Lecture 1: Intro to Social Psychology

Question 1

When did social psychology begin?

Answer 1

Initial experiments in late C19th

Question 2

What was the main reason for rejecting behaviourism?

Answer 2

The argument that stimuli is not given but interpreted.

Question 3

List 2 affects of WWII?

Answer 3

1. migration

2. social influence

Question 4

List and explain 2 contemporary concerns for social psychology.

Answer 4

1. Theory and Method: require further integration with biology, neuroscience and computer science.
2. Practice: reasons for and response to the replication crisis.

Question 5

List and explain the 2 core tenets of social psychology.

Answer 5

1. People construct their own reality.

2. Social influence is pervasive and powerful.

Question 6

List and explain the 3 core motivations people have within society.

Answer 6

1. Striving for mastery - people seek to understand and predict the events of the world in order to obtain rewards
2. Seeking connectedness - people seek support and acceptance from people and groups they care about and value.
3. Valuing ‘me and mine’ - people desire to see themselves, or any people and groups they are connected to, in a positive light

Question 7

List the 3 core processing principles.

Answer 7

1. Conservatism - beliefs and opinions are slow to change
2. Accessibility - accessible information has most impact on thought, feeling and action
3. Processing depth - information is processed at various levels of depth (e.g. automatic vs. controlled; System 1 vs. 2 thinking).

Question 8

What is the scientific method?

Answer 8

Systematic observations with inductive reasoning.

Question 9

Explain the simple steps of the scientific method.

Answer 9

Observe
Hypothesise
Test
Infer
Repeat/Revise

Question 10

What is construct validity? How is this achieved?

Answer 10

The extent to which manipulations/measures correspond to theoretical constructs.

Achieved by selecting i) appropriate measures, ii) using multiple measures

Question 11

What is internal validity? How is this achieved?

Answer 11

The extend to which causal inference is justified.

Achieved by i) manipulation and ii) random assignment

Question 12

What is external validity? How is this achieved?

Answer 12

The extent to which experimental results can be generalised.

Achieved by i) appropriate sampling and ii) good research design.

Question 13

List 3 things good theories require and what type of validity this corresponds to.

Answer 13

1. Measure of abstract constructs - construct validity
2. Causal explanation - internal validity
3. Generalising explanations - external validity