Social Psychology Final I expect 1 to 3 paragraphs per answer. Your answers should be short enough to not be repetitive, but long enough to provide as many specific details and examples as necessary.
1. State the definition of social psychology and explain its key words.
2. Explain what social psychologists mean when they say: “behavior is influenced by the
person-situation interaction”
3. Explain one famous social psychology experiment of your choice. Explain the
methodology behind the experiment and the results.
4. Define social schemas and attitudes. Explain the ways individuals can learn social
schemas and attitudes.
5. Explain how individuals use cognitive heuristics to understand their social world. Give an
example of a specific cognitive heuristic strategy and explain the effects of using this
heuristics in social situations.
6. Explain what the misattribution of arousal is and how it can affect social cognition.
7. Explain how we use social comparison to define our “self”.
8. Explain how a psychologist could use the principles of cognitive dissonance to change a
person’s attitude.
9. Explain how we form our first impressions of others and how these impressions help us
navigate our social world.
10. Explain the role of social support in an individual’s life.
11. You are working on a group project and everyone is disagreeing. Using the principles of
conformity, how could you possibly help people in the group to agree?
12. Define altruism and explain how you can influence someone to have more altruistic
behaviors.
13. Define aggression and explain the strategies you could use to decrease aggressive
behaviors.
14. Explain the differences between stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination. You know
your teacher gives better grades to hispanic students (part of her in-group) than white
students (out-group), what could you do to try and reduce her discriminatory behavior.
15. You are a social psychologist going to NECC to improve relationships between
professors and administration. Explain the differences between group performance (chapter 11) and group cooperation (chapter 13). Which would you improve, group performance or group cooperation? Why? According to the principles of social psychology how could you actually do this?
