Social Psychology I Course Online | Learning Cloud New Zealand

Man is a social animal, and as such, it is very important to understand the psychology of how we interact with each other, or act as a group rather than as an individual. By understanding the "natural" social needs of a person, you can develop an increased sensitivity to other people, and better identify and assist people with attending to deficiencies in their social interactions.

There are 10 lessons in this course:

Social Cognition
- Introduction to social psychology
- What is social psychology
- Impression formation
- Behaviour
- Appearance
- Expectations
- The primary affect
- Attribution
- Scemas and social perception
- Central traits
- Stereotypes
- Social inference and decision making
- Case Study: social psychology and law
The Self
- Introduction
- Self concept
- Present and ideal selves
- Cognitive dissonance
- Experiments into cognitive dissonance
- Reducing cognitive dissonance
- Self efficacy
- How does the self develop
- Self and social feedback
- Socialisation
- Types of socialisation
- How are we socialised
Attribution and Perception of Others
- Attribution theory
- Attribution and Concensus, consistency, distinctiveness
- Attribution errors
- Culture and attributional style
- Criticisms of the theory
- Practical uses of attribution theory
Attitudes and Attitude Change
- Defining attitude
- Characteristics of attitudes
- ABC of attitudes
- Affective elements of attitude
- Behavioural elements of attitude
- Self attribution
- Specificity
- Constraints
- Cognitive elements of attitude
- Attitude formation
- Factors affecting attitude change
Prejudice, Discrimination and Stereotypes
- Introduction
- What is prejudice
- Functions of prejudice
- How we measure prejudice
- In groups and out groups
- Reducing prejudice
- Stereotypes
- Functions of stereotypes
- Dangers of using stereotypes
- Changing stereotypes
- Discrimination
Interpersonal Attraction
- Introduction
- Theories of attraction
- The social exchange theory
- The reinforcement affect model
- Factors affecting interpersonal attraction
- Physical appearance
- Biological underpinnings
- Similarity
- Familiarity
- Positive regard
- Mis attribution of emotions
- Proximity
- Attachment styles
- Cultural similarities
- An evolutionary perspective
- The cost of sex
Helping Behaviour
- Bystander intervention
- Diffusion of responsibility
- Social facilitation
- Compliance
- Obedience
- Conformity
- Why do people conform
- Factors affecting conformity
- Desire for affiliation
- Reinforcement and punishment
- Obedience to authority
- Why does social influence work
Aggression
- Introduction
- Types of aggression
- Theoretical approaches to aggression: Freudian, Drive theories, Social learning theories, Biological and evolutionary theories
- Aggrssion against outsiders
- Aggression in a species
- Aggression in humans
- Environmental influences on human aggression
- Imitation or modelling
- Familiarity
- Reinforcement
- Aggression and Culture
- Other factors
Groups
- What is a group
- Kinds of groups; recreational, social, work, family, sportingFeatures of groups
- Factors relating to groups: productivity, social loafing, insufficient coordination, social facilitation
- Group decision making: group think, group polarisation, minority influence
- Deindividualisation
Cultural Influences
- Defining culture
- Culture and social exchange
- Individualistc vs reciprocal societies
- Cross cultural psychology vs cultural psychology
- Culture bound syndromes
- Trance and possession disorder

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

For more information on this course, please request your free course information pack.

Online Social Psychology I Course