Social Psychology
Choosing Your Social Psychology Concept
You are free to choose any social concept that we have covered in the scope of this course, but
certain concepts will be easier to write about than other concepts. For example, it may be
rela?vely easier to observe and write about aGribu?ons in both human-to-human interac?ons
and human-to-computer interac?ons (e.g., the person/computer you are talking to have failed
to perform well on a certain task, what/how do you aGribute the blame to?). On the other
hand, it could be much harder to write about cogni?ve dissonance theory because computers
don’t carry “aNtudes” in the same manner as we do.
Choosing the Right “Computer”
Tradi?onally, human-to-computer interac?on has been studied as a mul?disciplinary subject
across fields of computer science, robo?cs, and psychology. For the purpose of this assignment,
we will use a broad defini?on of “computer”. A computer can be any digital technology or
system that humans can interact with (e.g., personal computers, smartphones, self-checkout
machines, chatbots, etc.). While a more relaxed defini?on of “computer” may be adopted, for
your ease of wri?ng this term paper, I strongly suggest you choose a computer that comes with
a social presence – or the sense of “being together with another” and the percep?on of “a
social mind” (Heeter, 1992; Biocca et al., 20031). Chatbots, for this reason, will likely to be a
great choice of a social computer for the purpose of this assignment. For example, you could try
to carry out a conversa?on with a human friend first, and then carry out the same conversa?on
with a chatbot, and see if you can detect any interes?ng similari?es/differences between these
two conversa?ons surrounding the manifesta?on of your social psychology concept. Here are
some popular chatbots/digital assistants: ChatGPT, Microsoa’s new Bing, Google Bard AI,
Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, etc.
Remember, the key of choosing the right “computer” agent is social presence. If you are in the
mood for crea?vity, you could also consider other agents that you perceive to be “social” (e.g.,
video game characters), as long as you can effec?vely compare the interac?ons between the
“social” computer agent and other humans for the social psychology topic you choose. If you
are unsure, you can always reach out to me for advice.
1 Biocca, F., Harms, C., & Burgoon, J. K. (2003). Toward a more robust theory and measure of social presence:
Review and suggested criteria. Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments, 12(5), 456-480.
Heeter, C. (1992). Being There: The subjective experience of presence. Presence, 1(2), 262-271.
2
Paper Instruc@ons:
1. Introduc?on (100 - 150 words): Briefly explain the social psychology concept you have chosen
and provide an overview of how you will analyze its applica?on in human-human and human-AI
interac?ons. Include a brief summary of key studies and findings related to this concept in
tradi?onal social psychology literature, and discuss why you believe this concept is important to
examine.
2. Descrip?ons of Observed Interac?ons (150 – 250 words): Before proceeding to your analyses,
describe your observa?ons of interac?ons with both a human and an AI system that you believe
represent your chosen concept. This observa?on could either come from your own experience
(e.g., you could try to ini?ate a conversa?on with a human friend and then do it again but with a
chatbot) – this is what we would call introspec?on – or it could come from your observa?ons of
interac?ons of other people. Ensure that you provide enough detail for readers to understand
the context of these interac?ons. Be mindful of any biases you may have, and try to present the
interac?ons objec?vely.
3a. Analysis of Human-to-Human Interac?ons (150 – 250 words): Discuss how your chosen
concept is demonstrated in the human-human interac?on you observed. Analyze the dynamics
of the interac?on, how your chosen concept was presented or played out, and the implica?ons
of these observa?ons. Refer to theore?cal models or previous studies where appropriate to
support your analysis.
3b. Analysis of Human-to-AI Interac?ons (150 – 250 words): Similarly, analyze the human-AI
interac?on you experienced. Discuss the presence (or lack) of your chosen concept, the
dynamics of the interac?on, and any unique aspects compared to human-human interac?ons.
Consider how the design or programming of the AI might influence the manifesta?on of your
chosen concept.
4. Systema?c Comparisons (150 – 250 words): Compare the presence and effects of the chosen
concept in the interac?ons you observed. Highlight the similari?es and differences, no?ng any
factors that might contribute to these (e.g., the nature of AI, social norms, your own
expecta?ons or biases).
5. Conclusion (100 - 150 words): Summarize your key findings and insights. Discuss the
implica?ons of your findings for the future of human-computer interac?ons and social
psychology.
6. References: You must include cita?ons to support your analysis. Use APA style for referencing.
There is no minimum number of cita?ons required. However, you are expected to cite all of the
sources that you have used properly.