chapter 1 Flashcards

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1
Q

define Social Psychology

A

the science that studies how people think about, influence, and relate to others

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2
Q

what may social thinking examine?

A
  • how we perceive ourselves and others
  • what we believe
  • judgements we make
  • our attitudes
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3
Q

what might social influence consider?

A
  • culture and biology
  • pressures to conform
  • persuasion
  • groups of people
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4
Q

what may social relations consider?

A
  • helping
  • agression
  • attraction and intimacy
  • prejudice
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5
Q

what is the difference between sociology an social psychology?

A

social psychology focuses more on individuals, , employing methods that more often use experimentation.

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6
Q

what is the different between personality psychology and social psychology?

A

social psychology focuses less on differences among individuals and more on how individuals, in general, view and affect one another.

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7
Q

what are the 4 major themes in social psychology?

A

1) social thinking
2) social influences
3) social relations
4) applying social psychology

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8
Q

describe what social thinking implies

A
  • we construct our social reality

- our social intuitions are often powerful, sometimes perilous.

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9
Q

describe what social influences imply

A
  • social influences shape behaviour

- dispositions shape behaviour

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10
Q

describe what social relations imply

A
  • social behaviour is also biological behaviour

- relating to others is a basic need

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11
Q

describe applying social psychology.

A
  • social psychology’s principles are applicable to everyday life
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12
Q

when someones behaviour is consistent and distinctive what do we attribute it to?

A

we attribute their behaviour to their personality

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13
Q

what do our intuitions shape?

A

Our fears, impressions, and relationships?

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14
Q

thinking, memory, and attitudes all operate on which two levels?

A

1) conscious and deliberate
2) nonconscious and automatic
“dual processing”

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15
Q

True or False?

Human beings, in particular, are remarkably good at predicting their behaviour and emotions.

A

False.

People often misread their thoughts and memories, and are bad at predicting how they may feel after time has passed.

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16
Q

true or false?

we think and speak in words we learned from others

A

true.

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17
Q

true or false?

your culture helps define your situation.

A

true.

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18
Q

true or false?

Similar situations will almost always affect different people the same way.

A

False.
Facing the same situation, different people may react differently, depending on how they perceive the world, themselves, and the situation.

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19
Q

what do evolutionary psychologists remind us?

A

our inherited human nature predisposes us to behave in ways that helped our ancestors survive and reproduce.

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20
Q

what do evolutionary psychologists ask?

A

how natural selection might predispose our actions and reactions when we are dating and mating, hating and hurting, caring and sharing

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21
Q

according to neuroscientists, what must we do to understand social behaviour?

A

we must consider under-the-skin (biological) and between-the-skin (social) influences

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22
Q

what do stress hormones affect?

A

how we feel and act

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23
Q

what does social ostracism do?

what does social support do?

A
  • elevates blood pressure

- strengthens the disease fighting immune system

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24
Q

we are bio-psycho-organisms, what does that mean?

A

we reflect the interplay of our biological, psychological and social influences.

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25
Q

define culture

A

The enduring behaviours, ideas, attitudes, traditions, products and institution shared by a large group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next

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26
Q

define social representations

A

socially shared beliefs, widely held ideas and values, including our assumptions and cultural ideologies.
- our social representation help us make sense of the world

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27
Q

define naturalistic fallacy

A

the error in defining what is good in terms of what is observable
- ex: what’s typical is normal; what’s normal is good.

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28
Q

Where do values lie within social psychology?

A
  • values lie hidden within our cultural definitions of mental health, our psychological advice for living, our concepts, and our psychological labels.
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29
Q

which two contradictory criticisms does social psychology face?

A

1) it is trivial because it documents the obvious

2) it is dangerous because its findings could be used to manipulate people

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30
Q

true or false?

it depends, but typically once we are paid to do something, we do not enjoy it as much.

A

True

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31
Q

define hindsight bias

A

the tendency to exaggerate, after learning and outcome, one’s ability to have foreseen how something turned out; also know as the “I-knew-it-all-along” phenomenon :)

32
Q

true or false?

social psychologists have found that the phrase “opposites attract” to be accurate for friendships and relationships.

A

False.
social psychologists have found that, whether choosing friends or falling in love, we are most accurate to people whose traits are similar to our own.
- There seems to be wisdom in the old saying “birds of a feather flock together”

33
Q

true or false?

common sense is predictably wrong

A

false.

common sense is usually right “after the fact”

34
Q

what may a social psychologist do to test a hypothesis?

A
  • social psychologists may do research that predicts behaviour using correlational studies, often conducted in natural settings
  • or they may seek to explain behaviour by conducting experiments that manipulate one or more factors under controlled conditions
35
Q

what do social psychologists do once they have conducted a research study?

A

they explore ways to apply their findings to improve people’s lives.

36
Q

define hypothesis

A

testable propositions that describe relationships that may exist between events

37
Q

define operationalization

A

the process while testing theories with specific hypothesis, that translates variables described at the theoretical level into specific variable that we are going to observe

38
Q

what components does a good theory accomplish?

A
  • it effectively summarizes many observations
  • it makes clear predictions that we can use to do the following
  • confirm or modify the theory
  • generate new exploration
  • suggest practical applications
39
Q

true or false?

when we discard theories, it is because they have been proven false.

A

False.
When we discard theories, it is not because they have been proved false. Rather, like old cars, they get replaced by newer, better models.

40
Q

define field research

A

research done in natural, real-life settings outside the laboratory

41
Q

define correlational research

A

the study of naturally occurring relationships among variables

42
Q

define experimental research

A

studies that seek clues to cause-effect relationships by manipulating one or more factors (independent variables) while controlling others (holding them constant)

43
Q

what does psychological science reveal?

A

a fascinating non-conscious mind, or an intuitive backstage mind, that we don’t often realize is guiding out thoughts and behaviours.

44
Q

true or false?

we are social creatures that respond to our immediate contexts.

A

true

  • sometimes the power of a social situation overwhelms good intentions
  • sometimes situations may elicit great generosity and compassion
45
Q

what is social neuroscience?

A

An integration of biological and social perspectives that explore the neural and psychological bases of social and emotional behaviours

46
Q

true or false?
every psychological event is simultaneously a biological event, therefore, we can examine the neurobiology that underlies social behaviour

A

true

47
Q

would social psychology be considered more of a collection of findings, or a set of strategies for answering questions?

A

a set of strategies for answering questions

48
Q

what are important time frames in social psychology?

A
  • 1960s: aggression increase with riots and rising crime rates
  • 1970s: feminist movement
  • 1980s: offered a resurgence of attention to psychological aspects of the arms race
  • 1990s: marked by heightened interest in how people respond to cultural diversity
  • 2000s: saw substantial research on extermism and terrorism
49
Q

what do certain time periods in history tell us about social psychology?

A

that social psychology reflects social history

50
Q

when observing values, what might social psychologists investigate?

A

how values form, why they change, and how they influence attitudes and actions

51
Q

define culture

A

the enduring, behaviours, ideas, attitudes. traditions, products, and institutions shared by a large group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next

52
Q

what are social representations?

A

socially shared beliefs; widely held ideas and values, including our assumptions and cultural ideologies
- our social representations help us make sense of our world

53
Q

what is a naturalistic fallacy?

A

the error in defining what is good in terms of what is observable.
- ex: whats typical is normal, whats normal is good

54
Q

which two contradictory criticisms does social psychology face?

A

1) it is trivial because it documents the obvious

2) it is dangerous because its findings could be used to manipulate people

55
Q

true or false?

people have advanced skill in identifying the causes of their failure

A

false
- people are not very good at identifying the causes of their failure, and when they try to (and make mistakes) it can actually inhibit later performance

56
Q

what is a theory?

A

an integrated set of principles that explain and predict observed events
- a scientific shorthand

57
Q

what is the difference between a fact and a theory?

A

facts are agreed-upon statements that we observe, theories are ideas that summarize and explain facts

58
Q

what is an hypotheses?

A

testable propositions that describe relationships that may exist between events

59
Q

true or false?

predictions give direction to research and the predictive feature of good theories can also make them practical

A

true

60
Q

define operationalization

A

the process of translating variables that are described at the theoretical level into the specific variables that we are going to observe

61
Q

what is field research?

A

research done in natural, real-life settings outside the laboratory

62
Q

what is correlational research?

A

the study of naturally occurring relationships among variables

63
Q

what is experimental research?

A

studies that seek to cause-effect relationships by manipulating one or more factors (independent variable) while controlling others (holding them constant)

64
Q

true or false?

cause = correlation

A

false

65
Q

what is a random sample?

A

a survey procedure in which every person in the population being studied has an equal chance of inclusion

66
Q

to evaluate surveys, what are four potentially biasing influences?

A

unrepresentative samples, the order of the questions, the response options, and the wording of the questions

67
Q

what are independent variables?

A

experimental factors that a researcher manipulates

68
Q

what are dependent variables

A

the variable being measured, so-called because it may depend on manipulations of the independent variable

69
Q

what two essential ingredients does every social-psychological experiment have?

A
  • control

- random assignment

70
Q

what is random assignment?

A

the process of assigning participants to the conditions of an experiment such as that all persons have the same chance of being in a given condition

71
Q

what is an advantage and disadvantage to correlational research methods?

A

advantage: often uses real-world settings
disadvantage: causation is often ambiguous

72
Q

what is an advantage and disadvantage to experimental research methods?

A

advantage: can explore cause and effect by controlling variables and by random assignment
disadvantage: some important variables cannot be studied with experiments

73
Q

what are observational research methods?

A

where individuals are observed in natural settings, often without awareness, in order to provide the opportunity for objective analysis techniques to make inferences about cause and effect where a true experiment is not possible

74
Q

what is mundane realism?

A

The degree to which an experiment is superficially similar to everyday situations

75
Q

what is experimental realism?

A

the degree to which an experiment absorbs and involves its participants

76
Q

what are demand characteristics?

A

cues in an experiment that tell the participant what behaviour is expected

77
Q

explain informed consent

A

an ethical principle requiring that research participants be told enough to enable them to chose whether they wish to participate