current issues in social psychology Flashcards
what is social psychology?
scientific investigation of how thoughts, feelings and behaviours of individuals are influenced by the real or imagined pressure of others
what is human behaviour?
open and more subtle behaviour (meaning depends on perspective)
what is social behaviour?
individual thoughts and feelings. underlying processes lead to cognitive processes which lead to neurochemical brain processes
what are the two strands of social psychology?
psychological and sociological
what is the philosophical origin of psychological social psychology?
logical empiricism (scientific knowledge is the only kind of factual knowledge)
what is the philosophical origin of sociological social psychology?
social contructivism/humanistic
(behaviour depends on subjective experiences)
what is the prevailing process to psychological social psychology?
social cognition
(how people process/remember info in social contexts to explain and predict behaviour)
what is the prevailing process to sociological social psychology?
language and culture
what methodology does psychological social psychology use?
quantitative/ hypothetico deductive (eg, hypothesis testing and experiments)
what methodology does sociological social psychology use?
qualitative/inductive (search for a general pattern from observations)
what is the ABC model?
affective, behavioural and cognitive components of behaviour
what does affective mean in the ABC model?
feelings/emotions
what does behavioural mean in the ABC model?
actions
what does cognitive mean in the ABC model?
thoughts/beliefs
what are criticisms for the ABC model?
only focuses on individuals- struggles to explain social change
ignores context
too simplistic
what are three types of sensitivity?
threat of disclosure
social desirability
intrusiveness
what are examples of ways we can reduce the effects of sensitive questions?
adjust the research setting
assure participants of confidentiality
use anonymous response techniques
what are the ethical requirements of research?
need approval from the local ethics committee
need to look at risk to the participant
need to gain valid consent
data should be kept confidential
what is behaviourism?
behaviour associated with positive outcomes is increased
relies on classical and operant conditioning
what is social learning theory?
people learn from observing and imitating other people’s behaviour
what is cognitive psychology?
looks at internal mental processes
actively interpret our environment through our thoughts and cognitive processes
what does Gestalt theory suggest?
the whole is different from the sum of its parts
what is social cognition?
looks at how cognitive processes are constructed and influence behaviour
