In the areas of social and industrial-organizational psychology, the theory of social facilitation is fundamental to understanding the ways in which human beings learn, interact with one another, perform their jobs and certain tasks, and so on. The practical implications of this idea are limitless, as well as its impact on various areas of psychological research. At its core, social facilitation refers to people’s tendencies to perform simple or well-learned tasks better when others are present, and to perform more complicated tasks less effectively (Aiello and Douthitt, 2001). Since Norman Triplett (1898) performed one of social psychologies first ever experiments, countless studies have been conducted either in applied or experimental settings, or with animal or human subjects, examining the causes, effects, and general nature of social facilitation, which has spawned dozens of theories.
In 1898, Norman Triplett, a sports psychologist, conducted an experiment that he claimed demonstrated “the dynamogenic factors in pacemaking and competition” (Triplett, 1898). In this experiment, he told children to wind the string on a fishing reel as quickly as they could and found that children wound faster when they worked with competing co-actors than when they worked alone. He concluded that “the bodily presence of another contestant…serves to liberate latent energy” (Triplett, 1898). This simple experiment may have spawned dozens of subsequent studies, but it wasn’t until Robert Zajonc (1965) that the study of social facilitation really came into its own. Zajonc revolutionized the field when he proposed an explanation that could account for both performance gains and losses (Aiello and
SOCIAL FACILITATION 2
Douhitt, 2001). In his paper, Zajonc discusses audience effects and describes numerous studies in which the results supported the hypothesis that individuals will perform exceedingly better on well-learned tasks when in front of an audience than when alone—because an audience has arousal consequences (Zajonc, 1965). However, it was also seen that, when an individual is learning a new task, the presence of spectators will significantly hinder their ability to learn. Therefore, it can be asserted that, for a student to be most successful, he/she should study alone in an isolated setting, yet, when it comes time to take the exam, he/she should be in the presence of many other students.
Although Zajonc’s audience arousal theory was widely accepted, there were many competing or alternate theories that began to emerge.
One example of the “Social Learning Theory” is the Bobo doll experiment conducted by Albert Bandura in 1961. In this experiment children were either exposed to an adult exhibiting aggressive behavior or non-aggressive behavior towards the doll. When it came time for the children to interact with the doll, the children who were exposed to aggressive behavior were more likely to exhibit aggressive behavior (Nolen, n.d.).
Sports psychology can be defined as the study and application of the attitudes and behaviors of athletes (including team athletes) that impact (either positively or negatively) performance in sports or competitive settings. The goal of sports psychology is to help athletes and teams identify unhealthy attitudes and beliefs, apply mental toughness skills and peak performance strategies to perform at optimal levels (Cohn). Sports psychology is not recognized as a traditional field of practice offered by graduate programs; although, it is a recognized field of specific study under Kinesiology and Physical Education Programs. Sports psychology was first founded in 1920 by Carl Diem in Berlin, Germany. Later on, in 1925, sport psychology was brought to the U.S by Cloman Griffith. These early psychologists aimed to observe the effects of mental state on different factors of performance such as reaction time, tension, relaxation, and awareness (Haney). In the 1960’s Griffith’s research interest in sports psychology reemerged after having faded away for a while; however, the field had a...
D., & Akert, R. M., 2013). In the presence of others, we tend to do better on tasks that are simple and well learned, and we tend to do worse on tasks that are complex and require us to learn something new. We tend to be in a greater state of arousal in the presence of others which can either be beneficial or damaging to our performance on certain tasks. This concept can be linked to my experience of spending much of my time with the group of girls at the gym. This concept can be used to interpret and make sense of my experience and feelings because my performance on simple fitness tasks enhanced in the presence of others. The presence of others gave me this instant state of arousal that pushed me to perform extremely well on fitness tasks I was really good
Social psychology is one of the many variations of psychology. By definition, social psychology is how humans influence each other’s way of behaving and thinking. Under social psychology, there are various ways to define human behaviour and understand why we behave in a particular manner. These approaches deal with multiple concepts such as conformity, obedience, and social influences. They help answer questions about our behaviour and actions, while also analyzing our cognitive processes in certain situations. Social experiments conducted throughout history have also led to more understanding in the aforementioned areas. With these understandings of social behaviour, society can benefit and become aware of themselves and their mentalities.
Various perspectives on behavior have changed the face of psychology over the centuries. Some of the most influential of these theories on behaviorism were made by John B. Watson, B.F. Skinner, and Edward C. Tolman. The manner in which behavior is modified has become a growing debate in the aspect of which technique is more reliable and effective. The theories from these three men have become a foundation for many different schools of thought throughout modern psychology. Through their research, many modern psychologists have grown a better knowledge on why people react and behave during certain situations or in different environments. The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the various theories of Watson and Skinner to that of Tolman.
Humans thrive from reinforcements, whether they are direct, indirect and have a negative or positive affect. “Moreover, recent formulations of social learning theory suggest that learning occurs through both direct and vicarious behavioral reinforcement” (Brauer, 2012). Thus, seeking approval from one’s peers through involuntary or direct actions. This gives the individual satisfaction in knowing their behavior is reinforced.
...ry, it is easy to notice how people need different things, and require alternate ways of studying. You notice people’s emotions and how they react to their surroundings. Some people need silence, some need music, some need space, some need distraction and some people just do it to look good.
Social Loafing is an important concept that can be identifiable in our day to day lives such as through school work, household chores, employment and even sporting activities. The current research investigated the effect of social loafing on collective and coactive conditions through an experiment which asked participants to complete a brainstorming task asking them to list as many ways to use a pencil as they could. The results indicated that social loafing was non-significant in both collective and coactive conditions. However, group work improved the amount of answers the participants had. The results have important effects for reducing or eliminating social loafing to ensure that the participants are accountable for their own activities regardless if in an individual setting or group. Karau & Williams (1993) formed the conceptual idea that participants performing a group task would identify aspects of social loafing and thus having group cohesiveness would eliminate participant loafing. Shepperd, Stephen, Wright and Rex (1989) also established the social loafing concept to be related to impression management. Impression management being a goal directed conscious or unconscious process in which participants attempt to influence the perception of others (Stephen, Wright and Rex, 1989). In another theoretical concept of social loafing, Kerr (1983) demonstrated the free rider effect by addressing the role of the “sucker” in experiment groups. In stating this, it is evident that the many concepts surrounding social loafing derive from the same fundamentals. Though there are conflicting views within social loafing, results from this experiment do not show a significant difference of social loafing between collective groups and coact...
This observation journal will show different social psychology topics and real-life examples. This is to help understand and show the knowledge gained during this course. “Social psychology is the scientific study of how individuals think, feel, and behave in a social context (Fein S., Kassin S., Markus H. 2016, p. 6).” Social psychology studies people during social situations such as parties, relationships, school, work and more.
There have been additional studies that show the contradictory effect known as social facilitation. Originally, social facilitation research began with Zajon. In his research he believed the presence of others would augment the effort of the group and would generally provoke performances and in the process increase the output of the individual. He theorized there are several necessary aspects for the process to work, such as simple or familiar tasks. If the task is complicated or unfamiliar, an increased group size would impede productivity by increasing social loafing (Zajonc, 1965). This...
Children who participate in sports are developing rapidly in sports skills, sportsmanship, and psychologically, but does this come from organized sports are just nature’s process. Children develop emotional and social benefits from participating in sports. Children experience character and leadership development through peer relations leading to an increase in self-esteem and a decrease in anxiety levels. Children will get opportunities to experience positive and negative emotions throughout their practice and games trials. It is important for the coach to understand the “psychology of youth sports and physical activity participation” (Weinberg & Gould, 2011 p.516).
Weinberg, R.S. & Gould, D. {1995} Foundations of sport and exercise psychology. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Ch.15
Social psychology is an in-depth study of socialization. Gordon Allport (1985) defined it a discipline that utilizes scientific methods to understand as well as explain how thoughts, feelings and behaviors of human beings are influenced by the actual, implied or imagined presence of other people (Smith & Mackie, 2000). Cantril (1934) regards it as being the scientific learning o...
Socialization is learning what is expected from us by the people we are interacting with. We learn what is considered normal and how to interact with others. Socialization also gives us the ability to learn what is not acceptable behavior and the negative treatment that can come along with behaving outside of the norm (New York University Department of Sociology, 2013). It is beneficial to reflect on educational experience as a site of socialization because for the majority of us, this is our first real, complete, and honest experience of socialization. We may receive leniency or special treatment from our parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles because we are younger and cute. They do not expect the same level of standards for behavior as peers who
Social Learning Theory can be used to explain many different kinds of human behaviors that are observational. In a college classroom, professor dress attire is a major role in the students learning process due to the lack of perceived credibility. Saul McLeod of Simply Phycology explains that social learning is a behavior that is learned from the surrounding environment though observational learning. McLeod also explains that this type of learning can have either a positive of negative effect. “Reinforcement can be positive of negative, but the important factor is that it will usually lead to a chance in a person’s behavior.” (McLeod, 2011) This is a perfect example of why instructors need to dress well in the classroom. If not, the students behavior; the credibility of the instructor, will change due to unprofessionalism in dress attire. However, those positive effects can lead to students’ perception of the instructor to be very credible and thus leading to increased morale, participation, and even achievement.