The field of social psychology is defined by a number of 'classic studies' that all students need to understand and engage with. These include ground-breaking experiments by researchers such as Asch, Festinger, Milgram, Sherif, Tajfel and Zimbardo. With the help of international experts who are renowned for work that has extended upon these researchers' insights, this book re-examines these classic studies through careful reflection on their findings and a lively discussion of the subsequent work that they have inspired.

Organized in a way that way maps onto the content of most introductory courses, this title can work at a number of levels: as an accessible text for introductory classes that present a historical analysis of social psychology via its key studies, or as a broad-ranging text for higher-level courses that survey contemporary theory and encourage critical thinking. More generally, it is a compelling read for anyone who wants to know more about social psychology and the dramatic studies that lie at its heart.