Week 1 - Introducing Social Psych & Research Methods

Question 1

What is social psychology?

Answer 1

The scientific study of how peoples thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are influenced by factors in the social world.

Question 2

What do social psychologists study?

Answer 2

How people explain their own and other peoples behaviour, how people influence each other, and how people connect with each other.

Question 3

Gordon W. Allport’s definition of social psychology…

Answer 3

…“an attempt to understand and explain how the thought, feelings and behaviour of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of other human beings”

Question 4

Scientific method

Answer 4

a technique for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, and/or correcting previous knowledge

Question 5

Self-Perception is…

Answer 5

how we think about ourselves

Question 6

Self-presentation

Answer 6

how people work to convey certain images of themselves to others

Question 7

Social perception

Answer 7

how people form impressions of and make inferences about other people and events in the social world

Question 8

Social cognition

Answer 8

how we think about the social world, and in particular how we select, interpret and use info to make judgements about the world

Question 9

social influence

Answer 9

the impact of other peoples attitudes and behaviours on our thoughts, feelings, and behaviour

Question 10

Self-fulfilling prophecy

Answer 10

the process by which peoples expectations about a person lead them to elect behaviour that confirms these expectations

Question 11

Behaviourism

Answer 11

a theory of learning that describes peoples behaviour as acquired through conditioning

Question 12

Gestalt Psychology

Answer 12

a theory that proposes objects are viewed holistically

Question 13

Gestalt Psychology

Answer 13

a theory that proposes objects are viewed holistically (the whole is more than merely the sum of its parts)

Question 14

Who is Kurt Lewin

Answer 14

a German-Jewish professor, who is often considered the founder of social psychology

Question 15

Positive Psychology

Answer 15

a recent branch of psychology that studies individuals strengths and virtues

Question 16

hindsight bias

Answer 16

the tendency to see a given outcome as inevitable once the actual outcome is known

Question 17

Social Neuroscience

Answer 17

a sub-sidcipline of social psych examining how facts in the social world influence activity in the brain, as well as how neural processes influence attitudes and behaviour

Question 18

sociocultural perspective

Answer 18

a perspective describing peoples behaviour and mental processes as being shaped in part by their social and/or cultural context

Question 19

individualistic

Answer 19

a view of the self as distinct, autonomous, self-contained, and endowed with unique attributions

Question 20

collectivistic

Answer 20

a view of the self as part of a larger social network, including family, friends, and co-workers

Question 21

Social constructionism

Answer 21

the view that there is no absolute reality and that our knowledge and what we understand to be reality are socially constructed

Question 22

literature review

Answer 22

examining previous relevant studies on a given topic and critically appeasing them

Question 23

hypothesis

Answer 23

a testable prediction about the conditions under which an event will occur

Question 24

operational definition

Answer 24

a specific procedure or measure that one uses to test a hypothesis

Question 25

theory

Answer 25

an organized set of principles that explain observed phenomena

Question 26

correlational research

Answer 26

a research technique that examines the extent to which two or more variables are associated with one another

Question 27

observational/naturalistic methods

Answer 27

a research approach that involves the observation and systematic recording of a particular behaviour

Question 28

archival research

Answer 28

a research approach that uses already recorded behaviour

Question 29

meta-anaylsis

Answer 29

a literature review that analyzes data from several studies that examine related hypothesis

Question 30

inter-rater reliability

Answer 30

the extent to which two or more coders agree on ratings of a particular measure

Question 31

event recording or experience sampling measures

Answer 31

a particular type of self-report or survey data where participants report various experiences they have at regular time intervals

Question 32

covert measures

Answer 32

measures used by researchers that rely on participants behaviour or reaction not directly under participants control

Question 33

experimental methods

Answer 33

a research approach that involves the manipulation of one or more independent variables and the measurement of one or more dependent variable

Question 34

independent variable

Answer 34

the variable that is manipulated in experimental research

Question 35

dependent variable

Answer 35

the factor that is measured to see if it is affected by the independent variable

Question 36

random assignment

Answer 36

a technique for placing participants into the different conditions in an experiment that gives all participants equal opportunity of being placed in any of the conditions

Question 37

internal validity

Answer 37

the degree to which one can validity draw conclusions about the effects of the independent variable on the dependent variable

Question 38

demand characteristic

Answer 38

the cues in a research setting that may inadvertently guide participants behaviour

Question 39

experimenter expectancy effects

Answer 39

when an experimenters expectations about the results of the study influence participants behaviour and thereby affect the results of the study

Question 40

experimenter blind

Answer 40

the procedure that ensures the experimenter who is interacting with a study participants does not know which conditions the participants are in

Question 41

experimental realism or psychological realism

Answer 41

the extent to which participants are engaged in a particular study and hence act in more spontaneous and natural ways

Question 42

external validity

Answer 42

the degree to which there can be reasonable confidence that the same results would be obtained for other people in other situations

Question 43

mundane realism

Answer 43

the extent to which the conditions of the study resemble places and events that exist in the real world

Question 44

field experiments

Answer 44

experiments that are conducted in natural settings

Question 45

random sample or representative sample

Answer 45

a sample that reflects the characteristics of the population of interest

Question 46

Research ethics board

Answer 46

a panel of experts responsible for the ethical assessment of all research proposals conducted at an organization

Question 47

informed consent

Answer 47

an individuals deliberate, voluntary decision to participate in research based on the researchers description of what such participation will involve

Question 48

deception

Answer 48

giving false info to the participants in a study

Question 49

debriefing

Answer 49

a disclosure made to participants after research procedures are in which the researcher explains the purpose of the study, answers questions, attempts to resolve any negative feelings, and emphasizes the study contributions to science