Ap Psych Unit 6 Review

AP Psychology Unit 6 Review: Social Psychology - Understanding the Influence of Others

This comprehensive review covers Unit 6 of the AP Psychology curriculum, focusing on social psychology. We'll delve into the fascinating world of how our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are shaped by the presence of others, exploring key concepts, theories, and research studies that will help you ace the AP exam. This guide will help you understand social influence, social cognition, social behavior, and the factors that contribute to prejudice and aggression. By the end, you'll have a solid grasp of the core principles of social psychology and be better prepared to analyze complex social interactions.

I. Introduction to Social Psychology

Social psychology examines how individuals' thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. It's a vast field, exploring everything from interpersonal relationships to societal norms and prejudices. This unit will equip you with the tools to analyze social situations critically and understand the underlying psychological processes at play. Key concepts explored include:

• Attribution: The process of explaining the causes of behavior, both our own and others'. This includes internal attributions (attributing behavior to personality or disposition) and external attributions (attributing behavior to situational factors). The fundamental attribution error highlights our tendency to overemphasize internal attributions when explaining others' behavior.

• Attitudes: Evaluative judgments about people, objects, or ideas. Attitudes can be explicit (consciously held) or implicit (unconsciously held). The cognitive dissonance theory explores how we strive for consistency between our attitudes and behaviors, often changing our attitudes to reduce dissonance.

• Conformity and Obedience: The influence of group pressure on individual behavior. Conformity involves adjusting one's behavior to match the group norm, often due to normative social influence (desire for acceptance) or informational social influence (belief that the group is correct). Obedience is compliance with direct commands from an authority figure, as demonstrated in Milgram's famous obedience experiments.

• Group Dynamics: The study of how groups function, including group polarization (intensification of pre-existing attitudes), groupthink (prioritizing group harmony over critical thinking), and social facilitation (improved performance on simple tasks in the presence of others).

• Prejudice and Discrimination: Negative attitudes (prejudice) and behaviors (discrimination) directed towards members of a particular group. Stereotypes are oversimplified generalizations about group members, contributing significantly to prejudice. Social categorization and in-group bias further fuel these biases.

• Aggression: Behavior intended to harm another person. Biological factors (hormones, genetics), psychological factors (frustration-aggression hypothesis, social learning theory), and situational factors (heat, crowding) all contribute to aggression. Deindividuation (loss of self-awareness in group settings) can also increase aggressive behavior.

• Altruism and Prosocial Behavior: Helping others, motivated by empathy or other factors. The bystander effect demonstrates how the presence of others can decrease the likelihood of helping in emergencies. Diffusion of responsibility and pluralistic ignorance contribute to this effect.

• Interpersonal Attraction: The forces that draw people together, including proximity, similarity, physical attractiveness, and reciprocity. Sternberg's triangular theory of love describes different types of love based on intimacy, passion, and commitment.

II. Attribution Theory and Errors

Attribution theory focuses on how we explain the causes of behavior. Understanding this process is crucial to comprehending social interactions. We make attributions based on available information, but these can be flawed.

Internal vs. External Attributions:

• Internal attributions (dispositional): Attributing behavior to internal factors like personality, traits, or abilities. For example, attributing someone's rudeness to their mean personality.

• External attributions (situational): Attributing behavior to external factors like the situation, context, or environment. For example, attributing someone's rudeness to a stressful day at work.

Common Attribution Errors:

• Fundamental Attribution Error: The tendency to overemphasize internal factors and underestimate situational factors when explaining others' behavior. We often overlook the impact of the environment on others' actions.

• Actor-Observer Bias: The tendency to attribute our own behavior to situational factors while attributing others' behavior to internal factors. We are more aware of our own circumstances than others'.

• Self-Serving Bias: The tendency to attribute our successes to internal factors and our failures to external factors. This protects our self-esteem.

III. Attitudes and Cognitive Dissonance

Attitudes are our evaluations of people, objects, and ideas. They influence our behavior, but the relationship isn't always straightforward. Cognitive dissonance is a key concept here.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory: This theory proposes that we strive for consistency between our attitudes and behaviors. When there's a discrepancy (dissonance), we experience discomfort and are motivated to reduce it. This can involve changing our attitudes to match our behavior, changing our behavior to match our attitudes, or rationalizing the discrepancy. For example, if you believe smoking is harmful but continue to smoke, you might downplay the risks or focus on the pleasure of smoking to reduce dissonance.

IV. Conformity and Obedience

Social influence significantly impacts our behavior. Conformity involves yielding to group pressure, while obedience involves following direct commands from an authority figure.

Conformity: Asch's conformity experiments demonstrated how individuals often conform to group opinion even when they know the group is wrong. Factors influencing conformity include group size, unanimity, and the presence of allies. Normative social influence involves conforming to gain acceptance, while informational social influence involves conforming because you believe the group is right.

Obedience: Milgram's obedience experiments revealed a surprisingly high level of obedience to authority, even when the commands involved harming another person. Factors influencing obedience include the authority figure's legitimacy, proximity to the victim, and the presence of dissenting voices.

V. Group Dynamics

Groups influence individual behavior in various ways. Understanding group dynamics is essential to comprehending social interactions within teams, organizations, and communities.

Group Polarization: The tendency for group discussions to strengthen pre-existing attitudes. If a group initially leans toward a particular opinion, the discussion will likely make that opinion even stronger.

Groupthink: A phenomenon where the desire for group harmony overrides critical thinking and realistic assessment of options. This can lead to poor decision-making.

Social Facilitation: The impact of the presence of others on performance. Simple tasks are often improved by an audience, while complex tasks can be hindered. This is partly due to increased arousal.

VI. Prejudice and Discrimination

Prejudice and discrimination are significant social problems with serious consequences.

Prejudice: A negative attitude towards members of a group. It involves cognitive (stereotypes), affective (negative feelings), and behavioral (discrimination) components.

Discrimination: Behavior directed towards members of a group based on prejudice. This can manifest in various forms, from subtle biases to overt acts of hostility.

Stereotypes: Oversimplified and often inaccurate generalizations about group members. They can be positive or negative, but even positive stereotypes can be harmful.

Social Categorization: The tendency to group people into categories based on shared characteristics. This can lead to in-group bias (favoring one's own group) and out-group homogeneity (perceiving members of other groups as similar to each other).

Reducing Prejudice: Strategies for reducing prejudice include contact hypothesis (increased contact between groups under certain conditions), education, and challenging stereotypes.

VII. Aggression

Aggression is behavior intended to harm another person. It's a complex phenomenon influenced by multiple factors.

Biological Factors: Hormones (testosterone), genetics, and brain structures (amygdala) all play a role in aggression.

Psychological Factors: The frustration-aggression hypothesis proposes that frustration increases the likelihood of aggression. Social learning theory suggests that aggression is learned through observation and imitation.

Situational Factors: Environmental factors like heat, crowding, and alcohol consumption can increase aggression. Deindividuation (loss of self-awareness in group settings) can also lead to increased aggression.

VIII. Altruism and Prosocial Behavior

Altruism is selfless helping behavior, motivated by empathy or other factors. Prosocial behavior encompasses a broader range of helpful actions.

Bystander Effect: The tendency for the presence of others to decrease the likelihood of helping in emergencies. Diffusion of responsibility and pluralistic ignorance contribute to this effect.

Factors Influencing Helping: Empathy, mood, perceived cost, and the victim's characteristics all influence whether people will help.

IX. Interpersonal Attraction

Interpersonal attraction is the force that draws people together. Several factors contribute to attraction.

Proximity: We are more likely to be attracted to people we encounter frequently.

Similarity: We tend to be attracted to people who share similar attitudes, values, and interests.

Physical Attractiveness: Physical attractiveness plays a significant role in initial attraction.

Reciprocity: We are more likely to be attracted to people who are attracted to us.

Sternberg's Triangular Theory of Love: This theory proposes that love has three components: intimacy (closeness and connection), passion (romantic attraction and sexual desire), and commitment (decision to maintain the relationship). Different combinations of these components produce different types of love.

X. Conclusion

This comprehensive review of AP Psychology Unit 6 highlights the core principles of social psychology. Understanding attribution, attitudes, conformity, obedience, group dynamics, prejudice, aggression, altruism, and interpersonal attraction is crucial for navigating the complexities of social interactions. Remember to review the key studies mentioned (Asch's conformity experiments, Milgram's obedience experiments, etc.) and understand the underlying concepts to succeed on the AP exam. By applying these principles, you can analyze social situations more effectively and gain a deeper understanding of human behavior in social contexts. Good luck with your studies!