week 3 slides

Question 1

empirical research

Answer 1

• the systematic investigation of observable phenomena (behaviour, events) in the world
• relies on observable and measurable phenomena

Question 2

what are the 4 research methods in social psych?

Answer 2

1. surveys
2. field studies
3. content analyis
4. experiments

Question 3

surveys

Answer 3

• popular source of data collection
• set of questions geared toward collecting info about a certain group
• relies on self reporting
• ex. public opinion polls

Question 4

strengths and weaknesses of surveys

Answer 4

strengths:
-generally inexpensive
-potential clear picture of the phenomena under study
-glimpse into infrequent or private behaviours
weaknesses:
-problems with self reporting

Question 5

field studies

Answer 5

• observation of everyday life in action
• unobtrusive measures
• participant observation

Question 6

ethnography

Answer 6

researcher becomes part of the group being studied

Question 7

strengths and weaknesses of field studies

Answer 7

strengths:

• real world behaviour
• study private and sensitive matters (unibtrusive)
• in depth understandings

weaknesses:

• significant affect of data recording method chosen
• the issue of consent
• time consuming

Question 8

archival research

Answer 8

• the analysis of data that has already been collected by others
• sources of data archival research data (government, universities, formal organziations)

Question 9

content analysis

Answer 9

• the systematic study of documents to identify themes and make inferences based on these themes
• ex. prof’s content analysis of legal documents, newspaper documents, and on line discussions

Question 10

strengths and weaknesses of archival research

Answer 10

strengths:

• inexpensive
• less time consuming
• socio-historical analyses

weaknesses:

• level of control over quality of info
• difficulty creating a reliable and valid study
• inconsistent or missing info in archives

Question 11

experiments

Answer 11

• high level of control
• composed of two characteristics (independent variables that must be manipulated, and participants that must be assigned randomly)

Question 12

lab experiment

Answer 12

• researchers have more control

- can control the physical space

Question 13

field experiement

Answer 13

• less control
• more generalizable (to the real world)
• mitigation of reactivity (become aware of ourselves beinf studied)

Question 14

strengths and weaknesses of lab experiments

Answer 14

strengths:

• high level of internal validity
• more research control

weaknesses:

• limits to what can be studied
• ethical concerns
• costly
• subject effects (interpret subtle cues as wanting a certain result) and experimenter effects (expects participants to behave in a certain way)
• low external validity

Question 15

ethics

Answer 15

• protecting and respecting research participants

- ethics approval is required for any research involving human subjects

Question 16

how can we protect participants

Answer 16

• volunteer
• informed consent
• avoding harm
• ensuring confidntiality

Question 17

sources of harm in experiments

Answer 17

• physical
• psychological
• breach of confidentiality

Question 18

the stanford prison experiment

Answer 18

• 1971
• randomly assigned male college students to the roles of “prison guard” and “prisoner”
• a number of ethical issues (violation of the harm principle, issues of consent

Question 19

what is socialization?

Answer 19

• the ways in which individuals learn and re-create skills, knowledge, values, motives and roles appropriate to their positions in a group or society
• the process by which we are taught society’s values, norms, and values

Question 20

four components of socialization

Answer 20

• an agent (someone who is socialized)
• a learning process
• a target (person being socialized)
• an outcome (what is learned)

Question 21

perspectives of socialization

Answer 21

• developmental perspective
• social learning perspective
• interpretative perspective
• impact of social structure

Question 22

nature vs nurture

Answer 22

• combatitive notion
• nature: genetic quality, innate, genetic
• nurture: environmental processes/influences, learning process

Question 23

developmental perspective

Answer 23

• emphasis on nature
• developmental of social behaviours physical and neurological
• many social behaviours are physical (learn to recognize when to go to the bathroom)

Question 24

social learning perspective

Answer 24

• emphasis on nurture
• process of learning the shared meanings of those in the child’s respective group
• adaptive nature of socialization

Question 25

interpretive perspective

Answer 25

- socialization occurs primarily through social interaction - cultural routines (reccurent and predictable activities like greeting rituals) - children as active agents (participation in construction of own understanding)

Question 26

impact of social structure

Answer 26

- socialization influenced and shaped by social structure - socialization as a product of group life - we learn what to expecf of others and what others can expect of us

Question 27

agents of socialization

Answer 27

-people and groups that influence our self concepts and our understanding of society as a whole (religion, family, peers, school, mass media)

Question 28

family as agent of socialization

Answer 28

- most important agent - first intro to a system of values, norms, and roles - attachment (proper attachment to mother/primary caregiver is necessary

Question 29

peers as agent of socialization

Answer 29

- form relationships on their own terms (choose their own friends) - interactions without direct adult supervision - less of a power dynamic than family

Question 30

schools as agent of socialization

Answer 30

- function of school is to socialize - exposure to a different set of skills and expectations - public evaluation and social comparison - learning to improve, learning about fairness, and impacts the sense of self

Question 31

mass media as agent of socialization

Answer 31

- become more influential in recent years | - shapes our perception and our ‘scripts’

Question 32

what is a script?

Answer 32

- a sequence of behaviours, actions, and consequences that are expected in a particular situation - scripts rely on our prior knowledge to help us navigte our social situations and include behaviours, roles and props

Question 33

processes of socialization

Answer 33

- instrumental conditioning - observational learning - internalization

Question 34

instrumental conditioning

Answer 34

- aka operant conditioning - a process wherein a person learns what response to make in a situation in ordee to obtain a positive reinforcement or avoid a negative reinforcement - entrinsic (explicitly be rewarded or punished) and intrinsic (ex. getting good grades) motivation - self efficacy (belief in ability to succeed)

Question 35

observational learning

Answer 35

- aka modelling - children learn rituals, roles, and behaviours from watching adults - might not use what they have learned right away or at all

Question 36

internalization

Answer 36

- the individual has accepted the values, norms, ideologies, and no longer requires external rewards - leads to self control

Question 37

gender socialization

Answer 37

- the role of parents (gender typing child, mothers are nurturing, fathers enagage in rough and tumble) - parents “breaking the rules” (break the gender script)

Question 38

feral children

Answer 38

- feral child- a child who is isolated from human contact - genie spent almost 12 years isolated by her father - became a research subject when rescued - emphasizes nurture