal Judgment and Decision Making has published several studies over the years that fail to provide support for the unconscious thought theory. Replications appear particularly difficult when research trials are pre-registered and conducted by research groups not highly invested in the theory under questioning. Topic 2 Gestalt school in social Psychology As nazi domination spread across Europe in the 1930s, a number of psychologists fled their homelands to continue distinguished scientific careers in North America. This influx og European researchers consolidated social psychology´s special emphasis on how people interpret the world and how they are influenced by others. Most European researchers were trained not in the behaviorist tradition that was prominent in North America, but in gestalt theory, which sought to understand the rules underlying the organization of perception. This school of thought took for granted the role cognitive processes play in interpretations of the social world. Around the same time, researcher became increasingly impressed by anthropologists´accounts of the pervasiveness of cultural influences on people´s thoughts and behavior. It fell to social psychologists to identify the mechanisms by which such influences occurred, and they soon developed techniques to perform realistic studies of complex social influences in the laboratory. Muzafer Sherif´s elegant experiments for example, showed that a social group can influence even a person´s perception and interpretation of physical reality. 
 -Revelations of nazi genocide led a horrified world to ask questions about the roots of prejudice (Adorno, Brunswik, Levinson and Sanford). 
 -It is actually said that the one person who had the most impact on the development of social psychology in North America is Hitler. 
 -Social psychologists flocked to applied research willingly, realizing that they would be able to develop and test general theories of behavior, even as they solved practical problems. 
 -During this crucial period of research and theory building, the work of one social psychologist in particular embodied in the themes that characterized the young discipline. Kurt Lewin, one of the scientists who had fled Hitler, held that all behavior depends on the individual´s life space, which he defines as a subjective map of the individual´s current goals and his or her social environment. 
 -Gestalt psychologists also fought strongly against the behaviorist view that mental processes should not be studied because they cannot be observed (Moskowitz, 2005). They were among the first in the field to focus on cognition and though their emphasis was primarily on object perception, many of their principles (e.g. the principle of figure-and-ground) have been applied in social cognition to aid in our understanding of person perception. It is important to note also that the criticisms which Gestalt psychologists leveled against the behaviorists helped to spark the cognitive revolution which further paved the way for the development of social cognition. 5 -Kurt Lewin was particularly instrumental in carrying Gestalt ideas over into social psychology and, by extension, social cognition (Barone, Maddux & Snyder, 1997). In his famous ‘field theory,’ he incorporated the Gestalt principle of holism, stating that individuals’ behavior can only be understood within the context of the subjectively perceived ‘field’ in which they find themselves (Moskowitz, 2005). Behavior is therefore a reflection not only of the person but also of the situation, not merely a result of who we are but also where we are. Lewin was an advocate of the Gestalt method of phenomenology, arguing that researchers should seek to understand the individual’s construction of reality, their unique subjective world (Fiske & Taylor 1991). These main tenets, which grew out of the Gestalt tradition, helped to lay the foundation upon which social cognition and research in the field was built. -In the early part of the 20th century, Max Wertheimer published a paper demonstrating that individuals perceived motion in rapidly flickering static images—an insight that came to him as he used a child’s toy tachistoscope. Wertheimer, and his assistants Wolfgang Köhler and Kurt Koffka, who later became his partners, believed that perception involved more than simply combining sensory stimuli. This belief led to a new movement within the field of psychology known as Gestalt psychology. The word gestalt literally means form or pattern, but its use reflects the idea that the whole is different from the sum of its parts. In other words, the brain creates a perception that is more than simply the sum of available sensory inputs, and it does so in predictable ways. Gestalt psychologists translated these predictable ways into principles by which we organize sensory information. As a result, Gestalt psychology has been extremely influential in the area of sensation and perception (Rock & Palmer, 1990).
 The gestalt principles:
 -Law of similarity: holds that a person can normally recognize stimuli that has physical resemblance at some degree as part of the same object.
 -Law of proximity: states that humans perceive stimuli that are close to each other by grouping them and recognizing them as part of the same object. Enables us to group elements together into larger sets. It also relieves us from processing so many small stimuli. 
 -Law of closure: the idea that the brain tends to perceive forms and figures in their complete appearance despite the absence of one or more of their parts. 
 -Law of symmetry: states that the mind perceives objects as being symmetrical and forming around a centerpoint. 
 -Law of common fate: states that objects are perceived as lines that move along the smoothest path.
 -The law of continuity: states that the elements of objects tend to be grouped together, and therefore integrated into perceptual wholes if they are aligned within an object. 
 -Law of good gestalt/the law of Pragnanz: explains that elements of objects tend to be perceptually grouped together if they form a pattern that is regular, simple and orderly. This law implies that as individuals perceive the world, they eliminate complexity and unfamiliarity so they can observe a reality in its most simplistic form. 
 -Law of past experience: implies that under some circumstances visual stimuli are categorized according to past experience. Kurt lewin: 
 -The father of social psychology. 
 -He was the doctoral supervisor to Festinger; who gave the world the social comparison theory and cognitive dissonance theory. 
 -Lewin not only adapted Gestalt principles but further applied them to a theory of personality and development into what is now known as the Psychological Field Theory. He translated Gestalt philosophy into social experience involving people who should be considered as wholes instead of being composed of discrete parts. A person is presented as a whole system consisting of subsystems that are somewhat separate yet are still capable of interacting and combining with each other.
 -Kurt Lewin is commonly identified as the founder of the movement to study groups scientifically. He coined the term group dynamics to describe the way groups and individuals act and react to changing circumstances. 
 -It is not an exaggeration to say that Kurt Lewin had a profound impact on a generation of researchers and thinkers concerned with group dynamics. Brown argues that two key ideas emerged out of field 6 theory that are crucial to an appreciation of group process: interdependence of fate, and task interdependence. -Interdependence of fate. Here the basic line of argument is that groups come into being in a psychological sense ‘not because their members necessarily are similar to one another (although they may be); rather, a group exists when people in it realize their fate depends on the fate of the group as a whole’. 
 -Task interdependence. Interdependence of fate can be a fairly weak form of interdependence in many groups, argued Lewin. A more significant factor is where there is interdependence in the goals of group members. In other words, if the group’s task is such that members of the group are dependent on each other for achievement, then a powerful dynamic is created.
 
 -One of the most interesting pieces of work in which Lewin was involved concerned the exploration of different styles or types of leadership on group structure and member behaviour. This entailed a collaboration with Ronald Lippitt, among others. They looked to three classic group leadership models – democratic, autocratic and laissez-faire – and concluded that there was more originality, group- mindedness and friendliness in democratic groups. In contrast, there was more aggression, hostility, scapegoating and discontent in laissez-faire and autocratic groups. Lewin concludes that the difference in behaviour in autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire situations is not, on the whole, a result of individual differences.  -Despite the valuable contribution made by Gestalt psychology to social cognition, that approach was not enough to stimulate the emergence of social cognition as we know it today. Gestalt theories were limited inasmuch as they related more to inanimate objects than to people and described mental processes as passive rather than active. The constructivist movement, however, picked up where the Gestalt tradition left off. 
 Solomon Asch - Conformity Experiment Asch believed that the main problem with Sherif's (1935) conformity experiment was that there was no correct answer to the ambiguous autokinetic experiment.  How could we be sure that a person conformed when there was no correct answer?  Asch (1951) devised what is now regarded as a classic experiment in social psychology, whereby there was an obvious answer to a line judgment task.  If the participant gave an incorrect answer it would be clear that this was due to group pressure. Aim: Solomon Asch (1951) conducted an experiment to investigate the extent to which social pressure from a majority group could affect a person to conform. Procedure: Asch used a lab experiment to study conformity, whereby 50 male students from Swarthmore College in the USA participated in a ‘vision test.’ Using a line judgment task, Asch put a naive participant in a room with seven confederates. The confederates had agreed in advance what their responses would be when presented with the line task.  The real participant did not know this and was led to believe that the other seven participants were also real participants like themselves. 7 https://www.simplypsychology.org/conformity.html Each person in the room had to state aloud which comparison line (A, B or C) was most like the target line. The answer was always obvious.  The real participant sat at the end of the row and gave his or her answer last. There were 18 trials in total, and the confederates gave the wrong answer on 12 trails (called the critical trials).  Asch was interested to see if the real participant would conform to the majority view. Asch's experiment also had a control condition where there were no confederates, only a "real participant." Results: Asch measured the number of times each participant conformed to the majority view.  On average, about one third (32%) of the participants who were placed in this situation went along and conformed with the clearly incorrect majority on the critical trials. Over the 12 critical trials, about 75% of participants conformed at least once, and 25% of participant never conformed. In the control group, with no pressure to conform to confederates, less than 1% of participants gave the wrong answer. Conclusion: Why did the participants conform so readily?  When they were interviewed after the experiment, most of them said that they did not really believe their conforming answers, but had gone along with the group for fear of being ridiculed or thought "peculiar."  A few of them said that they really did believe the group's answers were correct.
 
 Apparently, people conform for two main reasons: because they want to fit in with the group (normative influence) and because they believe the group is better informed than they are (informational influence). 8 Topic 3 Behaviorism in social psychology Influence in social psychology (methodological): - Psychology as the behaviorist views it is a purely objective experimental branch of natural science. Its theoretical goal is the prediction and control of behavior. Introspection forms no essential part of its methods, nor is the scientific value of its data dependent upon the readiness with which they lend themselves to interpretation in terms of consciousness - No fundamental (qualitative) distinction between human and animal behavior. Therefore, research can be carried out on animals as well as humans - While behaviorists often accept the existence of cognitions and emotions, they prefer not to study them, as only observable (external) behavior can be objectively and scientifically measured. Therefore, internal events, such as thinking should be explained through behavioral terms The roots of behaviorism 9 The behaviorist movement began in 1913 when John Watson wrote an article entitled 'Psychology as the behaviorist views it,' which set out a number of underlying assumptions regarding methodology and behavioral analysis. Behaviorism refers to a psychological approach which emphasizes scientific and objective methods of investigation. The approach is only concerned with observable stimulus-response behaviors, and states all behaviors are learned through interaction with the environment. John B. Watson was an American psychologist who established the psychological school of behaviorism (which was largely centered in the USA). Through his behaviorist approach, Watson conducted research on: animal behavior, child rearing, and advertising. He also conducted the controversial “Little Albert” experiment 
 (controlled experiment showing empirical evidence of classical conditioning in humans. The aim was to condition a phobia in an emotionally stable child. For this method, they chose nine- month old Albert from a hospital, and they followed the same procedures which Pavlov had used in his experiments with dogs.) Watson’s famous statement: “Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select – doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors. I am going beyond my facts and I admit it, but so have the advocates of the contrary and they have been doing it for many thousands of years” Black box theory Mind is inaccessible and what’s going on inside of mind is also irrelevant, sealed and closed. The only way we know what’s going on in the mind is to look at observable behavior, which is primarily determined by environmental contingencies (input) that are coming in as stimulus. This influence behavior, and gets (which can be good/bad), and this experience gets stored in “the black box” and affects response to future stimuli. (S-R) theories are central to the principles of conditioning. They are based on the assumption that human behavior is learned. One of the early contributors to the field, American psychologist Edward Thorndike postulated The Law of Effect which stated that those behavioral responses (R) that were most closely followed by a satisfactory result were most likely to become established patterns and to reoccur in response to the same stimulus (S). This basic S-R scheme is referred to as unmediated. When an individual organism (O) affects the stimuli in any way—for example, by thinking about a response—the response is considered mediated. The S-O- R theories of behavior are often drawn to explain social interaction between individuals or groups. Classical conditioning/Pavlovian conditioning: Reactions can be required by associating one stimulus with another 
 - Two conditions: 
 1. (Unconditioned) Response must occur reliably and automatically whenever the stimulus occurs. Reflex: when you touch a hot oven, you pull your hands away. Some are learned, some are innate. 
 2. (Conditioned) The stimulus in the reflex must become associated in time and place with another stimulus. Second stimulus is usually neutral at first. 
 10 - Conditioned response: a behavior that does not come naturally, but must be learned by the individual by pairing a neutral stimulus with a potent stimulus. The potent stimulus is one that does not require any learning or conditioning to respond to appropriately. Correct response has to be learned through repeated pairings with a potent stimulus Hovland’s contribution to behaviorism/social psychology: ! Psychologist working primarily at Yale university, and for the US army during world war II - Studied attitude change and persuasion - Sleeper effect: when people are exposed to a persuasive message followed by a discounting cue, people tend to be more persuaded over time - revolutionized persuasive research - “Measuring attitudes and investigating factors involved in attitude change” - SMCR model: source, variables, message variables, channel variables, receiver variables. Hovland employed experimental research in his studies, and was therefore able to trace causality between variables. Osgood’s stimulus-response theory In order to understand Osgood’s theory, you need to think of a specific person in a specific situation. In this case, imagine a young father named Tom, with his daughter by a lake. Suddenly there’s a noise of thunder. Osgood says that Tom will process the thunder on three separate levels: 1. The first and most basic process level is raw sensation. Tom hears the sudden crack of static discharge in the atmosphere and experiences a reflexive tightening in the muscles of his stomach. This is a classic stimulus-response (S- R) reaction 2. Perception takes place on the second process level. The perceptual process integrates the input of our ears, eyes, nose, throat, and skin with our past experience. In that sense, perceiving reflects not what is, but what we expect it to be. 3. From watching a hundred thunderstorms over the course of his life, Tom has developed the expectation that dark rolling clouds, lightning, thunder, and driving rain go together. He makes this association because these natural phenomena often all occur at roughly the same time. That’s why he won’t let his daughter swim in the lake when he hears rumbling from the sky. The sound won’t hurt her, but a high-voltage discharge could easily kill. Social learning theory  Albert Bandura was influential in the transition between behaviorism and cognitive psychology. He is known as the originator of social learning theory and the theoretical construct self- efficacy, and is also responsible for the influential 1961 Bobo doll experiment. Banduras theory of learning and social behavior proposes that new behaviors can be acquired by observing and imitating others. It states that learning is a cognitive process that takes place in a social context and can occur purely through observation or direct instruction, even in the absence of motor 11 12 Topic 3 Cognitive social psychology: information processing and motivated social cognition - consistency theories 
 - the mind as a computer 
 - the mind as an associative network 
 - schema, mental representations Consistency Theories: Cognitive consistency theories have their origins in the principles of Gestalt psychology, which suggests that people seek to perceive the environment in ways that are simple and coherent (Kohler 1929). Cognitive consistency theories have their beginnings in a number of seemingly unrelated research areas (Eagly and Chaiken 1993). Early consistency theorists drew upon theories of conflict (Lewin 1935; Miller 1944), memory (Miller 1956), and the intolerance for ambiguity by those with an authoritarian personality (Adorno, Frenkel-Brunswick, Levinson, and Stanford 1950). According to Newcomb (1968a), social scientists should not have been surprised at the rise of cognitive consistency theories. He points to a truism that in any field of scientific inquiry, there is an inevitable movement from description of the elements of the field, to understanding the relationships between them. At the heart of cognitive consistency theories is the assumption that people are motivated to seek coherent attitudes, thoughts, beliefs, values, behaviors, and feelings. If these are inconsistent, they will produce a ”tension state” in the individual, and motivate the individual to reduce this tension. Individuals reduce this tension, according to consistency theories, by making their relevant cognitions consistent The Mind as a computer: Cognitive psychology sees the individual as a processor of information, in much the same way that a computer takes in information and follows a program to produce an output. Cognitive psychology compares the human mind to a computer, suggesting that we too are information processors and that it is possible and desirable to study the internal mental / mediational processes that lie between the stimuli (in our environment) and the response we make. Basic Assumptions The information processing approach is based on a number of assumptions, including: (1) information made available by the environment is processed by a series of processing systems (e.g. attention, perception, short-term memory); (2) these processing systems transform or alter the information in systematic ways; (3) the aim of research is to specify the processes and structures that underlie cognitive performance; (4) information processing in humans resembles that in computers. The development of the computer in the 1950s and 1960s had an important influence on psychology and was, in part, responsible for the cognitive approach becoming the dominant approach in modern psychology (taking over from behaviorism). 
 The computer gave cognitive psychologists a metaphor, or analogy, to which they could compare human mental processing. The use of the computer as a tool for thinking how the human mind handles information is known as the computer analogy. 
 Essentially, a computer codes (i.e. changes) information, stores information, uses information, and produces an output (retrieves info). The idea of information processing was adopted by cognitive psychologists as a model of how human thought works. 
 For example, the eye receives visual information and codes information into electric neural activity which is fed back to the brain where it is “stored” and “coded”. This information is can be used by other parts of the brain relating to mental activities such as memory, perception and attention. The output (i.e. behavior) might be, for example, to read what you can see on a printed page. 
 Hence the information processing approach characterizes thinking as the environment providing input of data, which is then transformed by our senses. The information can be stored, retrieved and transformed using “mental programs”, with the results being behavioral responses. 
 13 Cognitive psychology has influenced and integrated with many other approaches and areas of study to produce, for example, social learning theory, cognitive neuropsychology and artificial intelligence (AI). Information Processing & Attention: When we are selectively attending to one activity, we tend to ignore other stimulation, although our attention can be distracted by something else, like the telephone ringing or someone using our name. Psychologists are interested in what makes us attend to one thing rather than another (selective attention); why we sometimes switch our attention to something that was previously unattended (e.g. Cocktail Party Syndrome), and how many things we can attend to at the same time (attentional capacity). One way of conceptualizing attention is to think of humans as information processors who can only process a limited amount of information at a time without becoming overloaded. Broadbent and others in the 1950's adopted a model of the brain as a limited capacity information processing system, through which external input is transmitted. The Information Processing System: Information processing models consist of a series of stages, or boxes, which represent stages of processing. Arrows indicate the flow of information from one stage to the next. 
 * Input processes are concerned with the analysis of the stimuli. 
 * Storage processes cover everything that happens to stimuli internally in the brain and can include coding and manipulation of the stimuli. 
 * Output processes are responsible for preparing an appropriate response to a stimulus. Associative Networks: 
 Definition: Associative networks are cognitive models that incorporate long-known principles of association to represent key features of human memory. When two things (e.g., “bacon” and “eggs”) are thought about simultaneously, they may become linked in memory. Subsequently, when one thinks about bacon, eggs are likely to come to mind as well. Over 2,000 years ago, Aristotle described some of the principles governing the role of such associations in memory. Similar principles were elaborated by British philosophers in the 1700s, and contributed to a variety of psychological theories, including those developed by contemporary cognitive psychologists to model memory. Basic Models of Associative Networks In associative network models, memory is construed as a metaphorical network of cognitive concepts (e.g., objects, events and ideas) interconnected by links (or pathways) reflecting the strength of association between pairs of concepts. Such models commonly incorporate ideas about “spreading activation” to represent the processes of memory retrieval. According to such models, concepts that are currently being thought about are said to be “activated,” and “excitation” spreads from these down connecting pathways to associated concepts. Associations that have been encountered more frequently in the past are likely to be stronger and are represented in associative network models by pathways through which excitation can spread more quickly. Once sufficient excitation has passed from previously activated concepts to a new concept, so that its level of accumulated excitation surpasses some threshold, that new concept will also be brought to mind. Associative Networks Model Details: 
 Serial search models assume that excitation traverses one pathway after another until needed concepts are discovered and retrieved from memory. More common are parallel processing models, which view excitation as simultaneously traversing all connecting pathways, converging most quickly at concepts that have multiple connections to those already activated. Consequently, thinking about “bacon,” “eggs,” and “juice” is more likely to activate “breakfast” than might any of those concepts. Schema: A schema is a mental structure we use to organize and simplify our knowledge the world around us. Schemas can relate to one another, sometimes in a hierarchy. Shemas affect what we notice, how we interpret things and how we make decisions and act. They act like filters, accentuating and downplaying various elements. We use them to classify things, such as classifying people. They also help us forecast, predicting what will happen. We even remember and recall things via schemas, using them to encode memories. Once we have created or accepted a schema, we will fight hard to sustain it, for example ignoring the force-fitting observations that do not comply with the schema. Schemas are often shared within cultures, allowing short-cut communications. Some schemas are easier to change than other, and in general some people are more open in changing schemas 14 Topic 5 Economic approach in social psychology - rational choice - social exchange theory - game theory Homo Economicus is a term that describes the rational human being assumed by some economists when deriving, explaining and verifying theories and models. Homo economicus, or economic human, is the figurative human being characterized by the infinite ability to make rational decisions. Rational choice theory & Heuristics
 Economics plays a huge role in human behavior. That is, people are often motivated by money and the possibility of making a profit, calculating the likely costs and benefits of any action before deciding what to do. This way of thinking is called rational choice theory. Rational choice theory, also called rational action theory or choice theory, school of thought based on the assumption that individuals choose a course of action that is most in line with their personal preferences. Rational choice theory is used to model human decision making, especially in the context of microeconomics, where it helps economists better understand the behaviour of a society in terms of individual actions as explained through rationality, in which choices are consistent because they are made according to personal preference. Rational choice theory increasingly is applied to other areas as well, including evolutionary theory, political science, and warfare. 15 Rational choice theory was pioneered by sociologist George Homas, who in 1961 laid the basic framework for exchange theory, which he grounded in assumptions drawn from behavioral psychology. During the 1960s and 1970s, other theorists (Blau, Coleman, and Cook) extended and enlarged his framework and helped to develop a more formal model of rational choice. Heuristics In psychology, heuristics are simple, efficient rules which people often use to form judgments and make decisions. They are mental shortcuts that usually involve focusing on one aspect of a complex problem and ignoring others. These rules work well under most circumstances, but they can lead to systematic deviations from logic, probability or rational choice theory. The resulting errors are called "cognitive biases" and many different types have been documented. Social exchange theory Social exchange theory proposes that social behavior is the result of an exchange process. The purpose of this exchange is to maximize benefits and minimize costs. According to this theory, people weigh the potential benefits and risks of social relationships. When the risks outweigh the rewards, people will terminate or abandon that relationship. How Does Social Exchange Theory Work? Most relationships are made up of a certain amount of give-and-take, but this does not mean that they are always equal. Social exchange suggests that it is the valuing of the benefits and costs of each relationship that determine whether or not we choose to continue a social association. Costs Versus Benefits in the Social Exchange Process? Costs involve things that are seen as negatives to the individual such as having to put money, time, and effort into a relationship. For example, if you have a friend that always has to borrow money from you, then this would be seen as a high cost. The benefits are things that the individual gets out of the relationship such as fun, friendship, companionship, and social support. Your friend might be a bit of a freeloader, but he brings a lot of fun and excitement to your life. As you are determining the value of the friendship, you might decide that the benefits outweigh the potential costs. Social exchange theory suggests that we essentially take the benefits and minus the costs in order to determine how much a relationship is worth. Positive relationships are those in which the benefits outweigh the costs while negative relationships occur when the costs are greater than the benefits. 16 Expectations and Comparison Levels Cost-benefits analysis plays a major role in the social exchange process, but so do expectations. As people weigh the benefits of a relationship against the costs of the relationship, they do so by establishing a comparison level that is often influenced by social expectations and past experiences. If you have always had poor friendships, your comparison levels at the start of a relationship will be much lower than a person who has always a close-knit circle of supportive and caring friends. For example, if your previous romantic partner showered you with displays of affection, your comparison level for you next relationship is going to be quite high when it comes to levels of affection. If your next romantic partner tends to be more reserved and less emotional, that person might not measure up to your high expectations. Evaluating the Alternatives Another aspect of the social exchange process involves looking at the possible alternatives. After analysing the costs and benefits against and contrasting these against your comparison levels, you might start to look at the possible alternatives. The relationship might not measure up to your comparison levels, but as you survey the potential alternatives, you might determine that the relationship is still better than anything else that is available. As a result, you might go back and reassess the relationship in terms of what may be now a somewhat lower comparison level. Equity norm refers to a social standard that encourages distributing rewards and resources in proportion to their inputs. Reciprocity is a social norm of responding to a positive action with another positive action, rewarding kind actions. As a social construct, reciprocity means that in response to friendly actions, people are frequently much nicer and much more cooperative than predicted by the self-interest model; conversely, in response to hostile actions they are frequently much more nasty and even brutal. Game theory Game theory is the study of human conflict and cooperation within a competitive situation. In some respects, game theory is the science of strategy, or at least the optimal decision-making of independent and competing actors in a strategic setting. The key pioneers of game theory were mathematicians John von Neumann and John Nash, as well as economist Oskar Morgenstern. Game theory creates a language and formal structure of analysis for making logical decisions in competitive environments. The term “game” can be misleading. Even though game theory applies to recreational games, the concept of “game” simply means any interactive situation in which independent actors share more-or-less formal rules and consequences. The formal application of game theory requires knowledge of the following details: ! the identity of independent actors, their preferences, what they know, which strategic acts they are allowed to make and, ! how each decision influences the outcome of the game. 17 Depending on the model, various other requirements or assumptions may be necessary. Finally, each independent actor is assumed to be rational. Game theory assumes that individuals are rational actors motivated to maximize their utilities. Utility is often narrowly defined in terms of people's economic self-interest. Game theory thus predicts a non- cooperative outcome in a social dilemma. Although this is a useful starting premise there are many circumstances in which people may deviate from individual rationality, demonstrating the limitations of economic game theory. A social dilemma is a situation in which an individual profits from selfishness unless everyone chooses the selfish alternative, in which case the whole group loses.[1] Problems arise when too many group members choose to pursue individual profit and immediate satisfaction rather than behave in the group’s best long-term interests. Topic 6 Societal, cross- cultural and cultural social psychology Cross cultural psychology: 
 - Cross cultural psychology is the study of similarities and differences in individual psychological functioning in various cultural and ethnic group to develop a culture-inclusive and universal psychology. Seeks for information across cultures. Something between experimental and cultural psychology. - The International Association of Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP) was established in 1972, and this branch of psychology has continued to grow and develop since that time. Today, increasing numbers of psychologists investigate how behavior differs among various cultures throughout the world. Many cross-cultural psychologists choose to focus on one of two approaches: ! The etic approach focuses on studying how different cultures are similar. ! The emic approach focuses on studying the differences between cultures. 18 Ethnocentrism refers to a tendency to use your own culture as the standard by which to judge and evaluate other cultures. In other words, taking an ethnocentric point of view means using your understanding of your own culture to gauge what is "normal." This can lead to biases and a tendency to view cultural differences as abnormal or in a negative light. It can also make it difficult to see how your own cultural background influences your behaviors. Cross-cultural psychologists often look at how ethnocentrism influences our behaviors and thoughts, including how we interact with individuals from other cultures. Psychologists are also concerned with how ethnocentrism can influence the research process. For example, a study might be criticized for having an ethnocentric bias.
 
 19 Comparison of cross- cultural and cultural psychology Cross- cultural: – Comparison – Psycic unity as a starting point – Universial laws of human behaviour – Uses methods of mainstream psychology – Relationship between culture and behavior is explained by “Humans behaviour is a consequence of the culture” – Culture is outside of the person – Focus of investigation: Attributes of individuals
 
 Cultural – Not comparison – Does not believe in psycic unity – Questions the universial laws of human behaviour – More critical about methology – Relationshop between culture and behaviour is explained by “Culture and behaviour is intertwined” – Culture is inside the person – Focus of investigation: Action in context 
 - Importance of social context: Social Context is how someone reacts to something depending on their immediate social or physical environment. Social context can influence how someone perceives something. For example, a person who is trying a new food in an unwelcoming or harsh environment might perceive the food as tasting bad and not like it in the future. But if they had been in a fun and relaxing environment when they first tried it they may have perceived the food as tasting good and end up enjoying it. Our understanding of emotional expression is also influenced by the social context. 
 System justification theory, Jost 
 - Sees system-justifying beliefs as a psychologically relieving function. 
 It proposes that people have several underlying needs, which vary from individual to individual, that can be satisfied by the defense and justification of the status quo, even when the system may be disadvantageous to certain people. 
 - People have epistemic, existential, and relational needs that are met by and manifest as ideological support for the prevailing structure of social, economic, and political norms. Need for order and stability, and thus resistance to change or alternatives, for example, can be a motivator for individuals to see the status quo as good, legitimate, and even desirable.
 Different kinds of justification:
 Ego- justification Desire to hold favourable attitudes about themselves Group- justification: Desire to hold favourable attitudes about the group they belong to
 System- justification/ group favouritism: Desire to hold favourable attitudes about the overarching social structure in which they are entwined and find themselves obligated to. 
 Social dominance theory, Sidanius and Pratto 1999 
 - Very similar to the system justification theory. 20 - A theory that attempts to explain the persistent inequality of some groups in the society. - Examples of the discriminated groups can be on the basis of gender, race, age, economic status, etc.
 - These hierarchies influence how equitable the allocation of resources is, and how the distribution of undesirable work and/or roles are assigned.
 - Group-based inequalities are maintained through three primary intergroup behaviours: 
 1. Specifically institutional discrimination
 2. Aggregated individual discrimination 3. Behavioural asymmetry. - Example: In modern western society, the white male hierarchy is more dominant than minority racial groups. It stays this way due to white males 
 will allocate resources based on their self-interest and assign undesired roles, such as working dangerous jobs or living in undesirable locations, to subordinate groups. Change or stability of stereotype How to change a stereotype? Stereotypes are very stable and difficult to change. A suggested solution: The contact hypothesis, G. W Allport 1954 
 This hypothesis suggests that direct contact between the members of hostile groups will reduce the stereotypes and prejudice connected to the groups. 
 Three factors must be intact for this hypothesis to work: 1. The information needs to be repeated. When met with new, inconsistent information, perciever might try to explain it away as a coincidence, blame environmental factors etc. Therefore, the information/impression needs to be repeated.
 2. It has to involve many group members. If perciever only meets one person that does not fit in the stereotype, they might categorize this person into a subtype.
 3. The group members are “typical”. Group members who are atypical for their group and thus violate the stereotype may simply be considered highly unusual individuals, and therefore have no impact on impressions of “typical” group members. This is called the contrast effect. This effect can be overcome if individual stereotype violators provide strong and consistent reminders of their group membership 
 More on this in the summary A4!
 A comparison of individualism and collectivism:
 Collectivists: Africa, Asia, Latin America • Interdependent Self • Focus on belonging and relatedness to the group • Groups as the basic units of social perception • Focus on needs of my in-groups, take care of your group • Behaviour explained as reflecting group norms. Frequent use of “We”. • Success is attributed to help from others • Failure is attributed to lack of effort 
 • Prefer working in groups and giving/receiving advice
 • Harmony in group should always be obtained 21 
 Individualists: Europe, US • Independent Self
 • Focus on the right of privacy and rationality • Individuals as the basic unit of perception • Focus on my needs, rights, capacity, expected to take care of yourself • Behaviour explained by reference to personality, traits, principles, attitudes. Frequent use of “I” • Success is attributed to own ability • Failure is attributed to external factors. • Prefers to work alone and rely on private self- knowledge 
 • Expressing your opinions is healthy, even thought they differ from others
 22 Socialization: a continuing process whereby an individual acquires a personal identity and learns the norms, values, behavior, and social skills appropriate to his or her social position. 
 Group socialization: the cognitive, affective, and behavioral changes that occur as individuals join and leave groups
 
 Social norms: Whether a judgment task is clear-cut or ambiguous, trivial or important, individual members’ views converge to form a social norm. Norms reflect the group’s generally accepted way of thinking, feeling, or acting. Descriptive social norms are what people think, feel, or do whereas injunctive social norms specify what people should think, feel, or do. 
 Universal norms: Most norms differ from cultures, but some norms are universial across cultures. 
 - According to the book, the most universial norm is the norm of reciprocity; the shared view that people are obligated to return to others the goods, services, and concessions they offer to us. The offer of a valued favour triggers the norm of reprocity. It is often used by market managers and survey reseachers, free samples and coupons. This activate the feeling that you should do something in return. Proven to work in for instance door-to-door sale, if give something free, the person is more likely to purchase more.
 - Another example of a universal norm is the taboo of incest. 
 
 Intercultural differences: The definition of intercultural is something that occurs between people of different cultures including different religious groups or people of different national origins. Topic 7 Evolutionary approach to social psychology A tip from Ingrid: Try to stay as much on the topic of social psychology, relating the evolutionary perspective to the individual and groups. Be careful not to talk too much about evolutionary psychology without connecting it to the course material in social psych. 23 Index: Group hierarchy Social dominance theory (Sidanius & Pratto) Group norms & Conformity Altruism and prosocial behaviour: - Kin selection - Reciprocity Mate preference Aggression: instrumental (brief) Link to further reads Group hierarchy A reason that social hierarchies exist in human societies is that they were necessary for surviving competition between prehistoric groups over limited resources. Groups that were organised in hierarchies were more efficient in combat than other groups, giving them a competitive advantage. Social dominance theory (Sidanius & Pratto): Social Dominance Theory is description of group conflicts, describing human society as consisting of oppressive group-based hierarchy structures. 
 Group-based inequalities are maintained through three primary intergroup behaviours: 1. Specifically institutional discrimination (ordinary discrimination) 2. Aggregated individual discrimination (discrimination by governmental and business institutions). An example is police violence against minorities. 3. Behavioural asymmetry (such as minorities favouring socially dominant individuals, self- handicapping, and conservatism increasing along with social status) Widely shared cultural ideologies, called legitimizing myths, provide the moral and intellectual justification for these intergroup behaviours. An example is thinking that the leadership of one social group serves the society because it looks after “incapable minorities” (Paternalistic myths). The key principles of Social Dominance Theory are: ! Individuals are categorized by age, sex and group. Group identification is based on ethnicity, religion, nationality, and so on. ! Human social hierarchy consists of a socially dominant (=hegemonic) group at the top and negative reference groups at the bottom. ! As a role gets more powerful, it is increasingly probable that it is occupied by a socially dominant individual (Law of increasing proportion). An example is an older, upper class, white male in the role as the president of the US (the current one is orange but you get the idea). ! Males are more dominant than females; they possess more political power. Males will hold most high- power positions. Biologically, higher dominance can be explained by higher male levels of androgens (testosterone). ! Racism, Sexism, Nationalism and Classism are all manifestations of this same principle of social hierarchy. 24 Group norms & Conformity Conformity, or adhering to group norms is an evolutionary adaptive behavioural strategy. The tendency can be derived from the motive of forming cooperative groups for the sake of sharing resources, accessing mates and enhancing self-protection. Humans seek belongingness and connectedness, as it ultimately enhances the survival of their genes. Because of this, conformity can be especially strong when the risk of social exclusion is high – for instance when ones own opinions and attitudes deviate from group norms. Conformity also increases when the task is difficult (individual looks at others for guidance) or in the presence of higher-status group members (“following the qualified leader”). Paradoxically, men will show anti-conforming tendencies (standing out) in a competitive mating context because it can increase their reproductive fitness. Connectedness is part of the 3 fundamental motivational principles of social psychology: ! Mastery: Seeking to understand/predict events in the social world to get rewards. People like to feel competent and effective and will work to obtain these feelings. ! Connectedness: Seeking support, liking, and acceptance from people/groups they care about. People will behave in ways that increase liking from these groups. ! Valuing “me and mine”: Collecting information that shows the individual (and groups associated with the individual) from a positive side, and distorting the information that doesn’t. People like to have a positive view of themselves. These principles are all adaptive functions that enhance survival. Altruism and pro-social behaviour Altruism is the unselfish concern for other people; doing things simply out of a desire to help, not because you feel obligated to out of duty, loyalty, or religious reasons. Altruistic behavior in humans can be related to kin selection, reciprocity, and group selection in an evolutional/social psych view. Prosocial behavior refers to any action that benefits other people, no matter the motive or how the giver benefits from the action.  Kin selection: the evolutionary strategy that favours the reproductive success of an individual’s relatives, even at a cost to the organism's own survival and reproduction. Kin altruism is altruistic behaviour driven by kin selection. Nurture kinship: In humans, altruistic acts that can be categorized as kin selection are often mediated by circumstantial cues such as shared developmental environment, familiarity and social bonding. This means that it’s the context that matters in bonding and expressing altruistic behaviors, not really genetic relatedness. Kin can enhance reproductive fitness in humans by offering each other help with work (say, with agriculture) Norm of reciprocity: a social expectation in which we feel pressured to help others if they have already done something for us. Mate preference: (from Smith & Mackie: “Mate preference: Who’s looking for what?” – Attraction, relationships and Love. 25 There’s a gender difference when it comes to mate preference. An explanation proposed by evolutionary psychologists is the imbalance in costs when it comes to successful reproduction. The stakes are a lot higher for women than for men, because of pregnancy, nursing, and childrearing (Trivers, 1972). Men can maximize their reproductive success by having a large number of healthy children, and therefore focus on physically attractive cues that signal good genetic health and fertility in a partner. Such cues can be symmetry, as asymmetry in the body or face can imply infections or previous damages. Broad hips (“birthing hips”) and a normal body fat percentage are also considered evolutionally attractive in women. Women also look for good genes, but because of the greater costs of reproduction, it’s also important to seek out a partner that will help with childrearing. High social status, resources (wealth) and dominance are therefore preferred by women. But when the social context is specified, researchers have found less gender differences in preference: ! One-night stands: Physical attractiveness valued most ! Long-term relationships: traits like agreeableness, trustworthiness, honesty and warmth are emphasized, along with access to resources. This makes evolutionary sense given that the survival of children depends on the shared resources of the parents. Instrumental functions of aggression: Using aggression as a means to get a reward, evolutionary adaptive in intergroup competition for survival etc. Further reads: Evolutionary social psychology: http://evolution.binghamton.edu/evos/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/ neuberg05.pdf 26 http://evolution.binghamton.edu/evos/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/neuberg05.pdf