Chapter 1 Flashcards
What is social psychology
The scientific study of the causes and consequences of peoples thoughts, feelings, and actions, regarding themselves and other people
1st core assumptions of social psychology
- Behaviour is a joint product of the person and situation (social influence)
-Dispositions and situational factors interact to determine thoughts, feelings and actions
-centres on what kind of situations lead to people to behave in specific ways
2nd core assumption of social psychology
- Behaviour depends on a socially constructed view of reality
-all human thoughts, feelings, actions are socially constructed
-self understanding involves social comparisons
3rd core assumption
- Behaviour is strongly influenced by our social cognition
-the way people understand others, accurate or not, has a powerful influence on that individuals social behaviour
4th core assumption
- The best way to understand social behaviour is to use the scientific method
Attribution theory
People act as intuitive scientists when they observe other peoples behaviour and infer explanations as to why those people acted the way they did
Casual attributions
Explanations of why an individual engaged in a particular action
Cultural knowledge
A vast store of information, accumulated within a culture, that explains how the world works and why things happen as they do
Explaining behaviour through introspection
-Asking ourselves or others about the causes of behaviour may provide insight into behaviour
-but people don’t always tell the truth
-people don’t know what they think they know
Explaining behaviour using intuitive observation
-cognitive misers
-our observations come from our unique and limited perspective
Correlation method
Research where two or more variables are measured and compared to determine at what extent, if they are associated
Correlation coefficient
A positive or negative numerical value that shows the direction and strength of a relationship between two variables
Positive correlation
As one variable increases, so does the other
Negative correlation
When one variable decreases the other decreases too
Longitudinal studies
Studies where variables are measured in the same individuals over two or more periods of time, over years
Research: the experimental method
A study where a researcher manipulates a variable, measures possible affects, on another variable, and tries to hold all other variables constant
Scientists manipulate IV to see its affects on DV
Internal validity
how well a study shows that the IV caused changes in the DV, without other factors interfering
Field research
Research that occurs outside the lab
Quasi-experimental designs
Research in which groups of participants are compared on some dependant variable, but for practical or ethical reasons, the groups aren’t formed on the basis of random assignment
(looks like an experiment but doesn’t use random assignment to place participants in groups)
Assessing abstract theories with concrete research
-developing an operational definition
-measuring and manipulating what is intended
Generalizing findings
-external validity
-WEIRD participants
-random sampling
Replicating findings
-direct replication
-moderator variables
-meta-analysis
Repeating the study using the same methods to see if the results are consistent
Cross cultural research issues
-researchers need to expand their data beyond WEIRD populations
-need to be more culturally competent
