Overview
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Learning activities
Learning outcomes
Identify and define key concepts in social, cognitive, and evolutionary psychology as they apply to information-processing in societal contexts
Identify and critically evaluate distinct psychological research methods used to answer real-world questions
Apply conceptual tools from social, cognitive, and evolutionary psychology to argue about the roots causes of current societal issues
Examine the relationships between our social minds and the epiphenomenon of society to discuss the implications of these relationships and debate how they can be applied to benefit society
Assessments
Additional information
To gain a sound understanding of the intersection of self and society, we need to deepen our understanding of the numerous individual topics that each contribute to our ‘selves’: What, and who, determines our self-esteem? What determines whether we explicitly or implicitly engage in racism, and how can we ‘turn it off’? What determines our individual attitudes about societal institutions, such as social welfare programs or the criminal justice system? What role does social psychology play in the formation of our ‘moral’ selves, and is our sense of morality the same when we are making decisions ourselves as when we are judging others’ behavior? By integrating social psychological findings and a cognitive approach within an evolutionary meta-theoretical framework, we will investigate the specific information-processing mechanisms that underpin our individual minds, the social world of these minds in interaction, and the broader epiphenomenon of society that emerges from individuals in social exchange with one another.