Behavior

  

Helping Behavior

In 1987, 18-month-old Jessica McClure fell down a well in a backyard in Midland, Texas. Hundreds of volunteers worked around the clock to free her.

· Why did these people help?

· Are the norms for helping different when a child is involved?

· What insight does social psychological theory offer into this behavior?  Please refer to the research to support your statements.

· 750 word discussion

Resources

Required Resources:

Feenstra, J. (2013). Social Psychology. San Diego: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. ISBN: 978-1-62178-578-1

See attached file

· Chapter 4: Attitudes, Attributions, and Behavior

· Chapter 5: Making Judgments

· Chapter 6: Prejudice

· Chapter 7: Persuasion

· Chapter 8: Conformity and Obedience

· Chapter 9: Groups

· Chapter 11: Prosocial Behavior

Petty, R. E., Wegener, D. T., & Fabrigar, L. R. (1997). Attitudes and attitude change. Annual Review of Psychology, 48, 609-648.

Stanford Prison Experiment: http://www.prisonexp.org/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Watch the slide show available on this website by scrolling down to the bottom of the home page and clicking on “Begin Slide Show”.

Stanford Prison Experiment: http://www.schooltube.com/video/237e7769aa970bcec446/Zimbardo-Stanford-Prison-Experiment (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. This BBC documentary illustrates the famous Stanford Prison Experiment of 1971. The planned two-week investigation into the psychology of prison life had to be ended prematurely after only six days because of what the situation was doing to the college students who participated. In only a few days, the guards became sadistic and the prisoners became depressed and showed signs of extreme stress. Students are to view this video in its entirety.

   Milgram’s Obedience to Authority Experiment: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xb8dmu.  (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

This video illustrates the famous Milgram experiment. The Milgram experiment was a series of social psychology experiments conducted by Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram, which measured the willingness of study participants to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts that conflicted with their personal conscience. This is an updated version of the original experiment. Students are to view the video “Obedience to Authority_Stanley Milgram Experiment”.

The Asch Experiment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyDDyT1lDhA (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
Watch the video of Asch’s Conformity Experiment. Researchers have long been interested in the degree to which people follow or rebel against social norms. During the 1950s, psychologist Solomon Asch conducted a series of experiments designed to demonstrate the powers of conformity in groups.