MODULE 12: Intro and Lesson 1
August 3
TODAY'S MESSAGE
TODAY'S ASSIGNMENTS:
#1. Complete the Module 12 Pre-Test. Take the pre-assessment quiz to establish how much about our topic you already know. You are required to take this pre-assessment, but don't worry. It does not impact your grade!
#2. Review the glossary and any vocabulary practice. You will be required to know the terms included for the post assessment at the end of the module.
#3. Begin lesson 1 by reviewing the notes to learn about the Individuals in Society.
#4. Complete the Individuals in Society practice activities and quiz.
#5. Complete the Individuals in Society assignment. In this assignment you will explore the concept of fundamental attribution error.
TEACHER TALK 1
The purpose of SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY is to understand individual behavior in a social context. It tries to answer the question, “How is human behavior influenced by other people and the social context in which the behavior occurs?”
In preparation for today’s lesson and tomorrow's assignments I want to clarify the differences between prejudice, discrimination, and stereotyping. Prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination often go hand-in-hand, but it is also possible to have one without the others.
A. Prejudice as defined by Merriam-Webster, is a baseless and unfair feeling of dislike for a person or group because of race, sex, religion, etc. It is usually a negative attitude toward members of a group that includes feelings such as contempt, dislike, or loathing.
B. Discrimination is the unjust treatment of a person or particular group of people for the purpose of holding them apart and treating them differently.
C. Stereotypes are over generalizations about a group and/or class of people. The danger of generalizing is disregard for people’s individuality and social categorization which blends into prejudice.
**** Remember, prejudice is the attitude and discrimination is the behavior****
Below is a chart that breaks down some of the terms from this module.
TEACHER TALK 2
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE: This can be a difficult concept to grasp so read the following carefully.
Cognitive dissonance theory states that people often have two conflicting or inconsistent cognitions (thoughts/beliefs) which produce a state of tension or discomfort (dissonance). As a result, people are motivated to reduce the discomfort in the easiest way possible. Here’s an example: You have purchased an item you can’t return and begin to feel buyer's remorse. As a result you start convincing yourself that it was a good purchase.
This is an excerpt from an article titled, Zombies, cognitive dissonance and you, posted by Pete Etchells. The author poses an interesting question, “Would it be morally ambiguous to kill a zombie?” Obviously, zombies are not real but it is an intriguing question...if killing is morally wrong, can it be ever be justifiable? Read an except from Etchells article below and consider the above question.
“...So you’re left with a problem that is one of the most widely studied concepts in social psychology - cognitive dissonance. Psychologist Leon Festinger coined the term in 1956, after studying how members of a doomsday cult dealt with the aftermath of an apocalypse that did not come. Cognitive dissonance happens when you have to deal with two opposing sets of beliefs or values that come into conflict with each other. In our very immediate case of being attacked by a zombie, on the one hand you believe that it’s wrong to kill people, but on the other, something that was once a person is currently trying to eat you, and you need to kill it. If you manage to survive the ordeal, chances are that you’ll be in a fairly distressed mental state. Obviously, this is mainly because you’ve just had to fend off a zombie attack, but it’s also because you’ve been confronted with these two conflicting beliefs. To try and get over this, you need to try and reconcile those beliefs so that they’re not at odds with each other any more. There are a number of ways in which you could do this, and probably the most likely is that you’ll start to convince yourself that zombies aren’t really people anyway, or that your life is more important than their un-life. Whatever the reason, the aim is to remove that dissonance and adjust your beliefs so that, hopefully, next time you’re in that situation, you won’t have any sort of mental conflict…..”
If you are interested in reading further, here is the link to the article:
Zombies, Cognitive Dissonance and You. By Peter Etchells. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/oct/31/zombies-cognitive-dissonance-halloween
SHOUT OUT
CONTACT ME
E-mail: christopher.watson@ncpublicschools.gov
Text anytime between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m.
NCVPS Psychology
CITATIONS
Today's Assignments (Book Icon Orange, David Peters, Wikpedia Education Program Case Studies.pdf, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license
Teacher Talk (Red Silhouette - Teacher, Ben from Openclipart, Openclipart, Creative Commons CCO 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication license)
Shout Out (callout-quote-bull-speaking-bubble, Pixabay, Pixabay, CCO Public Domain license)
Important Dates This Week (Blank Calendar Page Icon, Jackaranga, Jackaranga, GNU Free Documentation License)
Contact Me (Smart phone mobile phone, Pixabay, Pizabay, CCO Public Domain)