Section 1: Social Psychology and Research

Question 1

What is social psychology

Answer 1

thought, feelings, behavior, of individuals are influenced by the actual/imagined/implied presence of others

Question 2

how does social psych differ from sociology?

Answer 2

Sociology: broad level on institutions, structures on a whole
Social: person/individual - not common sense

Question 3

4 main theoretical perspectives:

Answer 3

1. Sociocultural
2. Evolutionary
3. Social Learning
4. Social Cognitive

Question 4

Sociocultural perspective:

Answer 4

behavior= influenced culture when beliefs, customs, habits, are shared by people living in a particular time or place

Question 5

Evolutionary perspective:

Answer 5

behavior= influenced by physical and psychological predispositions - help humans survive

a. natural selection
b. adoption

Question 6

Social Learning perspective:

Answer 6

experiences with reward and punishment influence social behavior

Question 7

Social cognitive perspective:

Answer 7

influenced by mental processes- involved in paying attention to interpreting and remembering social experiences

Question 8

3 core themes:

Answer 8

1. Goal oriented: our interactions have goals fulfill
2. Person x situation interaction:
3. Much human thinking happens w/o our awareness

Question 9

Define Hypothesis:

Answer 9

proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence

Question 10

What questions does a hypothesis answer?

Answer 10

1. When (under what condition)?

2. Why is this answer likely to be true?

Question 11

Descriptive research:

Answer 11

measures or records behaviors, thoughts, or feelings in their natural states

Question 12

Example of descriptive research:

Answer 12

case studies: intensive exam of individual or group

Question 13

Strengths and Weakness of Descriptive research:

Answer 13

Strengths: allow to study rare behaviors
Weaknesses: subjective, pay more attention to some traits than others (over-look), not actually knowing if traits correlate correctly, not generalized to a population

Question 14

Define Correlation Studies:

Answer 14

extend to which two or more variables are associated with each other

Question 15

Types of correlation studies:

Answer 15

1. Postive: if one goes up, then the other goes up (same both down)
2. Negative: if one goes up, other goes down (same for one down, and one up)

Question 16

Two big problems with correlation studies:

Answer 16

1. 3rd variable

2. Directional problem: which one comes first?

Question 17

Experimental research definition:

Answer 17

systematically manipulate one variable while holding the other variable constant - “systematic manipulation”

Question 18

experimental research tests…..

Answer 18

cause and effect

Question 19

Strengths of Experimental research:

Answer 19

1. Internal Validity: be sure that IV caused changes in DV
2. Allow to control: confounding/ extraneous variables
   - systematically changes with IV
   - causes difference in results

Question 20

Weaknesses of Experimental research:

Answer 20

1. External Validity: results will generalize outside given experiment
2. Demand Characteristics: cues in experiment that influence participant’s behavior
3. Constant Validity: concept of interest, whatever your measuring

Question 21

Field experiment definition:

Answer 21

manipulate IVs using knowing participants in natural settings

Question 22

Anderson and Dill:

Answer 22

IV: Tyoes of game 2x a week (violent vs. non)
DV: Aggression –> violence made DV go up

Question 23

Dutton and Aron’s Rickety Bridge Study:

Answer 23

?: Do we really know the cause of our emotion
IV: Environments: bridges- safe or rickety
DV: Romantic interest –> anxiety or romantic attraction
Rickety bridge, likely to call = correct

Question 24

Strengths of field experiment:

Answer 24

investigate things that would be impossible in lab, natural settings

Question 25

Weaknesses of field experiment:

Answer 25

cannot randomly assign participants, pre-existing