Advanced Social Psychology Midterm Essay

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Advanced Social Psychology Midterm Exam
Theresa A. Patterson
Mount Aloysius College

Advanced Social Psychology Midterm Exam
Question 1 Social psychology might be considered to be a comparatively new science. This branch of psychology encompasses both a focus in the field of sociology as well as a larger focus in the field of psychology. Despite the reality that topics such as conformity, obedience, attitudes and attributions always existed, social psychology was established as a formal discipline a little more than one hundred years ago (Reis, 2010). Social psychology has been greatly impacted by the social and political themes that were prominent throughout different time periods. In addition to historical events that influenced …show more content…

Triplett noted that bicyclists rode faster when paced by another rider than when they rode alone. Based on this observation, he devised an experiment which demonstrated that children wound a fishing line faster in the presence of other children than if they performed the task alone (Triplett, 1898). However, social psychology was still not delineated as a branch of psychology. The publication of the first textbooks in 1908, written by William McDougall and Edward Ross, was regarded by some social scientists as the achievement that marked the formal beginning of social psychology (Reis, 2010). Still, the inauguration of this new branch of psychology has been long …show more content…

The influence of social psychology pervades many fields including healthcare, industry and schools (Reis, 2010). The rise of the internet provided access to a virtually limitless number of participants from diverse backgrounds. Additionally, the growth of evolutionary psychology and neuroscience has spawned additional research studies and hypotheses regarding social cognition, emotion, pro-social behavior and aggression (Reis, 2010). Methodological advances continue to assist researchers in the interpretation of data and demonstration of empirical