Chapter One

Question 1

Social Psychology

Answer 1

The scientific study of the causes and consequences of people’s thoughts, feelings, and actions, regarding themselves and other people

Question 2

The 3 Theories of What Causes Human Behaviour

Answer 2

Instincts, unconscious drives and the environment (behaviourism)

Question 3

Social Cognition

Answer 3

The way an individual understands his or her own social world

Question 4

Social Cognition Perspective

Answer 4

How people perceive, remember, and interpret events and individuals, including themselves, in their social world

Question 5

The 4 Core Assumptions of Behaviour

Answer 5

1. Behaviour is a joint product of the person and the situation
2. Behaviour depends on a socially constructed view of reality
3. Behaviour is strongly influenced by our social cognition
4. The best way to understand our behaviour is to use the scientific method

Question 6

Attribution Theory

Answer 6

People act as intuitive scientist when they observe other people’ behaviour and infer explanations as to why those people acted the way they did

Question 7

Casual Attributions

Answer 7

Explanations of why an individual engaged in a particular action

Question 8

Cultural Knowledge

Answer 8

A vast store of information, accumulated within a culture, that explains how the world works and why things happen as they do

Question 9

Introspection

Answer 9

Asking ourselves or others about the causes of behaviour may provide insight into behaviour

Question 10

Intuitive Observation

Answer 10

Some people are cognitive misers, there are major pitfalls in relying on intuitive observation as our observations are unique and have limited perspectives, our reasoning can lead to confirmation bias (what we wanted it to be)

Question 11

Scientific Method

Answer 11

Theory (possible explination), research (evaluation of theories), and hypothesis (why the theory is correct or not)

Question 12

Stereotype Threat Theory

Answer 12

Conditions that bring a stereotype to mind contribute to poor performance among members of various stigmatized groups

Question 13

Two Hypotheses From Stereotype Threat Theory

Answer 13

The more the person is conscious of their group’s negative stereotype, the worse they will perform in areas related to the stereotype. Situations that call to mind a negative stereotype of a person’s group will lead that person to perform worse than situations that do not.

Question 14

Correlational Method

Answer 14

Research in which two or more variables are measured and compared to determine to what extent, if any, they are associated

Question 15

Correlation Coefficient

Answer 15

A positive or negative numerical value that shows the direction and strength of a relationship between two variables

Question 16

Experimental Method

Answer 16

A study where a researcher manipulates a variable, measures possible effects on another variable, and tries to hold all other variables constant

Question 17

Internal Validity

Answer 17

A judgement that, for a particular experiment, it is possible to conclude that the manipulated independent variable caused the change in the measured dependent variable

Question 18

Causal Inferences of the Experimental Method

Answer 18

-Controlling impact of individual differences by random assignment
-Eliminates a causal sequence problem by design
-Holds other variables constant removes a third-variable problem
-Controls for individual differences

Question 19

What Are The Limitations To Science

Answer 19

• There are aspects of reality that humans cannot know
• The scientific method may be objective; human researchers who apply may not be objective
• Not all questions can be answered scientifically
• Human values exert influence on the condition of science