1- Week 1 Intro Flashcards
Define social psychology
The scientific study of how individuals think, feel and behave in a social context
What types of questions do social psychologists try to answer?
Social perceptions
Social influence
Social relations
How is social psychology different from other related fields?
It is a science (backed in research)
It has a broad scope (compared to economical and political sciences)
Focuses on the social nature of individuals
Social psychology 1880s-1920s
Norman Triplett- American, published 1st SP article about cyclists working harder around other cyclists.
Max Ringelmann- French, published 1913, also on affect of others on people.
William McDougall (1908 English), Edward Ross & Floyd Allport (1924 American) wrote the first textbook on SP.
Social psychology 1930s-1950s
Hitler- sparked much debate on SP
Gordan Allport- Floyd’s younger brother started Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues.
Muzafer Sheriff- 1936 published research on conformity
Kurt Lewin- fled Nazi Germany 1930s Interactionist perspective (behaviour comes from interactions with others)
Social Psychology 1960s- 1990s
Stanley Milgram- research on authority based on Nazi soldiers
Laboratory versus naturalistic research debate begins
Pluralism- wide range of research techniques used, variations in human behaviour aspects emphasised and development of international and multicultural perspectives.
Identify the key areas currently trending in SP
Integration of emotion, motivation and cognition
Genetics and evolutionary perspectives
Cultural perspectives
Behavioural economics, political and moral issues, and other interdisciplinary approaches
The social brain and body
New technologies and the online world
What are the challenges of SP as a science?
It is so dynamic and diverse
Not as simple as a laboratory test (more naturalistic)
How do you generate research ideas in SP?
Real life experiences/refinements from previous research
Build hypotheses and theory
What is a conceptual variable?
And abstract general form of a variable
Eg: prejudice, conformity, love
How do you operationalise a conceptual variable?
You make it measurable for research purposes
How does SP measure variables?
Self reports
Observations
Technology (heart rates, hormones, brain imaging etc)
What is descriptive, correlation all and experimental research?
Descriptive- describes
Correlational- seeks to find a relationship
Experimental- seeks to find causality
What is a confederate and how is it used in SP research?
An accomplice of an experimenter who in dealing with real participants in an experiment, acts as if he/she is also a participant
