W1

Question 1

social psychology

Answer 1

‘scientific study of feelings, thoughts and behaviours of individuals in social settings’

Question 2

dispositions

Answer 2

internal factors (eg. beliefs, values, traits, abilities) that guide behaviour

Question 3

fundamental attribution error

Answer 3

placing too much emphasis on dispositions and not enough on external situational factors, when trying to understand human behaviour

Question 4

nudge theory

Answer 4

subtle adaptations to an environment that guide someone to make a certain decision or act in a certain way (eg. having an email subscription offer box say ‘opt out’ rather than ‘opt in’, tends to make people more likely to stay opted in)

Question 5

gestalt psychology

Answer 5

the idea that perception isn’t often an objective experience, but that there is usually nonconscious interpretation involved

Question 6

construal

Answer 6

a subjective interpretation and inference of a stimulus

Question 7

schema

Answer 7

a collection of knowledge which helps us understand what is going on in a social situation, and therefore how to behave and adapt accordingly

Question 8

automatic processing

Answer 8

initial, nonconscious emotional reaction to a stimulus

Question 9

systematic processing

Answer 9

rationalising a situation after the initial emotional response

Question 10

natural selection

Answer 10

component of evolutionary theory by which certain traits and behaviours are adapted to be better suited to the environment, then passed down to subsequent generations

Question 11

human universals

Answer 11

certain behaviours that seem to appear in almost every person and society (eg. bipedalism- walking upright on two legs)

Question 12

parental investment

Answer 12

weighing up of cost vs benefit happens differently in males and females (eg. it is more common for a man with several wives than a woman with several husbands)

Question 13

social neuroscience

Answer 13

study of the brain in terms of biological components relating to behaviour

Question 14

thought experiment

Answer 14

mental exercise testing out a hypothesis, without actually conducting it in real life

Question 15

external validity

Answer 15

how well a study’s results generalise to the wider world

Question 16

internal validity

Answer 16

level of certainty that only the manipulated variable could have produced the results

Question 17

reliability

Answer 17

same results for a variable are produced no matter if the measuring instrument changes or the time measured changes

Question 18

measurement validity

Answer 18

how well a measure predicts outcomes it is supposed to

Question 19

statistical significance

Answer 19

probability a result could have occurred by chance

Question 20

replication

Answer 20

results can be achieved in another subsequent study, showing they are less likely to be produced by chance

Question 21

informed consent

Answer 21

person agrees to participate in a study after being informed about the nature of the study as much as possible

Question 22

deception research

Answer 22

studies where researchers intentionally mislead a participant (about study’s purpose, about conditions they will face, etc) as to simulate certain conditions to see how they will respond (eg. Milgram study)

Question 23

debriefing

Answer 23

post-participation session allowing participant to give feedback about their experience, and to be educated more on the study now that they have completed participation

Question 24

basic scientific research

Answer 24

research trying to understand about a social phenomenon in and of itself, which can lead to targeted interventions

Question 25

applied scientific research

Answer 25

research trying to understand about a real-world problem (eg. smoking)