Psychology
Psychology
What are minimal groups? How does group membership lead to prejudice and discrimination?
Minimal groups are groups used in research methodology in social psychology. The groups are used for researching the minimal conditions that are necessary for discrimination to take place between the groups (Otten, 2016). Group membership leads to discrimination and prejudice by making people conform to the set of behaviors associated with the group they belong. The people conform as a result of the social norms which are considered to be the appropriate behavior in the group.
What is modern racism, and how is it studied?
Modern racism is one of the belief systems that point toward the existence of a singly oriented form of prejudice toward the African Americans in the United States. Modern racism studies entail examining the probable reasons for the negative actions towards actions that are affirmative. It is also studied by examining factors such as unmerited concern about the minority group, anti-black sentiments, symbolic racism, and principled objectives that lead to negative attitudes toward the discriminated group (Ravitch, 2002).
What is stereotype threat, and what are the consequences of stereotype threat? Be sure to provide an example to illustrate your point.
A stereotype threat is being predisposed to the risk of confirming a negative stereotype about oneself as a self-characteristic. For instance, African American freshmen perform poorly in standardized tests compared to the Native American students. As such, one of the consequences of stereotype threats is having poor performances at work or in the academic field (Hoyt & Murphy, 2016). Additionally, the stereotype threat results in self-handicapping techniques such as reducing the preparation time for a task among the stereotyped individuals.
Summarize the recovered memory debate and research. Should we believe a person who comes forward with a recovered memory?
The recovered memory debate and research entail the eligibility of claims that children and adults have been sexually abused. The debate arises from the fact that the reality of one’s memory on sexual abuse and the reality of the actual sexual abuse may differ. The debate raises questions on how trustworthy the reports by the children on sexual abuse are (Laney & Loftus, 2016). As such, it is not in order to always believe all the people that come forward with a recovered memory. In any case, there should be a verification of the presented facts to see if there are any contradictions.
Describe at least three ways eyewitness memory can be affected, and how we can determine the accuracy of eyewitness testimony.
Eyewitness memory could be affected in different ways. First, the information could have been recorded wrongly in the mind of the witness due to inaccurate vision. Second, a lot of time between storage and retrieval of the information could result in lost or flawed information. Third, the information from eyewitnesses could be biased due to, say, political affiliations and race, thereby attributing incriminating details to the wrong suspects. The accuracy of eyewitness memory can be determined by testing the process in which the memory has been remembered. As such, one should test whether there are any aspects in the encoding, storage, and retrieval that contradict (Michael & Gary, 2016). For instance, one can question the validity of whether the storage time of memory is in line with the time that the event happened. Also, one can test the cues that have been used to retrieve the memory. As such, one will prevent the effects of the factors that affect recalling of events such as long periods between storage and retrieval.
Explain how empathy is related to helping.
Empathy involves seeing the world from the perspective of another person. With empathy, one can understand the feelings of the other person at the moment. As such, one is able to see sense in the actions of other people and, therefore, respond to their pleas for help. Empathy arouses the need for interaction and, therefore, the empathizer ends up interacting with the other person and in the process offers their help (Zhou, 2016).
Summarize the effects of mood on helping behaviors.
Negative and positive moods have effects on one’s willingness to offer help in doing tasks. When one is in a positive mood, they are more likely to help in tasks that will help maintain their positive mood. However, negative moods can also increase helping. The negative moods increase helping in an attempt to reduce guilt. As such, moods have effects on helping behaviors based on an attempt to maintain positive moods, or overcome negative moods by creating more positive relationships (Gueguen & Stephan, 2016).
Expanded Essays
Problems in the American Justice System
There are several problems in the American justice system. First, the reconstruction of memory from eyewitnesses is perceived by most people to be similar in working to a video recorder. However, memories are reconstructed and not replayed and, therefore, subject to a lot of inaccuracies. Additionally, the justice system has been affected by the phenomenon of expert testimony. Expert testimony allows experts on eyewitness testimonies which disorients the American courtrooms since laboratory-based eye-witnessing does not apply in court.
The justice system in America has also adopted the use of jury trials in the courts. However, the jury trials pose a problem to the system since they are incompetent with the courtroom procedures and also waste a lot of time with cases taking twice the amount of time compared to the time of trial by a judge (Adams & Bell, 2016). Additionally, with the lawyers having familiarized with the legal system, they are able to get away easily due to the incompetence of the jury. When the jury makes a decision, they are also more likely to be swayed by issues such as race and social status of those under trial instead of considering the rule of law used in professional legal systems. As such, if I were to rearrange the American court system, I would advocate for the training and appointment of more judges rather than investing in juries which lead to waste of time in courts.
Relationship Analyses
The effects of rewards and costs on a relationship are outlined in the social exchange theory. The goal of a relationship, according to the theory, is to minimize the costs while maximizing the rewards (Clarke, n.d.). The relationship with my partner can be analyzed using this theory. First, I am past the selection and sampling stage since I have settled in my relationship. However, the bargaining phase in my relationship is affected since there is an external factor of my colleague, which offers me an alternative to match the losses and profits of the two relationships had I moved on with my colleague. My partner does not seek to maximize the rewards and minimize the experiences that are negative due to them being needy, clingy, and the fact that they are upset when I need some time off. However, I should also seek to negotiate and distribute the rewards in my relationship. In the case that my partner remains rigid, the relationship will be inequitable leading to dissatisfaction and I might end up realigning with the new alternative of my colleague at work.
References
Adams, M., & Bell, L. A. (Eds.). (2016). Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
Clarke, A. (n.d.). The formation, maintenance, and breakdown of romantic relationships. Relationships. Retrieved from http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=93379&d=1290870591
Guéguen, N., & Stefan, J. (2016). “Green Altruism” Short Immersion in Natural Green Environments and Helping Behavior. Environment and Behavior, 48(2), 324-342.
Hoyt, C. L., & Murphy, S. E. (2016). Managing to clear the air: Stereotype threat, women, and leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 27(3), 287-399.
Laney, C., & Loftus, E. F. (2016). History of Forensic Interviewing. In W. T. O'Donohue and M. Fanetti (Eds.), Forensic Interviews Regarding Child Sexual Abuse: A Guide to Evidence-Based Practice (pp. 1-17). New York: Springer International Publishing.
Michael, R. B., & Garry, M. (2016). Ordered questions bias eyewitnesses and jurors. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 23(2), 601-608.
Ravitch, J. (2002). The Relationship between Modern Racism, Color-Blind Attitudes, and Attitudes towards Affirmative Actions. Honors Theses Paper 254. OpenSIUC. Retrieved from http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1253&context=uhp_theses
Otten, S. (2016). The Minimal Group Paradigm and its Maximal Impact in Research on Social Categorization. Current Opinion in Psychology, 11, 85-89.
Zhou, R. (2016). The Effect of Shared Emotional States on Helping Behavior in Rats and its Basis in Empathy. Oral Presentation Session 1. Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy.
