W1: Intro & Methods

Question 1

What is the definition of social psychology?

Answer 1

The scientific study of feelings, thoughts and behaviours of individuals in social situations.

Question 2

What are the 3 core themes in social psychology?

Answer 2

1. Power of situation
2. Channel factors: may seem unimportant but have a great influence on behaviour, either facilitating, blocking or guiding behaviour.
3. Fundamental attribution theory: overemphasizing dispositions, underestimating situational factors

Question 3

What is a construal?

Answer 3

The subjective interpretation of a stimulus or social situation (i.e. we use schemas to form construals)

Question 4

What is a schema?

Answer 4

Generalized knowledge about the world and how to behave in a particular situation with different kinds of people
- scripts we carry in our mind: the most relevant schema is activated when people enter a certain situation and behave in line with that schema.

Question 5

How do we process social information?

Answer 5

1. Automatic Processing (unconscious & emotional)
   - unconscious processing: occurs when beliefs and behaviours are generated without our awareness of the underlying causes/processes
2. Controlled Processing (systematic, deliberate)

Question 6

Why is social psychology actually not that obvious?

Answer 6

1. Hindsight bias: tendency to be overconfident about whether they could have predicted a certain outcome
2. Folk wisdom and intuitions (e.g. birds of a feather flock together vs opposites attract )

Question 7

Why is social psychology actually a science?

Answer 7

Science is defined by a method. (problem, theory, hypothesis, testing, accepting/rejecting)

Question 8

How do you test a hypothesis?

Answer 8

1. Correlational Research
   - Correlation does not imply causation, because of reverse causation, third variables & self-selection
   - Best alternative when unethical to test
2. Experimental Research
   - Manipulation of IV and testing of DV (experimental vs control)
   - Random assignment
3. Quasi-Experiments
   - Rely on existing group memberships (e.g. gender, SES)
   - Not reliable to eliminate third variables

Question 9

How do we measure variables in psychology?

Answer 9

• Operationalisation

close approximations, to reach convergence

Question 10

How can we tell if a measurement is a good one?

Answer 10

1. Measurement Validity (has to do w operationalisation)
2. Internal Validity (ruling out of alternative explanations)
3. External Validity (generalizability)
4. Reliability (consistency of assessment results)

Question 11

What is research for?

Answer 11

1. Basic Science (e.g. how do situational factors affect helping behaviour)
2. Applied Science (e.g. how to increase donations for charities?)

Question 12

What constitutes good research?

Answer 12

1. Basic and applied value
2. Valid and reliable methods
3. Replication: reproduction of scientific study
4. Ethics upheld

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