Social Psychology.

Question 1

What is social psychology?

Answer 1

“An attempt to understand and explain how the thought, feeling, and behavior of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others.”

• Scientific study of how people influence each other, and other factors that affect social behavior
• Developed as a well-defined field of scientific research in 20th century; grew out of
  
  • Pre-19th Century Social Philosophy Approach (emphasized speculation about social behaviour)
  • Social Empiricism Approach of the 19th Century (included systematic data gathering)
  • Social Analysis Approach of the 20th Century (emphasized theory development)

Question 2

What is a theory in social psychology?

Answer 2

“Theory…a set of interrelated concepts that presents a systematic view of phenomena by specifying the relations between these concepts, with the purpose of explaining and predicting phenomena”

Question 3

What are psychoanalytic theories?

Answer 3

• Man is a striving man
• Concerned with transformation of man from biological organism to socialized being
• Internal states direct specific behaviours unconsciously
• Freud father of Psychoanalytic Theories
• Contributions: socialization of the individual, personality development, family structure, sources of aggressive behavior

Question 4

What are Behavior Theories?

Answer 4

• How behavior is acquired and emitted
• Early behaviorism emphasized the person’s environment in determining behavior
  • Early behaviorist: Pavlov

Reject concepts that can’t be empirically tested

Question 5

What are Cognitive Theories?

Answer 5

• Man is a thinking man
  -Like a social computer
• Gestalt psychology = process of -perception and perceptual organization
• Rely heavily on verbal behaviour, conscious experience, and environmental factors
  Examples: Attribution Theory and Self-Efficacy Theory
• Currently in vogue in social psychology

Question 6

What are laboratory studies?

Answer 6

Laboratory studies conducted in laboratories

• Standardized conditions
• Pro’s: efficient, easy to get informed consent and debrief
• Con’s: artificial, demand characteristics, usually non-random sample

Question 7

What are field studies?

Answer 7

Field studies carried out in real-life setting

• Little control
• Pro’s: diverse sample, observe real behavior
• Con’s: sloppy, able to get informed consent?

Question 8

What is a Independent Variable (V)?

Answer 8

What the researcher is manipulating.

Question 9

What is a Dependent Variable (DV)?

Answer 9

The effect of the IV.

Question 10

What are experimental studies?

Answer 10

Experimental studies answer cause-effect questions.

• One variable (IV) has direct causal influence on another (DV)
• Includes manipulation of IV and random assignment

Question 11

What are non-experimental studies?

Answer 11

Non-experimental studies do not allow for cause-effect

• Experimental studies not always possible
• Correlation studies tell us that two variables are related
  - Correlation does not equal causation!

Question 12

• 1890’s
• First sport-specific social psychology experiment
• Why do cyclists ride faster in groups/pairs vs. alone?
  
  • Looked at records
  • Conducted experiment
• Examined the effects of others on performance
• Groundwork for Social Facilitation Theory

Answer 12

Norman Triplett

Question 13

• 1950’s
• Important for psychological understanding of groups (conflict, prejudice, stereotypes, competition)
• Famous study looked at intergroup conflict and competition
  
  • Showed that intergroup conflict can
    trigger competition, prejudice, and
    discriminatory behavior

Answer 13

Muzafer Sherif’s Robber’s Cave Study