Social Psychology
In Chapter 5 in your Social Psychology and Human Nature text, you will learn about how human thought can influence social behavior. You will also find information about confirmation bias, which is one of the theories that may be evident in a case study for your Thinking, Feeling, and Believing assignment. You will find questions from this chapter in the Week 5 quiz, and you may choose to include concepts from this chapter in your discussion.
- Chapter 5, “Social Cognition,” pages 146–183.
In Chapter 7 in your Social Psychology and Human Nature text, you will learn about how our attitudes and beliefs affect our behavior. You will also find information about the mere exposure effect, which is one of the theories that may be evident in a case study for your Thinking, Feeling, and Believing assignment. You will find questions from this chapter in the Week 5 quiz, and you may choose to include concepts from this chapter in your discussion.
- Chapter 7, “Attitudes, Beliefs, and Consistency,” pages 228–255.
Behavior Ethics
These resources, courtesy of Ethics Unwrapped, The University of Texas at Austin, introduce you to two new concepts in behavioral ethics and ethical reasoning: overconfidence bias and groupthink. You will be asked to identify and apply elements of ethical reasoning in your written assignments, and you are encouraged to consider elements of behavioral ethics as a possible topic for your discussion post.
- The University of Texas at Austin. (n.d.). Concepts unwrapped: Overconfidence bias. Retrieved from https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/video/overconfidence-bias
- The overconfidence bias is our tendency to be more confident in our ability to act ethically than is objectively justified by our abilities and moral character.
- The University of Texas at Austin. (n.d.). Ethics defined: Groupthink. Retrieved from https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/glossary/groupthink
- Groupthink occurs when people’s desire to maintain group loyalty becomes more important than making the best choices. People often find it hard to think and act independently in group situations.
Critical Thinking
Paul and Elder break thinking down into eight foundational parts, which provide a model for analyzing argument or reasoning. This resource introduces you to the analytic stage of thinking. You will be asked to identify and apply elements of critical thinking in your written assignments, and you are encouraged to consider elements of critical thinking as a possible topic for your discussion post.
- Read the overview and skim the Elements of Thought. You will continue to explore this concept in future weeks.
- Write Your Discussion Post
What kind of biases or errors in our thinking occur that then affect our behavior? How do humans develop attitudes and beliefs, and how do those attitudes and beliefs affect our behavior? For this week’s discussion, select a theory or concept related to the way we think and how we develop attitudes and beliefs that you found particularly interesting, illuminating, or insightful.
- What interested you about this theory or concept?
- How does it play a role in your personal or professional life?
- How do you see it applied in the world around you or in current events?
When posting your discussion be sure to include the following:
- Label the theory or concept with a hashtag (e.g., #duplexmind) so that others can sort posts by theory.
- Include links to credible or scholarly articles, videos, images, or other web resources. These resources could be used to support your post or provide examples of an application of the theory you chose.
- You may also choose to create a slide show or use audio or video as your discussion post.
Keep in mind, your goal is to enthusiastically share something you’ve learned with your peers, apply it to real life, and make your Yellowdig pin (post) informative, attractive, and engaging to your readers. You may discover that readers are not attracted to reading a lot of text. So be creative!
