Chapter 1: What is Social Psychology?/Research methods

Question 1

What are the three major themes in social psychology?

Answer 1

1 - Social thinking (we construct our social reality, our social intuitions are often powerful, sometimes perilous)
2 - Social influences (shape behaviour, dispositions shape behaviour)
3 - Social relations (social behaviour is also biological behaviour, relating to each other is a basic need)

Question 2

What’s a theory?

Answer 2

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

Question 3

What’s a logic model?

Answer 3

• Description of the hypothesized chain of causes and effects leading to an outcome of interest
• Like a mash-up between a theory and a hypothesis
• Can look like a timeline
• Ex. May have to use one to justify receiving funding for an intervention program

Question 4

What are some of the concerns with survey research?

Answer 4

• Unrepresentative sample
• Order of questions
• Response bias and social desirability
• Wording of questions

Question 5

What does the term “the great equalizer” refer to?

Answer 5

• Another term for random assignment

Question 6

What’s considered the pyramid of evidence, starting from the base and moving upwards?

Answer 6

• Expert opinion > Case reports and series > observational studies > non-randomised control trials > randomised control trials > meta-analyses and systematic reviews
• Meta-analyses can produce accurate results

Question 7

How does social psychology differ from sociology and personality psychology?

Answer 7

• Sociology - focuses on groups/societies
• Personality psych - focuses on individual differences
• Social psych - focuses on how people affect one another

Question 8

What’s social neuroscience?

Answer 8

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

Question 9

What are social representations?

Answer 9

• Socially shared beliefs; widely held ideas and values, including assumptions and ideologies
• Help us make sense of the world

Question 10

What’s a naturalistic fallacy?

Answer 10

• Sliding from a description of what is into a description of what ought to be.

Question 11

What’s hindsight bias?

Answer 11

• People often invoke common sense after they know the facts
• The “I-knew-it-all-along” phenomenon that is often employed in response to social psychological breakthroughs

Question 12

What’s mundane realism?

Answer 12

• How superficially similar an experiment is to everyday situations

Question 13

What’s experimental realism?

Answer 13

• The degree to which the participants are involved in the experiment (i.e., don’t want them play-acting)