PSY1022 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Stanford Prison Experiment, Fundamental Attribution Error, Physical Attractiveness

• School: Monash University
• Department: Health Sciences - Psychology
• Course: PSY1022
• Professor: Shruti Mujumdar

Document Summary

Psych 1b week 1 social psychology pre-class videos. Social psychology = studies how people think about, influence and relate to each other. Attribution theory = we can explain someone"s behaviour by crediting either their traits (disposition) or the situation they"re in. Fundamental attribution error = the tendency to underestimate the impact of the situation and overestimate the impact of personal disposition when observing others" behaviour (can lead to inaccurate snap judgments) Eg. people are homeless because of their dispositions (lazy) vs because of their situation (lack of education and income) Central route persuasion = using basic thinking and reasoning to convince people. When the evidence is focused on and the actual content of the message is used to persuade. Peripheral route persuasion = using incidental cues, such as a speaker"s physical attractiveness or personal relatability. Occurs more when you"re not paying as much attention.