Social Psych 1

Social psychology

branch of psychological science that is mainly concerned with understanding how the presence of others affects our thoughts feelings, and behaviors

Social etiquette

set of norms of personal behavior displayed in society or during interpersonal communication

Levels of Analysis

Complementary views for analyzing and understanding a phenomenon.

Levels of Analysis for Studying Social Psychology

Culture/environment -> Relationship/Groups -> Behavior -> Thoughts/Feelings/Perceptions -> Physiology -> Chemistry/DNA

Studying Social Psych

observation has an advantage of being entirely naturalistic. We all act as amateur social psychologists arriving at conclusions about our own social worlds through informal observations.

What is attraction?

The psychological process of being sexually interested in another person.

What are the origins of attractiveness?

Cultural learning, familiarity, and ideal types.

What are signals of mate quality?

Behavior and good genes.

What are attitudes?

Opinions, feelings, and beliefs about a person, concept, or group.

What types of attitudes are researchers particularly interested in?

Social attitudes people hold about categories of people.

What are three examples of social attitudes?

Stereotypes, Prejudice, Discrimination.

What do researchers study regarding negative attitudes?

How people can overcome negative attitudes and feel more empathy towards members of other groups.

Peace and Conflict

Researchers are interested in why people fight, how they fight, and what the possible costs and benefits of fighting are

Culture of Honor

The social norm that condones and even encourages responding to insults with aggression

Social Influence

when one person causes a change in attitude or behavior in another person, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

Conformity

Changing one's attitude or behavior to match a perceived social norm.

Obedience

Responding to an order or common from a person in a position of authority

Persuasion

delivering a particular message so it influences a person's behavior in a desired way

What is social cognition?

The way we think about the social world and how we perceive others.

What is social attribution?

The way a person explains the motives or behaviors of others.

What is the Fundamental Attribution Error?

The tendency to emphasize another person's personality traits when describing that person's motives and behaviors and overlooking the influence of situational factors.

In small groups

shared interesting observation about curious phenomena. These could include patterns of speech, non-verbal behavior, competition, school culture or almost any social topic.

Artificial environment

allows researchers to control conditions and variables. Can determine causal direction; how one variable might causally influence another. Can be complex with multiple independent and/or dependent variables. Can employ use of a confederate.

Field Experiments

can be elaborate. People in them do not know they are participating in research-so they will act naturally. Uses real-world situations to study behavior. Can employ use of a confederate. Like a laboratory experiment, there is an Independent Variable (IV) and Dependent Variable (DV)

Naturalistic Observation

Unobtrusively watching people as they go about their lives. Researchers study behavior in natural settings. Researchers can immerse themselves in an environment. Researcher can use devices to capture information about participants. No random assignment. Experience sampling methods: recording devices, smart phone apps, EAR diary, etc

Surveys

popular research tools for social scientists. Used for political polling and customer satisfaction. They are useful because they are scalable, relatively inexpensive, can provide a basis for numerical comparison. More diverse sample sized if used on electronic platforms. Disadvantages include: the possibility of response bias (eg. Socially desirable responding) non-representative sampling, only captures a single point in time.

Non-conscious Research and Measurements

Researchers often use this to study stereotypes, automatic processes, and issues where socially desirable responding might be an issue. Not everyone wants to admit to harboring unpopular beliefs, so these methods can be used to sidestep such social desirability.

Nonconscious techniques

Implicit Association Test

Priming

Manipulation

Terror-management theory

Social or behavior priming

Descriptive Methods: Archival Research

uses published sources such as historical records or social media posts to investigate social phenomena. Used often as a correlational research design due to lack of control over the variables.

Ecological Validity

The degree to which a study finding has been obtained under conditions that are typical for what happens in everyday life.

Research Issues

Measurement-creating very specific definitions for the phenomenon researchers with to investigate is extremely important.

Ethics.

Weird samples- Western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic

Ethical guidelines

informed consent, privacy, risks and benefits, deception (as long as no harm is done, it is necessary and they are informed of the deception asap), debriefing (informing research participants as soon as possible of the purpose of the test)

Social Neuroscience aims to address

how our understanding of social behavior can be expanded when we consider neural an physiological responses

Social Neuroscience

the study of the relationship between biological systems and social processes and behavior

Social Neuroscience Methods

Measuring brain activity:

Electrical activity (EEG)

Blood flow (fMRI)

Measuring hormones

Social Categorization

Mental classifying someone as belonging to a social group.

Stereotypes: Beliefs about social groups.

Social categorization is first step

Research question: how automatic is social categorization

Electroencephalogram (EEG)

a measure of electrical activity (generated by neurons)

It is non-invasive

It is able to precisely measure when brain activity occurs

Use a cap

EEG Research on Social Categorization

Participants view pictures of people of different social categories. Asked to categorize or make judgements. (Race/Gender or Attractiveness/Personality)

Results: Brain activity looks different when viewing members of different social groups.

Race: 100 milliseconds

Gender: 150 milliseconds

Theory of Mind

seen about the age of 4 when children can understand the perspective of others.

Mirror neurons- imitation and simulation of other people's behavior

Mental state interference- understand what is going on in the minds of others

Mental State Inference

In social interactions it is important to understand what is going on in the minds of others. (eg: what are they thinking or feeling)

fMRI

measures changes in the oxygenation of blood flowing in the brain.

When neurons become more active, blood flow to the area increases to bring more oxygen and glucose to the active cells.

Testing simulation hypothesis

• Are the same brain regions used for thinking about our own mental states AND thinking about others?

Method (in fMRI scanner):

• Think about yourself

• Think about others

results:

• The same brain regions (e.g. Medial Prefrontal Cortex (mPFC) are active when thinking about the self and when thinking about others.

• mPFC is particularly active when subjects mentalized about people they rated as similar to themselves.

• Evidence for the Simulation Hypothesis

Medial Prefrontal Cortex

Thinking about oneself area

Amygdala

Emotional processing

Temporal Parietal Junction

Thinking about the beliefs of others

Superior Temporal Sulcus

Perception of faces and human motion

Stress

A threat or challenge to well-being.

Exams

Tripping

Extreme Temperatures

Drama

Threats

stress response:

corticotrophin-releasing hormone from the hippocampus-> Adrenocorticotropic hormone

Self

is found when you look at yourself and inside your mind

The Social Actor

The sense of the self as an embodied actor whose social performances may be construed in terms of more or less consistent self-ascribed traits and social roles.

Sense of self emerges as a social actor by

age 2.

By age 4,

someone can describe themself in simple behavioral traits.

By age 10,

we see ourselves in more complex ways

Social reputation

central traits + social roles attributed to the actor

Traits =

personality (Conscientious, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism

Social Roles

where a person fits into his or her group (eg, leader, advisor, mother, child, confidante

The Motivated Agent

prioritizes the motivational qualities of behavior-inner needs, wants, desires, goals, values, plans, programs, fears, and aversions

Theory of Mind

Understanding that other's behavior is often motivated by inner desires and goals

Age 5-to-7 shift-

Children become more intentional and systematic in their goal pursuit

Self-esteem-

overall value of yourself, beliefs about your abilities

Values + Life goals =

identity

Narrative Identity

Internalized and evolving story of the self

Temporal Continuity

how I have come to be the person I am becoming. (Past, Present, Future). Reconstructs the past. Anticipates the future. Provides unity, meaning, and purpose.

Autobiographical Reasoning

a narrator is able to derive substantive conclusions about the self from analyzing their own personal experiences

Redemptive Narratives

Track the move from suffering to an enhanced status or state