Social Bases Flashcards
social psychology
the scientific study of the way in which people’s thoughts, feelings and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people (i.e. the study of social influence)
behaviorism (where did social psychology come from)
studied observable stimuli’s effect on behavior, chooses not to deal with cognition/thinking/feeling, inadequate for understanding social world
gestalt psychology
stressed the importance of studying the subjective way in which an object appears in people’s minds (the gestalt or whole) rather than the objective, physical attributes of the object, emphasis on construal or the way people interpret social situation
-Kurt Lewin - applied Gestalt principles to social perception, stressed the importance of taking perspective of the people in any social situation to see how they construe social environment
naive realism
the conviction that we see things accurately and as “true”
observational method
research observes people, used to describe behavior, provides realistic information
two types of observational method research
ethnography: description from an “insiders point of view”
archival analysis: researcher examines accumulated documents (archives)
benefits and limitations of observational research
Benefits: no expectation of privacy (public); realistic (real world).
Limitations: some behaviors difficult to observe (rarely or in private); reactance (i.e., people behave differently when being observed); archival analysis and missing information; doesn’t show causation.
correlational method of research
two or more variables are systemically measured and the relation between them is assessed; only one group—measure two things at the same time (how much can one variable be predicted by the other?).
correlation coefficient
(r): a statistical technique that assesses how well you can predict one variable from the other.
two things to consider with correlational coefficient
Strength: magnitude
Direction: increase/decrease
way to do correlational research
Surveys: representative sample of people asked about attitudes or behavior; correlations computed using responses to questions; best when random
selection is used.
benefits and limitations of correlational research
Benefits: realistic (access to real world data); can be cheap/easy; can investigate things could otherwise not.
Limitations: typically self-report; need to be careful about representativeness of sample; cannot demonstrate causation.
explain correlation is not causation
Directionality problem: which causes which?
Third variable problem: is there another factor causing?
the experimental method of research
a research design with 3 key features: 1) manipulation of IV;
2) measurement of DV; and 3) random assignment of participants to groups.
-The only way to demonstrate that one variable causes another variable!
-Balancing internal vs. external validity
benefits and limitations of the experimental method
Benefits: demonstrates causation, can control variables.
Limitations: expensive and time consuming; may not resemble real world (lacks external validity).
quasi experimental method
uses existing groups (e.g., culture, nationality); lacks at least one of the 3 key features of experiments (usually manipulation of IV or random assignment); still have measurement of DV.
benefits and limitations of quasi experimental
Benefits: realistic; can be cheap & easy; can investigate things you otherwise could not.
Limitations: cannot demonstrate causation.
internal validity
Extent to which we can say the conclusions we draw are accurate / trustworthy and not influence by other factors
typically high in experiments, can control variables, random assignment.
external validity
The extent to which experiments can be generalized to other contexts
often low in experiments; people & situations.
psychological realism
Deal with dilemma of internal vs. external validity by using psychological realism: the extent to which the psychological processes triggered in an experiment are similar to psychological processes that occur in everyday life.
cover story
description of the purpose of the study, given to participants, that is different from its true purpose & is used to maintain psychological realism.
field experiments
calculated in natural settings rather than a lab.
replications
repeating the study, often with different subject populations or in different settings/methods/contexts.
replication controversy
many experiments are not replicated, no incentives to do so. When they do replicate, many findings do not fit.