Social Performance and Social Influence Essay Example for Free

Social Performance and Social Influence Essay Social psychologist, Dr. Robert Cialdini has researched basic principles that govern how one person may influence another. You will read about these six principles in his 2002 article The Science and Practice of Persuasion. Social Performance Aristotle first called humans social animals. People tend to gather, play, and work in groups. Groups fulfill a variety of functions such as satisfying the need to belong, providing support and intimacy, and assisting in accomplishing tasks that individuals could not accomplish alone, etc. In Chapter 13 of the textbook, groups will be defined as two or more people working together on a task in which the outcome is quantifiable. This discussion will focus on two major areas that have been researched since the end of the 19th century: social facilitation and social loafing. Social Facilitation At first glance, these terms seem to be opposing behaviors: social facilitation refers to the fact that people work harder in groups, whereas social loafing describes their tendency reduce their efforts when in groups. The difference, it appears, is how people view the individuals in their groups–whether they perceive those in the group as being with them us or against them. If group members are against them, they perceive them as competitors, evaluators, or sources of comparison, which is likely to increase or facilitate their efforts. If they are with them, sharing in the demands of the task and evaluation, they are likely to loaf or reduce our efforts. These findings appear counterintuitive. Research on social facilitation began with Triplett (1989) who observed that cyclists pedaled faster, or performed better, when others were present than when performing alone. He argued that the other biker was a stimulus, arousing a competitive instinct in the cyclist. He tested his theory by asking children to wind fishing reels either alone or beside other children. The majority of the children turned the wheel faster when working alongside another child than when reeling alone. Allport (1924) termed this effect social facilitation. Still, it seemed that many disagreed about whether the presence of others increased or decreased performance on tasks. Zajonc (1965) renewed interest in social facilitation, and suggested that the presence of others enhanced a dominant response–which is the most probable response on a given task. If the task is simple and well-learned, the dominant response will be facilitated. For example, if you were a skilled concert pianist, performing in front of others would increase your proficiency on the task; you would play beautifully. Since you are not skilled at this art, being observed by others would no doubt cause anxiety and would result in quite the opposite effect, inhibiting your performance. Zajonc was suggesting that the presence of others increases drive. Others were still arguing that it was the evaluation or the competition associated with others being present that produced the drive. Whether it was mere presence or evaluation apprehension that increased the drive, the drive theory remained the dominant thought of the time. Alternative approaches to social-facilitation effects fall into three classes: The first was the continued thought that the presence of others increases drive by evaluation apprehension. The second thought suggested that the situation places demands on the individual to behave in a particular way; individuals are engaged in self-presentation and self-awareness. The third idea argued that the presence of others affects focus and attention to the task, meaning that the task becomes cognitive. Hence, the controversy over whether it is the mere presence of others or evaluation that causes social facilitation is unresolved. Social Loafing Social facilitation research demonstrates that the presence of others sometimes enhances performance, yet at times reduces it. But, how does working with others affect motivation? Many would argue that groups should energize and motivate. The tendency for individuals to work less hard on a collective task than on an individual task is called social loafing. For example, those group projects at work or school where a few individuals did the majority of the work–social loafing. Research in this area has been conducted in a way that makes individuals believe that they are either working alone or working with others–then measures efforts toward the task. For example, Ringelmann (Kravitz Martin, 1986) had volunteers pull on a rope as hard as they could in groups of varying sizes. Their efforts decreased as group sizes increased. This was explained in two ways: their motivation decreased as groups size increased or maybe the larger groups were not able to coordinate their efforts efficiently. Researchers sought to tease apart these two factors, focusing on motivation. You can imagine that it was difficult to devise methods that lead participants to believe they were either working alone (when they were not) or with others (when they were working alone), which lends to the difficulty of studying social loafing. However, over 100 studies (Steiner, 1972; Griffith, Fichman, Moreland, 1989; Jackson Williams, 1985; Henningsen et al. , 2000) have tested the effects of groups on motivation, and social loafing has been replicated in most of these studies. Other theories have attempted to explain social loafing. Social impact theory states that when a group is working together, the expectation is that the effort should be diffused across all participants, resulting in diminished effort. Arousal reduction postulates that the presence of others should increase drive only when they are observers and reduce our efforts when they are coworkers. Evaluation potential suggests that social loafing occurs because individual efforts are so difficult to identify during a collective task; one can easily hide in the crowd or may feel they will not be acknowledged for their hard work. Dispensability of effort argues that individuals may feel their efforts are unnecessary or dispensable. The group simply does not need them. An integrative theory: the collective effort model states that individuals will work hard on a task only to the degree to which they believe their efforts will be instrumental in leading to outcomes they value, personally. Hence, the value they place on the task (and their efforts) depends on their personal beliefs, task meaningfulness, favorable interactions with the group, the nature of the rewards, and the extent to which their future goals are impacted by the task. Social loafing can be moderated, or reduced, when individuals efforts can be identified or evaluated, when individuals are working on a task they deem as important or of personal relevance, or when individuals are working with cohesive groups or close friends. Individual differences or characteristics also influence who engages in social loafing less because they value collective outcomes. For example, a need for affiliation, a hard work ethic, or high self-monitoring can influence effort. It should be clear that the mere presence of others is arousing. It appears that if others are competitors or evaluators they facilitate motivation to work harder. If individuals see others as a part of themselves, they can hide behind them or their efforts can get lost in the efforts of others. Further research in this area can help us determine how our view of others affects our motivation and performance. Social Influence Processes of Control and Change Social influence is one of the primary research areas in social psychology and refers to the ways in which opinions and attitudes influence the opinions and attitudes of others. Two types of social influence can be identified in groups: influence aimed at maintaining group norms (social control) or changing group norms (social change). The most common form of social control is conformity, where an individual complies with or accepts the groups views. Since the influence is typically within a context of a group of people influencing an individual, it is referred to as majority influence. Another type of social control is obedience, where individuals obey an authority figure, often against their will. For group norms to change, a small subset of the group must resist the majority view, which is termed minority influence. If minorities never resisted, group opinions would persist, fashions would never change, innovations would not come about, etc. It must be clear that the term majority refers to the larger group of people who hold the normative view and has power over others. Minority groups tend to be small, hold nonnormative positions, and wield very little power. This study textbook is concerned with two influence processes: processes that ensure that others adhere to the groups position (social control; conformity and obedience) or processes that aim to change the groups position (social change: innovation and active minorities). Social influence has studied how individuals conform to the majority, often by giving an obvious erroneous response to a question. According to Festinger (1950, 1954), this occurs because there are social pressures for groups to reach consensus, especially when there is a group goal. Individuals seek social approval and seek others to verify their opinions. Deutsch and Gerard (1955) distinguish between normative social influence (conforming to expectations of others) and informational social influence (accepting information from the group as reality). Another view is that people conform over concerns for positive self-evaluations, to have good relationships with others, and to better understand a situation by reducing uncertainty. Social influence also addresses why people comply with acts that clearly cause harm to another. The study of obedience is intimately tied to one social psychologist–Stanley Milgram (1963). His post-WWII research aimed to understand why people willingly engaged in the atrocities perpetrated by the Nazis. People probably preferred to believe these were evil, disturbed men who were intrinsically evil? However, many of them claimed they were not responsible for their behavior. After all, they were simply following orders. In Milgrams (1963) classic study, he led participants (who were assigned to be teachers) to believe they were administering harmful shocks to the learners each time they made an error on a task. The experimenter (the authority figure) demanded they increase the level of shock for each incorrect response. As shocks increased, the receiver (the learner, who was out of the sight of the teacher) responded with distressed reactions. However, the teacher was encouraged, even demanded, to continue the experiment, even though he believed the learner was experiencing extreme distress. The question was, to what extent normal people would obey the instructions of the authority figure and administer harmful levels of shock to harm another individual. Milgrams results showed that a full 65% of all participants administered every level of shock, surpassing levels believed to do fatal harm to subjects. Milgrams findings have been replicated with consistent results. Why did they obey? Milgram offered the following explanations: (a) they had entered into a contract with the experimenter and did not wish to spoil the experiment; (b) they were absorbed in the experiment and lost sight of the implications of their actions; (c) the participants are acting for the experimenter; they may be pushing the buttons, but they are not responsible, the experimenter is. Notice these are all situational explanations; participants were put into a powerful role relationship with the experimenter. However, when the experimenter was not visible, or another participant played the role of the experimenter, obedience rates decreased, but did not fall to zero, indicating the role relationship did not fully account for their obedience. Milgrams research remains some of the most intriguing and influential in social psychology. Minority Influence Moscovicis (1976) book Social Influence and Social Change, he argues that minorities can create conflict by offering a different perspective, thereby challenging the dominant or majority view. Moscovici claims that people trying to avoid conflict may dismiss the minority position, and possibly denigrate it. However, when the minority demonstrates commitment to their position, the majority may consider the minority view as a viable alternative. He called this the minoritys behavioral style–meaning the way the message is organized and communicated. By standing up to the majority, the minority demonstrates that it is certain, confident, committed, and not easily persuaded. Researchers have compared majority and minority influence. Conversion theory is the dominant perspective and argues that all forms of influence, whether minority or majority, create conflict that individuals are motivated to reduce. However, people employ different processes depending on whether the conflict is the result of majority influence or minority influence. Comparison process suggests that people focus attention on fitting in, or complying with what others say. Their goal is to identify with the group and comply with the majority position, often times without examining the majoritys arguments in detail. Social comparison can drive majority influence, but cannot motivate minority influence, according to Moscovici (1976), because people desire to disassociate themselves with undesirable groups. Because minority groups tend to be distinctive, they stand out, and this encourages a validation process where some examine the judgments in order to confirm or validate them–to see what it is the minority saw or to understand the minoritys view. This process can lead to increased message processing which results in an attitude change on an indirect, latent, or private level. Convergent-divergent theory is proposed by Nemeth (1986) and simply states that people expect to share the same attitude as the majority and to differ from the minority (the false-consensus heuristic). Stress is the result of realizing that the majority has a different perspective than oneself, especially if one is in the physical presence of the majority. Stress narrows ones attention and majority influence, and then leads to convergent thinking. Minorities, on the other hand, do not cause high levels of stress, since they hold different views, which allows for less restricted focus of attention and leads to a greater consideration of alternatives that may not have been considered without the influence of the minority view. This results in creative and original solutions. Other theories that integrate minority and majority influence include mathematical models, objective-consensus models, conflict-elaboration theory, context/comparison model, and self-categorization theory. More contemporary models include social-cognitive responses with an emphasis on information-processing such as the elaboration likelihood model and the heuristic systematic model we discussed in an earlier chapter. New research continues to develop. Conclusion This module reviewed social psychological research that has made great contributions to the understanding of human behavior. Early research (e. g. , Triplett, 1898; Zajonc, 1965) led to the beginning of the relatively new field of social psychology.

Driving While on The Phone Essay -- Driving Texting

As technology advances, people become notorious for using their electronics in inappropriate situations. Teenagers in present day commonly text at the dinner table, while crossing a street, and even while driving. Not only do teenagers text, their parents do, as well. Texting is a frequent fad among the young adults, it also a convenient method for parents to keep in contact with their children. People nowadays have to be in contact with friends and family at every moment of the day especially while driving it is the equivalent of driving under the influence, using hand-held devices (like Bluetooth) will decrease the number of accidents caused by phones, and studies show texting reduces a persons reaction time. Recent studies demonstrate texting while driving is similar to having a 0.08 alcohol limit. Christine Noble is the city of Peoria Claims Coordinator and her job is to handle all the accidents claims against the City of Peoria. As part of her job, she investigates and determines the causes of auto accidents involving City vehicles. Ms. Noble can recollect at least six accidents this year that are caused by distracted drivers on their cell phones, while operating a vehicle. â€Å"The fact is that mobile phone use reduces reaction time by 35 percent, effectively making you a drunk driver, even when using a hands-free kit. And texting while driving is even worse with every second spent texting doubling your chances of crashing, dramatically reducing steering control and awareness of hazards.† (â€Å"Great Choice Car Insurance†) If being a drunk driver is illegal, why is not texting while operating a vehicle? In September 2008, 25 people, including the driver, died in a Los Angeles commuter rail disaster caused by t... ...tate Highway Patrol Statistics. NBC News 3. Web. 2 Dec. 2010 "Mobile Phone Use Equal to Drunk Driving." Great Choice Car Insurance. Insure 247 Great Choice, 10/06/2010. Web. 2 Dec 2010. American Psychological Association. "Drivers Distracted More By Cell Phones Than By Passengers." ScienceDaily http://www.sciencedaily.com ¬ 1 December 2008. â€Å"Editorial: Ban on texting will make roads safer† Sheyboygan Press. 30 November 2010. The White House, Presidential Proclamation—National Impaired Driving Prevention Month. Office of the Press Secretary, 1 December 2010 Distracted Driving. Stats and Facts. United States Department of Transportation http://www.distraction.gov 3 December 2010 â€Å"Mobile Phone Use equivalent to Drunk Driving.† Royal Automobile Club of Rick Reitzel Queensland. 18 May 2010

Biological Psychology Essay

In book one chapter 4, it is suggested that there is a special brain region for the recognition faces, to what extend does the evidence in book 4,chapter 2 support this? Explain how the evidence shows that it would be an over simplification to assume that functional organisation of the brain is entirely genetically determined. In your answer state what other factor is more likely to be involved. (No more than 300words) Face recognition is an important specific function of human brain. Moreover, face recognition reflects the specialization nature of human brain. The efficient processing of visual stimuli finally leads to face recognition. Brain contains fast and dedicated circuits to perform relevant computations required for face recognition. Kanwisher and associates invented fusiform face area (FFA) as potential brain centre for face recognition. The improved versions of the brain image scanning proved that FFA is solely responsible for face recognition. It extracts configural information about faces rather than processing spatial information on the parts of faces. If the FFA is damaged due to injuries to the human brain, the affected patient cannot recognise the faces of even closest people or family members. However, most recent experiments suggest that FFA is also responsible for recognition of other body parts along with the face. As brain is powerful than a digital camera, at very high scanning resolution processed at this portion, the two separate sub parts will have specialized functions for recognition of face and other body parts. FFA is highly believed to be specialized region for face processing. This also reflects the fine grain structure of human brain and the relevance of recent digital scanning image techniques with high resolution power. Though the recent schools of thought came up with the linkage of several factors to the face recognition process, earlier there was a strong feeling that it was solely decided by the genetic factors. The role of transduction i. e. the conversion of physical stimuli to neural actions and receptor potential and action potential is very significant in image processing and face recognition. The photoreceptors convert the light energy to neural images. In this way there was over simplification of genetic basis of functional organization of human brain. (293 words). B) To what extent does the evidence from studies of the FFA support the idea that neural correlate of visual consciousness can be related to the FFA? ( Answer no more than 220words) It is highly proved that the neural correlate of visual consciousness is primarily responsible for the fusiform face area and face recognition. The fine grain structure of the brain facilitates visual consciousness of several neurons. Face recognition comprises of three stages. These stages have linkage to specific regions of the brain. It was found that the inferior occipital gyrus was particularly sensitive to slight physical changes in faces. Similarly, the right fusiform gyrus (RFG), and the anterior temporal gyrus (ATC), are believed to have connection with th neural processing of visual consciousness and face recoggnition. The sequence of flow of transmission from receptor potential to action potential also supports the link between neural correllate of visual consciousness and FFA. At the same time, the role of photoreceptors in conversion of light energyy to neural image and retinal processing in the form of retinal ganglion cells contribute for the neural correlate of the visual consciousness which in turn is related to the FFA. The retinal ganglion cells have steady firing rate when visual stimulation is absent where as they exhibit alterations in firing rate durig visual stimulation. This also plays significant role in link between FFA and neural correlate of visual consciousness. (201 words). Question 2 This question relates to the material in book 4 chapter 1,2 and 3 A) State four factors that contributes to the response time of neuronal pathways, giving an explanation for each factor. Give an example of how one of these factors affects speed of transmission in the visual system (Answer no more than 200 words) In cases of FOK i. e. â€Å"feeling of knowing† the people will have a feeling that they know about a particular face but their brain doesn’t make them to recognise. It becomes very common with aging of human beings. The difference in response times of neronal pathways is affected by these factors. It was found that the medial prefrontal cortex exhibited activity during the FOK state, but not when the subjects either knew or did not know a face. Possibly this reflects a state in which subjects were evaluating the correctness of retrieved information. Additionally, the anterior cingulate area became activated both in the FOK state and when subjects successfully retrieved a name but with some effort. The anterior cingulate area is associated with cognitive conflict processes which allow a person to detect errors in automatic behavior responses. During the recall of personal episodic memories frontal lobes involved in self-awareness and visual memory are actvely engaged . (156 words). B) With the reference to book 4, p. 51 figure 2. 2 identify a location and role for each following: i) receptor potential ii)synaptic potential iii)action potential, giving the main characteristics of each (Answer no more than 250words). Neurons, in general, maintain an electric potential difference across their external membrane. It is caused by a differential distribution of electric charges across the membrane of the cell, living the inside of the cell membrane negative in comparison to the outside. The value of the membrane potential in a given nerve cell may vary from -40 to -80 in different nerve cells. In this process, neurons and muscle cells, can serve as a signaling mechanism. This also results in an input signal which is known as synaptic potential. Receptor potential is also synonymous with synaptic potential. The excitatory potential is known as receptor potential. Similarly, an integrative signal, occurs mainly at the initial segment of the axon and the axon hillock. A conductive signal is also known as action potential and an output signal is positioned at the synaptic terminal. During the process of stretching, the duration and amplitude of sensory stimulus decides the duration and stimulus of receptor potential. The receptor potential will get converted to action potential at the trigger zone. The amplitude and duration of receptor potential decides the number and frequency of action potential. Action potential is nothing but the output signal of the neuron. The frequency and pattern potential firing will have remarkable impact on quantity of neurotransmitter released at the action terminal points. (219 words). C) The retinal ganglion cells in book 4 figure 2. 2 p. 51 have input from different types of chemical synapse. One of these cells is depicted schematically in figure 2. 3a. Explain how the input differ in their effects and how these different effects are produced . ( Answer no more than 200 words). As depicted in Book 4 Figure 2. 2, the retinal ganglion cells of human eye receive different forms of chemical synapse. They receive input from photo receptor cells like rods and cones, outer plexiform layers, inner plexiform layers, amacrine cells, bipolar cells and horizontal cells. In Figure 2. 3 a, the role of photoreceptors in supplying chemical synapse to retinal ganglion cells is depicted well. Different types of retinal ganglion cells encode different visual stimuli. The difference in visual stimulus is resulted by the type of receptor from which chemical synapse is received and the way in which these inputs are wired together. In the region of lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) of thalamus, these retinal ganglion cells synapse. There are six layers of neurons in LGN and they receive input from one eye only. They comprise of two ventral layers called magnocellular layers and four dorsal layers known as parvocellular layers receiving different inputs. The retinal ganglion cells form the optic nerve in human eye. (163 words). D) Outline two types of neural network that you might find in the visual system and state the advantage of each (Answer no more than 100words). Two prominent types of neural net works present in human visual system are magnocellular neural pathway and parvocellular neural pathway. They are also known as M channel and P channels respectively. Magnocellular pathway takes care of ventral portion and parvocellular pathway covers the dorsal portion receiving different inputs resulting in different visual effects. They end in lateral geniculate nucleus, visual cortex and visual chiasma. The advantage of magnocellular pathway is that it connects the 1st and 2nd layers of LGN. Similarly, the parvocellular pathway connects 3rd, 4th , 5th , and 6th layers of LGN. (95 words).

Essay Positivists - 1421 Words

Positivists believe that we can gain true and objective knowledge of reality by applying methods of natural sciences in sociology . For them, reality exists independently of the human mind and nature is made up of objective, observable, physical facts that are external to our minds. They believe that like matter, humans are directed by an external stimuli-the society-and they act accordingly (example: functionalism, Marxism). By analyzing quantitative data, positivists simply seek to discover laws of cause and effect that determine human behavior. One of the first positivists, August Comte was confident that scientific knowledge about society could be accumulated and used to improve human existence. Adding to Comte, Durkheim argued that†¦show more content†¦Mead argues responding automatically to external stimuli humans interpret the meaning of stimulus and then choose how to respond to it. Thus Interpretivist argues individuals are not puppets manipulated by social facts bu t they are autonomous and construct their social world by meanings they give to it. The job of the sociologist is to uncover those meanings. Interpretivists reject the methods of natural science. They argue to discover meanings people give to their actions we need to see the world from their viewpoint. This involves abandoning objectivity of positivists. We must put ourselves in the place of the actor using what Weber calls verstehen. Thus they favour the use of qualitative methods and data such as participant observation. These methods produce in depth and valid data and give the sociologist a subjective understanding of the actor’s meanings. All interpretivists seek to understand actors meanings, however divided whether or not we can combine this understanding with positivist style casual explanation of human behaviour. Interactionists argue we can have casual explanations. However they reject the positivist view that we should have a definite hypothesis before we start our research. Phenomenologist’s and ethno methodologists such as Garfinkel reject causal explanations of human behaviour. They take an anti structuralism view arguing society isn’t a real thing out there governing ourShow MoreRelatedPositivism : The Positivist Approach1629 Words   |  7 PagesPositivism/ Managerialism: One of the most, if not the most, mainstream approach to organizational study in understanding organizations is the positivist approach. The premise of positivists’ argument is that only an objective, quantitative research into organizations can provide a clear understanding, as they believe there exists an organizational reality that is detached from organization theory and actors. As Grey (2013) puts it, positivism is categorizing itself as a science similar to naturalRead MoreThe Positivist Post-Positivist Paradigm: Understanding the Social World of the Indigenous People1296 Words   |  6 PagesThe positivist-post-positivist paradigm is the most appropriate paradigm for research regarding the subject matter of Northern Frontier, Northern Homeland by Thomas Berger (1988). This paradigm states that social science research pushes towards western cultures causing other regions to adapt to western ideas. According to Travers (2010), â€Å"[t]he physical and the social science s are products of western culture in a specific historical moment. [s]cience is a modern phenomenon, emerging in step withRead MorePositivist And Indigenous Research Paradigm Essay851 Words   |  4 PagesPositivist and Indigenous Research Paradigm In this research entry, I will compare the positivist and Indigenous research paradigms. 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