TeachNet UK - About

Psychology: Social Influence

http://teachersnetwork.org/teachnet-lab/london/rchopra

Psychology/AS Level

About the Teacher

Rajni Chopra
rajni_c@hotmail.com
Rajni Chopra is currently teaching AS/A-level Psychology at Leyton Sixth Form College, whilst completing her PGCE (Post-Compulsory) at the Institute Of Education, London. She studied for her first degree in Psychology (BSc Hon) at Sheffield Hallam University. She is particularly interested in producing accessible, IT-based teaching materials for Psychology, as well as incorporating a variety of learning methods for students.

This unit of work consists of five 90-minute lessons, each of which incorporates one student assessment task.

This project provides students with the opportunity to increase their knowledge and understanding of the issues related to Social Influence as part of AS level Psychology. For most students this will be the first time they have studied Psychology formally and this unit encourages a variety of activities including research on the internet. A downloadable glossary is included to ensure that students are aware of key terms and concepts.

The students are required to search the available material on the Internet using the links provided as well as executing their own searches for additional material. They will present their research to their fellow students using PowerPoint. The main mode of assessment will be reports, however they will have to download a PDF file containing a short-answer test as a final, personal assessment.

Key lessons will involve the theories of:

Moscovic (Minority Influence)
Asch and Sherif (Conformity Research)
Milgram and Zimbardo (Obedience)

The unit is based on the AQA Syllabus, Module 3: AS Social Influence. Although the unit is specific to this syllabus, it can be used as the basis for other AS Social Psychology units exploring the same theorists.

Access to the Internet (vital)
Adobe Acrobat Reader
MSWord
MSPowerPoint
Printer
Photocopier

This unit is suitable for students aged 16 and above. They should be studying AS level Psychology or a comparable course.

To increase student's knowledge and understanding of the key issues in the psychology of social influence.
To improve students skills in accessing information through the internet.
To develop ability to critically evaluate and present information accessed through research.

Each lesson of this unit provides the teacher with a ready-made form of assessment, which incorporates Key Skills.

Before tackling the module, students should be familiar with why research on social influence is carried out. For example it is useful to introduce the module in terms of history – research on obedience was first carried out to find out why soldiers followed Hitler’s orders and massacred millions without saying no to authority figures. The students should also be taught the main definitions of conformity, obedience, minority and majority influence, as well as introducing the main theorists in Social Influence (Asch, Sherif, Milgram and Zimbardo). Towards the end of the module the teacher should inform the students of the BPS Ethical Guidelines, and how all psychology research conducted is expected to comply to these guidelines. The tasks that are set in this program can then be adapted and used in a number of different ways:

They can be used:

As an addition to classroom activities if ICT equipment is available
To provide a structure for personal study and homework
As an end of unit revision and assessment tool
To provide evidence of Key Skills in ICT

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