SACE Stage 1 - Psychology Revision Notes

7/27/2019 SACE Stage 1 - Psychology Revision Notes

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Stage 1 Psychology – Exam Preparation – By Nhi Hin

What is social psychology?

Social psychology is the scientific study of how individuals think, feel and behave in social

situations.

What is social influence?

Social influence is the effects of the presence or actions of others on the way we think, feel and

behave.

Where do our influences come from?

We as individuals are influenced and shaped by the groups, cultures and societies to which we belong.

We also in turn, influence others in our groups, cultures and societies.

Give an example of unintentional influence. Give an example of intentional influence.

An example of unintentional influence can include yawning when others do, laughing when others do,

etc. An examples of intentional influence can include television producers pre-recording laughter in

certain parts of their show to influence the audience to laugh with them too.

What is social facilitation?

Social facilitation is the tendency for the presence of an audience to enhance performance on

simple tasks but to inhibit performance on complex tasks.

What is social inhibition?

Social inhibition refers to the tendency for the presence of an audience to inhibit our performance

on complex tasks.

How does the dominant response link to social inhibition?

The presence of an audience leads us to be in a state of heightened arousal, meaning that we

usually pick the dominant response. This response is usually correct for simple tasks (meaning that

we do them better in the presence of an audience) but is usually incorrect for complex tasks

meaning that our performance will be impaired in front of an audience.




What is evaluation apprehension?

Evaluation apprehension is directly linked to social facilitation effects. When we feel the audience is

judging us or evaluating us in some way, our arousal levels are heightened.

What is a distraction conflict?

A distraction conflict occurs when we aren’t sure whether to focus on the needs of the audience or the

task we have at hand, leading to the effects of social facilitation.

What is a group?

A group is a collection of 2 or more people who share a common purpose or goal, and who are

interacting and influencing each other in some way.

What is social loafing?

Social loafing is the tendency for an individual to make less effort in a group activity than when

working alone.

What is the sucker effect?

The sucker effect occurs when individuals perceive that others in the group are not giving their best

effort, and they feel as if they are being taken advantage of, leading them to also decrease their

effort.

What is the free-rider effect?

The free-rider effect occurs when individuals decrease their effort as they perceive that

performance in the group will not suffer as their co-workers are working hard enough for their lack

in effort not to be noticed.

What is group polarisation?

Group polarisation is the tendency for an individual, after group discussion, to shift their initially

held views to more extreme views in the same general direction.

What is groupthink?

Groupthink is a way of thinking in a group that basically involves a shift from trying to find the best

possible solution to instead reaching and maintaining agreement with the rest of the group

members.




What are three factors leading to groupthink?

Factors leading to groupthink include:

- A high level of cohesiveness within the group

- When a strong and respected leader is present

- When the group is isolated from outside opinions.

List 4 ways to prevent groupthink.

Groupthink can be prevented by:

- Making members aware of groupthink and its effects

- Electing a neutral, impartial leader

- Using subgroups that come together to discuss their views

- Inviting outside experts to contribute to the group at strategic times.

What is conformity?

Conformity is the tendency for individuals to change their thoughts, feelings and behaviours into

ones which are in agreement with others in the group or in agreement with social norms.

What was Asch’s experiment?

Asch’s experiment involved the participant being lead into a room with confederates to do an ‘eye

test’ in which the group had to choose the line that matched the one in the picture. Most of the

time, the confederates were supposed to deliberately pick the wrong line to see how the participant

would react. Interestingly enough, even when the participants knew the answers were wrong, most

still agreed anyway, preferring to conform to the rest of the group instead of standing out.

What are 4 factors affecting conformity?

The factors affecting conformity are:

- Group size: As the size of the group increases, conformity also does. However, above groups

of 4-5, conformity no longer increases and just remains the same.

- Group cohesiveness: If the members in the groups are all friends, they are more likely to

conform to each other to avoid causing disagreement (also a kind of groupthink).

- Presence of an ally: If another person in the group supports your view (or they disagree

with the majority of the group’s view) then you are more likely to not conform as well. - Awareness of social norms




What is obedience?

Obedience occurs when we follow the commands of a higher authority figure or we follow the laws

and rules of our society.

An example of a large group demonstrating obedience in society was the Tiananmen Square

massacre in 1989. Thousands of Chinese people gathered in a peaceful protest for more free speech

rights. The government was afraid that they would lose control, so they ordered soldiers to “do

whatever was necessary” to rid Tiananmen Square of the protestors. What followed was a brutal

massacre where 3000 people were shot dead and killed.

What was Milgram’s experiment?

In Milgram’s experiment, participants were supposed to be ‘teachers’ who would deliver an electric

shock to the ‘learner’, who was a confederate, each time they got an answer wrong. Most people did

continue to administer the electric shocks at the command of the scientist, even if they killed the

‘learner’.

What are cults?

Cults such as Jonestown managed to get people to follow them as they usually

- Isolated people from their friends or family

- Make people give so much donations that they unknowingly became dependent on the

group

What is compliance?

Compliance also involves changing one’s behaviour in response to a request to do so, but it doesn’tinvolve an authority figure (also, it’s a request instead of a command).

What are the 2 methods of persuasion? Describe them briefly.

In persuasive communication, there are 2 different methods of persuasion.

1. Central Route, where careful processing of the information occurs in and the focus is on the

message that is being delivered, and the strength of the argument.




2. Peripheral route, where careful processing of information does not occur and the focus is

on peripheral factors such as the attractiveness of the speaker and emotions triggered.

What are the 3 parts to a persuasive message?

There are 3 parts to a persuasive message, the source of the message, the nature of

communication, and the characteristics of the audience.

In other words, the who, what and whom.

What does the source of the message involve?

The source of the message involves 4 factors:

- Credibility

- Attractiveness

- Similarity

- Speech style

Cass was a famous science news reporter. She was very friendly, and many people said that they

could relate to her. Because of her white coat and glasses, she looked very credible. Because of

her curvaceous body and intelligence, many perceived her as attractive. Because many could

relate to her, they perceived her as similar to them, and because she talked quickly and

confidently, her speech style was nominated for a prize.

The Nature of the Communication, like, what it is

The Nature of communication also involves 4 factors:

- Attention

- Repeated Exposure

- Order of Presentation

- One sided vs. two sided

The dog howled, “AROO!” This certainly got the attention of the nearby villagers. Aroo had

been constantly howling at the same time every night. (Repeated exposure) He also made sure

to howl always after the rooster ‘cluckadoodle doo-ed’ so that people would remember him

more. One day Aroo wanted to sell dog food, but he also had to acknowledge the benefits of cat

food before stating how great dog food was.

Characteristics of the Audience




- People who are more likely to remember relevant information quickly are more likely to

resist persuasion.

- People with high self-esteem are more likely to resist persuasion.

There are various reasons why we help. The main four are;

Evolutionary: We help our family and blood relatives as it increases the chance of our genes

being passed onto future generations.

Cost-Benefit: We help because the benefits of helping are greater than the costs.

Altruism: We genuinely wish to selflessly increase another person’s wellbeing without wanting

anything in return.

Egoism: We help another person to alleviate our own distress caused by suffering of others.

Social Norms: Socially based ‘rules’ motivate whether we help.

When we help

There are several factors that determine whether we help or not. These are:

External factors:

Noticing the situation

Interpreting the situation

Taking responsibility for helping

Decide to intervene

Help

Diffusion of responsibility is the belief that, in a situation where help is required and others are

present, one or more other people should take responsibility for helping.

The Bystander effect is the tendency for individuals to be less likely to help if other bystanders are

(or are believed to be) present. The greater the number of bystanders, the less likely any one of

them will help.




Research has shown that people are less likely to help when there are time-pressures; for example,

students who are late to their exams are less likely to help people than if they were not late.

Personal/Internal Influences

Mood: Happy, optimistic

Religious commitment: Awareness of situations, believe that a supernatural being is watching

them so they should help others in order to please it.

Personality: Empathetic people, self-efficacy (if you believe you can do it)

Whom we help:

Gender:

- When the helper is female, both males and females are equally likely to receive assistance.

- When the helper is male, females are more likely to receive assistance, especially if they are

alone.

- Males may be motivated to help through the cost-benefit explanation of helping.

- Females are twice as likely as males to seek medical help.

- It is generally more acceptable in society for females to seek help.

- In society, males believe that it is their role to protect females.

Similarities:

- If there are things in common with another person in need of help (eg. Fashion style, speech

style, etc) it increases the chances of us helping.

- Similarity with others will increase our attraction and thus empathy towards them.

- Empathy = empathy-altruism theory: increases the likelihood that we will help.

- People more likely to help people similarly dressed like themselves.

Aggression is an example of an anti-social behaviour.

Feeling: anger

Attitude: hostility

Behaviour: violence

Factors influencing aggression;




1. Neural influences

a. Amygdala: This area of the brain is not involved in judging, thinking or evaluating. It

is like a ‘storehouse’ for a person’s emotional memories. In some people with anger

management problems, the amygdala can override the cortex (the thinking part of

the brain).

b. Cerebral Cortex: The cerebral cortex interprets situations to see whether they are

acts of aggression towards us or merely a joke. It will then coordinate our responses

(whether to get angry towards them, to laugh it off, etc.)

2. Hormones also play a huge part in whether we get angry or not, especially for males.

Testosterone, a hormone found in much larger quantities in males than females, has been

linked to aggressive behaviour.

3. Environmental influences such as learning can also influence our aggression. For example,

if we are exposed to violence at a young age (eg. Abuse, etc.) then we are more likely to

abuse our children later in life.

The 6 ethics that must be followed in every psychological experiment are:

1.

Confidentiality2. Do no harm

3. Voluntary participation

4. Deception and debriefing

5. Right to withdraw

6. Informed consent

I see the confidentiality envelope, hovering in mid-air. Bowser is keeping princess Peach captive, but

he isn’t allowed to do any harm. Mario is voluntarily going to save Peach. Bowser has to debrief

Mario afterwards since Mario thought that Peach was being hurt. Mario is free to stop his quest at

any time.

Qualitative data doesn’t involve numbers. It is data in the form of opinions and thoughts from

focus group participants.




Quantitative data involves numbers and is something that can be measured.

Most data in psychology is discreet, meaning that there are individual sets of data that don’t relate

to each other. For example, if everyone in the room is asked about their mood, to which they can

reply “happy,” “sad”, or “angry”, then this is discreet data which needs to be plotted on a bar graph.

However, if a different question, such as, “how angry are you from a scale of 1 to 10?” was asked in 3

minute intervals, the graph would be a linear one.

Aim: What we intend to do in the experiment; what we want to find out.

Hypothesis: A prediction of what is going to happen

Participants: Who is participating in the experiment? I.e. a class of year 11 students.

o Sample: A sample is usually a small group of people from a specific range which will

be used to represent the population. E.g. a class of year 11 students from The Heights

School.

o Population: A population is the whole entire group of people that the sample isintended to represent. E.g. the class of year 11 students are meant to represent other

year 11s at The Heights School and maybe even other schools in the north suburbs of

Adelaide.

Variables:

o Independent Variable: The one we are controlling.

o Dependent variable: The one we are measuring.

o Controlled variables: Variables that may affect the experiment are controlled. o Extraneous variables: variables that may affect the outcome of the experiment but

are unable to be controlled.

Statistics:

o Mean: The average of all the data. It can be calculated by adding up all the data and

dividing it by the amount of separate data pieces.

SACE Stage 1 - Psychology Revision Notes

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