Chapter 1: Introducing Social Psychology

Question 1

Social Psychology

Answer 1

• the scientific study of how people think about, influence, and relate to one another

Question 2

social neuroscience

Answer 2

• an integration of biological and social perspectives that explores the neural and psychological bases of social and emotional behaviours

Question 3

culture

Answer 3

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

Question 4

social representations

Answer 4

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

Question 5

naturalistic fallacy

Answer 5

• the error of defining what is good in terms of what is observable: for example, what’s typical is normal; what’s normal is good

Question 6

hindsight bias

Answer 6

• the tendency to exaggerate, after learning an outcome, one’s ability to have foreseen how something turned out; “I-knew-it-all-along” phenomenon

Question 7

theory

Answer 7

• an integrated set of principles that explain and predict observed events

Question 8

hypotheses

Answer 8

• testable propositions that describe relationships that may exist between events

Question 9

field research

Answer 9

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

Question 10

correlational research

Answer 10

• the study of the naturally occurring relationships among variables

Question 11

experimental research

Answer 11

• studies that seek clues to case-effect relationships by manipulating one or more factors (independent variable) while controlling others (constant)

Question 12

random sample

Answer 12

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

Question 13

independent variables

Answer 13

• experimental factors that a researcher manipulates

Question 14

dependent variables

Answer 14

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

Question 15

random assignment

Answer 15

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

Question 16

observational research methods

Answer 16

• where individuals are observed in natural settings, often without awareness, in order to provide the opportunity for objective analysis of behaviour

Question 17

mundane realism

Answer 17

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

Question 18

experimental realism

Answer 18

• degree to which an experiment absorbs and involves its participants

Question 19

demand characteristics

Answer 19

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

Question 20

informed consent

Answer 20

• an ethical principle requiring that research participants be told enough to enable them to choose whether they with to participate

Question 21

Construction of Social reality

Answer 21

• explain people’s behaviors to suit our daily needs
• desire for things to seem orderly
• explanations come from how we were raised

Question 22

Major themes of social psychology

Answer 22

1) Social thinking
2) Social influences
3) Social relations

Question 23

social intuition

Answer 23

fast and frugal judgments about things around us

• can I trust them?
• are they telling the truth?
• is flying dangerous?

Question 24

social influences shape behaviour

Answer 24

• we want to be loved and accepted (social creature)

- Cultures: define social scripts, influence what we like and dislike, guidelines for what to expect of others

Question 25

personal attitudes shape behaviour

Answer 25

• political attitudes affect our vote
• attitudes towards the poor influence our willingness to help
• personality dispositions affect how people react to certain situations