Lecture 7: What is Social Psychology?

Question 1

What is the scientific method?

Answer 1

• A theory is an organised set of general principles or ideas used to explain…
• observed phenomena
• The relationship between constructs/events.
• Data/ evidence is gathered by applying empirical methods.

Question 2

What makes a good theory?

Answer 2

• Predictive accuracy - Does it reliably predict behaviour.
• Internal coherence - Is it logical and consistent?
• Parsimony - Does it make unnecessary assumptions?
• Fertility - Does it inspire more ideas/research.

Question 3

What are the 3 levels of Theories?

Answer 3

• Grand theories (Meta - theories)
• Mid - range
• Specific

Question 4

What is social psychology?

Answer 4

• It is an attempt to understand and explain how the thoughts, feelings and behaviour of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of others.
• It links people’s cognition (thought processes), affective states (feelings and emotions) and behaviour to their social world.
• It takes a process - oriented approach: we want to know what people do and when, as well as why they do it.

Question 5

What 3 topical areas are there in social psychology?

Answer 5

• Social influence - e.g., conformity, compliance, obedience, persuasion.
• Social perception - e.g., impression formation, attraction, stereotyping, bias.
• Social interaction - e.g., aggression & conflict, helping, prejudice & discrimination, communication.

Question 6

Does social psychology have relevance?

Answer 6

• It is relevant to everyday life and has important implication.
• Theories of human social behaviour are likely to be affected by common sense notions.

Question 7

How is social psychology considered a science?

Answer 7

• Social psychologists use empirical methods to test their theories.
• It is the scientific study of the effects of social and cognitive processes on the way individuals perceive, influence and relate to others.
• It is the scientific study of hoe individuals think, feel and behave in a social context?

Question 8

What are the levels of explanation in social psychology?

Answer 8

• Intrapersonal - taking place or existing within the mind.
• Interpersonal - Relationships
• Intergroup - Social groups
• Societal - society impact

Question 9

What is the Hermeneutic approach?

Answer 9

• Arose out of a critique of the scientific method during the crisis of social psychology
• Rejects the goals of mainstream social psychology.
• Argues that research should be concerned with understanding individual behaviour in specific contexts rather than searching for general theories.

Question 10

What experimental methods are used?

Answer 10

• Lab experiments

* Field experiments

Question 11

What non - experimental methods are used?

Answer 11

• Surveys
• Case studies
• Archival research
• Field Studies

Question 12

What is the importance of scientific literacy?

Answer 12

• Validity
• Reliability
• Replication
• Generalisability
• Interpretation of research findings.

Question 13

What was the purpose of the Stanford prison study?

Answer 13

• To study the effects of imprisonment

* To test the dispositional hypothesis.

Question 14

Who were the participants of the Stanford prison study?

Answer 14

• 75 participants responded to advertisement.
• Volunteers filled in a battery of psychological tests and were interviewed to asses their mental stability.
• 21 were randomly assigned to the roles of guards or prisoners.

Question 15

What conclusions were drawn from the stanford prison study?

Answer 15

• The power of social roles

* Tyranny or evil are produced by the adoption of particular social rules.

Question 16

What’s important when studying people?

Answer 16

• Participants and experiments are people:
• Both are involved in a sense making process.
• The notion of subject is misleading - especially in social psychological research.
• A study’s famousness is not a guarantee for its analytical rigor:
• Different levels of explanation can be used to explain social behaviour.

Question 17

What are the five basic ethical principles?

Answer 17

• Protection from harm - physical and mental.
• Respect for privacy - anonymity or confidentiality.
• Use of deception - 50-75% of researchers uses deception.
• Informed consent - including the possibility to withdraw at anytime.
• Debriefing - full explanation of purpose of research.