Introduction to social psychology Flashcards
What are hominins?
Species of human
How many different hominins have walked the earth?
At least 9
In what way were neanderthals similar to homosapiens?
Similar sized brains
In what ways were neanderthals superior to homosapiens?
- Superior visual-motor skills
- Stronger
What social abilities has a larger cerebellum in homo-sapien brains been associated with?
- forming social groups
- Sharing resources more effectively
- Enhanced tool making through more sophisticated communication
What was Allport’s (1954) definition of social psychology?
The attempt to understand and explain how the thoughts, feelings, and behaviours (cognition, emotion, action) of individuals (individual level of analysis) are influenced (causality) by the actual, imagined or implied presence of other human beings (not only physical co-present others)
What are 7 areas of application of social psychology?
- Counselling psychology
- Clinical psychology
- Sport psychology
- Forensic psychology
- Health psychology
- Educational psychology
- Work psychology
How long can social psychology be traced back? Where does the modern form come from?
120 years. Modern form is a post-ww2 phenomenon
What was the first social psychology experiment? What was the RQ? How was it tested and what were the results&conclusion?
Triplett (1898) on social facilitation
- Why do cyclists go faster when racing than when riding alone?
- 2 groups of children to complete a task to operate a pulley system to move a flag 4 times around a circuit
- faster children = aroused by competitive instincts and the idea of faster movements
- slower children became overwhelmed by competition
- Triplett - people try harder when they have real or imagined presence of others
How did ww2 influence social psychology? (1930-50s)
Displacement of influential European researchers to USA - research on group processes and communication stemming from studies conducted by US army.
- Research on prejudice, racism, authoritarianism, fascism -> stems from historical shock of Nazism and Holocaust - It is possible that the shadow of the Holocaust lies over the last half century of social psychology
- Also interest in public health and propoganda.
What are some experimental examples of the social world being bad for us?
A great deal of post-WW2 research has demonstrated dangers of loss of individual rationality, judgement and morality when placed in certain social situations
- Asch’s line experiments
- Milgram’s obedience experiments
- Latane and Darley’s bystander intervention research
- Zimbardo’s Stanford prison experiment
- Research on crowd behaviour
- Groupthink, risky shift, social loafing…
What is pluralism?
Not just one reality but multiple ways in which people render the world meaningful
What is critical social psychology?
Ideology is inescapable
- We can never stand outside of our culture or history
But claiming we are uncovering an objective truth is dangerous
- obscures inevitability ideological nature of our theories
Not seeing objective truth, but how culture shapes our psychology
The crisis in social psych (1960/70s)
- Concern that social psychology wasn’t scientific - replication issues
What are issues with past social psychology?
- Research focused on what is rather than what could be
- Conceptualised a static world
- Over-reliance on experimentation gives a snapshot of human life
- Experimental methods disconnected from psychological conceptualisations, historical and future manifestations and the aspirations of discipline with the impact it creates
What is the replication crisis in social psychology?
Only one third of experimental studies published in premier psychological journals could be replicated
