CHAPTER 1 Flashcards
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to: ▫Define social psychology ▫Discuss the role of prominent historical figures in the development of social psychology ▫Understand the historical development of social psychology ▫Compare and contrast social psychology with other fields of study
DEFINE SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Social psychology is the study of how peoples Affect (Feelings, emotions), behaviors (Actions people take, and interactions people have) and cognitions (Thoughts, Beliefs) of individuals. influenced by other people and things around them.
Discuss the role of prominent historical figures in the development of social psychology
EARLY BEHAVIOURISM - John B. Watson, ignored conscious perception: All behaviours = S-R
■Reduced complex acts to lower-level motor or glandular responses
■All instincts, emotions, and thoughts = learned associations
■Extreme environmentalist.
MID BEHAVIOURISM - Edward C. Tolman,
Behaviour is goal-directed
■Introduced “intervening variables” (or “organism”)
●Reformulated S-R into S-O-R
■Adopted operationism
●Concepts must be measurable in objective terms
■Recognition that human behavior may involve conscious processes (but irrelevant)
LATE BEHAVIOURISM - Albert Bandura,
■Social cognitive theory
●Focus on social cognition, learning through interactions and experience
■Humans ≠ Machines
■Introduced “vicarious reinforcement” and “modeling”
■Recognized importance of conscious perception of the environment, & ability to reflect on others’ experience
Understand the historical development of social psychology
Biological/Evolutionary Approach,
Cultural brain hypothesis
▫Explains the relation between brain size, how we learn, and why humans are so social. (individual learning vs. social learning)
▫Explains cultural learning, cultural information complexity, and brain size
▫Theory of mind – the understanding that others have independent thoughts, beliefs, and intentions
▫Learning biases –biases that direct learners’ attention to certain models or information (e.g. prestige bias)
Compare and contrast social psychology with other fields of study
Social Psyc vs Philosophy -
Similarities, Foundational to theoretical underpinnings of psychology – interested in similar questions
Differences, Relies more on logical reasoning than empiricism
Integration, Experimental philosophy
SOCIAL PSYC vs. PERSONALITY PSYC -
Similarities, Also interested in A B C’s of psychology
Differences, Focuses on individual differences borne from stable personality traits (e.g. neuroticism,extraversion)
Integration, Examine interactions between social situations and personality traits
SOCIAL PSYC vs. SOCIOLOGY
Similarities, Interested in environmental(external) influences on behaviour.
Differences, Focus is on larger, more abstract, societal influences (e.g. social class, social institutions)
Integration,
Define theory, hypothesis, and operational definition
Theory - An overarching framework that can explain observed phenomena. (supported by data, lays out novel predictions that others can test)
Hypothesis - Testable statement or idea about the relationship between two or more conceptual variables (Can be causal or correlational)
Operational Definition - What conceptual variables look like in a study.
▫Understand the differences between qualitative research and quantitative research
Quantitative research uses Quantitative Methods
- Unit of analysis: numerical data
- Method of analysis - Statistical analysis
Qualitative research uses Qualitative methods
- Unit of analysis: Personal experience, open-ended responses
- Method of analysis - Interpretation of responses
▫Identify and explain differences between different types of observational research designs
Naturalistic observational designs
- Obtain/gather/record information from people in the “field” (anywhere not in the lab)
- See people in their normal setting
Concealed observation (When the observer is hidden from the people being observed) + Participant observation
- The observer is participating with the people being observed.
- Purpose is made known by the group
- Concern with this observation is personal bias, observer effect (act differently when you know you’re being watched.
Systematic Observation
-Observations of specific behaviors in a more controlled (usual lab) setting.
▫Compare and contrast non-experimental designs, quasi-experimental designs, and experimental designs
-Non-experimental designs: are correlational studies where researchers measure two or more variables with no manipulation.
-Quasi-experimental designs:
A quasi-experiment is an empirical interventional study used to estimate the causal impact of an intervention on target population without random assignment.
-Experimental designs: Used independent and dependent variables. The researchers will manipulate the independent variable and then measure the dependent variable.
What are the pros and cons of Quantitative methods?
Pros:
- Excellent for testing hypothesis
- Allow for effects and differences to be measurable and tangible.
- Allow us to perform statistical analyses to draw conclusions
CONs:
- Limits understanding of behaviors and thoughts to numerical representations of them.
- Validity of turning thoughts and behaviors into numbers?
▫Identify different types of measures that psychology researchers use
Explicit Measures- Asking participants to directly report their thoughts and emotions. (Self questionnaire)
Implicit Measures- Measures for attitudes over which participants have little conscious control. (Ease of making associations)
Behavioral Measures- Actual Behaviors related to a conceptual dependent variable. (Amount of food eaten)
Neurological Measures- uses neuro-imagery techniques to determine neurological changes and the role of neural structures. (fMRI)
Physiological Measures- The body’s automatic reactions to stimuli, excluding changes in the brain. (Galvanic skin response)
▫Use the appropriate statistical test given a research design
Implicit associations test - Assesses speed of mental associations. Also measures transphobia, fatphobia, other implicit attitudes.
Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP) - Assesses emotional states elicited by stimuli
Portable sleep measures - Actigraphywatch – measure rest and activity periods, allows inference of sleep
-Does not measure sleep architecture (stages of sleep)
fMRI▫Measures changes in neurological activity
Cortisol▫Hormone that indexes stress
Blood pressure
▫Use the appropriate statistical test given a research design
Implicit associations test - Assesses speed of mental associations. Also measures transphobia, fatphobia, other implicit attitudes.
Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP) - Assesses emotional states elicited by stimuli
Portable sleep measures - Actigraphywatch – measure rest and activity periods, allows inference of sleep
-Does not measure sleep architecture (stages of sleep)
fMRI▫Measures changes in neurological activity
Cortisol▫Hormone that indexes stress
Blood pressure
t- test▪
Used when study design only has two groups
▪Compares mean of group 1 with mean of group 2
▪Final statistic: t
F- test
▪Used when study design has more than two groups
▪Compares between means of all groups
▪Final statistic: F
▫Use the appropriate statistical test given a research design
Implicit associations test - Assesses speed of mental associations. Also measures transphobia, fatphobia, other implicit attitudes.
Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP) - Assesses emotional states elicited by stimuli
Portable sleep measures - Actigraphywatch – measure rest and activity periods, allows inference of sleep
-Does not measure sleep architecture (stages of sleep)
fMRI▫Measures changes in neurological activity
Cortisol▫Hormone that indexes stress
Blood pressure
t- test
▪Used when study design only has two groups
▪Compares mean of group 1 with mean of group 2
▪Final statistic: t
F- test
▪Used when study design has more than two groups
▪Compares between means of all groups
▪Final statistic: F
▫Use the appropriate statistical test given a research design
Implicit associations test - Assesses speed of mental associations. Also measures transphobia, fatphobia, other implicit attitudes.
Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP) - Assesses emotional states elicited by stimuli
Portable sleep measures - Actigraphywatch – measure rest and activity periods, allows inference of sleep
-Does not measure sleep architecture (stages of sleep)
fMRI▫measures changes in neurological activity
Cortisol▫Hormone that indexes stress
Blood pressure
t-test
▪Used when study design only has two groups
▪Compares mean of group 1 with mean of group 2
▪Final statistic: t
F- test
▪Used when study design has more than two groups
▪Compares between means of all groups
▪Final statistic: F
Differentiate between internal, ecological, and external validity
Internal validity - Ability to draw causal conclusions
▫High in experimental designs
▫Low in non-experimental designs
External Validity - validity from an outside source, peers, groups, etc. (College sophomore problem, other populations)
Ecological Validity-
