Final answer:
Social psychology's key research areas are social cognition and social influence, which explore the impact of situational factors and interpersonal interactions on individual behavior, thoughts, and feelings.
Step-by-step explanation:
In social psychology, the key research areas according to your textbook are a) Social cognition and social influence. This branch of psychology focuses on how people influence one another, exploring the power of the situation on individuals' thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Social psychology blends both intrapersonal topics, which include emotions and attitudes, the self, and social cognition, as well as interpersonal topics like helping behavior, aggression, attraction, and group processes.
Social cognition is about how we process, store, and apply information about people and social situations. It involves thinking about ourselves and others, influencing our behavior, decision-making, and interactions. On the other hand, social influence examines how an individual's behavior is affected by social norms, roles, and expectations and how people are persuaded by others.
Through examples such as the famous Stanford prison experiment, social psychology shows us that human behavior can drastically change depending on the social roles and norms dictated by our environment. Situational influences can lead to outcomes such as conforming behavior or helping strangers due to perceived social expectations. It's essential to understand this balance of internal dispositions and external situational influences to grasp human social behavior fully.