lecture 2 - what is social psychology?

Question 1

we like to spend time with others - Larson et al 1982

Answer 1

• Paged teenagers and adults at random points during the day for a week.
• After each page, participants wrote whether they were alone or with others.
• Taylor, Peplau & Sears (2006) – p. 234
  The study was actually research about feelings of loneliness, but the results incidentally gave some nice insights into the amount of time we spent with others.

Question 2

what is social psychology?

Answer 2

our behaviour affects the way others think, feel and act and in turn their behaviour affects our thoughts feeling and actions. human interaction structures the norms, conventions and institutions that make up the societies we live in

Question 3

social psychology definition 1 allport

Answer 3

• “The scientific investigation of how the thoughts, feelings, and behaviour of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others.”
  (Allport, 1954, p. 5)
  the emphasis here is on whether the presence of others has to be actual or just imagined or implied

emphasis scientific method

focuses on the individual - understanding the reasons individuals out the way they do in social situations

Question 4

social psychology definition 2 - smith and Mackie

Answer 4

“the scientific study of the effects of social and cognitive processes on the way individuals perceive, influence, and relate to others.”
(Smith & Mackie, 2015, p. 3)
cognitive and social processes are limited and mutually influencing.

emphasis scientific method

focuses on the individual - understanding the reasons individuals out the way they do in social situations

Question 5

common sense vs scientific study

Answer 5

• Knowledge based on personal experience vs. Systematic knowledge gathering
  ○ Objective, based on logical analysis
  
  • Scientific method
    ○ Theory:
    A set of propositions to describe certain phenomena
    E.g., statement about causal relation between constructs
    ○ Experimental research:
    Random assignment of people into groups, followed by systematic manipulation and measurement of constructs

Question 6

similar others (not opposites) tend to attract eg Byrne 1971 and White 1980

Answer 6

similarity encourages positive interaction over common interests
(e.g., Insko & Wilson, 1977)
2. Similar others validate our beliefs and attitudes
(Byrne, 1971)
Normative influence
(e.g., Deutsch & Gerard, 1955

Question 7

theories of attraction

Answer 7

Martin (2019): pp. 705-706
- White (1980): Similarity in attractiveness predicts relationship success
- Byrne (1971; 1997): Linear relation between attitude similarity and attraction (law of attraction)
- Montoya et al. (2008; 2013): meta-analyses confirm that similarity and attraction are positively associated.

Question 8

criticism of Byrne 1971

Answer 8

Condon and Crano 1988 crticised Byrne 1971 - Partial correlational analyses demonstrated that the similarity–attraction relation was mediated by subjects’ inferences of the stranger’s evaluation of them; holding inferred evaluation constant strongly attenuated the similarity–attraction association. Moreover, the inferred evaluation–attraction relation was unaffected when attitude similarity was partialed from it

Question 9

complementarity in relationship

Answer 9

Need complementarity: in more developed relationships complementarity may become important, satisfying our needs.

Question 10

interpersonal attraction - similarity

Answer 10

• in looks, interests and attitudes
• couples tend to be similar in attractiveness so couples who are mismatched in this respect are most likely to break up - white 1980
• couples also tend to have similar opinions
• byrne 1971 confirmed the important role of attitude similarity in relationships - results = reliable and consistent so byrne formed a ‘law of attraction’ - attraction towards a person has a linear relationship to the proportion of attitudes associated with the person - the more that other people agree with you, the more reinforcing they are and the greater your attraction to them
• age similarity, occupational status and ethnic background
• friends tend to have similar backgrounds and attitudes
• liking can sometimes reset on dissimilarity - winch 1958 suggested under some circumstances, particularly in more developed relationships, people seek others who have different qualities from ourselves and who can most satisfy our needs - we need complementarity

Question 11

jenness (1932)

Answer 11

Jenness (1932) conducted one of the earliest experiments examining conformity.
He used an ambiguous situation that involved a glass bottle filled with 811 white beans. His sample consisted of 101 psychology students, who individually estimated how many beans the glass bottle contained. Participants were then divided into groups of three and asked to provide a group estimate through discussion. Following the discussion, the participants were provided with another opportunity individually estimate the number of beans, to see if they changed their original answer.

Question 12

focus on the individual - three levels of analysis

Answer 12

works in a circle
thoughts -> feelings -> behaviour
For example - stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination

Question 13

social processes - Bateson, Nettle and Roberts (2006) -

Answer 13

Study conducted in a psych department coffee room
- Option to pay for tea and coffee (notice)
- Banner - eyes or flowers alternated each week
- Recorded the amount of money collected (DVC)
- In weeks where a pair of eyes were displayed, people paid almost three times more
Implied presence of others increases pro-social behaviour

Question 14

fundamental principles of social psychology - smith and mackie 2015

Answer 14

• People construct their own reality
  Perception and understanding of social world is shaped by
  Cognitive processes
  (memories, perceptions, thoughts, emotions, motives)
  Social processes (culture, socialisation)
• Social influence pervades all social life
  Others influence our thoughts, feelings and behaviours, whether they are present or not

Question 15

summary part 1

Answer 15

• cognitive and social processes shape our experience of and reaction to the social world
  The power of the (social) situation

Question 16

History - social psychology as an empirical science

Answer 16

• Triplett (1898)
  ○ Cyclists race faster when competing against others than when alone
  ○ Children turned fishing reels faster when competing with another child than when alone.
  - Graduate student at Indiana University
  - Observed that (amongst others) cyclists race faster when competing than when alone
  - Reviewed various theories that may explain this:
  In particular “dynamogenic factors:” Presence arouses competitive instincts that release nervous energy.
  - Constructed an elaborate competition machine and measurement device to test this hypothesis.
  - Observed that children indeed reeled in a fishing line faster when in the presence of others.
• Concluded competition increases effort and motivation

Question 17

history - social facilitation and inhibition

Answer 17

Social facilitation and inhibition
* Social facilitation is the tendency to perform better in the presence of others than when alone. Occurs when task is simple or behaviour is well- learned.
Social inhibition is the tendency to perform worse in the presence of others than when alone. Occurs when task is complex or behaviour is not well-learned. eg triplett found some children were ‘overstimulated’ so lost control.

Question 18

social facilitation

Answer 18

the enhancement of a persons performance by the presence of other people

Question 19

triplett 1897

Answer 19

people performed simple tasks eg turning a crank on a fishing reel. ptps turned crank faster and for longer if other people present.
if task is difficult and complex the presence of an audience impaired the ptps performance

Question 20

proline 2004

Answer 20

we laugh most with others = 30x more likely

Question 21

Micheals et al (1982)

Answer 21

Watched pool players in a student billiards hall and classified the players as being either high or low in ability. Next a group of four confederates approached the players and watched them closely during several rounds of play. The close observation caused the shot accuracy to increase markedly for the good players (71% to 80%) while dropping for the poor players (36% to 25%). Whether the presence of others enhances or deteriorates performance depends on how well - learned the behaviour is.

Question 22

zajonc (1965) - the role of arousal

Answer 22

Arousal facilitates dominant responses. Dominant responses are correct on simple and well-learned tasks, but tend to be incorrect on complex and unfamiliar tasks.
Presence of other people serves as a source of arousal, and this should enhance performance on simple and well-learned tasks and reduce it on complex and unfamiliar tasks.
the presence of people watching a performer raises a persons arousal level and produces ‘drives’. inc in arousal = inc probability of performing dominant responses - responses that are best learned and most likely to occur in a particular situation . when task is simple the dominant response is generally the correct one so an audience improves performance. when task is difficult the dominant response is generally not the correct one so an audience impairs performance.

Question 23

Martens 1969

Answer 23

ptps performed a complex motor task alone or in the presence of 10 people the experimenter determined physiological arousal measuring the amount of sweat present on the ptps palms. the ptps who performed in front of other people had sweatier palms.

Question 24

markus 1978

Answer 24

ptps undressed and dress up in either their own clothes (easy) or unfamilar clothes involving a special lab coat and shoes (difficult). some ptps did it alone and some were watched. those watched were faster on easy task and slow on hard - support

Question 25

Baron (1986) alternate view

Answer 25

argued people are distracting and that trying to concentrate on a task while being distracted causes arousal and alive - support - any form of distraction eg loud noise produces social facilitation effects. baron also suggested the notion of arousal or drive is unnecessary.
people have limited attention capacity - to perform a task successfully you need to collect a range of cues and procedures - the presence of people narrows attention on task cues and performance. difficult tasks need more attention than easy tasks as narrowing of attention you to fails to attend to some important cues- task performance deteriorates.

Question 26

WWII

Answer 26

• Influx of psychologists in USA
• Practical problems and applied research
  Kurt Lewin (1951, p.169)
  “There is nothing so practical as a good theory”
  Atrocities of Nazi regime against Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, and other groups

Question 27

Kurt Lewin (1943)

Answer 27

Food shortage in US in ww2 and meat was rare so govn tried to convince public to eat more organ meat. The pamphlets and articles appealing to patriotism and public lectures by nutritionists failed. Kurt thought these eating habits could only be changed by changing the prevailing norm so organised small discussions in groups where people discussed how to cook these new meats and how to overcome family members resistance. 30% of people in discussion groups tried to eat organ meat whereas only 3% of the people tried this when they had just listened to a lecture advocating the same action.

Question 28

obedience

Answer 28

people tend to comply with the requests of people in authority and to be swayed by their persuasive arguments and that such obedience is usually approved by society

Question 29

milgram

Answer 29

• representative sample as advertised for ptps in local newspaper
• ptps = ‘teachers’ and told it was a learning experiment
• confederate = ‘learner’
• ptp told to deliver shocks from 15 -450v to learner for each ‘mistake’ in 15v increments
• at 300v learner pounded on wall and then stopped responding to questions
• experimenter told ptp to consider ‘no answer’ as incorrect
• if ptp hesitated giving a shock the experimenter said ‘please go on’ , ‘the experiment requires that you continue’
• majority of ptps gave learner what they believed to be a 450v shock

Question 30

milgram later experiments

Answer 30

confederate in same room as ptp - 37.5% of ptps obeyed order to administer further shocks - 1974
30% held confederates hand against metal plate to force him to receive the shock

Question 31

Burger 2009

Answer 31

found % of ptps continuing after each prompt were
- ‘please go on’ - 64%
- ‘ the experiment requires you continue’ - 46%
- ‘it is absolutely essential you continue’ - 10%
- ‘ you have no other choice, you must go on’ - 0%

Question 32

milgrams replications

Answer 32

• These results have been replicated throughout the WORLD, including countries like Australia, Germany, Jordan, Holland, Italy, Spain (Meeus & Raaijmakers, 1986).
• And in different contexts (Hofling, Brotzman, Dalrymple, Graves & Pierce, 1966): Nurses gave lethal doses of an unauthorized drug after being ordered to do so by a doctor through the phone (Cialdini, p.191)
  Also, such obedience is still evident nearly 40 years after Milgram’s experiments. Cialdini (1993) describes how a train crew ran over and nearly killed a protestor because of the U.S. Navy’s orders. Medical Corpsmen at the scene also refused to treat the protestor, despite the Hippocratic oath. Apparently, AUTHORITY has a stronger influence than an OATH.

Question 33

milgram studies (1963, 1974)

Answer 33

• Results were unexpected
  
  • Independent group of psychiatrists predicted that only 1 in 1000 participants would go to the end
  • Colleagues / graduate students / psych majors at Yale: 1-2% indicated that they would go to the end.
• Hannah Arendt: “ (…) The banality of evil”
  
  • Perpetrators of evil act on banal motives
• Milgram
  
  • Normal people can be led to perform destructive acts when exposed to pressure from a legitimate authority
    Demonstrates the power of social situations

Question 34

more history

Answer 34

• 1950s - 60s boom
  
  • Foundation for modern Social Psychology
• 1970s - 80s
  
  • Theoretical integration & integration in other disciplines
    ○ Social Cognition (USA)
    ○ “Social” Social Psychology (Europe)
    ○ Behaviourism - study of human psychology should only investigate observable behaviour as influenced by observable environmental stimuli. No scientific validity to mental events like thoughts, feelings and emotions.
    ○ Cognitive revolution - cognitive themes gained attention in experimental, developmental, personality and clincial psychology
    ○ Adoption of research techniques of cognitive psychologists
• 1990s - 2000s
  
  • Automaticity and implicit social cognition
  • Social neuroscience
  • Culture
  • Emotion
  • Cognitive and social perspectives intergrated to provide explanations of people’s behaviour.
• 2010s
  
  • …
    Reproducibility and Open Science

Question 35

summary

Answer 35

• Humans spend much of their time in the company of others
• Definitions
• History
  Scope and applications