PSYC 215 Chapter 1: Chapter 1 - Social Psychology

• School: McGill University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 215
• Professor: John Lydon

Document Summary

Definition: scientific study of the feelings, thoughts and behaviours of individuals in social situations. Beliefs, values, personality traits or abilities (real or imaginary) People assume these are the factors that determine a person"s behaviour. Failure to recognize the importance of situational influences on behaviour and the tendency to overemphasize the importance of dispositions/traits on behaviour: stress, pressure, lateness, etc. 1: the stanford university experience: simulated prison experience, 24 healthy and mentally stable undergraduate men, two groups: guards and prisoners, when given power, the guards exploited it and turned to verbal abuse and physical humiliation. Certain situational circumstances that appear unimportant on the surface, but can have great consequences for behaviour (facilitating, blocking, guiding: shape a vague intention into a concrete plan. Students that have the intention of going to the school"s health services will actually go once they are given a map of the campus. Definition: people"s interpretation and inference about the situation they confront.