Chapter 1 - Intro to Social Psychology

Question 1

What is social psychology? How is it different from sociology or personality psychology?

Answer 1

study of reciprocal interactions between the real or perceived social world and our thoughts, behaviors and emotions

different from sociology - more experimentation and focuses more on individual
different from personality psychology - focuses less on individual’s differences and more on how individuals view and affect one another

Question 2

What is the importance of levels of explanation?

Answer 2

there’s different explanations at different levels, so the explanation for a phenomenon at a group level might not be the same for a similar phenomenon at a individual level

Question 3

How do human values impact social psychology (p. 10-13)?

Answer 3

researchers will choose their own research topics, which are usually things they are passionate about or interested in, so the things that each researcher values are the ones that are investigated,
the type of people attracted to social psychology tend to be liberal, so more liberal values might be present
social psychology also studies how values are formed
researchers do have some leeway in interpreting their research, so it is subjective to some degree
labeling can show values

Question 4

What is the naturalistic fallacy?

Answer 4

assuming that because something occurs naturally that it must be good - because people are genetically different and endowed with different abilities, they should be treated differently

Question 5

What is hindsight bias?

Answer 5

tendency to exaggerate one’s ability to have foreseen the future after already knowing what has happened

Question 6

Know what correlational and experimental research are. How are they different? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

Answer 6

experimental - like in a lab, where researchers control assignment and there is an independent and dependent variable, look for cause and effect relationship by manipulating one or more factors
pros - lots of control over the experiment, can claim causation
cons - difficult to do with multiple variables at a time, can’t manipulate certain variables because of ethics or nature

correlational - exam association between two or more measured variables
pro - examine most any variable
cons - can’t determine direction of relationship, could be lurking variables

Question 7

Know the difference between independent and dependent variables.

Answer 7

independent is the variable that is changed by the researcher, dependent variable is the variable that is being measured that should have a reaction because of the changes in the IV

Question 8

Know the importance of random assignment

Answer 8

random assignment is important because if it is used, we can usually assume that any differences between the groups is not due to confounding factors but to the treatment

Question 9

Know what mundane realism, experimental realism, and demand characteristics. Why are these important?

Answer 9

mundane realism - degree to which an experiment is superficially similar to everyday situations (doesn’t have to be like every day situations, which are mundane)
experimental realism - degree to which an experiment absorbs and involves its participants (the experiment should engage the person)
demand characteristics - cues in an experiment that tell the participant what behavior is expected (can bias results when participants know experimenters are expecting a certain reaction)

Question 10

What ethical issues are involved in social psychological research?

Answer 10

informed consent
avoiding harm
deception
confidentiality