1. Psychology 2070A Introduction to Social Psychology Instructor: Dr. James Olson TA: Joel Armstrong

2. Evaluation We will first cover chapters 1, 3, 4, 6, & 7  First test will be on October 22, in class [HSB 40 or SEB Engineering 1200 or 2200]  Worth 45% of final mark Will then cover chapters 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, & 13  Final exam will be held during the examination period, December 8-19(date/time TBA)  Worth 55% of final mark  NOT cumulative

3. Make-up Exams Tests must be written on the scheduled dates unless you have a legitimate excuse recognized by the university administration. Valid reasons include medical or compassionate reasons, and must be substantiated by proper documentation (e.g., a medical certificate, which will be verified by the Dean’s Office). A student who misses a regularly scheduled exam for any other reason, or who is unable to justify a claim, will be assigned a zero for that exam.

4. Optional Essay  4 pages (1200 words) of text  List of topics in course outline  Explain a concept, describe an experiment, and provide a real-life example  Worth 10% of final mark (Test 1 reduced to 40%, Final Exam reduced to 50%)  Must submit both hard copy to Professor or TA and electronic copy to TurnItIn on website  Last date to submit: November 26

5. What is Social Psychology? Social psychology: the scientific study of how individuals’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are influenced by other people What factors influence the success of romantic relationships? Why do some relationships work? Whereas others do not? Why is there so much aggression? Why is violent physical aggression almost always committed by men? What is the impact of modeling aggression in “sports”? What is the impact of rewarding violent aggression in “games”?

6. Why Study Social Psychology? People are Social Beings “We are by all odds the most persistently and obsessively social of all species, more dependent on each other than the famous social insects, and really, when you look at us, infinitely more imaginative and deft at social living.” Lewis Thomas (physician and commentator)

7. Why Study Social Psychology? Learn About Your Own Life Why did you buy that i-Pod even though it turned out to cost more than you expected? The low-ball technique Why is there always someone in a group project who doesn’t pull his/her weight? Social loafing Why do you keep making the same new year’s resolution year after year? The false hope syndrome

8. Why Study Social Psychology? The Greatest Threats to Humanity Require Social Psychological Solutions War We need to learn how to resolve conflicts and how to compromise Climate change We need to convince people and governments to reduce our carbon footprint

9. Why Study Social Psychology? The Greatest Threats to Humanity Require Social Psychological Solutions AIDS We need to share medical advances with poorer nations and teach safer sexual behaviours here and elsewhere Religious hatred We need to reduce mistrust and increase peaceful co-existence

10. Goals of Science Including Social Psychology Social Psychology, like any science, aims for:  Description: careful and reliable observation. e.g., What are the attitudes of Canadians toward First Nations peoples?  Prediction: forecasting events and behaviours. e.g., How will Canadians react to land claims settlements awarding money to First Nations peoples?

11. Goals of Science Including Social Psychology  Explanation: understanding why events and behaviours occur. e.g., Some Canadians resent land claims settlements because they perceive competition for scarce tax revenues.  Control: encouraging positive events and preventing negative events. e.g., How can we reduce prejudice against First Nations peoples?

12. Major Theoretical Perspectives or Explanatory Frameworks Social Learning Sociocultural Evolutionary Social Cognitive

13. Social Learning Perspective Social learning perspective a theoretical viewpoint that focuses on past learning experiences as determinants of a person’s social behaviours What drives social behaviour? ….

14. Social Learning Perspective  Reinforcements and punishments e.g., studying hard to earn high grades  Imitating the rewarded behaviour of others e.g., buying a gun after seeing a movie in which the hero wins true love by shooting bad people  Classically conditioned responses e.g., feeling fear at the sight of a needle

15. Sociocultural Perspective Sociocultural perspective a theoretical viewpoint that searches for the causes of social behaviour in influences from larger social groups What drives social behaviour? ….

16. Sociocultural Perspective  Norms within cultural groups e.g., inviting a friend to lunch because she invited you before (the reciprocity norm)  Gender roles e.g., asking girls instead of boys for some help, because girls are expected to be more helpful

17. Evolutionary Perspective Evolutionary perspective a theoretical viewpoint that searches for the causes of social behaviour in the physical and psychological predispositions that helped our ancestors survive and reproduce What drives social behaviour? ….

18. Evolutionary Perspective  Genetic predispositions inherited from our ancestors that promoted the survival of their genes e.g., feeling protective of one’s children  Genetic predispositions inherited from our ancestors that promoted the survival of their genes e.g., automatically recognizing an angry facial expression

19. Social Cognitive Perspective Social cognitive perspective a theoretical viewpoint that focuses on the implications for social behaviour of the mental processes involved in perceiving, interpreting, and remembering social events What drives social behaviour? ….

20. Social Cognitive Perspective  Interpretations of others’ actions e.g., asking someone for a date because you interpret his or her actions as showing romantic interest  Stereotypes of social groups e.g., assuming that skinheads are hostile  The self-concept and self-esteem e.g., blaming failure on someone else to protect one’s own self-esteem

21. The Science of Social Behaviour Correlational methods involve attempts to measure or record behaviours, thoughts, or feelings in their natural state. Experimental methods involve attempts to manipulate social processes by varying some aspect of the situation.

22. The Science of Social Behaviour Common Correlational Methods in Social Psychology:  Observational studies Researcher watches participants and codes behaviour  Archival studies Researcher uses existing information to test ideas  Surveys Researcher asks participants questions

23. The Science of Social Behaviour Key Features of Experiments  Independent Variable The factor manipulated by the experimenter  Dependent Variable The variable measured by the experimenter  Extraneous Variables All other aspects of the setting are controlled (e.g., standardized procedures)

24. The Science of Social Behaviour Advantages of experiments  Allow cause-effect conclusions  Allow control of extraneous variables Disadvantages of experiments  Artificial situations may not represent social events as they naturally unfold, so findings may not generalize to real-life behaviour