Study Guide 

What are the three components of social psychology?

Social Psychology Exam 1 

1. According to lecture what are the three components of social psychology?  Define several important research questions that are addressed in each  component. 

∙ Social Cognition: This involves impression formation, the fundamental  attribution error, and our attitudes predicting our behavior. It is how we  image ourselves and others in social situations. 

∙ Social Influence: This is how we affect others, and how those others affect  us. It involves types of conformity, and our expectations of others in  bystander apathy. 

What is meant by bystander apathy?

∙ Social Emotions: This is how people get along and interact. The forming of  close relationships and feelings of love, as well as the forming of prejudices  and aggressions towards others. How are emotions developed? 

2. What is the fundamental attribution error? 

∙ The fundamental attribution error is when we blame a person's personal  character for their behavior rather than blaming the current environment  or situation. An example would be if someone cut you off in traffic, instead  of thinking they are in a rush, we think they are a mean person who is not  considerate. Yet when we cut someone off it is because we are late for  work, not because we are a mean person. 

How social psychology has been used to investigate social problems in the history?

3. Give several examples of how social psychology has been used to investigate  social problems in history, and why social psychological research is important.  Be specific. We also discuss several other topics like What is the process that detects stimuli from the environment?

∙ The massive group-think of the Germans in the Holocaust caused many  people to wonder how so many people could think that killing 6 million  Jews was the right thing to do. Stanley Milgram conducted experiments in  the 60s to figure out how susceptible humans are to authority, and how far  they will obey another even if it is against their morals. He had a volunteer  act as a teacher for memory tests given to another person in another room.  The participant/student was a confederate (a part of the research team)  but the teacher did not know he was the only one out of the loop. The  teacher was asked to administer electric shocks to the student if they made  an incorrect answer. Milgram discovered that even if the electrical shocks

were past the point of physical distress, the worst maxing out at 450 volts,  over 65% of the participant teachers would admins inter maximum voltage  as long as someone in a white lab coat told them to please continue. The  results were shocking, and many people did not expect that humans  obeyed authorities to such extreme measures. This research explained how  a man such as Hitler could train and gather an army who did not question  his actions, but merely obeyed. We also discuss several other topics like Do you recapture depreciation on 1250 property?

∙ Albert Bandura came up with the social learning theory because he  believed that operant conditioning was not the complete explanation of  human behavior. He believed that humans learn a lot about behavior by  observing others and imitating them. We learn the things to do, or the  things to stay away from by watching other people succeed or fail. He set  up a bobo doll experiment where children between the ages of 3-6  watched an adult act out aggressively on the bobo doll, hitting and  punching etc. The kids who saw the adult beating up the doll were much  more likely to act physically aggressive towards it than he children who did  not witness the aggression. These results are used to support the social  learning theory that what we see definitely affects us. This is why kids and  people who watch violent television can end up acting out violently on  others. We are likely to become what we watch as Bandura proved. If you want to learn more check out Does facilitated diffusion move from high to low concentration?

4. What is meant by bystander apathy? Give an example from lecture. ∙ Bystander Apathy is an interesting effect of a human's response to help  another. If there are many people around, as in a public place, and if  another person is being hurt or needs help, we are very likely to not assist  them and to think "someone else will do it." It also involves a certain  degree of conformity to the others doing nothing. It is an example of social  influence. An important case study done on this, and one of the first to kick  start the research, was the Kitty Genovese murder case. She was stabbed  to death outside her apartment in New York City in the 60s, and no one  called 911 or tried to help her even though neighbors heard the screams. Don't forget about the age old question of Why is there variability in definitions of social problems?

5. What evidence is there to suggest that emotional attachment is critical to  human survival? How does Harlow’s famous experiments on monkeys provide  information on this issue? 

∙ Emotional attachment reaches a critical period ranging from 6 to 8 months.  The idea was introduced in the 1930s by John Bowlby. He discovered that Don't forget about the age old question of What is the meaning of water balance in biology?

infants need to form a primary attachment to a primary caregiver. The  caregivers cannot be mixed around. The child needs to form a bond with  one person, and it is an innate need. He studied children in a London  juvenile orphanage to prove his prediction.  

∙ His theory of emotional attachment was supported by Rene Spitz who  studied infants in orphanages in the 1940s in Romania. He found that the  children never developed an emotional connection to one caregiver because  there were too many children. Even though their physical needs were met, the  children were mentally traumatized at the lack of emotional connection. He  discovered that children could feel the emotions of sadness and develop  depression at an extremely young age. A lot of the children did not make it due to  the poor upbringings. We also discuss several other topics like What is the difference between the old and new definition of mass media?

∙ Harry Harlow's studies on monkeys also provided evidence for the theory.  Harlow found that infant monkeys would rather spend more time with a  cloth surrogate mother without food, than spend time with the wire  surrogate mother who had milk. The monkeys needed to cling to a mother,  rather than get proper nourishment. They needed to form an attachment.  

∙ Mary Ainsworth continued the research and found that attachment in  infancy is not all or nothing, but rather there are 3 different styles an infant  can take on with their caregiver. She found that most infants are securely  attached to their caregivers, while the other were overly attached or not  attached at all. 

∙ In the late 1980s, a lady named Cynthia Hazan took the work of Ainsworth  and applied it to adults. She found that the attachment styles infants have  predict attachment styles adults will have. She used longitudinal studies to  prove her work. 

6. What are basic and social emotions? From lecture and the film on “Life’s First  Feelings” how are basic and social emotions studied? Are both basic and social emotions present at birth? How and when do basic and social emotions  develop? 

∙ Basic emotions are innate emotions such as happiness, sadness, surprised,  interest. They are present at birth. 

∙ Social emotions come with time and are things such as embarrassment,  pride, guilt, or shame. They typically arise when the child has gained a  sense of self around the age of 2 years old. 

∙ Life’s First Feelings was a video that showed how researchers study infant  behavior. They take infants in and watch their interactions with their

mothers, how they respond to a happy mother verses how they respong to  a sad mother. These emotions are studied using an infant theatre. By  putting an infant in a chair and videotaping the facial reactions to different  stimuli viewed on the screen, researchers were able to map out the face  and know which emotions an infant was showing. They are also studied by  placing a child over the invisible cliff to see if a child’s depth perception  was aided by hints from the mother’s facial cues. 

7. What exactly is an emotion? What are the components of an emotion? What  is a Galvanic Skin Response machine record? How has emotion research been  used in the legal system? 

∙ Cognitive component: These are the thoughts about the emotion. How we  label it. 

∙ Physiological Component: These are the actual responses our bodies show  when experiencing an emotion. Our heart rate rises, blood pressure rises,  breathing increases, and sweat increases in all emotions except for interest,  which causes the opposite response. 

o The Galvanic Skin Response machine records increases in electrical  conductivity in the skin that increase when humans are under  emotional stress (essentially it measures palm sweat). The sweat  glands are controlled by the sympathetic nervous system under  arousal and are connected to emotion. They are used in lie detector  tests and some electroencephalographs (EEG). 

o In the legal system, the results of a lie detector test are not  admissible in a court of law as actual evidence, but they can be  brought up to persuade juries. 

∙ Behavioral Component: The nonverbal communication we can observe. An  example would be raised eyebrows, opened mouth, a smile etc. 

8. Compare the James-Lange and Schachter-Singer (Two-factor) theory of  emotion? What are the basic assumptions of each theory? What are some of  the limitations of each? 

∙ James-Lange Theory: This theory was ultimately proven incorrect. This  theory taught that each different emotion has a different physiological  response elicited by the human body, and once that response is felt, we  then label the emotion based off of the unique feeling. The reason this  theory has little supportive evidence is because most emotions elicit the

same physiological response (except for interest) which is increase in heart  rate, blood pressure etc. It would be near impossible to differentiate the  difference in response. 

∙ Two-Factor Theory: For every emotion there are two things that are  happening:

o Physiological Response: such as the blood pressure and heart rate  increase.

o Cognition: The person is thinking what to label that emotion that they  feel. In order to do this, people look at their environment to come up  with a rational label. Remember the study of the men being asked to  fill out a survey from an attractive woman. Men mislabeled fear of the  high bridge to lust for the attractive woman.  

o A limitation to this theory would come from an evolutionist who thinks  that some emotional response are innate, and not completely due to  external factors such as the environment. It could be argued that there  is a genetic basis for the emotions people have.

9. What was the design of the famous Schachter-Singer (1962) experiment that  tested the two-factor theory? How effective was the design? How did the EPI misinformed and placebo groups not perform the way Schachter-Singer  thought? To what extent did the findings support Schachter-Singer’s theory? 

∙ Male volunteers were deceived and told that a vitamin injection would  improve their vision. Some men were injected with epinephrine (arousal), and others a control placebo. Some were told that the  injection would have side effects like a rise in heart rate and blood  pressure, but others were not informed of the side effects. The men  were in a room with a person who was either happy or angry. The  results of all the groups were that the men who were injected with the placebo showed no signs of emotional response to the men in the room.  The group who was injected with epinephrine and who were informed  of the side effects also showed no emotional response because they  knew the shot was the cause of the response. The group of men who  were injected with epinephrine and were not informed of the side  effects either became happy or angry due to the confederate in the  room.

∙ The results of this study showed that individuals look outwards towards  their environments for explanations of their own physiological  responses. 

∙ There were some participants who were not informed about the side  effects of the injection, but still attributed the side effects to the shot  rather than the confederate’s emotional behavior. These people  surprised the researchers and were removed for better results. 

10. How does an evolutionary approach to human emotions differ from the  James-Lange and Schacter-Singer approach? What does it say about the role of  cognition in understanding emotion? Does this approach explain basic or social  emotions? 

∙ The Evolutionary Approach: Emotions have developed through evolution,  which implies they have an adaptive quality. They are innate reactions.  They do not require a cognitive component of labeling, which differs from  the two-factor theory. This approach explains basic emotions. The mere  exposure effect provides some evidence for feeling without thinking. 

11. What is Zajonc’s “Mere Exposure Effect” refer to? According to Zajonc, what  does he mean by the statement “thinking is not required for feeling.” Give  examples of research studies on the mere exposure effect. What theory of  emotion does the “Mere Exposure Effect” support? 

∙ The Mere Exposure Effect: The tendency to like something just by being  around it often. This can be true even without interacting with another  individual. Just seeing them a lot is enough to develop a preference. It is  true with figures and objects too. This ties into the idea that humans are  attracted to familiarity. Continuous exposure leads to liking. 

∙ Zajonc believed that emotions are primitive and came before cognition  evolved. This explains how we can feel without thinking. 

∙ Experiment: People were given 50 Chinese symbols to look through. The  next week they were given the same 50 symbols, including 50 new ones,  and they were asked which symbol they liked and which they did not. The  people liked the 50 they had seen the week prior even though they were  English and could not remember the symbols. Feeling without cognition. 

∙ Experiment: In 1977 researchers showed college woman pictures of  themselves, and a mirror image of the photo. The woman liked the mirror

image more because they look in the mirror more often. Their boyfriends  liked the photograph more because they view that more often. ∙ Mere Exposure supports the Evolutionary Theory. 

12. Define the cognitive “Balance theory” approach to liking and attraction.  According to this theory what is the key component in liking? How could you predict if two people would be attracted to each other? How would you  mathematically represent different types of relationships according to this  theory? Also, what was the famous experiment “My enemy’s enemy is my  friend” experiment that was used to support this theory? 

∙ Cognitive Balance: We tend to like people who have the same beliefs and  attitudes as us, and are uncomfortable when people have differing beliefs (known as cognitive dissonance). It throws off our balance and  understanding of the world when ideas are inconsistent, and we are less  attracted to those who think differently. 

∙ The key component in liking is similarities. If two people come from the  same backgrounds, same religion, same beliefs, they are likely to like each  other.  

∙ Mathematically this relationship is represented by the proportion of  similarity. It basically divides up the total number of topics communicated with the topics agreed upon. 

∙ 1968 experiment by Aronson and Cope showed that if we consider a person to be our enemy, we are more likely to be friends with our enemy’s enemy.  This was shown by having the participant get either negative or positive  feedback from an experimenter. The experimenter was then given positive  or negative feedback from their supervisor. The participant was then asked  to help the supervisor afterwards. The study was meant to see how often  and how well the participant will help the supervisor. The most help was  given when the experimenter was positive and the supervisor was positive.  Participants also worked hard for the supervisor who was mean to the  mean experimenter. 

13. Compare the balance, reward, and sociobiological theories of liking and  attraction. What are the assumptions of each theory? 

∙ Balance: We like those who are similar to ourselves. We are uncomfortable  with disagreement and differing views.

∙ Reward: We like people associated with positive experiences. We want  more benefits out of a relationship than cons. We want someone who  raises our self-esteem. 

∙ Sociobiological: This takes an evolutionary point of view. The idea is that  we want to pass our genes on, and will reproduce with those who are  similar to us and familiar to us, being of the same species. The things about  ourselves we like are what we want to be passed on and are adaptive traits. 

14. Explain why physical proximity is so powerful in influencing attraction. What  evidence is there to explain this effect? What is the difference between physical  and functional distance, and why is it important in understanding the impact of  proximity on liking? 

∙ Without proximity to the person, the two people could never have met.  Being around another person is the most important factor to initiating a  relationship. 

o Proximity leads to anticipated interaction, which increases liking. By  seeing the person all the time, the mere exposure effect takes place  and also enhances liking.  

∙ Proximity sometimes trumps other important factors such as similarities in  belief. This was shown in a study conducted on police officers in Maryland. Friendships were developed mostly on proximity, rather than similarity. 

∙ Married couples at M.I.T. moved into a new dorm around strangers. After  some time, they were asked who their closest friend was, and the majority said someone who lived on the same floor as they did. Often times it was  the next door neighbor.  

∙ Physical distance refers to the actual distance between two people that  effects the likelihood of interacting. 

∙ Functional distance refers to the likelihood of individuals coming into  contact at common places like work, coffee shop. This is the layout of the  environment. 

15. What are the environmental and personal factors related to attraction?  Name and define both an environmental and personal factor. What is the role  of attitude similarity? Do birds of a feather flock together or do opposites  attract? Why is physical attractiveness such a powerful indicator of attraction?  What stereotypes do we have about attractive people, and is there any truth to  them? What is meant by the “halo effect”?

∙ Personal Factors: Similarity to the person and Physical Attractiveness. ∙ Environmental Factors: Proximity to another person. Mere Exposure. ∙ Birds of a feather really do flock together. We are attracted to familiarity and similarity.  

∙ Physical Attractiveness is a powerful indicator of attraction because looks  are immediate pleasure, and it is socially prestigious to be with someone  who is attractive. 

∙ People who are physically attractive are thought to be more successful and  happier than other people as well as more intelligent. This could turn into a  self-fulfilling prophecy, which makes attractive people these good things  because society treats them well. Research supports these claims. 

∙ The Halo Effect: The judgment of another being attractive then creates  thoughts about the person’s character being better in the sense of intelligence, success, and happiness. 

16. What is the difference between liking and love? Describe research by Zick  Rubin and Keith Davis on distinguishing liking and love? What are some of the  problems facing those who study love? 

∙ Many researchers have found that the difference in liking and love is the  additional factors found within love that are absent in liking, such as sex or  exclusivity. Yet, for the most part liking and loving share most all  characteristics except for the additional found in love. 

∙ In 1978 Zick Ruben tried to measure love by coming up with a scale. He had  couples fill out questionnaires, and he found that people felt the same way  about their friends that they do about their lovers except for the lover  there was a unique component known as intimacy. He brought couples into  a waiting room before they took the questionnaires, and he videotaped  them before the experiment began. He was paying attention to the amount  of time they shared eye contact. The more time they spent looking into  each other's eyes the better they scored on love. He defined love with  three components: 

∙ Caring: feeling that another person's satisfactions are as important as  your own. 

∙ Attachment: the need to be with the other.

∙ Intimacy: a link or bond between two people. It is a confidentiality  between the partners. 

∙ Problems of studying love: No one can agree on the proper definition. How  do we measure it accurately? 

17. Name the two broad types of love. Describe the changes that occur in  relationships in terms of increases and decreases in these different types of  love.  

∙ Passionate Love: This is the initial stage of romantic love. It involves the  physiological response and excitement to be with the other. It fades over  time on average. 

∙ Companionate Love: This love is developed over time. It comes through  shared experiences and a life time bond. It increases with time on average. 

18. Compare the three different theories of romantic or passionate love that  were described in class. How does Hatfield’s theory of passionate love differ  from Sternberg’s Triarchical Theory and Hazan and Shaver’s approach to love as  an attachment process? 

∙ Hatfield’s Theory of love: This is similar to the two-factor theory of  emotion. Passionate love contains a physiological response and a cognitive  component. This theory differs in that it requires a cognitive component to  label the physiological response.  

∙ Sternberg’s Triarchial Theory: Robert Sternberg came up with the triangle  theory of love: 

o Intimacy: closeness, confiding. 

o Passion: arousal, desire. 

o Commitment: Exclusivity and loyalty a decision to remain together. o He came up with 8 Types of love that are a mixture of the  

above components: 

∙ Non-love: absence of all three 

∙ Liking: intimacy only 

∙ Infatuation: Passion only 

∙ Empty love: commitment only 

∙ Romantic love: only intimacy and passion 

∙ Companionate love: Only intimacy and commitment. 

∙ Stupid love: only passion and commitment.

∙ Consummate: all three  

∙ Hazan and Shaver’s Theory: Love is an attachment process. The  Attachment model: around the age of 6 to 8 months we form our first  primary attachment to our primary caregivers. This is a critical period of  forming attachment. By measuring the quality of attachment with mothers  in that critical period is reflective of the quality of attachment to the  lover. Attachment in infancy predicts attachment in adulthood. 

19. Describe the Hazan and Shaver approach to love as an attachment process.  What research was done to support their theory (be specific). ∙ Attachment styles in infancy are good predictors of attachment styles in adulthood. How adults view love can often times be traced back to  those initial attachment styles. 

o Mary Ainsworth did research on infant attachment. She brings  infants into the room with strangers. She is looking for the child's  reaction when the mother leaves. If the infant has a healthy  

attachment with mom, it'll cry but will stop because it trusts the  mother to come back 62% of infants are securely attached. If the  infant cries without stopping, it shows that the infant is overly  attached or is resistant. They are so dependent on mom and their  emotions are so out of control that they cannot physically calm  down. The overly attached are about 15% If the infant does not cry at  all, the infant is avoidant. They don't care whether mom is in the  room or not. They have given up on mom and are emotionally  shutting down. These are about 23% of infants. *The best  

intervention is to immediately treat the problem. * 

o In the late 1980s, a lady named Cynthia Hazan took the work of  Ainsworth and applied it to adults. She found that the attachment  styles infants have predict attachment styles adults will have. She  used longitudinal studies to prove her work. 

20. Describe Elaine Hatfield’s two-factor theory of love. How is it similar to the  Schacter-Singer two factor theory of emotion? Describe research that was  presented in class in support of the theory. Also, describe the Passionate Love

scale that was developed from this theory? Is it reliable? Does it correlated with  other measures / indicators of romantic love? 

∙ Both two factor models rely on two components: physiological response and cognition/labeling. 

∙ Men on a high bridge were likely to mislabel their fear as lust when  an attractive woman asked them to fill out a survey.  

∙ The passionate love scale contains three parts: cognitive, emotional  and behavioral. 

∙ The passionate love scale correlates with Zick Rubin’s liking and  loving scale. It is a reliable measure in that it accurately predicts  couples overall satisfaction in the relationship. 

21. Review the two Ted Talks by Helen Fischer: 1) Why we love and why we  cheat, and 2) The brain in love. They are online. Enjoy! Go to Ted.com and type  in Helen Fisher. Make sure you review these there will be questions on them!!!!! 

∙ She talks about research done on couples who were madly in love, or still in  love and recently dumped. She put 32 people in a fMRI brain scanner. 17 who were still with the person and 15 who were dumped. She mentions  that the same parts of the brain that are affected when being in love are  the same parts of the brain that are affected when on a cocaine high. She  

uses a lot of poetry and old writers to present quotes about love. She  mentions that romantic love is when a person becomes completely focused  on another person. Even when the person was dumped, they could not  stop thinking of the person they were in love with. It becomes an  obsession.