Chapter 1: The Mission and the Method

social psychology

the scientific study of how people affect and are affected by others.

social facilitation

the mere presence of another person enhances performance on a simple task (Norman Triplett)

social loafing

as group size increased, individual effort decreased (Max Ringelmann)

behaviorism

explains behavior in terms of learning principles, without reference to inner states, thoughts, or feelings

Freudian psychoanalysis

explains behavior by looking at the deep unconscious forces inside the person

attribution theory

a simple cognitive process where people use attributions (explanations) to explain the behavior of others

social cognition

how people think about people and the social world in general

social neuroscience

an interdisciplinary field of study that investigates how biological systems influence social thought and behavior.

ABC Triad

three dimensions of social psychology (affect, behavior, cognition) that help us understand the effect of other people on our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors

applied research

focuses on solving particular practical problems

basic research

focuses on a general understanding of basic principles that can be applied to many different problems

hindsight bias (“knew it all along” phenomenon

the tendency, after an event has occurred, to overestimate one’s ability to have foreseen the outcome

HARKing (hypothesizing after the results are known)

when a post hoc is presented as a priori

priori

a hypothesis formed before the data is collected

post hoc

a hypothesis formed after the data is collected and analyzed

within-subjects design

participants are exposed to all levels of the independent variable

between-subjects design

participants are exposed to only one level of the independent variable

random assignment

each participant has an equal chance of being in each group

independent variable

any observable event that causes the person to do something

measured variables

important measurements of naturally occuring differences among persons

construct validity of the cause

the independent bariable is a valid reporesentation of the theoretical stimulus

dependent variable

any observable behavior a person produces

construct validity of the effect

the dependent variable is a valid prepresentation of the theoretical response

operational definition

classifies theorietical constructs in therms of observable operations, procedures, and measurements

accomplice

a person who is secretly working for the researcher

experiment

a study in which the researcher manipulates an independent variable and randomly assigns people to groups (levels of the independent variable)

quasi-experiment

researchers can manipulate an independent variable but cant use random assignment

field experiment

an experiment conducted in a real-world setting

correlational approach

a nonexperimental method in which the researcher merely observes whether variables are associated or related

correlation

the relationship or association between two variables

correlation coefficient (r)

the statistical relationship or association between two variables ranging from +1 (perfect positive) to -1 (perfect negative)

meta-analysis

a quantitative literature review that combines the statistical results (e.g., correlation coefficients) from all studies conducted on a topic

experimental realism

the extent to which study participants get so caught up in the procedures that they forget they are in an experiment (important for external validity)

mundane realism

refers to whether the setting of an experiment physically resembles the real world

Institutional review board (IRB)

a committee of one scientist, one non-scientist, and a non-affiliate that makes sure that a research study conducted in university settings is ethical.

consent form

a document that participants receive before a study begins that contains information about the study procedures and the potential harms so they can decide if they want to participate

demand characteristics

cues that convey the hypothesis to participants that influences how a participant behaves

deception studies

withholds information from participants or intentionally misleads them about the purpose of the study

debriefing

an oral or written statement participants receive at the end of a psychological study to fully inform them about the study and answer their questions, and to reduce or eliminate any stress or harm they experienced by being in the study

internal validity

the extent to which changes in the independent variable caused changes in the dependent variable

external validity

the extent to which the findings from a study can be generalized to other people, other settings, and other time periods

confounded

occurs when two of the effects of variables cant be separated

stimulus sampling

using more than one exemplar of a stimulus

reactance

an unpleasant emotional response that people often experience when someone is trying to restrict their freedom

population

the total number of people under consideration

random sample

a sample wherein each person in the population has an equal chance of being selected

margin of error

a statistic measure of the amount of random sampling error in a survey’s results

reliability

refers to when a study gives consistent results

validity

refers to when a study measures what its supposed to

replication

repeating a study to see if the effect is reliable

replication crisis

a methodological crisis in which scientists have found that many scientific studies conducted in the past don’t replicate, or if they do the effects tend to be smaller in size.

open science

a movement to make the results from scientific studies openly accesible to all people by posting a link to and data online