AHA28001 Social Behavioral Sciences

Hiroshima University Syllabus

Japanese

Academic Year 2025Year School/Graduate School School of Integrated Arts and Sciences Department of Integrated Arts and Sciences

Lecture Code AHA28001 Subject Classification Specialized Education

Subject Name 社会行動科学

Subject Name
（Katakana）シャカイコウドウカガク

Subject Name in
English Social Behavioral Sciences

Instructor KOMIYA ASUKA,KITAKAJI YOKO

Instructor
(Katakana) コミヤ　アスカ,キタカジ　ヨウコ

Campus Higashi-Hiroshima Semester/Term 2nd-Year, First Semester, 1Term

Days, Periods, and Classrooms (1T) Tues1-4：IAS K314

Lesson Style Lecture Lesson Style
(More Details) Face-to-face, Online (on-demand)

Lecture

Credits 2.0 Class Hours/Week 4 Language of Instruction J : Japanese

Course Level 2 : Undergraduate Low-Intermediate

Course Area（Area） 24 : Social Sciences

Course Area（Discipline） 06 : Psychology

Eligible Students 2nd year and over

Keywords Society, Human behavior, culture, evolution, adaptationist approach, SDGs

Special Subject for Teacher Education 　 Special Subject 　

Class Status
within Educational
Program
(Applicable only to targeted subjects for undergraduate students) This course is designed as an introductory to intermediate level lecture course to provide students with the knowledge (particularly in social and cultural psychology) to conduct psychological and behavioural research.

Criterion referenced
Evaluation
(Applicable only to targeted subjects for undergraduate students) Integrated Arts and Sciences
（Knowledge and Understanding）
・Knowledge and understanding of the importance and characteristics of each discipline and basic theoretical framework.

Class Objectives
/Class Outline Lecture Goals:
1. Understand the impact of the "power of the situation" on the mind and behavior.
2. Be able to understand the basic methodologies of social psychology, including group experiments and cultural comparisons.

Lecture Overview:
We tend to look for the sources of behavior in the mind. For example, university professors seem to "enjoy" teaching, and criminals are often thought to "intentionally" commit crimes. However, before engaging in any behavior, various factors beyond the mind must be involved. Are we relying too much on the mind to explain various social behaviors?

In this lecture, we will overview how the "forces" surrounding us, such as culture, society, groups, and situations, influence our minds and behavior from the perspectives of cultural psychology and social psychology. The specific contents are as follows:

Cultural Psychology (Instructor: Komiya):
Cultural psychology is a field that has developed around the theme of the "interrelation between culture and the mind." Unlike many other fields of psychology, it assumes the influence of culture on the mind and seeks to clarify how deeply and in what ways culture affects the mind. In this lecture, we will overview theories and empirical studies in cultural psychology, as well as recent developments in the field.

Social Psychology (Instructor: Kitakaji):
Social psychology is a field of study that has developed around the theme of the "power of situations." In this lecture, we will focus on cooperative behavior and provide an overview of "under what situations people cooperate with others." Cooperation is an important topic in social science because large-scale cooperation is believed to be something that only humans can achieve. Through this lecture, I hope you will explore the mystery behind the seemingly simple act of cooperation.

Class Schedule Lesson 1. Introduction to Cultural and Social Psychology
Lesson 2. What is Cultural Psychology?
Lesson 3. Cultural Self-Construals
Lesson 4. Japaneseness
Lesson 5. Socioecological Psychology
Lesson 6. Japaneseness -revisited
Lesson 7. Origin of Cultural Variation (on-demand)
Lesson 8. Interim Summary (on-demand) / mid-term paper
Lesson 9. Introduction to Cooperation Behavior
Lesson 10. Group Formation
Lesson 11. Individual and Group Conflicts (on-demand)
Lesson 12. Cooperation and Social Norms (on-demand)
Lesson 13. Cooperation and Punishment (on-demand)
Lesson 14. Empathy, Fairness, and Justice (on-demand)
Lesson 15. Summary (on-demand) / term paper

Midterm paper and term paper

Text/Reference
Books,etc. No textbook. Reference books will be suggested in the class.

PC or AV used in
Class,etc. Text, Handouts, Visual Materials, Microsoft Teams, moodle

(More Details) PowerPoint (PC), Videos (PC), Handout

Learning techniques to be incorporated Quizzes/ Quiz format, Post-class Report

Suggestions on
Preparation and
Review Session 1: Understand the impact of social environment and situations on our minds.
Session 2: Understand the concept of "culture" and why it is important in psychology.
Session 3: Understand the role of culture in how we understand ourselves.
Session 4: Understand cultural differences in social behavior from the perspective of cultural psychology.
Session 5: Understand the social-ecological approach.
Session 6: Understand cultural differences in social behavior from the perspective of socioecological psychology.
Session 7: Understand how culture changes and is maintained.
Session 8: Reflect on the ideas of cultural psychology and its recent developments.
Session 9: Understand the fundamental concepts of cooperative behavior.
Session 10: Understand cooperative behavior from an an evolutionary adaptive perspective.
Session 11: Understand the structure of conflicts between individual and group interests from a rationality perspective.
Session 12: Understand how social norms influence cooperative behavior.
Session 13: Understand how institutions affect the maintenance of cooperaton.
Session 14: Understand the relationship between empathy, fairness, and justice in cooperation.
Session 15: Reflect on the ideas of cooperative behavior and related fields.

Requirements - Having finished the course of “Social Psychology” is desirable.
- You will be sometimes asked to participate in the psychological research in the class. When asked, please get actively involved.

Grading Method In-class report (30%), Midterm paper (35%), Term Paper (35%)

Practical Experience

Summary of Practical Experience and Class Contents based on it

Message

Other

Please fill in the class improvement questionnaire which is carried out on all classes.
Instructors will reflect on your feedback and utilize the information for improving their teaching.

Academic Year	2025Year	School/Graduate School	School of Integrated Arts and Sciences Department of Integrated Arts and Sciences
Lecture Code	AHA28001	Subject Classification	Specialized Education
Subject Name	社会行動科学
Subject Name （Katakana）	シャカイコウドウカガク
Subject Name in English	Social Behavioral Sciences
Instructor	KOMIYA ASUKA,KITAKAJI YOKO
Instructor (Katakana)	コミヤ　アスカ,キタカジ　ヨウコ
Campus	Higashi-Hiroshima	Semester/Term	2nd-Year, First Semester, 1Term
Days, Periods, and Classrooms	(1T) Tues1-4：IAS K314
Lesson Style	Lecture	Lesson Style (More Details)	Face-to-face, Online (on-demand)
Lecture
Credits	2.0	Class Hours/Week	4	Language of Instruction	J : Japanese
Course Level	2 : Undergraduate Low-Intermediate
Course Area（Area）	24 : Social Sciences
Course Area（Discipline）	06 : Psychology
Eligible Students	2nd year and over
Keywords	Society, Human behavior, culture, evolution, adaptationist approach, SDGs
Special Subject for Teacher Education		Special Subject
Class Status within Educational Program (Applicable only to targeted subjects for undergraduate students)	This course is designed as an introductory to intermediate level lecture course to provide students with the knowledge (particularly in social and cultural psychology) to conduct psychological and behavioural research.
Criterion referenced Evaluation (Applicable only to targeted subjects for undergraduate students)	Integrated Arts and Sciences （Knowledge and Understanding）・Knowledge and understanding of the importance and characteristics of each discipline and basic theoretical framework.
Class Objectives /Class Outline	Lecture Goals: 1. Understand the impact of the "power of the situation" on the mind and behavior. 2. Be able to understand the basic methodologies of social psychology, including group experiments and cultural comparisons. Lecture Overview: We tend to look for the sources of behavior in the mind. For example, university professors seem to "enjoy" teaching, and criminals are often thought to "intentionally" commit crimes. However, before engaging in any behavior, various factors beyond the mind must be involved. Are we relying too much on the mind to explain various social behaviors? In this lecture, we will overview how the "forces" surrounding us, such as culture, society, groups, and situations, influence our minds and behavior from the perspectives of cultural psychology and social psychology. The specific contents are as follows: Cultural Psychology (Instructor: Komiya): Cultural psychology is a field that has developed around the theme of the "interrelation between culture and the mind." Unlike many other fields of psychology, it assumes the influence of culture on the mind and seeks to clarify how deeply and in what ways culture affects the mind. In this lecture, we will overview theories and empirical studies in cultural psychology, as well as recent developments in the field. Social Psychology (Instructor: Kitakaji): Social psychology is a field of study that has developed around the theme of the "power of situations." In this lecture, we will focus on cooperative behavior and provide an overview of "under what situations people cooperate with others." Cooperation is an important topic in social science because large-scale cooperation is believed to be something that only humans can achieve. Through this lecture, I hope you will explore the mystery behind the seemingly simple act of cooperation.
Class Schedule	Lesson 1. Introduction to Cultural and Social Psychology Lesson 2. What is Cultural Psychology? Lesson 3. Cultural Self-Construals Lesson 4. Japaneseness Lesson 5. Socioecological Psychology Lesson 6. Japaneseness -revisited Lesson 7. Origin of Cultural Variation (on-demand) Lesson 8. Interim Summary (on-demand) / mid-term paper Lesson 9. Introduction to Cooperation Behavior Lesson 10. Group Formation Lesson 11. Individual and Group Conflicts (on-demand) Lesson 12. Cooperation and Social Norms (on-demand) Lesson 13. Cooperation and Punishment (on-demand) Lesson 14. Empathy, Fairness, and Justice (on-demand) Lesson 15. Summary (on-demand) / term paper Midterm paper and term paper
Text/Reference Books,etc.	No textbook. Reference books will be suggested in the class.
PC or AV used in Class,etc.	Text, Handouts, Visual Materials, Microsoft Teams, moodle
(More Details)	PowerPoint (PC), Videos (PC), Handout
Learning techniques to be incorporated	Quizzes/ Quiz format, Post-class Report
Suggestions on Preparation and Review	Session 1: Understand the impact of social environment and situations on our minds. Session 2: Understand the concept of "culture" and why it is important in psychology. Session 3: Understand the role of culture in how we understand ourselves. Session 4: Understand cultural differences in social behavior from the perspective of cultural psychology. Session 5: Understand the social-ecological approach. Session 6: Understand cultural differences in social behavior from the perspective of socioecological psychology. Session 7: Understand how culture changes and is maintained. Session 8: Reflect on the ideas of cultural psychology and its recent developments. Session 9: Understand the fundamental concepts of cooperative behavior. Session 10: Understand cooperative behavior from an an evolutionary adaptive perspective. Session 11: Understand the structure of conflicts between individual and group interests from a rationality perspective. Session 12: Understand how social norms influence cooperative behavior. Session 13: Understand how institutions affect the maintenance of cooperaton. Session 14: Understand the relationship between empathy, fairness, and justice in cooperation. Session 15: Reflect on the ideas of cooperative behavior and related fields.
Requirements	- Having finished the course of “Social Psychology” is desirable. - You will be sometimes asked to participate in the psychological research in the class. When asked, please get actively involved.
Grading Method	In-class report (30%), Midterm paper (35%), Term Paper (35%)
Practical Experience
Summary of Practical Experience and Class Contents based on it
Message
Other
Please fill in the class improvement questionnaire which is carried out on all classes. Instructors will reflect on your feedback and utilize the information for improving their teaching.

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