2. SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY
Bandura’s Social Learning Theory posits that people learn from one another, via
observation, imitation, and modeling. The theory has often been called a bridge
between behaviorist and cognitive learning theories because it encompasses
attention, memory, and motivation.
Social learning theory (Albert Bandura) posits that learning is a cognitive
process that takes place in a social context and can occur purely through
observation or direct instruction, even in the absence of motor reproduction or
direct reinforcement. In addition to the observation of behavior, learning also occurs
through the observation of rewards and punishments, a process known as vicarious
reinforcement. The theory expands on traditional behavioral theories, in which
behavior is governed solely by reinforcements, by placing emphasis on the
important roles of various internal processes in the learning individual.
3. Types of Social Psychology Experiment
1. Helping Behavior - Good Samaritan
Knowing the story of the Good Samaritan makes you wonder what made
the Samaritan help the stranger, and why did he not get help from the
priest or the Levite? The Good Samaritan Experiment explores causes of
not showing helping behavior or altruism.
4. 2. Halo Effect
The Halo Effect was demonstrated by Nisbett and Wilson's experiment. It fits the situation of
Hollywood celebrities where people readily assume that since these people are physically
it also follows that they are intelligent, friendly, and display good judgment as well. This also
applies to other well-known people such as politicians.
The Halo Effect: When Your Own Mind is a Mystery
The ‘halo effect’ is a classic social psychology experiment. It is the idea that global
evaluations about a person (e.g. she is likeable) bleed over into judgements about their
specific traits (e.g. she is intelligent). Hollywood stars demonstrate the halo effect
perfectly. Because they are often attractive and likeable we naturally assume they are
intelligent, friendly, display good judgement and so on.
5. 3. Chameleon Effect
Also called unintentional mirroring, the chameleon effect usually applies to
people who are getting along so well, each tend to mimic each other's body
posture, hand gestures, speaking accents, among others. This was confirmed
by the Chartrand and Bargh experiments.
6. 4. Obedience and Conformity
Conformity: Solomon Asch tested conformity at Swarthmore College in 1951
by putting a participant in a group of people whose task was to match line
lengths. Each individual was expected to announce which of three lines was
the closest in length to a reference line. But the participant was placed in a
group of actors, who were all told to give the correct answer twice then
to each saying the same incorrect answer. Asch wanted to see whether the
participant would conform and start to give the wrong answer as well,
knowing that he would otherwise be a single outlier.
Obedience: The aftermath of World War 2 made scientists investigate what
to made people "follow orders" even though the orders were horrible. The
Stanley Milgram Experiment showed that also non-nazi populations would
follow orders to harm other persons. It was not a German phenomenon as
many thought.
7. 5. Understand and Belief
Daniel Gilbert together with his colleagues put to test both Rene
Descartes' and Baruch Spinoza's beliefs on whether belief is automatic or
is a separate process that follows understanding. This argument has long
been standing for at least 400 years before it was finally settled.
8. 6. Self-Deception
People lie all the time even to themselves and surprisingly, it does work!
This is the finding of the Quattrone and Tversky Experiment that was
published in the Journal of Personality and Psychology.
9. 7. Overjustification Effect
The overjustification effect happens when an external incentive like a
reward, decreases a person's intrinsic motivation to perform a particular
task. Lepper, Greene and Nisbett confirmed this in their field experiment
a nursery school.
10. 8. Confirmation Bias
Confirmation bias is also known as selective collection of evidence. It is
considered as an effect of information processing where people behaves
to as to make their expectations come true. People tend to favor
information that confirms their preconceptions or hypotheses
independently of the information's truthness or falsity.
11. 9. Choice Blindness
Choice blindness refers to ways in which people are blind to their own
choices and preferences. Lars Hall and Peter Johansson further explain
phenomenon in their study.
12. 10. Stereotypes
The Clark Doll Test illustrates the ill effects of stereotyping and racial
segregation in America. It illustrated the damage caused by systematic
segregation and racism on children's self-perception at the young age of
five.
13. 11. Selective Group Perception
In selective group perception, people tend to actively filter information
they think is irrelevant. This effect is demonstrated in Hastorf and Cantril's
Case Study: They Saw a Game.
14. 12. Changing Behaviour When Being Studied
The Hawthorne Effect is the process where human subjects of an
experiment change their behavior, simply because they are being
This is one of the hardest inbuilt biases to eliminate or factor into the
design.
15. The Bystander Effect
The bystander effect, or bystander apathy, is a social psychological
phenomenon that refers to cases in which individuals do not offer any
means of help to a victim when other people are present. The probability
of help is inversely related to the number of bystanders. In other words,
the greater the number of bystanders, the less likely it is that any one of
them will help
