PSYC315 Full Course (September 2019)

PSYC 315 Social Psychology

Week 1 Discussion

DQ1 Research Theory

Deception is used in research in order prevent participants from behaving in an expected way. For example, if participants know they are being observed about how angry something makes them, they may behave with more anger since that is what the study is about. Or they may want to seem as though they do not easily anger and try to show no anger at all.

Deception can be a helpful tool in conducting experiments. Discuss when and how much deception is acceptable and when a researcher has taken deception too far.

DQ2 Research Design

Social Psychology is applicable to a number of everyday occurrences.

For this question describe a theory in social psychology that you would like to know the answer to. Then describe how you would go about setting up an experiment to study your idea.

What is your hypothesis? What are the independent and dependent variables? How would you determine causality or correlation in this study?

PSYC 315 Social Psychology

Week 2 Discussion

DQ1 The Influence of Culture

This discussion references the part of CO 3 that covers self in a social world. Culture is one of the two major independent variables that influences our self-concepts. Think of culture as a master script for our shared values, beliefs, ideas, and behaviors that is handed down from one generation to the next.

Individualism is an important cultural dimension in America. What is individualism, and how does it impact the way that we think of ourselves? Contrast your answer with the concept of collectivism and how it makes a person think of himself or herself.

DQ2 Attributing Cause and Effect

This discussion references CO4 with respect to impressions we form of ourselves and others.

Suppose your friend Lucy gets a hot last-minute deal on a 7-day trip to Cancun and misses the first 5 days of Week 3 in her online course at Chamberlain. As a result, she loses 15 of 30 discussion points, incurs a 30-point penalty for the late submission of an assignment that is worth 50 points, and also has so little time to study for the quiz that she earns only 55 of 100 possible points. You believe she was irresponsible, but you also are her friend. When she asks your opinion concerning the fact that the professor would not cut her a break, your response seems to be plagued by illusion of transparency discussed in Chapter 2. How has this social psychological concept impacted your response to her?

PSYC 315 Social Psychology

Week 3 Discussion

The Influences of Gender

This discussion references CO 6 as it applies to social influences of which we may not be aware. Gender is the socially defined set of characteristics that are assigned to a category based on one’s biological sex. There are three biological-sex categories: male, female, and intersex (having both male and female sex organs). The terms man and woman are the gender categories with which you may be most familiar.

What does it mean to be a man and woman in our society? What kinds of social roles are perceived to be appropriate for men and women?

PSYC 315 Social Psychology

Week 4 Discussion

DQ1 Conformity in Group Life

The study of conformity involves why people are likely to change their behaviors or beliefs as a result of real or imagined group pressure. Your textbook describes three types of conformity. If your employer has a policy that employees must wear business attire when making a presentation to clients, which type of conformity is implied: compliance, obedience, or acceptance? What about the situation led you to your conclusion?

DQ2 Doomsday Cults

This discussion references CO 7 which is specifically about cults and the social processes within them. The CO references new religious organizations called doomsday cults, though we may also touch on other new religious organizations that are not apocalyptic.

Consider Jim Jones, Marshall Applewhite, and David Koresh. What characteristics do or did these doomsday cult leaders have in common?

PSYC 315 Social Psychology

Week 5 Discussion

Discrimination Experiences

This discussion references CO 5 as it applies to stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination. Some relevance to CO 3 is also implied with respect to the sense of social self, self-concept, and self-esteem.

We will approach the subject by observing that being the target of discrimination can be a life-altering experience for someone in a target group. Access to housing accommodations is an area of American social life in which discrimination on the basis of race and ethnicity continues, even if not legally.

What must it feel like to sense that you are being excluded from renting an apartment because you are a member of a visible minority?

PSYC 315 Social Psychology

Week 6 Discussion

DQ1 Get Mad or Get Even?

This graded discussion references CO 12 as it applies to aggression. One form of aggression that practically everybody can relate to is road rage. Road rage is aggressive behavior by a car or truck driver in response to the actions of another road user.

Most of us have either been targets of road rage, been the road ragers, or perhaps both. To begin our discussion, please share a story about road rage in your life, or the life or a friend or relative.

DQ2 Circle of Friends

This discussion references COs 9 and 10 as they apply to interpersonal attraction.

People inherently tend to categorize the people in their lives in terms of levels of interpersonal attraction. We perceive people who are lovers, friends, and acquaintances differently.

Do you make a distinction in your life between acquaintances and friends? What are the differences?

PSYC 315 Social Psychology

Week 7 Discussion

The Games We Play

This discussion references CO 13 which is about violent aggression – an extreme form of conflict.

In Chapter 13 (Conflict and Peacemaking), Myers starts his coverage of what causes conflict by examining social dilemmas. What are the characteristics of a social dilemma?

PSYC 315 Social Psychology

Week 8 Discussion

Clinical Judgement

This discussion references CO 11 as it applies to clinical judgements, cognitive processes, psychological approaches to treatment, and social relationships. Describe some ways new or seasoned health professionals can develop or improve clinical judgement skills? What are the risk factors associated with the lack of sound judgement?

PSYC 315 Social Psychology

Week 1 Assignment

Many Me’s

This week you will begin a self-reflection assignment that is completed in two parts. For Week 1, you will complete the Many Me’s Questionnaire and submit you assignment for 20 points. In Week 2 you will complete a write up about your responses.

In this part you explore your self-concept collection by completing a short exercise in which you identify words that you use to describe yourself in response to the question “Who am I”?

Fill in the blanks in the Many Me’s questionnaire (located in Files). There are five dimensions of self that are covered. Report your descriptive words for each dimension. Once you have completed the questionnaire submit your assignment for grading in word document.

PSYC 315 Social Psychology

Week 2 Assignment

Self-Reflection Exercise “Many Me’s”

This week you will complete the self-reflection assignment titled Many Me Reflection. This assignment helps you answer the question “Who am I?” and reveals that you have many self-concepts.

This is the self-reflection portion of the Many Me’s questionnaire you completed in week 1.

See the full guidelines for this assignment in Files: Week_2_Many_Me_Relection

Don’t forget to submit your assignment.

PSYC 315 Social Psychology

Week 3 Assignment

Gender in the Workplace

This week is the first of our current event assignments. This week’s topic is on gender in the workplace. Your assignment will be to focus on the disparity between males and females in the workplace. This may include issues such as pay, employment opportunities, leadership roles, etc. It may be a good idea to focus on the career field you wish to pursue to understand your career choice better.

See the full guidelines for this assignment here please view Week_3_Gender_Workplace_Assignment in Files

PSYC 315 Social Psychology

Week 4 Assignment

Critical Thinking Exercise – Spin Doctoring

This week you will complete the first of two critical thinking exercises for this session. The focus of the assignment is on spin doctoring, a particular form of impression management that is intended to divert public attention from a troublesome issue to something noncontroversial. The assignment requires you to apply course concepts in order to explain spin doctoring.

Make sure to review these guidelines to complete this assignment: Week_4_Spin_Doctoring_Assignment in files

In the Introduction & Resources/Course Resources area, you will find a web link entitled “Understanding Spin Doctoring” to introduce you to this ethically problematic genre of persuasion.

Don’t forget to submit your assignment.

PSYC 315 Social Psychology

Week 5 Assignment

Social Movements

Social movements are a way for people to bring about attention and change to social issues. This week you will complete a current event assignment that will help you consider the origins, significance, and role of a social movement to consider the impact that the movement has had on social change.

PSYC 315 Social Psychology

Week 6 Assignment

Critical Thinking Exercise – Manufacturing Beauty

Your assignment this week is Manufacturing Beauty, the second critical-thinking paper, worth up to 75 points. The assignment is based on a case study of Cindy Jackson using the contents of her official website. After carefully analyzing the website’s images and words, there are four questions to be answered, each of which is associated with a particular course concept.

PSYC 315 Social Psychology

Week 7 Assignment

Case Study Analysis – Global Warming

In every argument there are those that support and those that disagree. This week, the assignment is a discussion on global warming. For this assignment, you will need to conduct some research concerning social perceptions of the issue of global warming, discuss both sides of the global warming argument, and deconstruct key ideas related to social psychology.

PSYC 315 Social Psychology

Week 8 Final Exam

Question 1 CO 5. There has been a bumper crop of politicians who have been revealed to be less than upstanding citizens. John Edwards, a former senator who was in the running for the 2008 presidential nomination, and who said family values were at his core, was revealed to have had an affair with a campaign worker, at the same time his wife was battling cancer. Similarly, New York governor Eliot Spitzer, a married, moralizing crusader for laws against sexual tourism, was caught in an escort service “sting”, and forced to resign. These are only two of several recent examples of politicians who have celebrity status, and flaunted the social norms of decency.

Apply the course concepts of the dark side of self-esteem and moral hypocrisy to this type of behavior. What do you conclude about people who behave in such a way? Hint: Explicitly use each concept by name and also give a one sentence definition of it before explaining how the concepts apply to these people.

Question 2 CO’s 4 and 12. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Cuban Taekwondo athlete Angel Matos fell to the mat, after being hit by his opponent. He became incensed at the referee, who disqualified him for exceeding the one-minute time-out allowed for an injury. Matos angrily disputed the call, physically pushing a judge and then pushing and kicking the referee in the face. He spat on the mat and was escorted out by officials. The World Taekwondo Federation immediately banned Matos for life, and the IOC took away his bronze medal.

This is a two part question:

a. What is it about the fundamental nature and structure of the Olympics that helps explain why this situation occurred?

b. This example contains evidence of both hostile aggression and instrumental aggression. Which part of the example involves hostile aggression, and which part of the example involves instrumental aggression? Explain your reasoning.

Question 3 CO 9. Barack Obama became a very hot political commodity in 2006 when he caught the attention and imagination of the American public by announcing his intention to run for President in 2008. He is a tall, nice looking, and a very articulate individual, which quickly made him a media darling. Some media watchers have described his impact as similar to a rock star.

Name two (2) factors of interpersonal attraction mentioned in the textbook that would explain his attractiveness to audiences.

Question 4 CO 6. When will desegregation most likely to lead to improved race relations, and when will it not improve race relations?

Question 5 CO 3. Angelica and Michael are chatting about how things are going in their business statistics class. Angelica remarks that she got 68 percent on the Midterm. Michael says his mark was 92 percent. Angelica feels discouraged when she hears Michael’s score. This is an example of which one of the following concepts?

Group of answer choices

social identity

personal identity

social comparison

low esteem

Question 6 CO 13. By definition, militant animal rights groups, like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), are socially deviant because they use bombings, arson, and poisoning to get their messages to get attention in the media. PETA has done major damage to retail outlets, laboratories, and clinics while innocent people have come close to being killed by PETA’s activities. Other groups have behaved similarly in the past, and the technique seems to have been successful. Even so, PETA has a large following of supporters from all the media attention, who by their support, are encouraging the organization to continue its aggression. What theory or concept of aggression, in the textbook, corresponds to the argument that PETA continues its anti-social ways, because it gets attention and support for their cause, and reflects an imitation of observed behaviors of other people?

Group of answer choices

equity theory of motivation

social learning theory

hostile aggression

frustration-aggression hypothesis

Question 7 CO 1. Myers suggests that he can make a confident guess about your attitude towards the 2003 invasion of Iraq, if he knows your educational level and what media you read and watch. This is an example of which one of the following?

Group of answer choices

how intellectual training alters our political views

the power of the situation

the power of social influence

a self-fulfilling prophecy

Question 8 CO 8. Six people who interact with each other and have influence on each other several times a week are which of the following according to social psychologists?

Group of answer choices

a clan

a mob

a collectivity

a group

Question 9 CO 4. After seeing several advertisements for the Powerball lottery, you imagine living the life of the rich and famous for yourself. This future self-schema you imagine is an example of which one of the following?

Group of answer choices

gloried self

feared self

possible self

hoped-for self

Question 10CO 2. Suppose you are interested in finding out about the fine motor skills of senior citizens who are recovering from a stroke. It is important that you eliminate as many confounding variables as you can and have direct control of the environment. Which one of the following is the best research method for your study?

Group of answer choices

unobtrusively observe seniors in a stroke rehab program (field study)

ask seniors who have had a stroke, if you can interview them (survey research)

invite seniors who have had a stroke to your lab, and observe how they pick up a variety of small objects (experiment)

Question 11 CO 11. Henry is asked to participate in a blood drive. He thinks about the costs (being pricked by a needle) and the benefits (feeling good about himself) of doing so. This strategy is an example of which one of the following?

Group of answer choices

social responsibility norm

empathy-altruism hypothesis

social comparison theory

social exchange theor

Question 12 CO 7. There is a water shortage in the City of Crossroads, and all households have been asked to curb their lawn watering between 11 AM and 3 PM, when evaporation is at its highest on hot days. However, some residents persist in watering throughout the day, thus consuming more water than their share, even though the cost of the water is dispersed among all citizens. This result is described as which one of the following?

Group of answer choices

selfishness

environmental irresponsibility

overconsumption

tragedy of the commons

Question 13 CO 3. After losing the third hand of poker in a row, and running out of chips, Georgio walks over to the wall and hits it so hard with his fist that he makes a big hole in the drywall, releasing his anger on something other than himself. This is an example of which one of the following?

Group of answer choices

regression

hostile aggression

Parkinson’s Second Law

displacement

Question 14 CO 9. Expecting that someone will be pleasant and compatible (anticipatory liking) increases the chances of which one of the following?

Group of answer choices

becoming involved in an inequitable relationship

a co-dependent relationship

the weaker party being exploited in the early stages of the relationship

forming a mutually rewarding relationship