Week 2: How do we DO Social Psychology? Flashcards

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1
Q

What is Hindsight Bias?

A

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

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2
Q

What was the study done by Roese & Olson about Hindsight bias?

A

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

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3
Q

What was the findings in Roese & Olson study about Hindsight bias?

A
  • 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
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4
Q

What is a theory?

A

organized set of principles that can be used to explain observed phenomena

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5
Q

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

A

true

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6
Q

What is cognitive dissonance theory?

A
  • 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
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7
Q

What is a hypothesis?

A

testable statement or idea about the relationship between variables
“educated guess”

ex: people who are more similar are more attracted to each other

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8
Q

Researchers often construct a theory based on phenomena not observed in real-life or things they have experienced.
true or false

A

false - they are

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9
Q

What is an operational definition?

A

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)

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10
Q

What is a conceptual definition

A

“dictionary definition”

  • words that tell you what something is
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11
Q

What 3 research methods do social psychologists rely on to provide empirical answers to social behavioural questions?

A
  1. Observational
  2. Correlational
  3. Experimental
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12
Q

What is the observational method?

A

” what is the nature of the phenomenon?”

  • researcher observes people and systematically records measurements of their behaviour

-NO manipulation of the environment

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13
Q

What are 2 types of observational research?

A
  1. Archival analysis
  2. ethnography
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14
Q

What is ethnography?

A
  • 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

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15
Q

Will ethnography potentially use technology to monitor behaviour? if so, why?

A

yes
- helpful to use tech because people will most likely alter their behaviour if they know they’re being observed

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16
Q

What is archival analysis?

A
  • observational method
  • the researcher observes social behaviour by examining accumulated documents of a culture
  • documents include: diaries, magazines, newspaper
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17
Q

What is the study involving archival analysis by Lanzieri & Cook?

A
  • 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

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18
Q

What is correlation method?

A
  • understanding the RELATIONSHIP between two variables
  • “what is the relation between X and Y’?

ex: watching violent tv will impact aggressive behaviour development

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19
Q

What is the correlation coefficient in the correlational method?

A
  • 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
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20
Q

What is the difference between a positive and a negative correlation?

A

positive = as one variable increases, the other increases

negative = as one variable increases, the other decreases

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21
Q

What is the correlational method often used in?

A

SURVEYS

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22
Q

What is a survey?

A
  • where a representative sample of people are asked questions about their attitudes or behaviour
    ex: ISPR survey studies
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23
Q

What are 2 advantages to using surveys in the correlational method?

A
  1. Judge the relationship between variables that are often difficult to observe (ex: predjudice)
  2. uses random selection –> ensures sample of people is representative of population by giving equal chance of being selected
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24
Q

What are 3 limitations to using surveys in the correlational method?

A
  1. sampling errors
  2. question accuracy
  3. question influence
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25
Q

What is a sampling error?

A

The chosen sample does not accurately represent the diversity of the overall population

ex: telephone surveys –> who picks up the phone?

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26
Q

What is question accuracy

A
  • 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)

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27
Q

What is question influence

A
  • 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)

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28
Q

Correlation does NOT equal causation. true or false?

A

true –> only identifies whehter two variables are associated NOT why they are!

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29
Q

What is the experimental method?

A
  • 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)
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30
Q

What 2 variables is the experimental method comprised of?

A
  1. independent
  2. dependent
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31
Q

what is an independent variable (IV)?

A
  • is presumed to cause the change in the other variable.
  • It is manipulated by the researcher
  • must be two different levels/conditions of IV
32
Q

What is the dependent variable?

A
  • measured by the researcher to see if changes depending on the independent variable.
  • DV depends on IV
  • often an attitude, feeling, belief, or behaviour in social psych
33
Q

What is the experimental study by Latane and Darley?

A
  • their hypothesis was “The more people who witness an emergency, the less likely it is that any given individual will intervene (i.e., diffusion of responsibility)”
  • at the time this is when the big case around Kitty Genovese murder in New York City where there were bystanders all around that heard her murder but did nothing

steps:
1. participant would arrive and go to a cubicle
2. put on headphones and discuss personal problems on the intercom (told it was not known by others)
3. one particpant will admit having difficult time adjusting to school and will get seizures under stress
4. then victim has seizure

34
Q

What was the experimental study by Latane and Darley independent and dependent variables?

A

IV:
- how many bystanders there were (1: participant, victim, 4 others / 2: participant, victim, 2 others / 3: participant and victim)

DV:
- how many particpants helped (behaviour)
- Operationally defined as: leaving their cubicle to find the victim or the experimenter before the end of the victim’s seizure

35
Q

What were the results of the study by Latane and & Darley about bystander effect?

A

More bystanders = less likely of participant to help victim

Causal connection between # of bystanders and helping behaviour –> showing the “bystander effect”

36
Q

Does the experiments in experimental method strive to have high internal validity?

A

YES

37
Q

What is internal validity?

A

Ensuring that nothing other than the independent variable is affecting the dependent variables.

must keep everything about the situation the same except the independent variable

38
Q

How do we accomplish having high internal validity in experiments?

A

random assignment of people to different experimental conditions –> equal chance of taking part in any condition of an experiment

39
Q

What is a p-value?

A
  • calculated in experimental results
  • A number that tells researchers how likely it is that the results of their experiment occurred by chance and not because of the independent variable(s).
40
Q

If a p-value is less than 0.05, it is significant or not?

A

significant

41
Q

if a p value is greater than 0.05 is it significant or not?

A

NOT significant

42
Q

DO experiments try to achieve external validity as well?

A

yes

43
Q

What is external validity?

A

The extent to which the results of a study can be generalized to other situations and other people

44
Q

What are the two kinds of generalizability?

A
  • across situations
  • across people
45
Q

What is generalizability across people?

A

will we get the same results if we conduct study with different people?

46
Q

What is generalizability across situations?

A

will we get the same results if we conduct study in a different setting?

47
Q

How do we overcome the “fakeness” of an experimental setting?

A

with “psychological realism”

48
Q

What is psychological realism?

A

extent to which the psychological processes triggered in an experiment are similar to psychological processes that occur in everyday life

-trying to operationalize our variables to make it a real-world situation as much as possible

49
Q

What is a method used to heighten psychological realism in experimental studies? Why?

A

cover stories –> participants are told that the purpose of the study is different than it really is

-because if participants are forewarned about the true purpose of the study, they will plan their response, and we will not know how they would act in the real world

49
Q

How do we ensure generalizability across people in experiments?

A

random selection of participants from entire population

50
Q

To be truly confident of a study’s generalizability, it should be replicated with different populations. true or false

A

true

51
Q

How can we increase external validity in experiments?

A

using field experiments

52
Q

what are field experiments?

A

Experiments conducted in NATURAL SETTINGS, rather than in the laboratory

53
Q

What is the basic dilemma of the social psychologist when conducting experiments?

A
  • almost a trade off between internal and external validity
  • both cannot be captured in a single experiment and so usually we opt for internal first and external second
54
Q

What is known as the “ultimate test of an experiments external validity”?

A

replication –> often with different populations or indifferent settings

55
Q

What is the replication crisis?

A
  • debate in the psychological community, with some arguing that too many studies have failed to replicate
56
Q

How have they tried to overcome the replication crisis?

A
  1. pre-registration
  2. openscience framework
57
Q

What is pre-registration?

A

before they start conducting data they will write up and say exactly what they are going to do and submit it/pre-register to hold researchers accountable for what they are suppose to do from the beginning

58
Q

What is OpenScience framework?

A

publishing their data online and you can run the analysis test on their results to see if they are true to what is being told

59
Q

What is a meta-analysis?

A

statistical technique that averages the results of two or more studies to see if the effect of an independent variable is reliable

60
Q

What is the difference between basic and applied research?

A
  1. Basic
    - they do the research because they are interested in a particular topic (intellectual curiosity)
  2. applied
    - trying to solve a social problem
61
Q

What are 2 new innovative approaches to studying human social behaviour?

A
  1. cross-cultural research
  2. Social Neuroscience
62
Q

What is cross-cultural research?

A

research conducted with members of different cultures to see whether psychological processes of interest are present across cultures

ex: : western vs eastern cultures definitions of self (western = individualistic, eastern = collectivist)

63
Q

What two things must researchers ensure when doing cross-cultural research?

A
  1. avoid imposing their own viewpoints and definitions onto another culture
  2. IVs and DVs are understood in the same way in different cultures
63
Q

What is social neuroscience?

A

explores the links between social behaviour and biological processes.

64
Q

What are the 2 technologies used to study the brain in social neuroscience?

A
  1. EEG
  2. fMRI
65
Q

What is an EEG?

A

electrodes placed on the scalp to measure electrical activity in the brain

66
Q

What is an fMRI?

A
  • people are placed in scanners that measure changes in blood flow in their brains
  • have to do a specific task when in the MRI helps to see the blood brain flow
67
Q

Do researchers need to obtain informed consent before beginning?

A

YES

68
Q

What 3 things are used to ensure dignity and safety of research participants is protected?

A
  1. Canadian Psychological Association’s ethical principles
  2. Tri-Council Policy Statement
  3. Research Ethic Boards
69
Q

What 5 important ethical issues are there in social psychology?

A
  1. respect for dignity of persons
  2. informed consent
  3. freedom to withdrawl
  4. privacy and confidentiality
  5. use of deception
70
Q

What is the ethical issue of “respect for dignity of persons”?

A

respect for human dignity

71
Q

What is the ethical issue of “informed consent”?

A

researcher should describe the procedures to participants before they take part in a study.

72
Q

What is the ethical issue of “freedom to withdrawl”?

A

Participants must be informed that they are free to withdraw from a study at any point and that there will be no negative consequences for doing so.

73
Q

What is the ethical issue of privacy and confidentiality?

A

All information obtained from individual participants must be held in strict confidence

74
Q

What is the ethical issue of use of deception?

A

Deception = participants are misled about the true purpose of a study or the events that will transpire.

Deception may be used only if there are no other viable means of testing a hypothesis and only if a Research Ethics Board rules that it does not put participants at undue risk.

-After the study, participants must be provided with a full description and explanation of all procedures, in a debrief

75
Q
A