PSYCH 1X03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Social Learning Theory, Solomon Asch, Robert Zajonc
29 Nov 2016
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Document Summary
Our thoughts and behaviours are influenced by the people around us. Social psychology is not as intuitive as it seems. Common sense does not always equal research findings. Behaviours performed in a group are different from behaviours performed individually. Credited with performing the first form study of social psychology in 1898. He found that children winding a fishing rod would do it faster when in a group as opposed to slower when they were alone. Co-actor: another individual performing the same task. Audience: a group of people watching an individual perform a task. Social facilitation: the increased performance that occurs in the presence of co- actors or an audience. The presence of others can sometimes hinder, rather than help, a performance. Zajonc"s research offered a solution to the problem of social facilitation. Presence of others increases arousal to improve performance on well practiced tasks. Presence of others decreases performance on complex tasks.
