Paper 2 - Social Area Flashcards
What does social psychology assume ?
Situations we are in influences our behaviour.
Behaviour is determined by the actual,imagined or implied presence of others.
Our relationship with others influence behaviour and thought process.
what’s self perception ?
How we understand and judge our self.
our behaviour is influenced by our belief about how others perceive us.
if someone laughs at your joke you think you are funny.
What’s social perception ?
To explain the cause of behaviour as either having a situational or individual explanation.
if you trip on pavement you blame the council but a witness blames your clumsiness
what’s social interaction ?
The context a behaviour occurs in.
When we do something alongside another person it changes our behaviour.
The presence of others causes competition (faster speed)
What’s social influence ?
The impact a person can have on another person
Peer influence/conformity (queueing).
Explain the applications of social psychology
Mothers of the plaza de mayo
In 1977 Argentina was under a military dictatorship. 14 women gathered infront of a government house to demand information about their missing children. They had no media, only word of mouth the widen their protest. Despite brutality from the military they still protested and demanded the government for information and clarity.
Advertising: This relies on the principles pf the social area to sell products
Discrimination: Helps create laws to reduce racism
Environment: Building houses and accommodations will take into account the social area(community) that surrounds it and the effect that may have, e.g. crime prevention and safety.
What are the similarities and differences of social area ?
social psychology is most similar to development psychology. The two share methods and approaches. they both build models of social behaviour and they focus on the whole person.
In contrast, biological psychology and cognitive psychology use techniques of traditional sciences such as biology and chemistry.
what are the strengths of social psychology ?
strengths: well controlled research in labs can be conducted meaning valid conclusion can be drawn as extraneous variables are controlled. Allows insight into our behaviours to others and the influence they have on us in everyday life.
What are the weaknesses of social psychology ?
weaknesses: studies validity reduces due to the tight controlled/ unnatural situation which creates demand characteristics. Conclusions may only relate to one specific group (ethnocentrism), e.g. Milgram with Americans. Its a reductionist approach to explaining behaviour. Its a deterministic approach
What paired studies belong in the social area and what is their main focus?
Milgram and Bocchiaro - Responses to authority
Pavilion et al and Levine et al - Responses to people in need.
Which side of the…
nature/nurture
situational/individual
determinism/freewill
reductionism/holism
debate does the social area relate to ?
Nurture, situational and determinism reductionism.
How does the social area relate to the nurture side of the nature/nurture debate ?
The theory that behaviour is caused by external influences rather than innate biological processes is supported by the social area. For example in Milgram’s study on obedience, It was concluded that the authority figure wearing a lab coat influenced the participants behvaiour, causing them to give brutal electric shocks to other ‘participants’.
How does the social area relate to the situational side of the situational/individual debate ?
The social area concludes that the environment (situation) influences behvaiour rather than personal (individual factors). For example, in Bocchiaro’s study on obedience, disobedience and whistleblowing, the participants obeyed the unethical orders due to external pressure of the authority figure.
How does the social area relate to the determinism side of the freewill/determinism debate ?
The social area concludes individual behaviours are determined by societal events rather than a person’s uncontrolled decision process. For example in Milgram’s study of obedience, the participants reaction of compliance to give electric shocks to innocent people was due to the features of the event like the strict lab environment and the authority figure wearing a lab coat.
how does the social area relate to the reductionism side of the reductionism/holism debate ?
The social area concludes that behvaiour is only due to environmental factors and nothing else such as biological reasons contributes to this behaviour. For example in Bocchiaro’s study the researchers did not consider the possible neurological reasons to why the majority of participants obeyed unethical orders instead, they concluded it was strictly due to external environmental factors.
