Chapter 15: Psychology in Our Social Lives
Activities
Exercises: Read & Learn
- The Bystander Effect is about More than the Diffusion of Responsibility shows research following-up the Kitty Genovese story. (https://digest.bps.org.uk/2016/06/29/the-bystander-effect-is-about-more-than-the-diffusion-of-responsibility/)
- New Milgram Replication in Poland shows shocking new replication on Milgram’s study:
(https://digest.bps.org.uk/2017/05/05/new-milgram-replication-finds-90-per-cent-of-polish-participants-willing-to-deliver-highest-shock/) - Why the Sound of Ed Sheeran Helps Sell Fries reflects some creative work on the use of music in advertising/consumer behaviour. (https://www.theguardian.com/business/shortcuts/2017/apr/02/why-the-sound-of-ed-sheeran-helps-sell-fries)
- A Harvard Psychologist Says People Judge you Based on 2 Criteria When they First Meet You is an article looking at how we judge others. (http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/a-harvard-psychologist-says-people-judge-you-based-on-2-criteria-when-they-first-meet-you-a6819501.html)
Exercise: Watch & Learn
Exercise: Read, Watch & Learn
Asch Conformity Experiment: Some original footage of the Asch conformity studies
Video 15.2: Asch Conformity Experiment (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnT2FcuZaYI&index= 4&list=PLM3D10PuvT4xBtvd1f4NriS5C5Ro9bBUh) uploaded by pumpitoutdotcom.
Solomon Asch-Conformity is a discussion of the Asch conformity studies.(http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00f8mzr)
Exercise: Watch & Learn
Solving Problems Through Team Training features an organizational psychologist describing the breadth of his work.
Video 15.3: Solving Problems Through Team Training (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvnIzUgs8x4) uploaded by the American Psycholgical Association.
Exercises: Do & Think
1. Watch this Girl Vs. Guy Pickpocket Experiment video which shows what’s described as a “social experiment”, then answer the questions a-c below.
Video 15.4: Guy vs. Girl Pickpocket Experiment (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeEXYZFR_Ic) uploaded by Coby Persin.
a) What did you think of the results of the “experiment”?
b) Can you think of anything other than the gender of the victim that may have influenced how people responded to the theft? For example, people may have been influenced by how many other people were in the area, whether the victim was engaged in a conversation, the size of the item being stolen etc.
c) If you were given the opportunity to explore this topic in an experiment of your own, how would you improve on this study? Remember, the aim is to control as many of the variables as possible leaving just the IV as the causal variable.
2. Now see what you make of this video Does Appearance Change How People Are Treated
Video 15.5: Does Appearance Change how People Are Treated (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5CvGJds6DQ) uploaded by Coby Persin.
a) How do you think you would have reacted to the two scenarios?
b) What would have influenced your behaviour?
c) Think about how you could investigate the impact of clothing on behaviour.
3. A chance to play The Prisoners’ Dilemma game (http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/playground/pd.html)
4. The Social Psychology Network provides links to lots of online social psychology studies you can participate in. Why not try a few? (https://www.socialpsychology.org/expts.htm)
a) Be sure to read the preliminary information to see how the researchers deal with ethical issues (and to decide if you want to participate!).
b) Were you able to “guess” the point of the study before it was revealed? If so, how do you think this might have influenced your responses?
c) What would you do differently if you had the time and resources to investigate the topic?
5. Try one of the Implicit Association tests (https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/) NEED TO SET UP LOGIN
Then read this article Deep Down, most of us are Racist – or Are We? critiquing the IAT
(http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/deep-down-most-of-us-are-racist-or-are-we/article34265471/?utm_source=Shared+Article+Sent+to+User&utm_medium=E-mail:+Newsletters+/+E-Blasts+/+etc.&utm_campaign=Shared+Web+Article+Links)
6. Try the “your social brain” activity on TestMyBrain for insight into your social style. (https://www.testmybrain.org/)
References
American Psychological Association. (2014, July 23). Solving problems through team training [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvnIzUgs8x4
Coby, P. (2014, March 11). Girl VS Guy Pickpocket experiment [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeEXYZFR_Ic
Coby, P. (2015, January 8). Does appearance change how people are treated? [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5CvGJds6DQ
Goudreau, J. (2016). A Harvard psychologist says people judge you based on 2 criteria when they first meet you. Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/a-harvard-psychologist-says-people-judge-you-based-on-2-criteria-when-they-first-meet-you-a6819501.html
Hammond, C. (2003, December 9). Mind Changers – Solomon Asch Conformity [Audio podcast] Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00f8mzr
Project Implicit. (2011). Project Implicit. Retrieved from https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/
PumpItOut.com. (2011, March 26). Asch Conformity Experiment [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnT2FcuZaYI&index=4&list=PLM3D10PuvT4xBtvd1f4NriS5C5Ro9bBUh
Ramaswamy, C. (2017). Why the sound of Ed Sheeran helps sell fries. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/business/shortcuts/2017/apr/02/why-the-sound-of-ed-sheeran-helps-sell-fries
Serendip. (2018). You have found the prisoner’s dilemma. Retrieved from http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/playground/pd.html
Smith, G. (2017, May 5). New Milgram replication in Poland finds 90 per cent of polish participants willing to deliver highest shock [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://digest.bps.org.uk/2017/05/05/new-milgram-replication-finds-90-per-cent-of-polish-participants-willing-to-deliver-highest-shock/
Social Psychology Network. (2018). Online social psychology studies. Retrieved from https://www.socialpsychology.org/expts.htm
TESTMYBRAIN. (2017). Featured brain tests. Retrieved from https://www.testmybrain.org/
The British Psychological Society. (2016). The Bystander Effect is about more than the diffusion of responsibility. Retrieved from https://digest.bps.org.uk/2016/06/29/the-bystander-effect-is-about-more-than-the-diffusion-of-responsibility/
UPtv. (2015, October 24). This girl was getting bullied: How these people react will amaze you [Video File]. Retrieved from https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PqU-hnowpZA
Wente, M. (2017). Deep down most of us are racists – or are we? Retrieved from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/deep-down-most-of-us-are-racist-or-are-we/article34265471/?utm_source=Shared+Article+Sent+to+User&utm_medium=E-mail:+Newsletters+/+E-Blasts+/+etc.&utm_campaign=Shared+Web+Article+Links