Introduction
You will research four psychologists in the field of social psychology. Specifically Stanley Milgram, Phillip ZImbardo, Solomon Asch and Henri Tajfel. You are then going to apply the information from the results of those psychologist's famous studies to a real world event that has had destructive behavior.
Social psychology is a science that studies the influence of our situations, with special attention to how we view and affect one another. It is the scientific study of how people think about, influence and relate to eachother. Some central themes in social psychology include constructing our own social realities, analyzing how social influences shape our behavior and looking at the application of social psychological research to everyday life. We can start to see through social pscyhology what part our biological makeup plays compared to our experienes.
This will assist in students understanding of Florida Sunshine State Standards:
SS.912.P.1.6Identify the important role psychology plays in benefiting society and improving people’s lives.SS.912.P.2.1Describe the scientific method and its role in psychology.
Task
You will demonstrate your understanding of social psychologists and the research they have conducted to apply their findings to a real world event.
Process
* First you will research back ground information on the four psychological figures of focus: Stanley Milgram, Phillip Zimbardo, Solomon Asch and Henri Tajfel. With this information, you will create three bibliographical paragraphs by answering the provided questions.
* Next you will research the social psychology theories developed from each psychologist as well as their most famous studies and findings. You will analyze those results and interpret their conclusions.
* Finally you will choose any real world event that has occured in history that demonstrates destructive behavior (ie. violence). In my example, I chose Nazi Germany. You will analyze this event and apply the social psychology findings you have learned about from your research on the psychologists and you will attempt to explain your event using those findings. You may do this in essay or power point form.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
* Use the following links to find the answers to the questions below for EACH psychologist. Answer the questions in paragraph form using Microsoft Word or another word processing program. Make sure that you do NOT plagarize. If you do choose to borrow direct lines from the information provided, cite your sources.
1. What is this person's name?
2. When was this person born?
3. During what year/decade did this person conduct their most famous experiment?
4. What was the conclusion from that experiment?
5. Describe the theory that developed from that experiment?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Milgram
http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/milgram.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Zimbardo
http://www.psychologistworld.com/influence_personality/stanfordprison.p…;
http://www.holah.karoo.net/zimbardostudy.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon_Asch
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Tajfel
http://www.simplypsychology.org/social-identity-theory.html
Experiments
* Use the links above (the same you used for the bibliographical information) and the links below to learn about the most famous experiments for each psychologists. Describe the findings from each experiment in one paragraph using Microsoft Word.
http://www.holah.karoo.net/milgram.htm
http://www.holah.karoo.net/zimbardostudy.htm
http://www.holah.karoo.net/glossary.htm#Tajfel_et_al._(1970)
http://www.age-of-the-sage.org/psychology/social/asch_conformity.html&n…;
MEDIA PROJECT
* Choose any event in history that shows destructive behavior (ie: violence) and first, describe that event in detail for at least 3 paragraphs and then, apply the findings from the research you have now learned to that event in at least 2 paragraphs. You should attempt to explain why your event occured according to the findings in these studies. Choose which way you would like to present the information: essay format or power point.
Evaluation
|
|
Beginning 1 |
Developing 2 |
Accomplished 3 |
Exemplary 4 |
Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Question Answers |
Not all questions were answered, and the answers that were given were consise. | Not all questions were answered, but the questions that were answered were answered thoroughly. | All questions were answered, but in a consise manner. | All questions were answered in a thorough manner. | |
|
Task Completion |
Not all tasks were completed, and those that were completed were not done within the specified guidelines. | Not all tasks were completed, but those that were completed were done within the specified guidelines. | All tasks were completed, but not according to the specified guidelines. | All tasks were completed according to the specified guidelines. | |
|
Real World Event Application |
The analysis was generic, and all elements did not fit appropriately into the four experiments in social psychology. | The analysis was creative, but all alements did not fit appropriately into the four experiments in social psychology. | The analysis was generic, but all elements fit appropriately into the four experiments in social psychology | The analysis was creative, and all elements fit appropriatley into the four experiments in social psychology |
Conclusion
Great job! As you have now learned, social psychology can tell us a great deal about the world around us. Through Milgram, Zimbardo, Asch and Tajfel we have come closer to trying to explain some of the atrocities that occure in our world. All of the studies that you have now learned, though conducted decades ago, are still applicable to today. I hope you had a wonderful time stepping into the shoes of a psychologist as you anaylzed your destructive event. If you would like to test your knowledge, here are some quizzes below!
http://www.holah.karoo.net/milgrammulti.htm
http://www.holah.karoo.net/zimbardomultiple.htm
http://www.holah.karoo.net/tajfelmulti.htm
Credits
Ms. Brianna Frank
Florida Sunshine State Standards: http://www.cpalms.org/Public/
Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia http://www.wikipedia.org/
About.com http://www.about.com/
Holah: http://www.holah.karoo.net
Professor Wolfe: http://www.professorwolfe.com/psy220/psy220syllabus.html
Permissions
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Teacher Page
Learn about social psychology through theories developed by Stanley Milgra, Phillip Zimbardo, Solomon Asch and Henri Tajfel. Aplly these theories to a real world event that shows destructive behavior.
Teacher Introduction
Social psychology is a an extremely important part of the high school curriculum. By learning about and applying social psychology in this activity, they will meet a Florida Sunshine State Standard. By completing the final stage of the activity and analyzing an event in the real world, students will solidify their understanding of the concepts.