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MPC 02 : COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, LEARNING AND MEMORY
COURSE CODE: MPC 02 2022
Note: This TMA consists of ten questions, out of which you have to attempt any five. The question carries 20 marks each and should be answered in about 500 words. Send your TMA to the Coordinator of your Study Centre.
NOTE: All questions are compulsory.
SECTION – A
Answer the following questions in 1000 words each.
Answer the following questions in 1000 words each. 3 x 15 = 45 marks
ADVANCED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
TUTOR MARKED ASSIGNMENT (TMA)
Course Code: MPC004
Assignment Code: MPC 004/ASST/TMA/2021-22
NOTE: All Questions Are Compulsory Section A
Answer the following question in about 1000 words each: Marks 15×3=45
- Explain the nature, concept and scope of social Describe the emergence of modern social psychology.
- Discuss the various areas and researches of social
- Discuss the factors affecting helping behavior and the theories related to pro social
Answer the following questions in about 400 words each: Marks 5×5=25
- Discuss the characteristics of
- Describe the factors of attitude
- Explain the methods of reducing prejudice and
- Elaborate upon the methods of conflict
- Explain the concept and importance of group
Answer the following in about 50 words each: Marks 10×3=30
- Characteristics of
- Features of a
- Errors in
ASSIGNMENT REFERENCE MATERIAL (2021-22)
ADVANCED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Answer the following question in about 1000 words each: Marks
Q1. Explain the nature, concept and scope of social psychology. Describe the emergence of modern social psychology.
Ans:- Social Psychology is Scientific in Nature
For many students, the word science means physics, chemistry, biology, genetics, etc. They and many others would wonder whether social psychology is science. To understand the scientific nature of social psychology, we need to understand what we mean by science. In reality, science is not a label for certain fields of advanced studies in natural sciences. It has set of values and methodology. Accuracy, objectivity, skepticism and open-mindedness are the values of science. The data collection, analysis and inferences are drawn in most error- free manner. The collection of data and interpretation is as free as possible from the human biases. Only those scientific conclusions are accepted that have been proved time and again. The views are open to change, no matter how strong they are. The principles that are determinants of science are Empiricism; Objectivity; Parsimony and Converging evidence. Empiricism means human experience, so the scientific inquiry should be human experience and not beyond and without it. Parsimony means simple explanations are preferred over complex (also known as Occam’s Rezor). Considering all these parameters, science differs from the non-science.
Social Psychology Studies the Experience and Behaviour of Individuals
Social psychologists are primarily interested in understanding the many factors and conditions that shape the social behaviour and thought of individuals. Mainly, how individuals form ideas relating to the actions, feelings, beliefs, memories and inferences concerning other persons. A huge number of different factors play a role in this regard. The factors affecting social interaction fall into five major categories. They are the actions and characteristics of others, basic cognitive processes, ecological variables, cultural context and biological factors.
In other words, social psychologists typically explain human behaviour as a result of the interaction of mental states and immediate social situations. In Kurt Lewin’s (1951) famous heuristic formula, behaviour can be viewed as a function of person and the environment, i.e. behaviour is a function of a person and environment.
The Cultural Context: People live in different cultural settings. Each culture comes out with its own rules and norms to be systematically followed in different facets of human life cycle. The practices followed in one culture will be different from the other cultures. If a person is hailing from a particular culture, s/he has to adapt appropriately the behaviour patterns accepted by his/her culture. In all these processes, an individual is continuously influenced by the culture from which s/he is hailing. Social behaviour and social thoughts are often strongly affected by the cultural norms and factors. For example, there are cultural specific behaviour patterns exist for the birth of a newborn, the age attainment ceremony, the marriage ceremony, and finally, the funeral ceremony. These are some of the specific cultural behaviours expressed by every culture. The cultural ideas also get changed by the passage of times. For example, previously love marriages were viewed in negative terms as drastic action but now the cultural beliefs and values about it have changed greatly. But, whatever the changes takes place in a culture, person living in anyone of the cultures is expected to follow the practices of that culture.
Q2. Discuss the various areas and researches of social influence.
Ans. Conformity is changing how people behave to be more like others. This element plays to belonging and esteem needs as we seek the approval and friendship of others. Conformity can run very deep, as people will even change their beliefs and values to be like those of peers and admired superiors. Conformity refers to the act of changing a particular belief or behaviour to fit in with one’s social environment. Main factor that influences conformity is social norms. Social norms are the expected behaviour within a specific culture or society. Once a particular way of doing things is established as a norm, people will start conforming to it as it gives the impression of being the ‘right’ thing to do. Person who conform to social group have low self-esteem, high need for social support or approval, need for self-control, low IQ, high anxiety, feeling of self-blames and insecurity in the group, and lastly, feeling of inferiority.
Numerous researches demonstrate that when a person is confronted with social norms, one will often adjust their behaviour to closer approximation of the perceived norm (Bond and Smith, 1996). Dissimilar to popular belief, conformity is not personality-driven but highly situational (Goldberg 1952). In his experiment, Goldberg observed that conformity usually occurs in the initial stages of exposure and any additional exposure thereafter does not affect the influence. The results from his experiment also demonstrated that the more displeasing the subject initially was to the particular social norm in question, the greater the conformity, as the compromise in this case will be larger.
Conformity categorised into two parts that include normative conformity and informational conformity. Normative conformity is usually prompted by a need to fit in while informational conformity usually occurs when a person is looking for guidance in a vague situation. While a person involved in normative conformity usually conforms for fear of being rejected by a group. A person involved in informative conformity usually conforms because he is uncertain of the situation, and thus, do not have his own viewpoint in that particular situation to begin with. Finally, while normative conformity usually ends in compliance where the changes are evident in overt behaviour and actions (explicit), the influence of informational conformity usually results in internalisation (implicit), where a person adopts the views and opinion of the group for his own.
Current research on social influence generally uses experimental methodology and tends to fall into the following five main areas:
- Minority Influence: Several studies regarding social influence have concentrated on the power of the majority within groups. Moscovici, Lage and Naffrechoux (1969) recommended that characteristics such as consistency, autonomy and rigidity empower minorities to act as influential agents. Additionally, evidence of the power of minority influence was established by Moscovici (1980), who suggested the conversion Evidence exists that firmly establishes the minority as a strong source of influence. This type of influence is said to occur when a minority subgroup attempts to change the majority. For instance, teachers often influence their students’ beliefs, and political and religious leaders frequently influence the behaviour of their followers. While some previous research has characterised the process of social influence as the majority riding over the minority, many scholars interested in minority influence believe that every member of a group can influence others, at least to some degree. Studies have found this to be particularly true when the minority group is consistent in what it presents to the majority. In addition, the presence of minority groups within a larger group often leads to more creative thinking and better overall solutions on group tasks. Nemeth and Kwan (1987) demonstrated this in a study of four-person groups working on a creativity task. Individuals were given information that a majority 3 of 3 or a minority 1 of 3 of the other group members had come up with a novel response to the task at hand. Those who were in the minority condition actually produced more correct solutions to the task, indicating the strong effect of minority viewpoints.
- Persuasion: Generally, persuasion is defined as communicative activities that are According to the communication scholar Gerald R. Miller, any message that is aimed to shape, reinforce or change the perceptions, emotions, beliefs, behavioural intentions and behaviours is to be considered as persuasive communication (2002). The philosopher Kenneth Burke was the first to recognise the persuasive potential of non-verbal domains. Burke’s work gave rise to the study of persuasiveness in other domains, increasing interest in visual rhetoric, understood as the art of using imagery and visuals persuasively. It is established in literature that persuasion is long-term endeavour. It is a way of seeing and being in the world. Persuasion is mainly dependent upon the attractiveness of the speakers and reaction of the listeners. Persuasion is exclusively related with communication, learning, awareness and thought.
Q3. Discuss the factors affecting helping behavior and the theories related to pro social behaviour.
Ans. There are following factors, which affect people’s prosocial/helping behaviour:
- Physical Attractiveness: According to DeVito (1976), attractiveness is defined as physical attractiveness or the attractiveness of a person’s personality or behaviour. Researchers believe physical attractiveness can be defined for any one individual situationally (DeVito, 1976). Physically attractive people are more likely to receive help than unattractive people (Harrell, 1978). The explanation lies in the fact, that as a society, we consciously or subconsciously tend to treat attractive individuals differently, expecting better lives for them (Berscheid, Walster, Bohrnstedt, 1973). Adams and Cohen (1976) feel physical attractiveness is a major factor in the development of prosocial behaviour in a
- Similarity and Kinship: Individuals are more likely to behave prosocially towards similar or likable others (Penner et al., 2005), and towards others considered to be close, especially kin (Graziano et al., 2007). Genetic relatedness aside, pro-social behaviour towards family members probably involves a sense of duty, reciprocity and affective Individuals care more for victims who belong to their in-group rather than to their out-group (Dovidio et al. 1997; Flippen et al. 1996; Levine et al. 2002). Park and Schaller (2005) found that attitude similarity serves as a heuristic cue signaling kinship, which may motivate kin- recognition responses (e.g., prosocial behaviour) even to unrelated individuals.
- Religiosity: Across various domains, several studies have examined the impact of donor characteristics, the findings are not as robust as those about victim One consistent finding is that humanitarian values and religiosity are correlated with giving (Burnett 1981; Pessemier, Bemmaor, and Hanssens 1977).
- Victim’s Perspective: Batson,Early and Salvarani 1997; Batson et al. 2003 have shown consistently greater empathy and altruistic behaviour by individuals who are primed to take the victim’s perspective.
Personal Experience: According to Weinstein, 1989, for a critical review, a vast literature examines the impact of personal experience on self-protective behaviour. Although, the majority of studies examine effects on victims themselves, a few assess the impact of knowing a victim as a form of personal experience (Manheimer, Mellinger and Crossley 1966 and Schiff 1977). Barnett et al. (1986) found that participants who had been raped reported greater empathy when watching a video about a rape victim than did those who had never been raped. Batson et al. (1996) found that for females but not males, the expectation of oneself receiving a shock affected self-reported empathy when one observed a same-sex peer receiving a shock. Christy and Voigt (1994) found that those who reported being abused as a child indicated that they would be more likely than those who had never been abused to intervene if they saw a child being abused.
- Identifiable Victim Effect: It has been shown by various previous researches that people give more to identifiable victims than to unidentifiable or statistical victims (Kogut and Ritov 2005a, b; Small, Loewenstein, and Slovic 2006). This effect has even been demonstrated when no meaningful information is provided about the dentified victim (Small and Loewenstein 2003). Other identifying factors, such as showing a victim’s face or being in the presence of a victim, also increase pro-social behaviour (Bohnet and Frey 1999). Charities do often describe or show images of specific victims to potential donors in their advertising campaigns, but such attempts seem designed to benefit from the identifiable victim effect (Kogut and Ritov, 2005a, b; Small et al. 2006), rather than to create “friendship” between donors and victims.
Answer the following questions in about 400 words each: Marks Q4. Discuss the characteristics of stereotypes.
Ans:- Major Characteristics of Stereotypes: A stereotype is a standardised conception or image of a specific group of people or objects. Stereotypes force a simple pattern upon a complex mass and assign a limited number of characteristics to all members of a group.
While we commonly use the term as it is applied to human beings, it is quite possible to stereotype objects as well. In popular culture, we can examine both types of stereotypes so that we often find people stereotyped around characteristics of age, sex, race, religion, vocation and nationality.
The standardised conception is held in common by the members of a group. Popular stereotypes are images, which are shared by those who hold a common cultural.
Mindset, i.e. they are a significant sub-group within a culture, and these stereotypes define and label a specific group of people. All of us have many narrow images of people, places or things which are unique to our personal outlook, but these are of interest only to our immediate family and friends and to psychologists. The goal is to define the cultural rather than individual mindset, therefore, we must search and examine wide social patterns of thought and behaviour, not their exceptions.
Q5. Describe the factors of attitude formation. Ans:- Factors of Attitude Formation
Following are the various factors of attitude formation:
- Need Satisfaction: Researches on “Need Satisfaction” reveal that we tend to develop favourable attitude towards things, which help us satisfy our As is well known, whenever something hinders our reaching a goal or stop us from doing something that we want to or frustrate our attempts to satisfy our goals and needs, we feel negative for the things, which hinder our way. For example, in an experimental study, it was found that students developed favourable attitudes towards those things, which they viewed, were instrumental in the attainment of goal. But they had negative attitude towards things that were of no use in goal attainment or which hindered goal achievement.
- Social learning: This is another factor that plays an important role in the development of attitude. Process of learning affects the development of attitude and the way an individual learns other forms of behaviour. Three processes of learning affect development of attitudes and these are as follows:
- Classical Conditioning: Classical conditioning is one of the few frameworks that can potentially accommodate the notion that preference or attitudes may develop through some automatic, non-cognitive system. According to classical, learning a neutral stimulus comes to elicit an unconditioned response when repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus. Social psychologists opine that it applies to the development of attitudes as For example, when a child repeatedly listens from his father that electricity is dangerous for him, and it may lead to death when you come in contact, then the child gradually develops a negative attitude towards electricity, even though initially the word electricity was a neutral word for him.
- Instrumental Conditioning (operant conditioning): According to Solomon et (2010), an attitude can also be formed through instrumental conditioning, in which consumption of the attitude object is reinforced. Instrumental conditioning occurs as behaviour is reinforced when providing positive results or be avoided when generating negative outcomes (Solomon et al., 2010, p.248). According to this theory, we learn those
responses that are rewarded and show an increased probability of repeating such responses. However, we tend not to repeat responses that are punished. Studies reveal that children develop attitudes maintained by their parents simply because holding such attitudes is rewarding. Exhibition of attitudes and behaviour similar to parents is often met with reward and praise from parents and dissimilarities or deviation is met with punishment and admonition. Thus, children soon learn that holding attitudes similar to that of parents is instrumental in getting the desired results.
Q6. Explain the methods of reducing prejudice and discrimination.
Ans. Social psychologists have suggested a number of methods for reducing prejudice and discrimination, which are as follows:
(1) Intergroup Contact: Contact between the prejudiced person and the target person or group has been found to reduce prejudice. First, suggested by Allport (1954), the contact hypothesis puts forward that intergroup contact and cross-group friendship can reduce prejudice if it is planned in an appropriate way. In fact, positive contact, when it reflects increased co-operation and interdependence between groups, can change norms, and thereby, prejudice may be reduced. Contact hypothesis as a means of reducing prejudice is effective.
Such interactional situations provide the two parties an opportunity to know each other from close quarters and understand each other thereby reducing misunderstandings and misconceptions. However, for intergroup contact to be effective certain conditions are to be met.
Intergroup contact is an effective method of reducing prejudice only in those conditions where both the parties have equal status.
(2) Education: Most of the researches by social psychologists have focussed on reducing racial prejudice, especially that of Whites towards Blacks. In it, both formal and informal education are important. As far as informal education is concerned, parents ought to be encouraged not to indulge before children in things, which knowingly or unknowingly promote prejudice.
The syllabus and curriculum for formal education should be designed to promote harmony between different sections of society. It should aim at developing healthy minds. It has been found that higher and better formal education leads to decreased prejudice and increased liberalism.
(3) Anti-prejudice propaganda: The mass media is regularly used as an approach to tackle prejudice, through TV, radio and the internet. In one of the studies, it was found that films and documentaries aimed at reducing prejudice have been successful in reducing prejudice upto 60 per cent. Some other psychologists have reported anti-prejudice propaganda to be more effective than formal education.
Q7. Elaborate upon the methods of conflict resolution.
Ans. Conflict is an inevitable aspect of human interaction, an unavoidable concomitant of choices and decisions. Although conflict is inherent in decisions even when there is only one person, social conflict is necessarily brought on by the presence of several actors and
compounded by several choices. It cannot be avoided. The problem, then, is not court the frustrations of seeking to remove inevitability but rather of trying to keep conflict in bounds. Conflict can be prevented on some occasions and managed on others, but resolved only if the term is taken to mean the satisfaction of apparent demands rather than the total eradication of underlying sentiments, memories, and interests.
Social psychologists have developed number of approaches for resolution of social conflict. Some of the main methods are as follows:
- Mutually beneficial goal: A common approach to ameliorate social conflict is to establish mutually beneficial Such goals prompt the warring parties to work in close co- operation and help reduce feelings of group struggle.
For example in a classical experiment, Sheriff and Sherif put two groups in a social situation which involved competition between the two parties. It was observed that very soon they developed feelings of animosity and competition. Things reached to a level where both parties raided each other’s camps to hurt and damage their prospects of attaining goal. In the next phase of the experiment both the warring parties were put in a situation, which called for joint efforts to reach the goal. Since neither of them had sufficient resources to attain goal on their own, they were left with no alternative but to help each other to surmount problems faced by them. Not longer than before it was observed that members of both parties began trying to understand each other’s concerns. They started seeing members of opposite group very often and appreciated each other’s approach to handle problems. Thus by the end of the experiment both the groups had developed better understanding of each other and there was a marked reduction in feeling of conflict.
- Compromise: Compromise is a situation where no party stands to gain or lose anything. Thus, it gradually leads to reduction in struggle. For example, when Gurjars in Rajasthan pressurised the government for inclusion into scheduled tribes, the Meenas vehemently opposed their demand since they have been the biggest gainer in Rajasthan. This conflict led to open war between them and resulted in many casualties and bloodshed. Now that location of both communities is such that they are found living side by side almost all over Rajasthan, they soon realised the futility of opposing each other. A compromise was struck between the two and an understanding was arrived at under which gurjars dropped their demand for inclusion into scheduled tribe but asked for a separate quota for themselves and Meenas agreed to support Gurjars demand. Thus, under the new agreement both parties stood to gain or lose nothing at the cost of each other.
- Developing special norms: By the development of special norms conflict between two warring factions or groups may be reduced. For example, in a game, the question of who will take first turn may be settled by leaving it to the umpire. Thus, the bone of contention is removed and thereby the cause of conflict is removed. Psychologists have delineated social conditions, on the basis of studies, where conflict and struggle can be handled through developing special norms. According to them social conditions where in both the parties have the ability and will to influence each other lend themselves to such This technique has reportedly been successfully used in a number of situations with different communities.
Q8. Explain the concept and importance of group dynamics.
Ans. Group dynamics deals with the attitudes and behavioural patterns of a group. Group dynamics concern how groups are formed, what is their structure and which processes are followed in their functioning. Thus, it is concerned with the interactions and forces operating between groups.
In other word, group dynamics is the scientific approach to the understanding of the dynamics of group. It implies an interactive psychological relationship in which members of a group develop a common perception based on feelings and emotions. Group dynamics refer to the changes that take place within the group. It also refers to forces operating within the groups. Group dynamics is related to the field theory of Lewin, which assumes man’s behaviour to be a function of the field existing at the time of the occurrence of behaviour. We can further say that it is the study of group processes, their objective analysis and measurement and the effect of group membership on individual members.
According to Segal, group dynamics is a process by which one considers other individuals and a problem in a group at the same time. It not only tends to increase understanding of the problem, but also creates a solution, which the individual practices in bringing about emotional balance.
Group dynamics is related to field theory of Lewin, which assumes man’s behaviour to be a function of the field existing at the time of the occurrence of behaviour. We can also say that the group dynamics is the study of group processes, their objective analysis and measurement and the effect of group membership on individual members.
Concept of Group Dynamics
According to Stiles and Dorsey, “Group dynamics may be defined as the force or power that underlies group productivity. Study of group dynamics leads to understanding cause and effect of forces operating in a group and to helping the group become sensitive to its problems and competent to solve them.”
The social psychologists seek to explain group behaviour on the basis of social interaction and cultural transmission through social interaction. The interactive psychological relationship is termed as “group dynamics”. The important two variables we can say in this context are “group cohesiveness” and “group locomotion”. Cohesiveness plays a vital role in determining the influence of the group on the members. On the other hand, locomotion indicates the movement towards the desired goal. Personality of the individual and character of the social situation both takes an important role for group dynamics. All the psychological effects take place within the individual members who compose the group.
Section C Answer the following in about 50 words each: Marks Q9. Characteristics of prejudice.
Ans:- According to Psychologists, there are following characteristics of prejudice:
- Prejudice is acquired: Prejudice is acquired through the process of learning and socialisation in the same fashion as attitude is When born, a child is like an empty
slate but as soon his/her socialisation takes place, he learns imitating his parents and other family members. A child hates Russia only because he sees significant others in the society hating Russians.
- Emotional Overtones: Prejudice is always coloured with emotions. It is either for or against some group, community or If favorable, the person would love great affection and love but if unfavorable, the person would show hatred and dislike.
- Prejudice is Irrational: It is a well-known fact that prejudice does not lend itself to reason, wisdom and relevance.
Q10. Features of a group.
Ans. There are following characteristics of a group:
- A sense of we feeling: Among the members of the group, there is a feeling of belongingness . The members of the group help each other in performing their duties. They work collectively against the harmful powers. They treat others as outsiders. They always try to make the group self-sufficient.
- Common interest: Each and every member of the group has a common interest. There is a similarity among the members, which promotes unity. The group includes those persons who are related to each other in such a way that they should be treated as one.
- A feeling of unity: This is essential for every group. Each and every member of the group treats each other as their own and there develops a sense of sympathy among the family
- Relatedness to each other: It is true that members of the group are inter-related and this social relation is called group. There is a reciprocal communication among the group Social relations are the fundamentals of the group life.
Q11. Interpersonal attractions.
Ans. The study of interpersonal attraction is a major area of research in social psychology. Interpersonal attraction is the attraction between people, which leads to friendships and to platonic or romantic relationships. Interpersonal attraction, the process, is distinct from perceptions of physical attractiveness, which involves views of what is and is not considered beautiful or attractive.
Interpersonal attraction is related to how much one like, dislikes or hates someone. It can be viewed as a force acting between two people that tends to draw them together and resist their separation. When measuring interpersonal attraction, one must refer to the qualities of the attracted as well as the qualities of the attractor to achieve predictive accur, acy. It is suggested that to determine attraction, both the personalities and the situation must be taken into account. Repulsion is also a factor in the process of interpersonal attraction; one’s conception of “attraction” to another can vary from extreme attraction to extreme repulsion.
Q12. Learned helplessness.
Ans:- It refers to the expectation, based on previous experience that one’s actions cannot possibly lead to success. Performance goals are much more likely than learning goals to lead to ability rather than effort attributions and to result in feelings of learned helplessness. Encouraging students to focus primarily on learning goals is recommended, while keeping performance goals in perspective by enjoying recognition without letting it become an overriding concern. Teachers can accomplish this by focussing on learning rather than normative comparisons when reinforcing students, by modeling the use of learning goals, and by using the scaffolding strategies to effect goal setting and self-monitoring.
Q13. Environmental stressors.
Ans:- Beyond the role of alcohol and specific aggression-related situational cues, a variety of environmental stressors have been identified as causes and/or mediators of aggressive responses (cf. Baron and Richardson, 1994; Geen, 1990). Temperature has been found consistently to be linked to aggression in naturalistic observations and archival analyses of criminal records: uncomfortably high temperatures are related to increased levels of aggression (Anderson, 1989). Rates for homicide and other violent crimes are highest during the hot summer months and in years with particularly high average temperatures. They were also found to be higher in hotter as opposed to more temperate geographical regions, even within the same country (Goldstein, 1994a; cf. however, Nisbett, 1993, for a disconfirming analysis of the temperature hypothesis and alternative interpretation of regional differences). Evidence from laboratory studies is less consistent, but a number of potential artefacts in laboratory experiments are discussed to account for this discrepancy (cf. also Geen, 1990).
Q14. Errors in attribution.
Ans. In many studies, there are some basic attribution processes that have been supported. The theories underlying these studies are similar in that they all paint a picture of human beings as thoughtful and systematic processors of information. Further, people are distinctiveness psychologist that Fritz Heider described is susceptible to error. The two types of errors occur, which are as follows:
- Fundamental attribution error: In social psychology, the fundamental attribution error describes the tendency to over-value dispositional or personality-based explanations for the observed behaviours of others while under-valuing situational explanations for those The fundamental attribution error is most visible when people explain the behviour of others. It does not explain interpretations of one’s own behaviour-where situational factors are often taken into consideration.
Q15. Experimental method.
Ans:- Experimental methods are one kind of data collection that may be used to assess theoretical knowledge. They are certainly not the only method, for many others are available: surveys, content analyses, structured and unstructured observation, and others. As noted previously, all research searches for relations between concepts. All good research depends on being able reliably to infer that things are related in the ways a theory thought they would be—or in understanding what parts of the predictive apparatus needs revision.
The preceding discussion suggests that experiments are not well suited to study in the absence of any theoretical foundation—for instance, just “to see what will happen.” Anytime
someone sets up a situation and collects observations, we know that “something will happen.” However, the real questions are what we learned from it. Did something happen for a reason we can specify, or was it just a chance occurrence? If the latter, it is not interesting scientifically. If there is a reason, that is the beginning of a theoretical understanding. A scientist will usually want to work out the theoretical understanding before moving to empirical research. The reasons why are more interesting and important than the simple facts of what happened.
Q16. Informed consent.
Ans:- One of the safeguards against deception is informed consent,—a procedure in which the participants are given as much information as possible about the procedures to be followed, before they make their decision to participate. In short, this is the opposite of withholding information, In order to persuade people to participate. The Informed consent is considered important in the social psychology research. For example, in survey research, people need to give informed consent, before they participate in the survey. An obvious question in the informed consent concerns the complexity of the explanation and, in some cases, the need for deception about the underlying purposes. Sometimes, a less-than-full explanation may be acceptable, provided the subject incurs no other risk by participation. Still another issue is the subject’s ability to give informed consent, especially in three populations: the elderly people, the mentally disabled and children. Then investigators studying the young children typically rely on a proxy from their parents, but each research project, with its unique characteristics, requires special steps to ensure that children’s rights are respected.
Q17. Active crowd.
Ans:- Active crowd: According to Kimball Young, “an active crowd is a mass of individuals who, with the common focus of attentions unleash certain deep lying attitudes, emotions and actions.” It is accidental and momentary. It is motivated by a common motive and behaves the same way to realise a common end. The active crowd has been classified into five kinds:
- Aggressive crowd: An aggressive crowd, as the name suggests, consists of people in an aggressive mood, capable of any destruction and inhumanity. It may commit arson and murder, rape and The atmosphere is full of great excitement.
- Panicky crowd: A panicky crowd is one, which is fear stricken and whose members are running hither and thither to save their lives. During war time a panicky crowd is a common phenomenon. In a panicky crowd, every member is aware of the presence of the
Ans. Obedience, in human behaviour, is a form of social influence in which a person yields to explicit instructions or orders from an authority figure. Obedience is generally distinguished from compliance, which is behaviour influenced by peers, and from conformity, which is behaviour intended to match that of the majority. Obedience can be seen as immoral, amoral and moral.
In one classical study, Stanley Milgram (as part of the Milgram experiment) created a highly controversial and often replicated study. The experiment involved deception of the participants. In the experiment, participants were told they were going to contribute to a study about punishment and learning, but the actual focus was on how long they would listen to and obey orders from the experimenter. The participants were instructed that they had to shock a person in another room for every wrong answer on a learning task, and the shocks increased with intensity for each wrong answer. If participants questioned the procedure, the researcher would encourage them further. The dependent variable for this experiment was the voltage amount of shocks administered.