Alright, alright, let’s gab about this… uh… “AP Psychology Unit 9: Social Psychology.” Sounds fancy, but it ain’t nothin’ but people stuff, you know? How folks act when they’re together.
So, first off, they got this thing called social cognition. That’s just a big word for how we think about other folks. Like, if you see someone wearin’ a suit, you might think they’re important. Or if someone’s got a messy house, you might think they’re lazy. It’s all about how we figger people out in our heads, y’know? Sometimes we’re right, sometimes we’re wrong as rain, but that’s how the brain works, I guess.
Then there’s social influence. That’s a big one, let me tell ya. It’s about how other people make us do things, even if we don’t wanna. Like, if all your friends are jumpin’ off a bridge… well, hopefully you wouldn’t, but you get the idea. Peer pressure, they call it. Folks wanna fit in, so they do what the crowd does. It’s like sheep, kinda. No offense to sheep, of course.
- Example of social influence: Remember that time when everyone in town started wearin’ them silly hats? Nobody really liked ’em, but everyone else was doin’ it, so…
- Another thing: Advertisements, them things on the TV? That’s social influence too. They try to make you think you need somethin’ you don’t.
Now, this prejudice thing… that’s a real nasty one. It’s when you judge someone before you even know ’em, just ’cause of how they look or where they come from. It ain’t right, plain and simple. Like, sayin’ all folks from the city are stuck-up, or all folks from the country are slow. That’s just dumb. People are people, no matter where they’re from or what they look like.
And then there’s groupthink. That’s when a bunch of folks get together and make a bad decision ’cause nobody wants to rock the boat. Everyone just agrees with each other, even if they know it’s wrong. It’s like… well, it’s like when the church ladies decided to paint the town hall pink. Nobody really liked the idea, but nobody wanted to speak up against Mrs. Henderson, so we ended up with a pink town hall. Lord have mercy.
Attitude formation is another big thing in this… social… whatever. It’s just how we come to like or dislike things. Maybe you had a bad experience with a dog when you were little, so now you don’t like dogs. Or maybe your grandma always made the best apple pie, so now you love apple pie. It’s all about the stuff that happens to you and how it shapes your thinkin’.
They also talk about how group membership impacts our thinking and behavior. That’s just fancy talk for how bein’ in a group changes you. Like, if you’re on a football team, you might act different than when you’re at church. Or if you’re with your family, you might act different than when you’re with your friends. We all wear different hats, dependin’ on who we’re with.
This AP Psychology thing… sounds like they’re studyin’ things we already know, just makin’ it sound all complicated. Like that time they were studyin’ babies… ______________ researchers are discovering what goes on in the mind of an infant. Well, I coulda told ’em, babies cry when they’re hungry and sleep when they’re tired. Not much more to it than that, far as I can see.
And that system of neural structures at the border of the brainstem and cerebrum; associated with emotions such as fear and aggression and drives such as those for food and sex. Includes the 。 Sounds scary, but it just means the part of your brain that makes you mad or scared or hungry or… well, you know. It’s the part that makes you wanna slap someone when they steal your pie, or run away when you see a snake.
They even study gunshot wound victims… After detailed study of a gunshot wound victim. I don’t know why they need to do that. Seems kinda morbid to me. But I guess they’re tryin’ to figure out how the brain works, even when it’s broke.
So, that’s social psychology, accordin’ to them smart folks. Just a bunch of fancy words for how people act when they’re together. Nothin’ too complicated, really. Just common sense, if you ask me.
And if you’re takin’ that AP Psychology exam, well, good luck to ya. Hope you remember all them big words. But if you don’t, just remember what I told ya: it’s all just about people, and how we act around each other. That’s it. Simple as that.
