history of SP Flashcards
what is social psychology?
systematic study of the nature and causes for human social behaviour (DeLameter and Collett 2019)
the scientific study of reciprocal influnce of the individual and their social context (Manstead 1995)
what are the 3 aspects of social thinking?
the self
social beliefs and social elements
attitudes and behaviour
what are the 3 aspects of social influence?
genes, culture, and gender
conformity and obedience
persuasion
what are the 3 aspects of social relations?
aggression
attraction and intimacy
helping
what are the 3 aspects of people in groups?
small group influence
social categorisation and social identity
inter- group relations, conflict and prejudice
when were the first social psychology experiments conducted?
late 1800’s
what is rationalism?
the idea that the truth can be discovered through deduction and using the intellect, reasoning through to a conclusion
what ideas did David Hume (UK) come up with?
1739: sympathy contributed to social conformity
1741: national traits were present
what ideas did Adam Smith (UK) come up with?
1759: the people we become is shaped by our social interactions with others
what ideas did Immanuel Kant (Germany) come up with?
1724- 1804: interested in feelings, how people manipulate each other, desire for power etc
thought these topics couldn’t be studied scientifically because they can’t be treated as physical objects
inspired the development of Gestalt psychology
what is Gestalt psychology?
suggests that the mind constructs reality and orders the social world
what ideas did Kurt Lewin (Germany) come up with?
1890- 1947: developed Gestalt psychology
thought social psychology should be about looking at the whole picture
wanted to tackle prejudice and improve inter-group relations
what ideas did Johann Friedrich Herbart (Germany) come up with?
1776- 1841: founder of social psychology
influenced development of volkerpsychologie
social life important
people in same social groups have similar values and beliefs
“the human being is nothing outside of society”
influenced development of social psychology in Europe, UK and USA
what is volkerpsychologie?
mass psychology, folk psychology, or psychology of the people
what ideas did Auguste Comte (France) come up with?
1798- 1857: social psychology can be studied in the same way as natural sciences
encouraged positivist philosophy for social psychology
what is positivism?
we can obtain knowledge through observations, scientific testing, and building evidence
what is empiricism?
the philosophy that evidence should be observed by the senses rather than reasoning and rationalising
what ideas did Wilhelm Wundt (Germany) come up with?
1832- 1920: father of psychology
influenced volkerpsychologie
opened first psychology lab at uni of Leipzig in 1879
experimented on thoughts/ feelings from a stimulus
describe the first social psychology experiment
performed by Norman Triplett
observed people performed better on a task when competing against others
William James (USA)
1842- 1910: father of american psychology
first to teach psychology in USA
created psychology lab at Harvard uni
environment had impact on behaviour, hated reductionism
why was 1908 so important?
UK: William McDougall published intro to SP, focused on evolutionary theory and instincts
Europe: focused on membership pr groups, influence on group of behaviours
USA: Edward Ross published SP, focused on individuals, groups, and crowds, experimental labs, empiricism, psychology of individuals
aspects of psychological social psychology (PSP)
America Focus on the individual with social context second Cognitive social psychology Biological and behavioural Use of experimental methods Milgram, Bandura, Asch, Sherif
aspects of sociological social psychology (SSP)
Europe Focus on social context and its influence on the individual Social constructionism Use of qualitative methods Tajfel, Foucault, Mead
advantages of experimental/positivist research methods
Study of human behaviour as a science Test hypotheses Falsify a hypothesis but not prove one Measurable and replicable Objective Universal and generalisable Control over variables Quantitative analyses
advantages of qualitative research methods
Field studies Case studies Studies of archives Subjective High ecological validity Analysis may be qualitative or quantitative
disadvantages of experimental/ positivist research methods
Low on ecological validity Subject effects such as demand characteristics Experimenter effects Reductionist Ignores social context
disadvantages of qualitative research methods
Not replicable
Idiographic (focussed on individual, personal
experience)
Not easy to extrapolate
Lack of control over data collection, environment
Lack of objective perspective
what were the 2 main criticisms for social psychology in the crisis of the 1960s and 1970s?
1) Positivist assumptions and use of experimental methods, reductionist explanations of human behaviour
2) Values steeped in individualism
how did the European Association of Social Psychology (EASP) deal with the crisis?
set up to establish social psychology as a discipline which takes into consideration not only individuals but their social groups, ideological values and social world that they live in.
Focus on:
How identity and behaviour are shaped by group memberships
How language is used to communicate with others
How we understand the world collectively
what is social constructionism?
We construct our own realities through interactions with others, cognitive functions are a product of interaction with others
what is discursive psychology?
Analyses text, talk and language. Our social world and positions we take in it are constructed through language, psychological experiences take place through our talk
what is phenomenological psychology?
Focuses on our conscious experiences and how these experiences influence our sense of self and feelings about being in the world
what is critical social psychology?
Explores the social, historical and ideological context research is conducted in (situatedness)
what methods are used in critical social psychology?
Observations
Interviews
Narrative analysis
Discourse analysis
aspects of traditional experimental methods
Reduce complex human phenomena to measurable
variables and simplistic categories
Present ‘subjects’ as naive stimulus-response
machines and society as invisible or constant
Provides ‘knowledge’ which is technical and
uncritical
Ignores significant personal and contextual features
of research
Claims that social psychology is a science
aspects of critical social psychology methods
Emphasize the variation, complexity and often
contradictory qualities in human experience
Situate individuals/participants within wider social
contexts
Offer knowledge that is partial, incomplete and critical
Highlights personal and contextual elements within
the research
Doesn’t claim that psychology is a science,
acknowledges it is subjective
