W1 Flashcards
Intro to social psychology
What is the “social”, “social content”, “social processes” in social psychology?
social: pertaining to other people;
content: other people;
processes: other people as sources of influence.
What is “social psychology”?
The scientific study of the effects of social and cognitive processes on the way people perceive, influence and relate to others.
When and how did social psychology become an empirical science?
In the late 19th century
Triplett and Ringelmann’s study of group effect
History: the first two textbooks appeared in 1908
McDougall: all social behavior stems from innate tendencies or instincts.
Ross: people are heavily influenced by others, weather those others are physically present or not.
History: rejection of behaviorism
Behaviorists were right that external stimuli can influence behavior.
Social psychology: the effect of any stimulus depends on how individuals and groups interpret it.
History: the rise of Nazism shapes the development of social psychology
Brought a new group of skilled researched to North America.
Nazi led to ask questions about the roots of prejudice.
WWII drew social psychologists to the search for solutions to immediate practical problems (e.g., changing eating habits)
people’s subjective interpretation of reality is the key determinant of their beliefs and behaviors; social influences structure those interpretations and behaviors
History: growth and integration
since 50s and 60s.
Integration of cognitive and social processes;
with other research trends (cultures, evolutionary, embodiment and neuroscience and so on).
Integration of basic science and social problems (health, education, law, environment, business)
What is “construction of reality”?
People construct their own reality, shaped both by cognitive (the ways our minds work) social (input from others) processes
Explain “pervasiveness of social influence”?
Other people influence virtually all of our thoughts, feelings and behavior, whether others are physically present or not
What are the three core motivations
Striving for mastery (to understand and predict events in order to obtain rewards);
Seeking connectedness (support, liking, and acceptance from the people they care about);
Valuing “me and mine” (desire to see themselves, and other people connected to themselves in a positive way)
Core processing principles: conservatism
Beliefs and opinions are slow to change
Core processing principles: accessibility
Accessible information has the most impact on us
mind is associative network, some elements are more active than others
Core processing principles:
processing depth
Information can be processed with various levels of depth. superficiality versus depth
What is “scientific method”?
Systematic observation combined with inductive reasoning
What is a “scientific theory”?
A statement about the causal relationships among abstract constructs. general in scope.
What is “interventions” in constructing scientific theory?
practical steps taken to change people’s behavior or to solve social problems
What is “construct validity”
the extent to which the independent and dependent variables used in research correspond to the theoretical constructs under investigation.
construct validity has two parts: first, independent and dependent variables must correspond to the intended cause and effect constructs; second, they must not correspond to other constructs.
What is “independent variable”?
a concrete manipulation or measurement of a construct that is thought be cause other constructs
What is “dependent variable”?
a concrete measurement of a construct that is thought to be an effect of other construct
What is “social desirability response bias”?
people’s tendency to act in ways that they believe others find acceptable and approve of
What is ‘self-report measures”?
those based on asking the individual about his or her thoughts, feelings or behaviors
What is “observational measures”?
those based on directly watching and recording people’s behavior, including online behavior
What is “archival measures”?
those based on examining traces of past behavior such as Google database of word usage.
What is “performance measures”?
those that ask participants to perform some task as well as they can
What is “physiological measures”?
those based on measurement of some physiological processes such as heart rate or muscle movements
What is EEG (electro-encephalographic)?
measures use electrical signals on the scalp to very accurately detect the times at which specific neural events occur
What is fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging)?
indirectly measures the activation levels of specific brain regions
What is “internal validity”?
the extent to which it can be concluded that changes in the independent variable actually caused changes in the dependent variable in a research study.
What is “non-experimental research design”?
sometimes called “correlational design”
a research design in which both the independent and dependent variables are measured. (vulnerable to many threats)
What is “experimental research design”?
researchers randomly assign participants to different groups and manipulate one or more independent variables
What is “confederate” in a research design?
a research assistant playing a specific role in the study, such as pretending to be just another participant
What is “external validity”?
the extent to which research results can be generalized to other appropriate people, times, and settings.
What is “individualist culture”?
those in which people are particularly likely to think of themselves as separate from other people and to define themselves in terms of their uniqueness
What is “collectivist culture”?
those in which people tend to think of themselves in terms of their relationships to others
What is “demand characteristics”?
cues in a research setting that lead participants to make inferences about what researches expect or desire and that therefore bias how the participants act
What is “field research”?
research that takes place outside the laboratory.
can study the long-term effects
can measure concrete, powerful variables.
often has good construct validity, and sometimes good internal validity
diverse field settings, such as hospitals, airport and so on.
