Unit 4: Social Psychology and Personality
Social Psychology
Objectives
College Board Expects Students To:
- Understand how individuals behave in social contexts
- Examine conformity, obedience, persuasion, and group dynamics
- Learn about major personality theories: trait, psychodynamic, humanistic, and social-cognitive
- Analyze motivation and emotional expression
College Board Expects Students To:
- Explain how attribution theory applies to behavior and mental processes.
- Explain how locus of control (internal and external) applies to behavior and mental processes.
- Explain how person perception applies to behavior and mental processes.
- Explain how stereotypes and implicit attitudes contribute to the behaviors and mental processes of prejudice and discrimination.
- Explain how belief perseverance and cognitive dissonance apply to attitude formation and change.
- Explain how the social situation affects behavior and mental processes.
- Explain how being in a group can affect an individual’s behavior and mental processes.
- Explain how prosocial behavior affects behavior and mental processes.
- Explain how the psychodynamic theory of personality defines and assesses personality.
- Explain how the humanistic theory of personality defines and assesses personality.
- Explain how the social-cognitive theory of personality defines and assesses personality.
- Explain how trait theories of personality define and assess personality.
- Explain how theories about motivation apply to behavior and mental processes.
- Explain how eating and belongingness motivate behavior and mental processes.
- Explain how theories of emotion apply to behavior and mental processes.
- Explain how social norms and experiences influence the expression of emotions.
How do we explain (or "attribute") the behavior of others? What impact do these "attributions" have on individuals and on society as a whole? How are individuals affected by a group? Under what conditions do people obey, conform, make friendships, find love and help others? How do attitudes and actions influence individual and group behavior?How do psychologists define culture? What influence does culture have on individuals and groups? Psychologists focus on a variety of social phenomena when exploring how we relate to one another in social situations. We will learn what their research reveals about the structure and function of groups; the basic concepts of social cognition and attribution; the key studies that have contributed to the body of knowledge about social relations; and, the social psychologist's perspective of organizational behavior (e.g., businesses, etc.).
Students Will Be Able To:
Social Thinking
1. Describe the three main focuses of social psychology, and explain how the fundamental attribution error impacts our judgments of others.
2. Define attitude, and explain how attitudes and actions affect each other.
Social Influence
3. Describe the chameleon effect, and discuss Asch’s experiments on conformity, noting the difference between normative and informational social influence.
4. Describe Milgram’s experiments on obedience, and explain how the conformity and obedience studies can help us understand our susceptibility to social influence.
5. Describe the conditions in which the presence of others is likely to result in social facilitation, social loafing, or deindividuation.
6. Discuss how group interaction can facilitate group polarization and groupthink.
7. Describe how behavior is influenced by cultural norms.
8. Identify the characteristic common to minority positions that successfully sway majorities.
Social Relations
9. Identify the three components of prejudice, and contrast overt and subtle forms of prejudice.
10. Discuss the social factors that contribute to prejudice, and explain how scapegoating illustrates the emotional component of prejudice.
11. Cite three ways that cognitive processes help create and maintain prejudice.
12. Explain how psychology’s definition of aggression differs from everyday usage, and describe various biological influences on aggression.
13. Outline psychological and social-cultural triggers of aggression, noting the relationship between violent video games and aggressive behavior.
14. Describe the influence of proximity, physical attractiveness, and similarity on interpersonal attraction.
15. Describe the effect of physical arousal on passionate love, and identify two predictors of enduring companionate love.
16. Define altruism, and describe the steps in the decision-making process involved in bystander intervention.
17. Explain altruism from the perspective of social exchange theory and social norms.
18. Explain how social traps and mirror-image perceptions fuel social conflict, and discuss effective ways of encouraging peaceful cooperation and reducing social conflict.
Resources
The Power of the Situation -DISCOVERING PSYCHOLOGY
Constructing Social Reality-DISCOVERING PSYCHOLOGY
Khan Academy Videos
Philip Zimbardo: The Psychology of Evil
Taking a Closer look at Milgram's Obedience Studies
Social Thinking: Crash Course Psychology #37
Social Influence: Crash Course Psychology #38
Prejudice & Discrimination: Crash Course Psychology #39
Aggression V. Altruism: Crash Course Psychology #40
10 Famous Psychological Experiments That Could Never Happen Today
Students Will Be Able To:
Social Thinking
1. Describe the three main focuses of social psychology, and explain how the fundamental attribution error impacts our judgments of others.
2. Define attitude, and explain how attitudes and actions affect each other.
Social Influence
3. Describe the chameleon effect, and discuss Asch’s experiments on conformity, noting the difference between normative and informational social influence.
4. Describe Milgram’s experiments on obedience, and explain how the conformity and obedience studies can help us understand our susceptibility to social influence.
5. Describe the conditions in which the presence of others is likely to result in social facilitation, social loafing, or deindividuation.
6. Discuss how group interaction can facilitate group polarization and groupthink.
7. Describe how behavior is influenced by cultural norms.
8. Identify the characteristic common to minority positions that successfully sway majorities.
Social Relations
9. Identify the three components of prejudice, and contrast overt and subtle forms of prejudice.
10. Discuss the social factors that contribute to prejudice, and explain how scapegoating illustrates the emotional component of prejudice.
11. Cite three ways that cognitive processes help create and maintain prejudice.
12. Explain how psychology’s definition of aggression differs from everyday usage, and describe various biological influences on aggression.
13. Outline psychological and social-cultural triggers of aggression, noting the relationship between violent video games and aggressive behavior.
14. Describe the influence of proximity, physical attractiveness, and similarity on interpersonal attraction.
15. Describe the effect of physical arousal on passionate love, and identify two predictors of enduring companionate love.
16. Define altruism, and describe the steps in the decision-making process involved in bystander intervention.
17. Explain altruism from the perspective of social exchange theory and social norms.
18. Explain how social traps and mirror-image perceptions fuel social conflict, and discuss effective ways of encouraging peaceful cooperation and reducing social conflict.
Resources
The Power of the Situation -DISCOVERING PSYCHOLOGY
Constructing Social Reality-DISCOVERING PSYCHOLOGY
Khan Academy Videos
Philip Zimbardo: The Psychology of Evil
Taking a Closer look at Milgram's Obedience Studies
Social Thinking: Crash Course Psychology #37
Social Influence: Crash Course Psychology #38
Prejudice & Discrimination: Crash Course Psychology #39
Aggression V. Altruism: Crash Course Psychology #40
10 Famous Psychological Experiments That Could Never Happen Today
Personality
How do psychologists define and study personality? What advantages and limitations exist for each of the psychologists' theoretical description of personality? How do psychologists reliably measure personality and interpret personality's role in behavior? Psychologists agree that "Personality is one’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting." What differs is the many ideas about how our personality develops.We will explore the major theories and approaches to personality (psychoanalytic/psychodynamic, humanistic, cognitive,trait, social learning and behavioral). We will also learn about research, the differences among research orientations, and the strengths and weaknesses of each approach.
Students Will Be Able To:
I. Introduction and the Psychoanalytic Perspective
Define personality, and explain how Freud’s treatment of psychological disorders led to his study of the unconscious mind.
Describe Freud’s view of personality structure in terms of the id, ego, and superego.
Identify Freud’s psychosexual stages of development, and describe the effects of fixation on behavior
Discuss how defense mechanisms serve to protect the individual from anxiety.
Contrast the views of the neo-Freudians and psychodynamic theorists with Freud’s original theory.
Describe two projective tests used to assess personality, and discuss some criticisms of them.
Summarize psychology’s current assessment of Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis, including its portrayal of the unconscious.
II. The Humanistic Perspective
Describe the humanistic perspective in terms of Maslow’s focus on self-actualization and Rogers’ emphasis on people’s potential for growth.
Explain how humanistic psychologists assessed personality, and discuss the major criticisms of the humanistic perspective on personality.
III. The Trait Perspective
Discuss psychologists’ interests in personality types, and describe research efforts to identify fundamental personality traits.
Discuss the value of using personality inventories to assess traits, and identify the Big Five trait dimensions.
Summarize the person-situation controversy, and explain its importance as a commentary on the trait perspective.
IV. The Social-Cognitive Perspective
Describe the social-cognitive perspective, and discuss the important consequences of personal control and optimism.
Explain why social-cognitive researchers assess behavior in realistic situations, and state the major criticism of the social-cognitive perspective.
V. Exploring the Self
Explain why psychology has generated so much research on the self, and discuss the importance of self-esteem to human well-being.
Discuss some evidence for self-serving bias, and contrast defensive and secure self-esteem.
Identify some ways a primarily individualist culture differs from a primarily collectivist culture.
Motivation and Emotion
Students Will Be Able To:
Resources
The Power of Motivation: Crash Course Psychology #17
Motivation and Emotion- DISCOVERING PSYCHOLOGY
Emotion, Stress and Health: Crash Course Psychology #26
Let's Talk About Sex: Crash Course Psychology #27
Khan Academy Videos on Biological, psychological, and socio-cultural factors influence behavior and behavior change.
Rorschach & Freudians: Crash Course Psychology #21
Measuring Personality: Crash Course Psychology #22
Personality Test
Mr. Sinn's AP Psychology Unit 4: Social Psychology & Personality Videos
How do psychologists define and study personality? What advantages and limitations exist for each of the psychologists' theoretical description of personality? How do psychologists reliably measure personality and interpret personality's role in behavior? Psychologists agree that "Personality is one’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting." What differs is the many ideas about how our personality develops.We will explore the major theories and approaches to personality (psychoanalytic/psychodynamic, humanistic, cognitive,trait, social learning and behavioral). We will also learn about research, the differences among research orientations, and the strengths and weaknesses of each approach.
Students Will Be Able To:
I. Introduction and the Psychoanalytic Perspective
Define personality, and explain how Freud’s treatment of psychological disorders led to his study of the unconscious mind.
Describe Freud’s view of personality structure in terms of the id, ego, and superego.
Identify Freud’s psychosexual stages of development, and describe the effects of fixation on behavior
Discuss how defense mechanisms serve to protect the individual from anxiety.
Contrast the views of the neo-Freudians and psychodynamic theorists with Freud’s original theory.
Describe two projective tests used to assess personality, and discuss some criticisms of them.
Summarize psychology’s current assessment of Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis, including its portrayal of the unconscious.
II. The Humanistic Perspective
Describe the humanistic perspective in terms of Maslow’s focus on self-actualization and Rogers’ emphasis on people’s potential for growth.
Explain how humanistic psychologists assessed personality, and discuss the major criticisms of the humanistic perspective on personality.
III. The Trait Perspective
Discuss psychologists’ interests in personality types, and describe research efforts to identify fundamental personality traits.
Discuss the value of using personality inventories to assess traits, and identify the Big Five trait dimensions.
Summarize the person-situation controversy, and explain its importance as a commentary on the trait perspective.
IV. The Social-Cognitive Perspective
Describe the social-cognitive perspective, and discuss the important consequences of personal control and optimism.
Explain why social-cognitive researchers assess behavior in realistic situations, and state the major criticism of the social-cognitive perspective.
V. Exploring the Self
Explain why psychology has generated so much research on the self, and discuss the importance of self-esteem to human well-being.
Discuss some evidence for self-serving bias, and contrast defensive and secure self-esteem.
Identify some ways a primarily individualist culture differs from a primarily collectivist culture.
Motivation and Emotion
Students Will Be Able To:
- Identify and apply basic motivational concepts to understand the behavior of humans and other animals (e.g., instincts, incentives, intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation).
- Discuss the biological underpinnings of motivation, including needs, drives, and homeostasis.
- Compare and contrast motivational theories (e.g., drive reduction theory, arousal theory, general adaptation theory), including the strengths and weaknesses of each.
- Describe classic research findings in specific motivation systems (e.g., eating, sex, social
- Compare and contrast major theories of emotion (e.g., James–Lange, Cannon–Bard, Schachter two-factor theory).
- Describe how cultural influences shape emotional expression, including variations in body language.
- Identify key contributors in the psychology of motivation and emotion (e.g., William James, Alfred Kinsey, Abraham Maslow, Stanley Schachter, Hans Selye).
- Discuss theories of stress and the effects of stress on psychological and physical well-being.
Resources
The Power of Motivation: Crash Course Psychology #17
Motivation and Emotion- DISCOVERING PSYCHOLOGY
Emotion, Stress and Health: Crash Course Psychology #26
Let's Talk About Sex: Crash Course Psychology #27
Khan Academy Videos on Biological, psychological, and socio-cultural factors influence behavior and behavior change.
Rorschach & Freudians: Crash Course Psychology #21
Measuring Personality: Crash Course Psychology #22
Personality Test
Mr. Sinn's AP Psychology Unit 4: Social Psychology & Personality Videos