Revision Webinar: Social Influence Recap and Essay Writing Advice

Summary

This video offers a detailed guide for psychology students on how to structure essays about conformity. It explains the different types of essay questions—research, explanation, and application—along with step-by-step instructions for organizing responses. The guide emphasizes the importance of starting with clear knowledge, followed by supporting evidence and critical evaluation. For application questions, it suggests replacing evaluation with application to real-life scenarios. The structure is designed to simplify complex essay writing, helping students improve clarity and focus in their responses, applicable to both year 1 and 2 psychology students.

Takeaways

• 😀 **Essay Structure for Research Questions**: The standard structure involves explaining the concept, providing supporting evidence, and offering a critical evaluation. In Year 2, students should further extend their evaluation with additional perspectives or research.
• 😀 **Explanation of Normative Social Influence**: The theory suggests that individuals conform to be accepted and belong to a group, driven by the desire to fit in and avoid social rejection.
• 😀 **Evidence for Normative Social Influence**: Asch's study is a key piece of evidence, showing that participants conformed to an obviously wrong answer to avoid group disapproval, supporting the idea of normative social influence.
• 😀 **Evaluation of Asch’s Study**: Despite its support for normative social influence, Asch’s study has been critiqued for its historical context. Research by Perrin and Spencer found much lower conformity rates, suggesting that social norms have changed over time.
• 😀 **Second Explanation - Informational Social Influence**: This theory posits that individuals conform to gain accurate information, particularly in ambiguous situations. Supporting evidence can be drawn from studies like the Jelly Bean experiment by Jenness.
• 😀 **Evaluation of Jenness's Study**: Jenness's research provides strong evidence for informational social influence but may be critiqued for its methodology or sample limitations.
• 😀 **Essay Structure for Explanation and Evaluation**: In an explanation essay, students should provide a clear explanation, support it with evidence, evaluate the evidence, and repeat the process for additional explanations.
• 😀 **Application Essays - Adapted Structure**: For application-based questions, students follow the same structure as explanation essays but replace further evaluation with application to a specific real-world scenario (e.g., Joseph and Kate's behavior during a strike).
• 😀 **Application to Real-life Scenarios**: In the example of Joseph and Kate, Joseph demonstrates normative social influence by conforming to avoid being alone, while Kate’s response illustrates informational social influence, as she changes her behavior based on the arguments of others.
• 😀 **Key Focus for Application Essays**: The key difference in application essays is the shift from critique to real-world application, with less emphasis on methodological evaluation and more on demonstrating understanding of how theories manifest in everyday situations.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the video transcript?

The video transcript primarily focuses on explaining how to structure essays for psychology exams, particularly when discussing topics like conformity, using different types of essay questions and strategies for answering them.

What are the three main types of essay questions mentioned in the video?

The three main types of essay questions discussed in the video are: Research Questions (Outline and Evaluate), Explanation Essays (Discuss Explanations), and Application Essays (Discuss Explanations in Context).

How should an 'Outline and Evaluate' essay for research be structured?

An 'Outline and Evaluate' essay should start with a clear explanation of the concept, followed by evidence that supports it (e.g., studies like Asch’s conformity research), and end with a critical evaluation, typically addressing weaknesses or limitations of the study.

In an Explanation Essay, how should the content be organized?

In an Explanation Essay, the structure should follow this order: Explanation → Evidence → Evaluation, and this process is repeated for a second explanation, each with supporting evidence and critique.

What is the key difference in structure between an 'Explanation' and an 'Application' essay?

The key difference is that in an 'Application' essay, the evaluation part is replaced by applying the concept to a real-world situation or scenario, while the 'Explanation' essay includes both explanation and evaluation of theories or studies.

Why is it important to structure essays clearly with explanations, evidence, and evaluation?

Clear structure is important because it makes the argument easy to follow, ensures that all necessary points are covered, and helps students present their knowledge in a coherent, organized way, which is crucial for scoring well in exams.

How should the evidence be integrated into the essays according to the script?

The evidence should be integrated by directly supporting the explanation or theory being discussed. For example, in the normative social influence explanation, Asch's study is used to demonstrate the concept of conformity, with quotes or findings from the study to back up the argument.

What role does evaluation play in the essay structure, and how is it used?

Evaluation is used to critically analyze the evidence and theories presented. It includes discussing limitations or alternative viewpoints, such as critiquing Asch’s study by referencing studies like Perrin and Spencer, which might suggest different results or contexts.

In the example of the application essay, how is Joseph's behavior explained in terms of conformity?

Joseph's behavior is explained as demonstrating normative social influence, where he conforms to the group because he doesn't want to be left out or isolated, even though he doesn't necessarily agree with the reason for the strike.

How does the application essay structure differ from the explanation essay when it comes to evaluation?

In the application essay, the evaluation section is omitted and replaced with an application of the concept to the given scenario. The focus shifts to explaining how the concept of conformity applies to the specific situation, like Joseph and Kate's behavior during the strike.

What does the video suggest as the best approach for students when tackling psychology essay questions?

The video suggests that students should approach psychology essay questions with a clear, structured format that includes a solid explanation of concepts, well-integrated evidence, and thoughtful evaluation or application, depending on the type of question. This strategy ensures clarity and improves the likelihood of a high-quality response.