Psych 2310 1st EditionExam # 2 Study Guide Lectures: 7 - 11Lecture 7 (September 25)ConformityWhat is conformity? What experiments are important to conformity studies? What are the different types of conformity?Vocab- Conformity= A change in behavior or belief as a result of a real or imagined group pressure- Cohesiveness= A “we” feeling; the extent to which members of a group are bound together, such as by attraction to one another- Norm= Consensually shared standard for correct or appropriate behavior- Compliance= You act one way but still keep original beliefs- Acceptance= You change your mind to agree with the conformity- Normative influence= You conform to avoid disapproval- Informational influence= You conform because you want to be right. You are being convinced that what you are conforming to is correct.- Internalization= We take in the norm or behavior and make it our own- Obedience= Complying with an explicit command- Reactance= A motive to protect or restore one’s sense of freedom. Reactance arises when someone threatens our freedom of action.Experiments- Sherif’s study= Used a phenomenon (auto kinetic phenomenon) where it appears that a light is moving but it really isn’t and asked people how much they thought it moved. People who answered in a group tended to converge their answers to a similar number because they really didn’t know the answer.- Asch’s study= Used an obvious test of which line lengths matched up to show that people often conformed to what others in the group were saying even though they previously thought they knew the answer.- Milgram’s experiment= Had subjects administer shocks to other people who they believed were other subjects if they answered memory questions wrong. It was obvious the bigger the shocks got the more pain these people felt. This showed that normal people could be made to do terrible things in certain settings.Lecture 8 (September 30)ConformityWhat are the ethics of experiments? What personality factors cause people to conform?Ethics- You are told you can quit at anytime- Subject gives voluntary consent to participate- Experimenter stops the experiment if it gets too dangerous- Protects subject from hazards- Fully inform subject of study and risks- Experiment must be constructed by quality, educated experimenters- These rules have become more strictly enforced over timeWhat contributes to conformity?- Group sizeo Bigger group size causes more conformity- Group unanimityo More dissenters more likely person is to disagree- Public reporting vs. private reportingo More likely to disagree in private- Having made prior public commitment o Reduces conformityWhat personality traits lead to conformity?- Stubbornness, resistance to authority- Self monitoring traitsLecture 9 (October 2) PersuasionHow do we influence persuasion?Vocab- Channel of communication= The way a message is delivered (face to face, in writing, etc.)- Two-step flow of communication= The process by which media influence often occurs through opinion leaders, who in turn influence others- Need for cognition= The motivation to think and analyze. Assessed by agreement with items such as “The notion of thinking is abstractly appealing to me” and disagreement with items such as “I only think hard when I have to”- Attitude inoculation= Exposing people to weak attacks upon their attitudes so that when stronger attacks come, they will have refutations available.Major influences on persuasion1.From who (communicator)i. Are they credible, attractive, or seen as an expert? These all help.2.Audiencei. The young and middle-class are more susceptible to persuasionii. Distracted and unprepared audiences are more easily persuaded3.Channeli. Lifelike/vivid channels are more persuasiveii. Complex messages in writing are more persuasive4.Messagei. Messages evoking fear or good feelings can helpii. Too much fear leads to denialiii. Going first is usually better, unless there is a large break between the two messagesiv. Acknowledging the opposing side when the audience is opposed helpsLecture 10 (October 7)PersuasionWhat are the routes of persuasion? How do we influence persuasion? How do cults form?Vocab- Central route of persuasion= Occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts- Peripheral route of persuasion= Occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker’s attractiveness- Persuasion= The process by which a message induces change in beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors.- Credibility= Believability. A credible communicator is perceived as both expert and trustworthy.- Sleeper effect= A delayed impact of a message that occurs when an initially discounted message becomes effective, such as we remember the message but we forget the reason for discounting it.- Attractiveness= Having qualities that appeal to an audience. An appealing communicator (possibly someone similar to the audience) is most persuasive on matters of subjective preference. - Primacy effect= Other things being equal, information presented first usually has the mostinfluence- Recency effect= Information presented last sometimes has the most influence. This is less common than primacy effects.- Cult= A group typically characterized by distinctive rituals and beliefs related to its devotion to a god or person, isolation from the surrounding “evil” culture, and a charismatic leader.Peripheral vs. Central routes of persuasion- Peripheralo Use when audience is distracted or unfamiliar in the topic.- Centralo Found that people with high stakes were more persuaded by strong arguments rather than expert opinion. People with no stake were more persuaded by expertopinion.o Creates more lasting change, harder to pull offCults- Leader must be credible and attractive- Cut off from outside world- Use foot-in-the-door technique- Use initiation ritesLecture 11 (October 9) Group influenceWhat does groupthink do? What happens to our performance when we are in a group?Vocab- Group= Two or more people who, for longer than a few moments, interact with and influence one another and perceive one another as “us”.- Co-actors= Co-participants working individually on a noncompetitive activity.- Social facilitation= Original meaning: The tendency of people to perform simple or well-learned tasks better when others are present. Current meaning: The