Psychology 316 – Assignment 1: Applying Social Psychology Co…

About this Assignment

In this assignment, you will critically examine foundational and contemporary theories in social psychology. The scenarios you will respond to will focus on how social cognition, perception, and the social self influence individual behavior across diverse contexts, including digital, educational, and institutional settings.

Course Learning Outcomes

The following course learning outcomes are assessed in this assignment:

• Apply social psychological research methods to everyday situations and current events in social environments.
• Describe how social cognition and social perception shape thinking and behavior across diverse social contexts.
• Apply theories of the social self to everyday situations.

Related Lessons

Prompt

In this assignment, you will select two concepts from the list of related lessons above and provide a real-world scenario (e.g. social interactions, classrooms, or workplaces) of each concept in action. You may use generative AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT) to develop your scenario. For each scenario, explain how the concept is manifested using examples and evidence you’ve learned from this course, supporting your explanations with scholarly sources. Consider the strengths and limitations of your selected concept as applied to each scenario; what elements of the scenario, if any, cannot be explained by the concept? Finally, reflect on how each concept connects to your own experiences or observations.

Each scenario should:

1. Identify and summarize the core psychological concept or theory selected.
2. Evaluate the strengths and limitations of the theory in explaining social behavior in the scenario.
3. Reflect on how these theories relate to your own experiences or observations.

Your response to each scenario should be 500-750 words, demonstrate critical thinking, and cite any additional sources in APA format where applicable

Formatting & Sources

Please write your paper in the APA format. You may refer to the course material for supporting evidence, but you must also use at least 3 academic sources and cite them using APA format. Please include a mix of both primary and secondary sources, with at least one source from a scholarly peer-reviewed journal. If you use any Study.com lessons as sources, please also cite them in APA (including the lesson title and instructor’s name).

• Primary sources are first-hand accounts such as interviews, advertisements, speeches, company documents, statements, and press releases published by the company in question.
• Secondary sources come from peer-reviewed scholarly journals, such as . You may use sources like JSTOR, Google Scholar, and PsycINFO, ScienceDirect, or Wiley Online Library to find articles from these journals. Secondary sources may also come from reputable websites with .gov, .edu, or .org in the domain. (Wikipedia is not a reputable source, though the sources listed in Wikipedia articles may be acceptable.)

If you’re unsure about how to use APA format to cite your sources, please see the following lessons: