Chapter 1/2 - Lecture 1 Flashcards
What is Social Psychology?
The scientific study of how people think, feel,
and behave in social contexts. These social contexts can be real or imagined.
What is the scientific study aspect in social psychology?
The scientific method of systematic observation, description, and measurement to the study of the human condition
Who is said to be the father of empirical social
psychology?
Kurt Lewin - One of the fundamental principles of social psychology that Lewin helped establish was that behaviour is a function of the interaction between the person and the environment. This position, which later became known as the interactionist perspective.
What do Social Psychologists care about?
Social psychologists care about many things that might interest you..
- How can we combat stereotypes and prejudice?
- How do we stop ourselves from being negatively influenced by others?
- How can I have good relationships?
- How can we help people achieve their goals?
- What causes people to reject science?
When did the systematic and scientific study of social psychology start?
Late 1800s
Who is considered the “founder of social psychology” ?
American psychologist Norman Triplett, who is credited with having published the first research article in social psychology at the end of the nineteenth century (1897–1898)
What did Norman Triplett observe, and why was it noteworthy?
Triplett observed that bicyclists tended to race faster when racing in the presence of others than when simply racing against a clock, he designed an experiment to study this phenomenon in a controlled, precise way. This scientific approach to studying the effects of the social context on individuals’ behaviour can be seen as marking the birth of social psychology.
IMPORTANT DATE (1898)
Who is Max Ringelmann? And what was his focus?
Max Ringelmann was a french agricultural engineer. Ringelmann noted that individuals often performed worse on simple tasks such as pulling rope when they performed the tasks with other people.
IMPORTANT DATE (1913)
Who wrote the first three textbooks in social psychology?
- English psychologist William McDougall (1908)
- Edward Ross (1908)
- Floyd Allport (1924)
What did Floyd Allport focus his textbook on?
Allport focused on stressed interactions between individuals and social context and focused on experiments
How did Adolf Hitler impact social psychology?
Hitler’s rise to power and the horrendous consequences that followed caused people around the world to become desperate for answers to social psychological questions about what causes violence, prejudice, genocide, conformity and obedience, and a host of other social problems and behaviours
Who was Muzafer Sherif? And what was his research?
In 1936, Muzafer Sherif published groundbreaking experimental research on social influence. As a youth in Turkey, Sherif had witnessed groups of Greek soldiers brutally killing his friends. After immigrating to the United States, Sherif drew on this experience and began to conduct research on the powerful influences that groups can exert on their individual members. Sherif’s research was crucial for the development of social psychology because it demonstrated that it is possible to study complex and important social issues in a rigorous, scientific manner.
Who was Solomon Asch?
Solomon Asch’s (1951) demonstration of how willing people are to conorm to an obviously wrong majority amazes students even today.
What did Kurt Lewin Research during WWII
Lewin researched a number of practical issues, such as how to persuade Americans at home during the war to conserve materials to help the war effort, how to promote more economical and nutritious eating habits, and what kinds of leaders elicit the best work from group members.
*Built on Lewin’s legacy, applied social psychology flourishes today in areas such as advertising, business, education, environmental protection, health, law, politics, public policy, religion, and sports.
Who is Leon Festinger? And what did he observe
Leon Festinger (1954, 1957) introduced two important theories — one concerning how people try to learn about themselves by comparing themselves to other people and one about how people’s attitudes can be changed by their own behaviour.
What did Gordon Allport contribute to social psychology during the 1950s
Gordon Allport (1954) published ‘The Nature of Prejudice,’ a groundbreaking book that continues to inspire research on stereotyping and prejudice more than six decades later.
Who was Stanley Milgram? And what did he observe?
In the 1600s, Stanley Milgram’s research was inspired by the destructive obedience demonstrated by Nazi officers and ordinary citizens in World War II, but it also looked ahead to the civil disobedience that was beginning to challenge institutions in many parts of the world. Milgram’s experiments, which demonstrated individuals’ vulnerability to the destructive commands of authority, became the most famous research in the history of social psychology.
What happened to social psychology during the
Mid-1970s–2000s?
More rigorous ethical standards for research were instituted, more stringent procedures to guard against bias were adopted, and more attention was paid to possible cross-cultural differences in behavior. Laboratory experiments continued to dominate, but often with more precise methods.
What is social cognition?
The study of how people perceive, remember, and interpret information about themselves and others.
What is the Research Process?
- Idea
- Hypothesis to test idea
- Test hypothesis
- Repeat 1-3
- Over time, create theory
