Concept, methods and ethics Flashcards
social psychology
how individual or group behaviour is influenced by the presence and behaviour of others
behaviourism
criticism to Freuds theory
a passive interaction with the environment
Thorndike
early stages of classical conditioning
most experiments carried out on cats - not generalisable to humans but some on WW1 soldiers
creating the laws of learning - readiness, repetition and effect
Skinner
operant conditioning
law of reinforcement and punishment
people learn behaviour through observing others
reinforcement means a behaviour is likely to be repeated but if its punished its likely to be stopped
Bandura
developed the social learning theory
both environmental and cognitive factors interact to influence behaviour
Bobo doll study
4 meditational processes - attention, retention, motivation and reproduction
cognitive theories
actively interpret experiences and plan actions
personality and individual differences
people behave differently across different situations
there’s very little evidence that peoples personality traits remain stable throughout their lifespan
collectivist theories
behaviour is a product of social influences
people behave differently in groups as the group influences the individuals behaviour
link to social identity theory - the group you belong to influences your behaviour
scientific methods
hunch based on background knowledge
theory about social behaviour
prediction hypotheses
empirical research
prediction confirmed or prediction disconfirmed
observational research
real world behaviour
high validity
data where questionnaires are impossible
may be subjective
overt -behaviour changes due to presence
ethically unsound
correctional studies
large numbers of participants
easy to administer
online or in person
cannot infer causation in most places
poor completion/response rate
protection from harm
its unethical to expose participants to physical harm
milgram and zimbardo
privacy
invasion of privacy should be minimal
data kept confidential and anonymous
deception
is needed in order to study social phenomena
fine line between acceptable and unacceptable
asch vs milgram
informed consent
on the basis they know what they are participating in and have the right to withdraw at any time
debriefing
participants should enter and leave the study in the same psychological state
western science
conducted in western participants by western psychologists
some processes are universal where others are culture dependent
social psychology does conduct cross cultural research
evolution theory
developed by Darwin
explains how animals adapt to their environment
natural selection - a process by which is heritable traits that promote survival are passed along to future generations
evolutionary perspective
attempts to explain social behaviour in terms of genetic factors that have evolved over time and based on the principles of natural selection
the behaviour we observe now is the outcome of various adaptation over the year
