Psychology 2070A/B Chapter Notes - Chapter 10: Convergent Thinking, Social Proof, Social Loafing
Document Summary
Group dynamics: the social psychological study of groups and group processes: group: two or more persons who are interacting with one another and/or influencing one another. For example, passengers on a plane who do not interact with each other are not considered as a group by social psychologists. People perform better in the presence of others, to an extent. Social facilitation: the effects of the presence of other people on individual performance, which will usually be improved performance on simple tasks and impaired performance on complex tasks. The presence of other people increases the probability of dominant responses on a task: dominant responses: the action that is most likely to occur in a situation or on a task when the individual is alone. When a task is simple or something done many times (i. e. driving a car), the dominant responses will be correct ones or well-practiced ones (i. e. stepping on the gas, or steering the car).