Week 1 - Lecture 2 - Historical context

Question 1

What is Allport’s (1954) definition of social psychology?

Answer 1

“With few expectations, social psychologists define their discipline as an attempt to understand and explain how thoughts, feelings, and behavior of individuals are influenced by the actual imagined or implied presence of others”

Question 2

What is Cartwrights (1979) definition of social psychology?

Answer 2

“Social psychology is that branch of the social sciences, which attempts to explain how society influences the cognition, motivation, development, and behaviour of individuals, and in turn, is influenced by them”

Question 3

What has Allport’s view of progress (1954)?

Answer 3

The idea of progress and development in the field

Question 4

What did Allport suggest irrationalist theories changed to?

Answer 4

Rationalist theories

Question 5

What did Allport suggest simple theories changed to?

Answer 5

Pluralistic theories

Question 6

What did Allport suggest observational methods developed to?

Answer 6

Experimental Methods

Question 7

Why was observationalists offended by Allport’s discussion of progress?

Answer 7

• Social psychology existed in universities and in textbooks before the turn to experimentalism
• 20th century experimentalism initially viewed as inappropriate for exploring social phenomena, which were viewed as the result of macro social influences

Question 8

Danziger (2000) notes that Allport changes people conception of ‘social’ in two ways, what are these?

Answer 8

• Only individuals are real - all institutions only exist in the habits and attitudes of individuals
• Distinguished between real social and non-social behavior - the former involved individuals responding to social stimuli

Question 9

Allport (1954) argued that social psychology was ‘born’ where?

Answer 9

America

Question 10

How does Cartwright (1979) challenge Allports view that social psychology was ‘born’ in America?

Answer 10

• Emphasised the impact of WW2 in transforming the field of American social psychology - increasing output, legitimacy, and altering the composition of the field
• Rapid expansion means the most theories, methods, and assumptions are the product of a single group os (homogeneous) teachers - the American White Middle class man
  -Notes that Nazium resulted in European intellectuals immigrating to American who bought different perspectives and influences the development of the field