1. Social psychology Concerned with how others influence the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of the individual Social thinking When something unexpected occurs, we analyze why people act as they do is she warm to all people she has just met, or is she interested in me?

2. Explaining other’s and our own behavior Attribution theory Heider (1958) people try to decide whether someone’s behavior is the result of internal or external causes

3. Internal Attributions Explanations based on someone’s stable characteristics Attitudes, personality traits, abilities They are smart

4. External Attributions Explanations based on the situation The environment, events of the day, rewards or penalties for acting that way They have a lot of people around them to help them make smart decisions

5. Errors people make Fundamental Attribution Error Tendency to infer internal attributions for other people’s behavior even when they see evidence for external influences

6. Actor-observer effect We are more likely to assume internal attributions for other’s behavior than our own. Actor = explain your own behavior. I fell off my bike because the sidewalk was bumpy external attribution observer = explain someone else’s behavior they fell off their bike because they are clumsy internal attribution

7. Self-serving bias We say our positive behaviors reflect internal attributes Good test score = I’m smart But our negative behaviors reflect external attributes Bad test score = Bad test

8. Handicapping strategies Intentionally putting yourself at a disadvantage to provide an excuse for an expected failure partying until 3 am on the night before an exam you expect to do poorly on. provides an external attribute for something the person feels he or she is poor at (internal attribute). I was really hung over, how could I do well?

9. Stanford Prison experiment Zimbardo (1972) College students volunteered to spend time in a simulated prison randomly assigned Guards - uniforms, billy clubs, whistles, and instructed to enforce certain rules prisoners - locked in a barren cell, forced to wear humiliating outfits First day or two the people self-consciously played their roles

10. then it got real - too real guards had mean attitudes - and devised cruel and degrading routines prisoners - broke down, rebelled, or became passively resigned. Study called off after only 6 days What we do we gradually become

11. Conformity Asch Originally 37% conformity 75% conformed at least once Yielding Small percentage believed the majority was correct Most did not have confidence in their own judgements Some did not want the confederates to think there was something wrong with them Independent Knew majority was wrong and had confidence in their own judgements Strong need to remain independent – nonconformists Wanted to perform well on the task

12. Obedience to Authority Would an ordinary person placed in an extraordinary situation obey an authority and inflict pain on an innocent victim.

13. Milgram’s study Participate with another person Confederate Experiment is about the effects of punishment on learning One person will be the teacher The other will be the learner The drawing was rigged The subject was always the teacher Deliver increasingly stronger shocks for incorrect answers Please continue The experiment requires that you continue

14. 65% of subjects went all the way to the end of the shock meter Danger: Severe Shock --- XXX