LECTURE 1 Flashcards
What is social psychology?
The study of behaviour in a social context.
What does social psychology aim to measure?
Feelings, thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and goals.
What is the scientific method?
A formal process for testing hypotheses using valid, reliable measures.
What is a hypothesis?
A formal prediction about the nature of reality.
What makes a measure valid?
It tests what it claims to measure.
What makes a measure reliable?
It produces consistent results across time and settings.
Why is replication important in psychology?
It increases confidence in findings by confirming results across studies.
What is archival research?
Analysis of existing data, e.g., government records.
What is a case study?
An in-depth examination of a single individual or group.
What is qualitative research?
Research using words and interviews instead of numbers.
What is quantitative research?
Research using numerical data and statistical analysis.
What is the nature vs. nurture debate?
The discussion of whether behaviour is influenced by biology (nature) or environment (nurture).
What is a meta-theory?
A broad theoretical framework for understanding human behaviour.
What is behaviourism?
A meta-theory that focuses on observable behaviour rather than internal processes.
What is social cognition?
A meta-theory that studies how people categorise and interpret social information.
What is social neuroscience?
A meta-theory that links social behaviour to brain processes.
What is evolutionary psychology?
A meta-theory that explains behaviour as adaptations from ancestral environments.
What is personality theory?
A meta-theory that attributes behaviour to stable personality traits.
What is reductionism?
The critique that social psychology oversimplifies human behaviour.
What is positivism?
The belief that science is the only valid way to study reality.
What is deception in social psychology?
When researchers mislead participants to avoid influencing their behaviour.
What is informed consent?
Participants’ agreement to take part in a study with full knowledge of the procedures.
What is debriefing?
Informing participants about the true purpose of the study after it ends.
Who conducted the obedience study?
Stanley Milgram (1963).
Who conducted the Stanford prison study?
Philip Zimbardo (1971).
Who conducted the line conformity study?
Solomon Asch (1951).
What is Sherif’s Robbers Cave experiment?
A study on group conflict and cooperation.
What is folk psychology?
Early psychology that studied the influence of culture on individuals.
What is Gustav Le Bon known for?
His theory on the irrational behaviour of crowds.
What is Wilhelm Wundt known for?
Conducting early psychology experiments in Germany.
What is Triplett’s fishing reel study?
The first social psychology experiment (1898).
What is Floyd Allport known for?
Arguing for social psychology to become an experimental science.
What is the “collective mind” theory?
The idea that groups have a shared consciousness.
What are attitude scales?
Tools for measuring people’s opinions or beliefs.
What does the postmodern view hold?
Truth is constructed, often by the powerful.
What does it mean if a measure is reliable?
It consistently measures the same thing.
What kind of study design uses mass murderers or survivors as data sources?
Case study
Which critique claims psychology may not be a true science?
Overly positivist critique
What did William McDougall propose?
Inherited group mind
Who contrasted Freud with the idea of the dramaturgical self?
Mead
