Week 13 — Readings & Resources · Social Psychology

Course: Introduction to Psychology (PSYC 1) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Bennett
Objective covered: Objective 8 — Apply psychological science to social behavior (the social-psychology portion).

How to use this page

Everything here is a link to an external resource — open it in your browser, the same way you'd open a YouTube link. Nothing needs to be downloaded.

This week's load is grouped by the ideas from the lecture: 5 short readings + 2 videos, plus one optional full-chapter reference. Read or watch one item per group and you're ready for the quiz; do all of them and you'll be very comfortable. Total time is roughly 45–55 minutes if you do everything, far less if you pick one per group.

It's a short week. Because campus is closed for Thanksgiving, do these before Tuesday's class if you can — and use the pick-one quick path at the bottom if you're tight on time over the holiday.

Reading order that matches the lecture: ① attribution & the fundamental attribution error → ② attitudes & cognitive dissonance → ③ conformity & obedience (Asch, Milgram) → ④ group behavior & the bystander effect.

A habit to keep going: before you trust any claim about why people do things — in these readings or anywhere — ask this week's question: Is this explaining the person, or the situation? Am I committing the fundamental attribution error?

① Attribution & the Fundamental Attribution Error

Maps to Lecture Segment 2. When we explain other people we over-blame their personality; when we explain ourselves we point to the situation. That gap is the fundamental attribution error.

Reading — "Fundamental Attribution Error" (Simply Psychology)
🔗 https://www.simplypsychology.org/fundamental-attribution.html
Why it's assigned: the cleanest plain-language version of dispositional vs. situational explanations and the FAE, with the classic example and a note that the bias is weaker in some cultures — exactly the Segment 2 idea.
⏱ ~8 min

Video — "Social Thinking: Crash Course Psychology #37"
🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6HLDV0T5Q8
Why it earns the click: a fast, lively tour of attribution theory, the fundamental attribution error, the foot-in-the-door phenomenon, and cognitive dissonance — it covers groups ① and ② of this page in one go.
⏱ ~10 min

② Attitudes & Cognitive Dissonance

Maps to Lecture Segment 3. The surprising direction: our behavior changes our attitudes, not just the other way around.

Reading — "Cognitive Dissonance" (Simply Psychology)
🔗 https://www.simplypsychology.org/cognitive-dissonance.html
Why it's assigned: explains Festinger's idea of attitude–behavior tension and how we resolve it by changing the attitude, including the classic Festinger & Carlsmith ($1 vs. $20) study we mention in class.
⏱ ~9 min

③ Conformity & Obedience

Maps to Lecture Segment 5. Two of the most famous studies in psychology, both showing the situation overriding what people swear they'd do. Remember the hook: Asch bends what you'll say; Milgram bends what you'll do.

Reading — "Asch Conformity Line Experiment" (Simply Psychology)
🔗 https://www.simplypsychology.org/asch-conformity.html
Why it's assigned: walks through Asch's line study, the ~one-third conformity rate, and the difference between normative ("fit in") and informational ("they must know something") influence — the heart of Segment 5.
⏱ ~9 min

Reading — "Milgram's Obedience Experiment" (Simply Psychology)
🔗 https://www.simplypsychology.org/milgram.html
Why it's assigned: a factual, non-sensational account of the obedience studies and — importantly — the ethical issues they raised. Read for the finding (situational power over ordinary people) and the ethics, not the drama.
⏱ ~9 min

④ Group Behavior & the Bystander Effect

Maps to Lecture Segments 6–7. Put people in groups and predictable things happen to effort, judgment, and responsibility. And counter to common sense: more bystanders can mean less help.

Reading — "Bystander Effect" (Simply Psychology)
🔗 https://www.simplypsychology.org/bystander-effect.html
Why it's assigned: explains the bystander effect and diffusion of responsibility (plus pluralistic ignorance) through Latané and Darley's research — the exact Segment 7 idea, including why naming one specific person undoes it.
⏱ ~9 min

Video — "Social Influence: Crash Course Psychology #38"
🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGxGDdQnC1Y
Why it earns the click: the companion to #37 — it covers Milgram, Asch, social facilitation, social loafing, deindividuation, group polarization, and groupthink in ten minutes. Perfect for Segments 5–6.
⏱ ~10 min

Optional one-stop reference (free online text)

If you'd like one optional reference to skim, OpenStax Psychology 2e keeps its full text free to read online. Chapter 12 ("Social Psychology") covers everything in this week — attribution, attitudes and persuasion, conformity/compliance/obedience, prejudice, aggression, and prosocial behavior.
🔗 https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/12-introduction
Why it's here: a reputable, currently-available reference you can return to — entirely optional this week.

Pick-one quick path (≈20 min total)

In a hurry over the holiday? Do exactly these two and you'll be ready for the quiz:
1. Watch Social Thinking — Crash Course Psychology #37 (groups ①–②: attribution, the FAE, dissonance).
2. Read Asch Conformity (group ③) and skim the Bystander Effect intro and its five-step list (group ④).

Heads-up (links rot): these point to outside sites that occasionally move or rename pages. If a link ever fails, tell Prof. Bennett and use the OpenStax reference above in the meantime.