DISTANCE LEARNING COURSE - SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Man is a social animal, and as such, it is very important to understand the psychology of how we interact with each other, or act as a group rather than as an individual. By understanding the "natural" social needs of a person, you can develop an increased sensitivity to other people, and better identify and assist people with attending to deficiencies in their social interactions.
"It is always fascinating to try and understand why people behave differently when they are around others. How football hooliganism occurs? Why people do things because they are told to, even though they may not agree with them. Why sometimes people do nothing when they see that others are in danger. A detailed and fascinating area of psychology." Tracey Jones, B.Sc. (Hons) (Psychology), M.Soc.Sc (social work), DipSW (social work), PGCE (Education), PGD (Learning Disability Studies), ACS Tutor
Lesson Structure
There are 9 lessons in this course:
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Social Cognition
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Introduction to social psychology
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What is social psychology
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Impression formation
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Behaviour
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Appearance
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Expectations
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The primary affect
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Attribution
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Scemas and social perception
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Central traits
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Stereotypes
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Social inference and decision making
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Case Study: social psychology and law
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The Self
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Introduction
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Self concept
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Present and ideal selves
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Cognitive dissonance
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Experiments into cognitive dissonance
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Reducing cognitive dissonance
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Self efficacy
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How does the self develop
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Self and social feedback
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Socialisation
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Types of socialisation
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How are we socialised
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Attribution and Perception of Others
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Attribution theory
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Attribution and Concensus, consistency, distinctiveness
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Attribution errors
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Culture and attributional style
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Criticisms of the theory
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Practical uses of attribution theory
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Attitudes and Attitude Change
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Defining attitude
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Characteristics of attitudes
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ABC of attitudes
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Affective elements of attitude
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Behavioural elements of attitude
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Self attribution
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Specificity
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Constraints
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Cognitive elements of attitude
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Attitude formation
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Factors affecting attitude change
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Prejudice, Discrimination and Stereotypes
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Introduction
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What is prejudice
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Functions of prejudice
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How we measure prejudice
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In groups and out groups
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Reducing prejudice
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Stereotypes
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Functions of stereotypes
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Dangers of using stereotypes
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Changing stereotypes
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Discrimination
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Interpersonal Attraction
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Introduction
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Theories of attraction
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The social exchange theory
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The reinforcement affect model
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Factors affecting interpersonal attraction
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Physical appearance
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Biological underpinnings
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Similarity
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Familiarity
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Positive regard
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Mis attribution of emotions
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Proximity
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Attachment styles
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Cultural similarities
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An evolutionary perspective
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The cost of sex
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Helping Behaviour
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Bystander intervention
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Diffusion of responsibility
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Social facilitation
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Compliance
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Obedience
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Conformity
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Why do people conform
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Factors affecting conformity
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Desire for affiliation
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Reinforcement and punishment
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Obedience to authority
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Why does social influence work
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Aggression
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Introduction
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Types of aggression
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Theoretical approaches to aggression: Freudian, Drive theories, Social learning theories, Biological and evolutionary theories
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Aggrssion against outsiders
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Aggression in a species
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Aggression in humans
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Environmental influences on human aggression
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Imitation or modelling
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Familiarity
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Reinforcement
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Aggression and Culture
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Other factors
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Groups
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What is a group
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Kinds of groups; recreational, social, work, family, sportingFeatures of groups
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Factors relating to groups: productivity, social loafing, insufficient coordination, social facilitation
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Group decision making: group think, group polarisation, minority influence
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Deindividualisation
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Cultural Influences
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Defining culture
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Culture and social exchange
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Individualistc vs reciprocal societies
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Cross cultural psychology vs cultural psychology
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Culture bound syndromes
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Trance and possession disorder
Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.
Aims
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To determine how physical characteristics and non-verbal behaviour affect our formation of impressions of others, and how that information is processed;
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To understand the sociological perspective of the self and how we relate to others;
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To discuss attribution theory, the internal and external causes, and its role in self-perception and the perception of others;
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To understand the emergence of attitudes, changes in attitude, and the effect of attitudes upon behaviour and use as predictors of behaviour;
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To discuss the emergence of prejudice, stereotypes and discrimination from the perspective of social psychology and attitudes;
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To understand the influence of physicality, similarity, familiarity and proximity on interpersonal relationships;
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To understand helping behaviour through the influences of conformity, compliance, obedience and diffusion of responsibility;
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To define social psychological theories of aggression and to apply those theories;
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To understand the nature of group behaviour and to demonstrate awareness of group cognition;
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To understand the effect of culture on behaviour of individuals and groups.
What You Will Do
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Define ‘social cognition’;
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Determine the possible impression a jury might have of defendants and the social basis of those impressions;
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List the three general biases that may affect the jury’s “attributions and explanations” and briefly describe each one;
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Different types of schema;
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Explain why people are motivated to justify their own actions belief and feelings;
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Explain ‘cognitive dissonance’;
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Explain how can the desire for self-consistency influences our self-perception;
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Determine the purposes served by dissonance -reducing behaviour;
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Identify factors that form self-concept;
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Describe attribution theory;
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Describe how discounting principles relate to our perception of others;
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Identify the fundamental attribution error;
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Discuss how we use attribution to protect our self esteem;
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Discuss how consistency, consensus and distinctiveness help to form our explanations of another person’s behaviour;
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Explain how attitudes develop;
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Discuss how attitudes affect behaviour;
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Explain what makes people prejudiced;
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Explain how physicality influences our behaviour;
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Discuss the principle of similarity;
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Explain how familiarity and proximity influence the development of friendship;
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Explain why people conform;
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Discuss Millgram’s experiment on obedience;
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Explain why is a lone person more likely to help than a person in a group;
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Discuss how conformity, compliance, obedience and diffusion of responsibility influence helping behaviour;
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List the causes of aggression;
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Explain the concept of group polarization;
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Discuss how group decision-making influences conformity;
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Examine the influence of culture and society on each other.
THE WORLD IS CHANGING –AND SO IS EDUCATION
Flexible Study
Choose how you study, where you study, what you study, how much you study, and when you study.
- Work fast or slow –you choose the intensity of study
- Start, pause or restart according to changing demands of work, family or lifestyle.
- Mix and match modules so you only study what you want or need to learn -We allow you to construct your own “tailor made” certificates or diplomas
- Options in assignments allow you to focus on things with greater interest to you.
- Study electronically (online or using a CD); or using printed notes.
- Use (or don’t use) supplementary services for extra learning want –unlimited access to tutors, an online student room, social media, bookstore, etc
- Orientation video and student Manual at the start of your course will provide a clear guide to how you can study and get all sorts of support no matter where you live.
Why Distance Education is Better
Classroom based education today is in crisis. Funding is under pressure, teachers are often stressed and increasingly, text books that were the back bone of courses in the past are becoming unavailable as electronic publishing impacts on the print media industry.
These pressures (and others) have resulted in the quality of classroom education diminishing. At the same time, technological advances have been allowing distance education to get better and better every year.
ACS started in 1979, and by 1982 was using computer technology to write and print courses. We have developed our school alongside a global technological revolution; adopting and applying new technologies to distance education as those technologies have emerged. Our experience has taught us how to deliver education in the most effective way, using modern technology; and allowed us to build a reputation that sets our graduates apart in the global marketplace.
- Too many courses today are stuck in the past; giving graduates qualifications (often accredited), but leaving them with out of date skills and often unemployed.
- Too many students commence courses with their sights on a job that exists when they start studying, but not recognising the fact that industries are changing so fast that by the time they finish studies, their job prospects may be completely different (The job they started out chasing might not even exist by the time they finish studying).
Fantastic Opportunities
This fast changing world of ours can be unsettling for some. We all prefer to set our sights on a long term goal, and achieve it. The reality is that the ability to live that way is diminishing every year that passes.
You have two choices in your education –
- One is to ignore the changes underway in our world; and hope that studying something that has worked in the past, will work for you in the future.
- The other is to recognise that that there will be unforeseen opportunities in the future, and then prepare yourself as best you can to capitalize on those opportunities.
- Being prepared to capitalize on future opportunities in your field of study.
- Awareness of the subject and the industry
- Understanding of how to use what is learnt in real life situations
- Ability to communicate with greater confidence and accuracy
- Capacity to solve problems related to this subject
Other Options
If you are interested in this, you may also be interested in -
Stress Management http://www.acs.edu.au/courses/Stress-Management-295.aspx
Marketing Psychology http://www.acs.edu.au/courses/Marketing-Psychology-314.aspx
Multicultural Awareness http://www.acs.edu.au/courses/Multi-Cultural-Awareness-369.aspx
Or if you are not sure if psychology is for you, why not try our Introduction to Psychology - http://www.acs.edu.au/courses/product.aspx?id=359
If you would like to see our range of psychology books, please visit - http://www.acsbookshop.com/books_productcategory.aspx?id=14
For more information on the range of careers available in psychology, have a look at - http://www.thecareersguide.com/articles.aspx?category=14
We have some interesting articles on psychology and counseling at - http://www.acs.edu.au/psychol/
