Social Psychology Analysis - Essay Example

?Social Psychology Week Assignment Write thoughts about how two to three major events or trends have influenced the field of social psychology and why you think their influence is important. Then, discuss a recent event or trend that you think has the potential to inspire a line of research in social psychology. Specify the types of questions that research in this area might seek to answer and describe how the results of this research might be best applied. Social psychology can be defined as the discipline that makes use of scientific procedures to “"to understand and explain how the thought, feeling and behavior of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of other human beings" (Allport, 1985). There are several other ways that aim to describe what social psychology is all about. Dr.Susan Fiske (2007) goes on to explain how the core focus of social psychology is on how an individual interacts in a social setting. It is mainly for this reason why the study of social psychology is so easily relatable for people who study it. There are significant trends that have had a great influence on the field of social psychology. One of these recent trends that comes to my mind is that of the controversy that has been generated by social issues that encompass the rights of homosexuals in the social order. In influence of it is such that psychological research has made it a significant part of the development of the social theory. The increased issues, debates and lines of arguments those are all pivotal to the concept of homosexuality that to know more about the topic by analyzes it in a depth is of central importance mainly because it involves public policy and legal issues; such as having reduced legal status and the prohibition of gay marriages in so many geographic localities. Also if you look at a lot of the social psychology experiments that have been carried out by psychologists such as Zimbardo’s prison simulation and Milgram’s electric shock study, we see that much of their main research is developed by being influenced of the behavior of individuals grouped together and their actions in social settings following the World War 2. Looking at how authority figures play such a critical role in shaping behavior was a key aspect that was extensively studied post the war. A recent event that occurred was the tsunami that hit Japan early in March this year. This event can lead to a social psychology study of victims of a natural disaster. The types of questions can focus on the social support received by these victims and the help seeking tendencies of the individuals who were affected by a natural disaster of such magnitude. References Allport, G. W. (1985). The historical background of social psychology. In G. Lindzey, and E. Aronson, (Eds.), Handbook of Social Psychology, 1, (3), 1-46 Baron, R., Branscombe, N., Byrne, D. (2009). Social Psychology (12th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.  Dr. Susan Fiske and Dr. Harry Triandis.  "Introduction". DVD program . Assignment 2 What I found most interesting about Jennifer’s work was the fact that the event that she mentioned that influenced social psychology was that of the Columbine Massacre in 1999. Having the not known about the event I was intrigued by critical social aspects and the implications that it had on social psychology as we know it today. It was interesting to know that the two teenagers who lashed out and killed 13 people and then themselves at suburban Denver’s Columbine High School weren’t the typical individuals you would expect to go on a shooting spree. Initially it was said that they were victims of bullying creating a national debate over the deep rooted implications of the issue. However I came across a article in USA Today that stated that the diaries discovered showed that the two boys Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold hadn’t been good kids who were victims of bullying in fact they were picking on freshmen and other students. That significantly changes the outlook on the entire incident and brings me to ask if they weren’t victims then what deep rooted psychological issues did these boys face that lead to such rapid and destructive social disintegration? Reference Toppo. G. (2009). 10 years later, the real story behind Columbine. USA Today. Retrieved from: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-04-13-columbine-myths_N.htm Assignment 3 The topic that interests me most is that of violence and aggression. I distinctly remember coming across a case labeled “Bashing Bobo” by Albert Bandura that was of the belief that human beings learnt behavior by social imitation and copying, rather than inheriting through genetic factors. For this purpose what Bandura did was design a Bobo Doll experiment (a Bobo is basically a five feet tall inflatable toy doll), in which he tried to prove that children would imitate the behavior of a adult role model (Martyn, 2008). By the use of a number of aggressive and non aggressive role models he wanted to prove that a child would learn the behavior and imitate it from the adult. Similarly I would like to look at the social aspects of violence and aggression. What are the reasons that result in violent and aggressive behavior? My research would mostly focus on the aspects of media influences and aggression that is caused by a number of social variables. In short what role does social learning play which leads to the development of aggression behaviors and actions in an individual? The research methods a social psychologist would use to approach this topic would be mainly through experimental research. Experimental research mainly entails investigating for a causal relationship between variables. The variables of interest here can be perhaps teenagers could be the dependant variable whereas exposure to violent media can be the independent variable. Hence the research would look at how media violence and aggression exposure can result in behavioral changes in teenage boys and girls. Other ways of approaching the topic would be to simply look for a correlation between the two variables. This way even though one can know if the two are related the degree of this relationship and the intensity of the impact would remain abstract. Simple observation can also be a way to see if the two variables are related however the experimental research approach encompasses a level of detail and thoroughness that these two other measures lack. This is also why the topic should be studied using a scientific approach because the complexity of these variables is such that the causal relationship has to be investigated carefully and to deem the results reliable and valid it is imperative that the proper controls, measures and procedures are followed that make the entire research credible. A common sense approach although would be straightforward it would lack the sophistication and the flow of a scientific study into the phenomenon. References Baron, R., Branscombe, N., Byrne, D. (2009). Social Psychology (12th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.  Shuttleworth, Martyn (2008). Bobo Doll Experiment. Retrieved from Experiment Resources: http://www.experiment-resources.com/bobo-doll-experiment.html Read More