Week 2: How do we DO Social Psychology? Flashcards
What is Hindsight Bias?
aka “I knew it all along effect”
- tendency for people to exaggerate how much they could have predicted the outcome after knowing it occurred
ex: watching football and afterwards saying “I knew that team was going to win” because you already saw it coming
What was the study done by Roese & Olson about Hindsight bias?
purpose: was to see if people have hindsight bias based on outcomes in a world war 1 themed story
story: young british solider plans to save the village
conditions
group 1 = planned accepted and village saved
group 2 = plan rejected and village destroyed
What was the findings in Roese & Olson study about Hindsight bias?
- participants found that in each condition the outcome was obvious
- didn’t matter if village was saved or destroyed, it all depended on what group they were apart of and them saying it was predictable to know that after the result –> hindsight bias
What is a theory?
organized set of principles that can be used to explain observed phenomena
Many studies stem from a researcher’s dissatisfaction with existing theories or the belief that they have a better way of explaining a given behaviour.
true or false
true
What is cognitive dissonance theory?
- to predict when and how attitude changes
- if there is an inconsistency between our attitudes and behaviour, we will change one of them to balance it out
What is a hypothesis?
testable statement or idea about the relationship between variables
“educated guess”
ex: people who are more similar are more attracted to each other
Researchers often construct a theory based on phenomena not observed in real-life or things they have experienced.
true or false
false - they are
What is an operational definition?
precise specification of how variables are manipulated or measured
used in observations
ex: : how researchers measure bullying to define it (what bullying is based on the behaviour)
What is a conceptual definition
“dictionary definition”
- words that tell you what something is
What 3 research methods do social psychologists rely on to provide empirical answers to social behavioural questions?
- Observational
- Correlational
- Experimental
What is the observational method?
” what is the nature of the phenomenon?”
- researcher observes people and systematically records measurements of their behaviour
-NO manipulation of the environment
What are 2 types of observational research?
- Archival analysis
- ethnography
What is ethnography?
- observational method
- researchers observe a group or culture from the inside, without imposing any of their preconceived notions or altering the situation
- behaviours to be observed must be CLEARLY DEFINED BEFOREHAND
ex: bullying and aggression in elementary school children
Will ethnography potentially use technology to monitor behaviour? if so, why?
yes
- helpful to use tech because people will most likely alter their behaviour if they know they’re being observed
What is archival analysis?
- observational method
- the researcher observes social behaviour by examining accumulated documents of a culture
- documents include: diaries, magazines, newspaper
What is the study involving archival analysis by Lanzieri & Cook?
- Purpose: Examine the visual sociocultural cues regarding men’s body images depicted in highly circulated magazines.
- two ideals –> muscular or lean for targeting gay men
results:
- magazines aimed at gay men –> thinner male images
- both gay and straight –> more muscular images than general audience magazines
What is correlation method?
- understanding the RELATIONSHIP between two variables
- “what is the relation between X and Y’?
ex: watching violent tv will impact aggressive behaviour development
What is the correlation coefficient in the correlational method?
- calculated statistic that assesses how well you can predict one variable based on another
- ranges from -1 to +1
- sign (+ or -) = direction of relationship
- number = strength of a relationship –> closer to one is strongest relationship, closer to zero is weaker relationship
What is the difference between a positive and a negative correlation?
positive = as one variable increases, the other increases
negative = as one variable increases, the other decreases
What is the correlational method often used in?
SURVEYS
What is a survey?
- where a representative sample of people are asked questions about their attitudes or behaviour
ex: ISPR survey studies
What are 2 advantages to using surveys in the correlational method?
- Judge the relationship between variables that are often difficult to observe (ex: predjudice)
- uses random selection –> ensures sample of people is representative of population by giving equal chance of being selected
What are 3 limitations to using surveys in the correlational method?
- sampling errors
- question accuracy
- question influence
What is a sampling error?
The chosen sample does not accurately represent the diversity of the overall population
ex: telephone surveys –> who picks up the phone?
What is question accuracy
- Participants are unable to explain their behavior in survey questions.
Ex: you asked someone to explain why they chose a meal in a survey ( complex reasons, need more elaboration than a quick questionnaire with limited answer options)
What is question influence
- Responses can be impacted by how questions are framed.
Ex: participants respond how they think they should respond based on what is socially acceptable (desirable responding)
Correlation does NOT equal causation. true or false?
true –> only identifies whehter two variables are associated NOT why they are!
What is the experimental method?
- determines the CAUSATION of two variables
- “is variable X a cause of variable Y”?
- randomly assign participants to different conditions and ensures that these conditions are identical except for the independent variable (the one variable they are trying to manipulate)
What 2 variables is the experimental method comprised of?
- independent
- dependent