Chapter 1 Flashcards
What is Social Psychology
Scientific investigation of how people’s thoughts, feelings and behaviour are influenced by
the actual, imagined or implied presence of others.
What do social psychologists study?
Human behaviour (as it can be observed and measured) and their foundations (intentions, attitudes etc.) as they can somewhat be observed in behaviour. Nowadays, they also look at cognitive and neurological processes. They rarely look at animal behaviour.
Are social psychologists scientists?
Yes, they use the scientific method and statistical measures of data to explain human social behaviour.
What are the other fields that are close to social psychology?
It is a branch of general psychology, with marks left on it by freudian psychology and later cognitive psychology (social cognition). More recently, it is influenced mostly by neuroscience. It is also linked with sociology, social anthropology, sociolinguistics etc.
Do the topics of social psychology define it?
Somewhat, as yes, they are studied by social psychologists, but they are so large in range/scope, it often overlaps with other disciplines.
What is Confirmation Bias?
The tendency to seek, interpret and create information that verifies existing explanations for
the cause of an event.
What is a major pressing issue in social psychology in accordance with the scientific method?
There is a replication crisis, primarily due to the use of small samples of participants, differences between groups being taken for granted, difficult to replicate methods and harking.
How do you minimise confirmation bias in research?
Replication by different research teams and collaboration with opposing theorists
Is social psychology more experimental or non-experimental?
It is largely experimental. Social psychologists are therefore careful with confounding effects, subject effects (demand characteristics), experimenter effects and ceiling/floor effects (very sensitive and very insensitive methods). Laboratory experiments also allow cause-effect relationships, with field experiments allowing generalisable conclusions. There also also quasi-experiments.
What sort of non-experimental methods do social psychologists use?
Correlational studies, archival research (public data reports), case studies, discourse analysis, survey research and field studies. Data collection via the internet may also be useful and qualitative research (interviews, open-ended surveys etc) is also used.
What is discourse analysis?
A set of methods used to analyse text – in particular, naturally occurring language – in order to understand its meaning and significance.
What decides what type of analysis should be used to examine data?
- The type of data obtained
- The methods used to obtain data
- The purposes of the research
What are the five ethical guidelines for psychological research?
- Physical welfare of participants
- Respect for privacy
- Use of deception
- Informed consent
- Debriefing
What is a metatheory?
A set of interrelated concepts and principles concerning which theories or types of theory are appropriate
What do radical behaviourists postulate?
One who explains observable behaviour in terms of reinforcement schedules, without recourse to any intervening unobservable (e.g. cognitive) constructs.
What do neo-behaviourists postulate?
One who attempts to explain observable behaviour in terms of contextual factors and unobservable intervening constructs such as beliefs, feelings and motives.
What are cognitive theories?
Explanations of behaviour in terms of the way people actively interpret and represent their experiences and then plan action.
What is social neuroscience?
Exploration of brain activity associated with social cognition and social psychological processes and phenomena.
What is evolutionary social psychology?
An extension of evolutionary psychology that views complex social behaviour as adaptive, helping the individual, kin and the species as a whole to survive.
What are collectivist theories? How do they differ to personality theories?
They are theories that focus on people as a product of their location in the matrix of social categories and groups that make up society. However, personality theories suggest that individual personalities influence social behaviour.
What were the significant changes in social psychology in the last couple of decades?
- It used to be overly reductionist (explained social behaviour with individual (cognitive) psychology)
- It used to overly positivistic (used the scientific method, particularly experimental ones, on a rather non-objective study of human behaviour) - nowadays operationalised definitions are used to maintain some objectivity/measurability
What is reductionism?
Explanation of a phenomenon in terms of the language and concepts of a lower level of analysis, usually with a loss of explanatory power.
What is a level of explanation?
The types of concepts, mechanisms and language used to explain a phenomenon.
What is positivism?
Non-critical acceptance of science as the only way to arrive at true knowledge: science as religion.
What is the history of social psychology?
It started with volkerpsychologie, a study of the collective mind/psychology in Germany (later the group mind). Then a few early texts here and there and the first experiment by Triplett/Wundt, Asch and Sherif shared interest in understanding social psychology. John Watson and Floyd Allport later promoted experimental methods for social psychology, spreading throughout Germany and then to the U.S. After WW2, Americans supported Europe and therefore social psychology was influenced by the U.S. Nowadays though, they are split with individualistic and social methods of study. Kurt Lewin is considered the father of social psychology.
What is culture?
The different aspects of our living environment and our behaviour, including patterns in social behaviour, traditions, social norms etc that came from learning from others.
Where does culture come from?
Ecological contexts, institutions, societal practices, socialisation processes and psychological outcomes
What is cross-cultural psychology? How is it different from social psychology?
Social psychology tries to examine universal phenomena, while cross-cultural psychology looks at differences between cultures. Cultural psychology is the influence of culture on social psychological processes, therefore it is also not the same as cross-cultural psychology.
