Social Psychology Assignment 1

Relate social psychology to everyday events as reported in media.

A Step-by-Step Guide
1. Search two recent (within the last 5 years) events reported in media that are relevant to some specific topics in social psychology. Before the search, I recommend browsing through the textbook (e.g., table of contents) to get some idea for the topics covered in this unit. Please also see the examples below. Feel free to consult your tutor. Media reports can include newspaper and magazine articles, TV programs (e.g., news, documentaries), reputable online media, etc. It can be reporting a local, national or international event. The two media reports can not be about the same event and can not be about the same social psychology topic.

2. Summarise the media report. The summary should be brief yet capture all the key details (e.g., "My first media report describes an event that took place in Northbridge last week that ..."). With your summary, your reader should be able to see the gist of the report without actually reading it through.

3. Discuss how the reported event is relevant to social psychology. First, briefly describe in your own words a specific topic in social psychology that is relevant to the report. Then, discuss WHY you think the topic is relevant (e.g., "I think topic X is relevant because ...").

4. Read a section in Textbook Chapter 1 that discusses how social psychology differs from other fields within psychology (e.g., personality psychology) and other fields (e.g., sociology). Discuss how the reported event may be relevant to one of these fields. For example, imagine how a personality psychologist or sociologist may explain the news event you selected. Your discussion should make it clear how social psychology is similar and different from the chosen field in relation to the news event.

5. Reflect on your experience for this assignment. Some sample issues to reflect on are: Is there anything you've noticed in drawing connections between social psychology and media reports? Did you notice any beneficial or limiting features of social psychology as it applies to real life events? Any personal observations or discoveries?

Examples
The textbook and lectures use a number of news events to illustrate topics in social psychology, so they are good models for this assignment. Below is a list of a few recent news events that you may find interesting. Please feel free to use 1 (but only 1) of these examples.

1. News event: President Donald Trump.
o Relevant social psychology topic: social influence, persuasion, leadership, discrimination

2. News event: Marriage equality
o Relevant topics in social psychology: empathy, prejudice and discrimination, relationship

Social Psychology Assignment 1 Relate social psychology to ever...