1. What is Social Psychology

Question 1

The scientific study of how individuals think, feel, and behave in a social context.

Answer 1

Social Psychology

Question 2

Sociologists and social psychologists share an interest in many issues, such as violence, prejudice, cultural differences, and marriage. As noted, however, sociology tends to focus on the ______ level, whereas social psychology tends to focus on the ______ level.

Answer 2

group

individual

Question 3

______ psychologists seek to understand and treat people with psychological difficulties or disorders. EXAMPLE: Test various therapies for people with antisocial personalities who exhibit great degrees of prejudice.

Answer 3

Clinical

Question 4

______ psychologists seek to understand stable differences between individuals. EXAMPLE: Develop a questionnaire to identify men who are very high or low in degree of prejudice toward women.

Answer 4

Personality

Question 5

______ psychologists study mental processes such as thinking, learning, remembering, and reasoning. EXAMPLE: Manipulate exposure to a member of some category of people and measure the thoughts and concepts that are automatically activated.

Answer 5

Cognitive

Question 6

Is an emphasis on how both an individual’s personality and environmental characteristics influence behavior. Kurt Lewin (1935-47) helped establish this fundamental principle.

Answer 6

Interactionist perspective

Question 7

Is the study of how we perceive, remember, and interpret information about ourselves and others.

Answer 7

Social cognition

Question 8

Is a subfield of psychology that examines the role of genetic factors in behavior.

Answer 8

Behavioral genetics

Question 9

Is a subfield of psychology that uses the principles of evolution to understand human social behavior.

Answer 9

Evolutionary psychology

Question 10

Is a system of enduring meanings, beliefs, values, assumptions, institutions, and practices shared by a large group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next.

Answer 10

Culture

Question 11

Is designed to compare and contrast people of different cultures.

Answer 11

Cross-cultural research

Question 12

Is designed to examine racial and ethnic groups within cultures.

Answer 12

Multicultural research

Question 13

Is an interdisciplinary subfield that focuses on how psychology, particularly social and cognitive psychology, relates to economic decision making.

Answer 13

Behavioral economics

Question 14

Is the study of the relationship between neural and social processes. Example: how playing violent video games can affect brain activity and acts of aggression.

Answer 14

Social neuroscience

Question 15

Is an interdisciplinary subfield that examines the close links between our minds and the positioning, experiences, and actions of our bodies. According to this perspective, people’s perceptions and judgements reflect and can influence their bodily experiences.

Answer 15

Embodied cognition