PSYC 215 Chapter Notes - Chapter 12: Social Facilitation
13 May 2013
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We have a psychological need to belong to a group. A group is a set of individuals with some relation that makes them interdependent to some significant degree. The degree to which a set of people constitutes a group varies along a continuum. Presence of others was seen to facilitate performance when referring to bicycle races. Social facilitation research: initially meant enhanced performance in presence of others. Now embodies the positive and negative effect of having someone else present. While usually the presence of another facilitates performance it could also inhibit it. On simple, well-learned task the presence of others facilitates tasks but if the task is difficult or novel, it hinders it. Mere presence of another makes people more aroused 2. ) Arousal makes people more rigidly inclined to do what they were already doing 3. ) Movement to dominant response facilitates easy and well-learned tasks but inhibits difficult ones.
