Week 1 Flashcards
Strengths and weaknesses of first impressions research
+ often accurate.
- can be inconsistent/contradictory.
- based on limited samples from own and others experiences.
- limited by culture and experience.
‘Group in the individual’ meaning
Other peoples beliefs, desires and expectations remain in our thoughts, affecting us even when we are physically alone.
‘Individual in the group’ meaning
Other peoples influences on us even when they are not present, depend on the way we percieve and interpret them.
Explict and Implicit processes in social influence
E - can be obvious, e.g. Intimidation (physical)
I - can be subtle, e.g. persuasion and pressure.
What are the three main areas of social psychology?
Social thinking - how we define the self and how we think about people in the world around us.
Social influence - conformity, prejudice, and persuasion.
Social behaviour - helping, aggression, romantic relationships.
How do the 3 main social psychology areas overlap?
In our everyday lives, they blend together as they influence us.
What domain was psychology origianally considered to be in?
Philosophy - late 19th century.
Why did psychology change its domain into being classed as a science?
Researchers in Germany began to employ similar experimental methods (lab methods) to understand mental processes: sensations, memory, decision-making.
What main framework was social psychology in the 1920’s?
Behaviourism.
How does the pressure of others affect behaviour?
Can facilitate performance when individual can be identified/ reduces performance when you can be lost in a crowd.
What wartime motivated research could be applied?
Persuasion techniques. e.g. Kurt Lewis, food shortages, civillians needed to change their dietry requirements.
What are the 6 current applications to social issues?
Health
Education
Law
Environment
Business
Community
What are the four objectives of empirical research?
- describing reality (e.g. unknown phenomena).
- establishing presense of a correlation (quantitative).
- establishing a casual relationship (quantitiative).
- testing and developing theories.
3 types of sampling?
Random - everyone in a population has an equal chance.
Self-selection - participants opt into study (however, can cause issues such as participants being too similar).
Convenience - collecting data from an available subgroup of participants (e.g. undergraduate students).
Quanititative and Qualitative research
Validity - Credibility
Reliability - Transferability
Objectives - Member checking, confirmability.
