Dr Blair

Are you studying for the Social Psych Midterm?

“Cognitive dissonance is a state of tension that occurs whenever a person holds two cognitions (ideas, attitudes, beliefs, opinions) that are psychologically inconsistent,” (Caroll Tavris, Elliot Aronson, Mistakes Were Made).

“the fundamental attribution error (FAE). We commit that error whenever we overestimate the extent to which people’s actions, especially their successes and failures and their displays of apparent virtue or vice, are reflections of the kind of people they are—and underestimate the extent to which they are the product of situational influences.” (Thomas Gilovich and Lee Ross, The Wisest One in the Room)

“The wisest in the room recognize that asking for help does not reveal a person’s limitations; rather, it demonstrates an openness to feedback and a confidence that success is obtainable.” (Thomas Gilovich and Lee Ross, The Wisest One in the Room)

“Good students also look beyond the obvious. They peek over the fences of their own disciplines - and once you have done that, you cannot go back and do what everyone else is doing, even if you now must deal with heterogeneous ideas that come without a manual on how they might fit together. All that means is that a system is needed to keep track of the ever-increasing pool of information, which allows one to combine different ideas in an intelligent way with the aim of generating new ideas.” (Sönke Ahrens, How to Take Smart Notes).

Of course - this tells us more than just about attribution - but the power of social identity in shaping our construals of the world - and consequently our attributions for the behaviour of others.

“The phenomenon of attribution is captured in an old joke. Two men, one a Protestant and the other a Catholic, see a priest entering a brothel. The Protestant smiles sourly at the evidence of the hypocrisy of Catholics, the Catholic smiles proudly at the evidence that a priest will go anywhere, even into a brothel, to save the soul of a dying Catholic.” (Morton Hunt, The Story of Psychology)

"Money forces humans to reduce qualitative differences to quantitative ones. It forces a numbering of things, and this quantification allows things that are very unalike to be compared. This numbering pushed ahead the development of mathematics, and when applied to other fields, it made science possible. This tendency toward numbering has become the basis of modern thought from the rise of mathematics and science through the increased objectification of law, medicine, teaching, and virtually all other professions." (Jack Weatherford, The History of Money)

"The main purpose of laughter is to bind people together; it’s a social sound that’s meant to be heard by others, to create engagement. We’re far more likely to laugh when we’re with other people, and when we’re with friends rather than with strangers." (Gretchen Rubin, Life in Five Senses).

"More than half the people on the planet live in countries that will hold [nationwide elections in 2024](https://www.economist.com/interactive/the-world-ahead/2023/11/13/2024-is-the-biggest-election-year-in-history), the first time this milestone has been reached." (The Economist, 2024 Will Be Stressful for Those Who Care About Liberal Democracy)

Our fabulous TA Bre for History of Psych!! See you next year!!

An undergraduate education wasn’t ever meant to “get you a job.” It’s about learning how to think and learning how to learn. That’s why when you’re done, you are considered a “beginner” - ready to begin a journey of lifelong learning.

Sadly, many universities today are forgetting this and governments are forcing them to make decisions not based in sound pedagogy but instead based on “post-graduation employment metrics.” It’s not that employment is a bad outcome by any means, but it shouldn’t be the determining factor of which skills and which experiences are deemed worthy of inclusion in an undergraduate education.

"In Crusades-era Europe, scholars identified four subjects as worthy of study: theology, philosophy, medicine, and (canon) law. But as in the Islamic world, before aspiring students could start studying one of these fields, they had to prove they were up to doing the work; otherwise, they’d just be wasting some important scholar’s time. So in Europe, the preparatory course included seven subjects: grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. Upon completing this preliminary course, students were issued a certificate called a baccalaureate, which is Latin for “beginner.” It meant that now they could begin their studies. The baccalaureate still exists. Today, it’s called the bachelor of arts degree or BA: the standard generic college degree." (Tamim Ansary, The Invention of Yesterday)

Mr. Miles joined the Social Psychology of the Holocaust class for our last discussion on the first night of Hanukkah 🕎 last week.

"If, twenty-five years ago, someone had described to you a country in which candidates threatened to lock up their rivals, political opponents accused the government of stealing the election or establishing a dictatorship, and parties used their legislative majorities to impeach presidents and steal supreme court seats, you might have thought of Ecuador or Romania. You probably would not have thought of the United States." (Steven Levitsky, Daniel Ziblatt, How Democracies Die)