Lecture 1

Question 1

What do social psychologists do?

Answer 1

want to understand how individuals act in relation to other people in social situations

Question 2

what is the definition of social psychology

Answer 2

the scientific study of feelings, thoughts and behaviours of individuals in real or imagined social situations

Question 3

What is the power of situation

Answer 3

how a social situation can change how we act, Lewin first worked on the concept

Question 4

What is social situation

Answer 4

doesn’t need to be social, can be real or imagined (suggestion of a presence is enough to change our behaviour).

Question 5

Briefly explain Kurt Lewin’s life

Answer 5

• Born in a small town in Poland in 1890
• Joined German army in 1914 (WW1)
• Left Germany in 1933 due to his conflicting social identities (proud German scientist and a Jewish man)

Question 6

Lewin argued that context influences how we

Answer 6

1.) interpret a situation
2.) perceive a situation
3.) understand a situation
4.) find a meaning in a situation

Question 7

Who developed Field Theory

Answer 7

Lewin

Question 8

What is Field Theory

Answer 8

behaviour is a function of a person and his environment

B = f(P,E)

B <- behaviour
f <- function
P <- person
E <- environment

Question 9

what are the 5 themes in the study of social psychology?

Answer 9

1.) Power of situation
2.) construal
3.) automatic vs controlled processing
4.) evolutionary psychology
5.) cross cultural psychology

Question 10

If you go on a first date, should you get a hot chocolate or frappuccino?

Answer 10

holding something warm can lead us to making “warm” and positive impressions of a new person

Question 11

what is laissez-faire

Answer 11

leadership style in which the leader gives group members minimal (if any) guidance

too unstructured
wasted lots of time
nothing done

Question 12

democratic characteristics

Answer 12

cohesive group
task-oriented
motivated
high-quality products

Question 13

what does construal mean?

Answer 13

how do we view the situation?
how we perceive, comprehend and interpret the world
it’s shaped by the power of the situation

Question 14

what is naïve realism?

Answer 14

we like to think we see the world for how it truly is

it’s the seductive and compelling sense that we see the world the way it is, not through our own subjective take on the world

Question 15

difference between automatic and controlled thinking

Answer 15

automatic
- fast
- approx
- best guesses
- effortless
- unconscious

controlled
- deliberate
- slow
- taxing
- conscious

Question 16

what is the naturalistic fallacy

Answer 16

the way things are is the way they’re supposed to be