Block #1 - Social Psych is a Science Flashcards
1
Q
Attitude
A
A way of thinking or feeling about a target that is often reflected in a person’s behavior. Examples of attitude targets are individuals, concepts, and groups.
2
Q
Attraction
A
The psychological process of being sexually interested in another person. This can include, for example, physical attraction, first impressions, and dating rituals.
3
Q
Blind to the research hypothesis
A
When participants in research are not aware of what is being studied.
4
Q
Conformity
A
Changing one’s attitude or behavior to match a perceived social norm.
5
Q
Culture of honour
A
A culture in which personal or family reputation is especially important. that is, a cultural background that emphasizes personal or family reputation and social status.
6
Q
Culture of honour Experiment
A
To investigate how people from a culture of honor react to aggression, the Cohen research team invited dozens of university students into the laboratory, half of whom were from a culture of honor. In their experiment, they had a research confederate “accidentally” bump the research participant as they passed one another in the hallway, then say “asshole” quietly. They discovered that people from the Northern United States were likely to laugh off the incident with amusement (only 35% became angry), while 85% of folks from the Southern United States—a culture of honor region—became angry.
In a follow-up study, the researchers were curious as to whether people from cultures of honor would overestimate the likelihood of violent reactions in others (Vandello, Cohen & Ransom, 2008). They presented participants with a description of a scenario in a bar, in which someone spilled a beer on another person. The people from honor cultures did not differ from others in their personal likelihood of responding aggressively. However, the people from cultures of honor said they would expect their peers—other people from their culture —to act violently even though they, themselves, would not.
7
Q
Discrimination
A
Discrimination is behavior that advantages or disadvantages people merely based on their group membership. Discrimination would come when you act on that stereotype by, for example, refusing to hire the person for a job for which they are otherwise qualified.
8
Q
Fundamental attribution error
A
The tendency to emphasize another person’s personality traits when describing that person’s motives and behaviors and overlooking the influence of situational factors.
The consistent way we attribute people’s actions to personality traits while overlooking situational influences is called the fundamental attribution error.
9
Q
Hypothesis
A
A possible explanation that can be tested through research.
10
Q
Levels of analysis
A
Complementary views for analyzing and understanding a phenomenon.
11
Q
Need to belong
A
A strong natural impulse in humans to form social connections and to be accepted by others.
12
Q
Obedience
A
Responding to an order or command from a person in a position of authority.
13
Q
Observational learning
A
Learning by observing the behavior of others.
14
Q
Prejudice
A
An evaluation or emotion toward people based merely on their group membership; refers to how a person feels about an individual based on their group membership. For example, someone with a prejudice against tattoos may feel uncomfortable sitting on the metro next to a young man with multiple, visible tattoos.
15
Q
Reciprocity
A
The act of exchanging goods or services. By giving a person a gift, the principle of reciprocity can be used to influence others; they then feel obligated to give back.
16
Q
Reciprocity Example
A
Two female servers brought a small basket of assorted chocolates to the table (Strohmetz et al., 2002). In one research condition, they told diners they could pick two sweets; in a separate research condition, however, they told diners they could pick one sweet, but then—as the diners were getting ready to leave—the waiters returned and offered them a second sweet. In both situations, the diners received the same number of sweets. Still, in the second condition, the waiters appeared to be more generous, as if they were making a personal decision to give an additional little gift. In both of these conditions, the average amount of tips went up, but tips increased a whopping 21% in the “very generous” condition. The researchers concluded that giving a small gift puts people in the frame of mind to give something back, and a principle called reciprocity.
17
Q
Research confederate
A
A person working with a researcher, posing as a research participant or as a bystander.
18
Q
Research participant
A
A person being studied as part of a research program.
19
Q
Social attribution
A
The way a person explains the motives or behaviors of others. When we make educated guesses about the efforts or motives of others, this is called social attribution. We are “attributing” their behavior to a particular cause.
20
Q
Social cognition
A
The way people process and apply information about others. The way we think about the social world and how we perceive others. In some sense, we are continually telling a story in our own minds about the people around us.
21
Q
Social influence
A
When one person causes a change in attitude or behavior in another person, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
- Conformity
- Obedience
- Persuasion
22
Q
Persuasion Example: Tipping
A
One group of researchers was curious what servers do to coax diners into giving bigger tips. Occasionally, for instance, servers write a personal message of thanks on the bill. In a series of studies, the researchers were interested in how gift-giving would affect tipping. First, they had two male waiters in New York deliver a piece of foil-wrapped chocolate along with the bill at the end of the meal. Half of 66 diners received the chocolate and the other half did not. When patrons were given the unexpected sweet, they tipped, on average, 2% more (Strohmetz, Rind, Fisher & Lynn 2002).
23
Q
Social psychology
A
- The scientific study of how individuals think, feel and behave in a social context.
- Focuses on the psychology of the individual; social psychology typically focuses on the psychology of the individual. Even when social psychologists study groups of people, they emphasize the individual’s behaviour within the group context.
- The branch of psychological science that is mainly concerned with understanding how the presence of others affects our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours.
- As the name suggests, this science investigates how groups function, the costs and benefits of social status, the influences of culture, and all the other psychological processes involving two or more people.
- Social psychology studies group processes: how we behave in groups and how we feel and think about one another.
24
Q
Stereotyping
A
A mental process of using information shortcuts about a group to effectively navigate social situations or make decisions.
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Stigmatized group
A group that suffers from social disapproval based on some characteristic that sets them apart from the majority.
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Levels of Analysis Example: Toddler watching their mother use the telephone
- At the most specific levels of analysis, we might understand that various neurochemical processes occur in the toddler’s brain: by using imaging techniques to see that the cerebellum, among other parts of the brain, is activated with electrical energy.
- Thoughts/feelings/perceptions: gain insight into the toddler’s phone call experience. She might be confused, interested, or jealous.
- Behaviour: change in the toddler’s behaviour: during the call, she furrows her brow, squints her eyes, and stares at her mother and the phone. She might even reach out and grab the phone.
- Relationships: ways that her relationships enter into the equation. We might observe, for instance, that the toddler frowns and grabs at the phone when her mother uses it, but plays happily and ignores it when her stepbrother makes a call.
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Sociology
Tends to focus on the group level, while social psychology focuses on the individual level. Social psychologists are more likely to conduct experiments.
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Clinical Psychology
Focus on understanding and treating disorders; social psychologists don't focus on disorders; they focus on more typical ways individuals think, feel, behave, and influence each other.
29
Personality Psychology
Seeks to understand differences between individuals that remain relatively stable across various situations. Social psych seeks to understand how social factors affect most individuals regardless of their personalities.
- Personality psych = cross-situational consistency within the individuals
- Social psych = how different situations cause different behaviours; the social psych perspective looks for consistency across different individuals within particular situations
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Cross-situational Consistency
the degree to which a psychological attribute, such as a personal disposition or a cognitive style, is displayed in the same, or a functionally equivalent, manner in different social environments. the magnitude to which a psychological trait is expressed in the exact same, or in an operationally equal, way in varying social settings.
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Interactionist Perspective
- Kert Lewin (1930s-1940s)
- Interested in both individual differences and the effects of situational factors
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"Knew it all along" phenomenon
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Research vs. Personal Experience
Personal experience
- lack of a comparison group (only observing ourselves)
- experience is confounded
Research
- systematic comparison
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Behavioural research is probabilistic:
Sometimes our personal stories contradict the research results.
- Inferences are not expected to explain all cases all of the time
- Conclusions of research are meant to explain a certain proportion of the possible cases
- scientific conclusions are based on patterns that emerge only when researchers set up a comparison and test many people
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Research vs. Intuition: Biases of intuition fall into two categories:
- Thinking the easy way
- Thinking what we want to think
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Research vs. Intuition: Thinking the easy way
- Accepting the "good story."
- The present/present bias
- The pop-up principle (availability heuristic)
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The present/present bias
We are more likely to notice when the treatment and the desired outcome are present - therefore, it is useful to have a comparison group. When we have a comparison group, it is easier for us to determine when something happens in the absence of something.
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The pop-up principle (availability heuristic)
We give more credibility to something that comes easier to mind
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Research vs. Intuition: Thinking what we want to think
- "cherry-picking" the evidence
- overconfidence = major bias. We use feelings of confidence to trust our beliefs
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Hypothesis
An explicit, testable prediction about the condition under which an event will occur
41
Theory
An organized set of principles use to explain observed phenomena
- Simplicity
- Comphrenesivness
- generativity
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Conceptual variables
Typically throughout of in abstract, general terms
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Operational definitions
Specific procedures or manipulating or measuring a conceptual variable
44
Self-reports
Participants disclose their thoughts, feelings, desires, and actions; issues:
- accuracy (aid: bogus pipeline technique)
- wording and order (wording like 95% success rate, or 5% failure rate, order of questions)
- memory problems (aid: interval contingent self-reports)
45
Bogus pipeline technique
The bogus pipeline is a fake polygraph used to get participants to truthfully respond to emotional/affective questions in the survey. It is a technique used by social psychologists to reduce false answers when attempting to collect self-report data.
- causes participants to report facts about themselves more accurately, and more endorsing socially unacceptable options.
46
Sex differences
Biological distinctions between people that spring naturally from their physical natures
47
Gender differences
The social and psychological distinctions that are created by our cultures and upbringing
- social expectations and training we apply to people are often confounded with their sex
48
interval contingent self-reports
Participants report their experiences at a regular intervals, like once a day
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single contingent self-reports
Participants report their experience as soon as possible after being signed to do so, like a text message
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event contingent self reports
Participants report on a designated set of events as soon as possible after such events have occurred.
- Rochester interaction record = event contingent self-report questionnaire used by respondents to record every single social interaction lasting 10
+ mins that occur during the study
51
Inter-rater reliability
Inter-rater reliability is a measure of consistency used to evaluate the extent to which different judges agree in their assessment decisions. Inter-rater reliability is essential when making decisions in research and clinical settings. If inter-rater reliability is weak, it can have detrimental effects.
52
Observer effects / Reactivity
Reactivity is a psychological phenomenon that happens when someone changes the way they behave because they know they're being observed. Their behaviour might become more positive or negative, depending on the situation and the people involved.
- Aids: make unobtrusive observations, wait it out (let the subject become accustomed to you), use unobtrusive data
53
Social Facilitation Experiment
The experimenters found that cockroaches completed the easy maze more quickly when they had an audience, and a pair, but they completed the complicated maze more slowly when they had a pair and an audience. Interestingly, Zajonc found similar results in humans! This led to his theory of social facilitation.
54
Reliability
Reliability in psychology is the consistency of the findings or results of a psychology research study. If findings or results remain the same or similar over multiple attempts, a researcher often considers it reliable.
55
Plan an observational study to see which kind of drivers are more likely to stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk: male or female drivers. Think about how to maximize your construct validity. Write a two- to three-sentence operational definition of what it means to “stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk.” The definition should be clear enough that if you asked two friends to use it to code “stopping for pedestrian” behaviour, it would have good reliability and validity.
Your operational definition would have to be specific to situations in which a pedestrian is in the crosswalk (as opposed to cases where there is no pedestrian, which wouldn't count), specifying how far into or out of the crosswalk the pedestrian would need to be for the observation to be counted. For example, do you could count people who stop before the crosswalk because there is a pedestrian waiting to enter the crosswalk, or only people who stop when a pedestrian has already started across? Additionally, how far into the crosswalk would a car have to travel before a pedestrian begins crossing for it to be reasonable for the car to continue on (i.e., not stop).
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Internal validity
Internal validity can be assessed based on whether extraneous (i.e. unwanted) variables that could also affect results are successfully controlled or eliminated; the greater the control of such variables, the greater the confidence that a cause and effect relevant to the construct being investigated can be found.
57
How might the observers in your study influence the people they’re watching, if at all? Where should they stand to observe driver behavior? Additionally, why is it important to evaluate the interrater reliability of your observers?
This might be tricky. You would need your observers to stand close enough for them to make the judgments of stopping (which they might be able to do from farther away), but also for them to judge the gender of the driver (which means being close enough to see into the car). Standing too close might make the drivers more likely to stop, either because:
- they want to behave appropriately when they know they are being watched, or
- they think the observer wants to cross the street.
Unobtrusive observation might be possible, by having the observers sit at a location where their presence is less obvious (e.g., sitting on a coffee shop patio close to the intersection), or by trying to gain access to any traffic security cameras in the area to do observations from the videos.
Interrater reliability would be important to ensure that the observers agree on the judgments of gender and the judgments of outcome (i.e., the stopping behavior).
58
Unobtrusive Data
Measure the traces behaviours leave behind; noticing the wear and tear of spaces on the floor of the museum to see which parts of the exhibit are more popular
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Anecdotal evidence
An argument that is based on personal experience and not considered reliable or representative.
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Anecdotal evidence
An argument that is based on personal experience and not considered reliable or representative.
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Archival research
A type of research in which the researcher analyses records or archives instead of collecting data from live human participants.
- Research by limited records
- Do not need to worry about observer effects
- High ecological validity
- The examination of archives, statistics, and other records such as speeches, letters, or even tweets, provides
- typically used as a type of correlational research design—due to the lack of control over the relevant variables—archival research shares the higher ecological validity of naturalistic observation (observations are conducted outside the laboratory and represent real world behaviors)
- Moreover, because the archives being examined can be collected at any time and from many sources, this technique is especially flexible and often involves less expenditure of time and other resources during data collection.
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Basking in reflected glory
The tendency for people to associate themselves with successful people or groups.
- Example: Robert Cialdini and his colleagues used naturalistic observation at seven universities to confirm that students are significantly more likely to wear clothing bearing the school name or logo on days following wins (vs. draws or losses) by the school’s varsity football team (Cialdini et al., 1976).
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Big data
The analysis of large data sets.
63
Complex experimental designs
An experiment with two or more independent variables.
64
Confederate
An actor working with the researcher. Most often, this individual is used to deceive unsuspecting research participants. Also known as a “stooge.”
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Correlational research
A type of descriptive research that involves measuring the association between two variables or how they go together.
- Measures the association (relationship) between variables
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Cover story
A fake description of the purpose and/or procedure of a study, used when deception is necessary in order to answer a research question.
66
Demand characteristics
Subtle cues that make participants aware of what the experimenter expects to find or how participants are expected to behave.
-
67
Dependent variable
The variable the researcher measures but does not manipulate in an experiment.
68
Ecological validity
The degree to which a study finding has been obtained under conditions that are typical for what happens in everyday life.
69
Electronically activated recorder (EAR)
A methodology where participants wear a small, portable audio recorder that intermittently records snippets of ambient sounds around them.
70
Experience sampling methods
Systematic ways of having participants provide samples of their ongoing behavior. Participants' reports are dependent (contingent) upon either a signal, pre-established intervals, or the occurrence of some event.
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Field experiment
An experiment that occurs outside of the lab and in a real world situation.
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Hypothesis
A logical idea that can be tested.
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Implicit association test (IAT)
A computer-based categorization task that measures the strength of association between specific concepts over several trials.
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Independent variable
The variable the researcher manipulates and controls in an experiment.
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Laboratory environments
A setting in which the researcher can carefully control situations and manipulate variables.
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Manipulation check
A measure used to determine whether or not the manipulation of the independent variable has had its intended effect on the participants.
- Example: For example, right after being primed, participants in a TMT study might be given a word fragment task in which they have to complete words such as COFF_ _ or SK _ _ L. As you might imagine, participants in the mortality-primed experimental group typically complete these fragments as COFFIN and SKULL, whereas participants in the control group complete them as COFFEE and SKILL.
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Naturalistic observation
Unobtrusively watching people as they go about the business of living their lives.
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Operationalize
How researchers specifically measure a concept.
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Participant variable
The individual characteristics of research subjects - age, personality, health, intelligence, etc.
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Priming
The process by which exposing people to one stimulus makes certain thoughts, feelings or behaviors more salient.
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Random assignment
Assigning participants to receive different conditions of an experiment by chance.
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Random assignment
Assigning participants to receive different conditions of an experiment by chance.
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Samples of convenience
Participants that have been recruited in a manner that prioritizes convenience over representativeness.
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Scientific method
A method of investigation that includes systematic observation, measurement, and experiment, and the formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses.
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Social facilitation
When performance on simple or well-rehearsed tasks is enhanced when we are in the presence of others.
85
Social neuroscience
An interdisciplinary field concerned with identifying the neural processes underlying social behavior and cognition.
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Social or behavioral priming
A field of research that investigates how the activation of one social concept in memory can elicit changes in behavior, physiology, or self-reports of a related social concept without conscious awareness.
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Survey research
A method of research that involves administering a questionnaire to respondents in person, by telephone, through the mail, or over the internet.
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Terror management theory (TMT)
A theory that proposes that humans manage the anxiety that stems from the inevitability of death by embracing frameworks of meaning such as cultural values and beliefs.
89
WEIRD cultures
Cultures that are western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic.
90
Asch conformity experiment
investigated how social pressure influences individual conformity, remains a classic example of a social psychology lab experiment. [
91
Five Ethic Points:
- Informed consent
- Privacy: lthough it is permissible to observe people’s actions in public—even without them knowing—researchers cannot violate their privacy by observing them in restrooms or other private spaces without their knowledge and consent. Researchers also may not identify individual participants in their research reports (we typically report only group means and other statistics). Also must consider data privacy laws.
- Risks & Benefits
- Deception: Social psychologists sometimes need to deceive participants (e.g., using a cover story) to avoid demand characteristics by hiding the true nature of the study. This is typically done to prevent participants from modifying their behavior in unnatural ways, especially in laboratory or field experiments.
- Debriefing
92
Descriptive Research
Describes thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. Includes:
- Observational studies
- Archival studies
- Surveys
- Correlational Studies
93
Surveys
a study in which a group of participants is selected from a population and data about or opinions from those participants are collected, measured, and analyzed. Information typically is gathered by interview or self-report questionnaire, and the results thus obtained may then be extrapolated to the whole population.
94
Random Sampling
Selecting participants in such a way that everyone in a population has an equal chance of being included
- results in a representative sample
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Sampling Example: Landon vs. Roosevelt
- Large sample, not representative - only sampling from a wealthy population
The disastrous prediction of an Alf Landon victory in the 1936 presidential election by the Literary Digest poll is a landmark event in the history of American survey research in general and polling in particular. It marks both the demise of the straw poll, of which the Digest was the most conspicuous and well-regarded example, and the rise to prominence of the self-proclaimed “scientific” poll. Why did the Digest poll fail so miserably? One view has come to prevail over the years: because the Digest selected its sample primarily from telephone books and car registration lists and since these contained, at the time, mostly well-to-do folks who would vote Republican, it is no wonder the magazine mistakenly predicted a Republican win. This “conventional explanation” has found its way into countless publications (scholarly and in the press) and college courses. It has been used to illustrate the disastrous effects of a poorly designed poll.
96
Experiments
- Examine cause-and-effect relationships
- The researcher has control over the experiential procedures
- Participants are randomly assigned to different treatment conditions (eliminates the possibility that the results are due to pre-existing differences)
97
Greitemeyer (2009) Study
- Random assignment to positive or neural lyrics in songs
- Afterwards, participants were given money fo their participation and were asked if they wanted to donate the money to a non-profit organization
- Participants who listened to positive lyrics were more likely to donate money
- Experimental control (type of lyrics)
98
Ashton-James et al. (2009)
Hypothesis: being in a positive mood would make people more likely to explore novel thoughts and behaviours, which can result in them acting in ways that are inconsistent with people in their culture.
- Positive mood condition
- Negative mood condition
Conclusion: positive moods make individuals more likely to act in ways that deviate from the norms of their culture.
99
Subject Variables / Partcicpant Variables
- Pre-existing differences among the subjects or participants
-Neither independent (cannot be manipulated or cannot randomly assign people to them) nor dependent (variables don't depend on what happens in the experiment)
-Often included in experiences along with independent variables
- Example: gender, sex, age
- Experiments often include subject variables
100
Experiments vs. Correlational Studies
- Both methods attempt to asses a relationship
- The statistics used are interchangeable
- In an experiment, the presumably causal variable is manipulated, but the same variable is measured in correlational methods.
- Experiments determine whether one variable can affect another, but not how often or how much it actually does
- Important effects are invisible if only one method is employed
101
Internal Validity
In a relationship between one variable (A) and another (B), the degree to which we can say that A, rather than some other variable (such as C), is responsible for the effect on B.
- The ability to rule out alternative explanations for a causal relationship between two variables
- Random assignment increases internal validity
- confound = threat to internal validity
102
External Validity
The degree to which the results of the study generalize to some larger population (do the results from this sample of children apply to all US school children), as well as to other situations (do the results based on this type of music apply to other types of music?). A measure of how well a study's results generalize to, or represent, individuals or contexts besides those in the study itself.
- Generalizability: the extent to which the participants and settings in a study represent the populations and context they are intended to represent.
103
Mundane Realism
the extent to which an experimental situation resembles a real-life situation or event.
- more realistic = more accurate
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Experimental Realism
the extent to which a controlled study is meaningful and engaging to participants, eliciting responses that are spontaneous and natural.
- if the experimental setting is compelling and real to participants in the study, behaviour in the lab will be as natural and spontaneous as it is in real world
105
Schellenberg's (2004) study of music lessons and IQ
The experimental group (music lessons: keyboard, voice)
Control group (non-music lessons: drama, no lessons)
- Children with music lessons gained an average of 3.7 in their IQ, compared to those who took drama or no lessons (statistically significant)
106
Design confound
A second variable that happens to vary systematically along with the independent variable and therefore is an alternative explanation for the results
- experimenter expectancy effect
- demand characteristics
- selection effects
107
Experimenter expectancy effects
Experimenter expectancy effect is the term referring to the unintended effect of experimenters' expectations or hypotheses on the results obtained from their research participants.
- keep the experimenter uninformed about the assignment conditions
- minimize interactions
108
Selection effects
The selection Effect is the bias introduced when a methodology, respondent sample or analysis is biased toward a specific subset of a target population. Meaning it does not reflect the actual target population as a whole.
109
An imaginary sex difference
Popular stereotypes portray the sexes as being vary different, with almost no overlap between the styles and preferences of the two sexes
- the difference between the average man and the average women is presumed to be quite large
- little or no overlap between the group
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Actual sex differences
Depicts large, medium and small sex differences, respectively; some differences are real but quite small.
- the range of behaviour and opinions among members of a given sex is always huge compared to the average difference between the sexes
- the overlap in behaviour and opinions is so large that many members of one sex will always score higher than the average member of the other sex
- Cohen's d = size and difference between groups
= how large the sex difference is between groups compared to the usual amount to the usual amount by which men and women differ among themselves
d = 1 means one standard deviation difference - the higher the difference, the higher the difference
d = 0.5 means half a standard deviation
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How do you calculate Cohen's d?
Calculate Cohen's d by taking the difference between two means and dividing by the data's standard deviation. This measure reports the size of the mean difference by comparing it to the data's variability.
