PSY 2012 Lecture Notes - Lecture 29: Stanford Prison Experiment, Fundamental Attribution Error, Mass Hysteria

• School: University of Florida
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 2012
• Professor: Ron Chandler

Document Summary

We look to others in ambiguous situations when we aren"t sure what to do. An outbreak of irrational behavior that is spread by social contagion. Sometimes mass hysteria leads to collective delusions. The presence of others can enhance our performance. Study found bicycle racers got faster times when racing against others than when racing against the. Performance gets worse in presence of others. When we attribute too much of someone"s behavior to who they are. Explaining others behaviors vs. our own behavior. Many of us conform blindly to group pressure from. Deindividuation: losing our typical identities time to time. The tendency of ppl to engage in atypical behavior when tripped of their susal identities. Feeling of anonymity and lack of personal responsibility contributes to this. When groups become so intent on ensuring that everyone agrees with everyone else that they lose their capacity to evaluate issues objectively.