Module 10: Social Psychology
Mr. Baker was nominated for this year's Golden Apple award for teaching, so Mr. Hall, the district superintendent, came to observe the class with Ms. Washburn, the principal at Woodlawn Heights High School.
The class felt different that day. Hannah, who was usually very talkative, did not raise her hand until halfway through class. Marcos did not crack a single joke, and while Mr. Baker was still energetic, he interacted much more formally with the students. Overall, everyone had a different demeanor until Mr. Hall and Ms. Washburn left. At that point, the students erupted with congratulations to Mr. Baker, and joked about how clean his desk was compared to the usual mountain of papers.
Why do you think the group acted so different when Mr. Hall and Ms. Washburn were in the room?
Getting Started
Social psychologists seek to figure out how the presence of others affects your behavior, and why people act differently in groups than they do alone. Do you act differently when you are with family, with friends, or at school, for example? As the students left Mr. Baker's class that day, they each thought about the ways in which they had experienced people acting differently based on a particular situation. Take a moment to explore each student's thoughts. Consider how social psychology might address his or her questions. Then, as you continue with the content in this module, keep in mind the students' concerns and how they might relate to concepts from social psychology. Click the player to begin.
View a printable version of this interactivity.
Key Vocabulary
To view definitions for these key vocabulary terms, visit the course glossary.
| aggression | door-in-the-face phenomenon | prejudice |
| altruism | foot-in-the-door phenomenon | role |
| attitude | frustration-aggression principle | self-disclosure |
| attribution theory | fundamental attribution error | self-serving bias |
| bystander effect | group polarization | situational attribution |
| central route persuasion | groupthink | social facilitation |
| cognitive dissonance | ingroup | social impairment |
| companionate love | just-world phenomenon | social loafing |
| conflict | mere exposure effect | social psychology |
| conformity | outgroup | social reciprocity |
| deindividuation | passionate love | stereotype |
| discrimination | peripheral route persuasion | superordinate goals |
| dispositional attribution |