Week Seven Introduction/Methods, Attitudes in Social Psychology

Question 1

Components of social influence (CPPG)

Answer 1

Cultural influence
Pressure to conform
Persuasion
Groups of people

Question 2

Components of social relations (PAAHI)

Answer 2

Prejudice
Aggression
Attraction
Intimacy
Helping

Question 3

Define social psychology

Answer 3

Scientific investigation of how the thoughts, feelings and behaviours of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of others (Allport, 1954a)

Question 4

What are the two arguments that have been proposed for how feelings and mood should be measured?

Answer 4

They are discrete mood states (Lazarus, 1991)
On continuum from bad to good (Tellegen, Watson and Clark, 1999)

Question 5

Feelings can be accurately measured physiologically. True or false?

Answer 5

False, measures indicate only intensity of arousal

Question 6

What was the key takeaway from Johnstone et al. (2006) study?

Answer 6

Feelings can be measured in way that doesn’t depend solely on asking how one feels

Question 7

What was the Johnstone et al. (2006) study aiming to measure?

Answer 7

Brain responses to vocal expressions to anger and happiness, whether specific brain regions showed preferential engagement in processing of one emotion over the other

Question 8

What was the key finding from Johnstone et al. (2006)’s experiment?

Answer 8

Greatest change showed in middle temporal gyrus for happy tone when corresponding with happy face

Question 9

How can a research get a more accurate measurement of behaviour?

Answer 9

Measuring or asking about the behaviour more than once (because they vary)

Question 10

What was the key takeaway of the study by Fein et al., 1998?

Answer 10

Social context to strongly influence people’s judgement of information e.g. presidential candidates

Question 11

What was the key finding of the study by Fein et al., 1998?

Answer 11

Audience reactions to the presidential candidate produced large shifts in participants judgement of performance

Question 12

What evidence is there to suggest that psychology is a science?

Answer 12

It follows certain value and methods
Uses scientific METHOD to construct and test theories
Scientific theory states no theory is true simply because it is logical

Question 13

Define subject effects

Answer 13

Participant’s behaviour an artefact of experiment rather than being a spontaneous and natural response to manipulation

Question 14

Define experimenter effects

Answer 14

Where experimenter influences participants to suit their hypothesis

Question 15

Define demand characteristics

Answer 15

Features that demand a particular response

Question 16

What happens in participant observation?

Answer 16

Experimenter becomes active member of group themselves e.g. joins gang

Question 17

Define independent variable

Answer 17

Feature of situations that change on their own accord or can be manipulated by an experimenter to have effects on the dependent variable

Question 18

What is unique about correlational research?

Answer 18

Allows us to study topics we can’t manipulate ethically or practically

Question 19

What is a positive feature of experiments?

Answer 19

Make cause-and-effect statements
Have high external validity (extent to which findings can be generalised to other situations)

Question 20

Outline Milgram’s obedience experiment

Answer 20

Voltage shock

Question 21

What is a key takeaway from the definition of what an attitude is?

Answer 21

Directed AT something

Question 22

Outline the components of attitudes

Answer 22

Cognitive = includes beliefs (which are associated with emotion)
Affective/evaluative = likes/dislikes
Behavioural = intention to act in specific ways

Question 23

Define the general functions of attitudes

Answer 23

Save us cognitive energy by not having to come up with how we should relate to something every time we are exposed to it
- similar to how schemas or stereotypes operate

Question 24

What was the key finding of La Piere (1934)

Answer 24

Behavioural intentions vary significantly from behavioural outcomes

Question 25

How can attitudes be improperly measured?

Answer 25

By asking about them vaguely compared to what you are trying to study

Question 26

What does the theory of reasoned action (late 1970s) say about behaviour?

Answer 26

Person’s behaviour determined by their intention to perform behaviour, intention determined by attitudes and subjective norms

Question 27

Name some issues associated with the theory of reasoned action

Answer 27

Well designed to predict behaviours only under our control

Question 28

Define the theory of planned behaviour (PB comes after training - reasoned action)

Answer 28

Predicting behaviour from attitude measure is improved if people believe they have control over that behaviour

Question 29

Findings of study by Crano, 1997

Answer 29

Attitudes towards busing were strong predictor of who people voted for if they had personal interest in area e.g. children who attended local schools

Question 30

What is the main point made by Heider’s balance theory?

Answer 30

People prefer attitudes that are consistent with each other over those that are inconsistent

Question 31

How is this consistency attempted to be maintained?

Answer 31

Person (P) tries to maintain consistency in attitudes to, and relationships with other people (O) and elements of the environment (X)

Question 32

Issues with Heider’s balance theory

Answer 32

Doesn’t take into account the severity of the issue e.g. football teams vs political views
Heider believes everything must be consistent, but research shows we can easily compartmentalise

Question 33

Define cognitive dissonance

Answer 33

Where behaviours engaged in are inconsistent with our attitudes

Question 34

What is a consequence of attempting to maintain cognitive consistency?

Answer 34

Maladaptive and irrational behaviour

Question 35

What is an example of how dissonance can help to induce attitude change?

Answer 35

Feelings of hypocrisy…
- publicly advocating some behaviour or attitude vs acting in way inconsistent with this

Question 36

What was the key finding of Dickerson et al. (1992) study

Answer 36

The hypocrisy condition (high dissonance) conserved water usage by reducing their shower time compared to others

Question 37

What was the key finding of Stone et al. (1994)

Answer 37

High dissonance increased likelihood of condom purchase

Question 38

Outline the Elaboration-Likelihood Model (Petty & Cacioppo’s, 1986)

Answer 38

Examines variables affecting persuasion e.g. source, message, audience and contextual variables

Question 39

Is the Elaboration-Likelihood model more descriptive or explanatory?

Answer 39

Descriptive

Question 40

Define the heuristic-systematic model

Answer 40

Describes how attitudes can change in two different ways (systematic - central processing) or heuristics (peripheral)

Question 41

What does systematic relate to?

Answer 41

People scanning and considering available arguments

Question 42

What does heuristic relate to?

Answer 42

Appraising something in short/simple way e.g. mental shortcuts like automatic stereotypes

Question 43

What was the key finding of Langer (1978)’s study?

Answer 43

That we are more likely to have someone do a favour for us if we provide them with a reason