ch 1-4 social psych

Social Psychology

The scientific study of the way in which people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people

Construal

The way in which people perceive, comprehend, and interpret the social world

Empirical Questions

Derived from experimentation or measurement rather than by personal opinion

Individual Differences

The aspects of people’s personalities that make them different from other people

The Power of Social Interpretation

To understand social influence, it is more important to understand how people perceive and interpret the social world than it is to understand that world objectively; construal refers to the world as interpreted by the individual

Social Psychology, Science, and Common Sense

Social psychologists develop explanations through controlled experiments rather than relying on common sense or opinion

Social Psychology vs Sociology

Social psychology focuses on the individual in a social context; sociology focuses on groups, categories, and societies

Social Psychology vs Personality Psychology

Social psychologists focus on situational influence; personality psychologists focus on individual traits

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency to overestimate personality causes and underestimate situational causes of behaviour

Behaviourism

A school of psychology stating behaviour is understood through environmental reinforcement

Gestalt Psychology

A school emphasizing subjective perception; the whole differs from the sum of its parts

The Power of the Situation

Behaviour is strongly influenced by social environment and construal, not just objective conditions

Self-Esteem

People’s evaluations of their own self-worth

Social Cognition

How people select, interpret, remember, and use social information

Basic Human Motives

Need to be accurate and need to feel good about ourselves shape construal

Self-Esteem Approach

People distort perceptions to maintain positive self-views

Social Cognition Approach

People try to be accurate but rely on incomplete or misinterpreted information

Social Psychology and Social Problems

Theories are applied to issues like prejudice, health, and violence using scientific understanding

Hindsight Bias

The tendency to think we could have predicted an outcome after it occurred

Operational Definition

Precise description of how variables are measured or manipulated

Social Psychology as Empirical Science

Human behaviour is studied scientifically

Hypotheses and Theories

Theories generate testable hypotheses based on observations or prior research

Personal Observations Hypotheses

Hypotheses can come from everyday observations (e.g., Kitty Genovese case)

Observational Method

Observing and recording behaviour to describe phenomena

Ethnography

Observing a culture from the inside without preconceived ideas

Archival Analysis

Studying existing records/documents of a culture

Correlational Method

Measuring variables to assess relationships and make predictions

Limitation of Correlation

Cannot determine causation; possible third variable problem

Correlation Coefficient

Statistic showing how well one variable predicts another

Surveys

Research using representative samples to assess attitudes/behaviours

Random Selection

Ensures sample represents population

Experimental Method

Random assignment to conditions to determine causality

Independent Variable

Variable manipulated by researcher

Dependent Variable

Variable measured for effect

Random Assignment

Equal chance of being in any condition

Probability Level (p-value)

Likelihood results occurred by chance (<5% = significant)

Internal Validity

Ensuring only IV affects DV

External Validity

Generalizability of results

Psychological Realism

Similarity of psychological processes to real life

Cover Story

False explanation to maintain realism

Field Experiments

Experiments in natural settings

Basic Dilemma

Trade-off between internal and external validity

Replication

Repeating studies to confirm findings

Meta-Analysis

Combining results of multiple studies

Research Designs

Observational, correlational, experimental

Basic vs Applied Research

Theory-focused vs problem-solving research

Cross-Cultural Research

Studying behaviour across cultures

Culture and Social Psychology

Avoid imposing own cultural views when studying others

Social Neuroscience

Examines biological basis of social behaviour

Informed Consent

Participants agree with full knowledge of study

Deception

Misleading participants about study purpose

Debriefing

Explaining true purpose after study

Ethical Guidelines

Include consent, right to withdraw, confidentiality, debriefing

Automatic Thinking

Nonconscious, effortless thinking

Schemas

Mental structures organizing knowledge

Accessibility

How easily schemas come to mind

Priming

Increasing accessibility of a schema

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Expectations influence behaviour and outcomes

Automatic Thinking Concept

Much social cognition occurs automatically using schemas

Embodied Cognition

Bodily sensations activate mental structures

Judgmental Heuristics

Mental shortcuts for quick decisions

Availability Heuristic

Judging based on ease of recall

Representativeness Heuristic

Judging based on similarity to prototype

Base Rate Information

Actual frequency of a category in population

Analytic Thinking

Focus on objects independent of context (Western)

Holistic Thinking

Focus on relationships and context (East Asian)

Cultural Differences in Cognition

Thinking styles vary by culture

Cultural Schemas

Schema content differs across cultures

Controlled Thinking

Conscious, effortful thinking

Counterfactual Thinking

Imagining alternative past outcomes

Overconfidence Barrier

Overestimating accuracy of judgments

Controlled Cognition Concept

People sometimes engage in effortful thinking

Free Will and Thinking

Belief in free will increases helping and moral behaviour

Improving Thinking

Training (e.g., statistics) can improve reasoning

Social Perception

How we form impressions of others

Nonverbal Communication

Communication without words (facial, tone, gestures, etc.)

Decode

Interpreting nonverbal behaviour

Encode

Expressing nonverbal behaviour

Affect Blend

Mixed emotional facial expression

Display Rules

Cultural rules for emotional expression

Emblems

Gestures with specific meanings

Facial Expressions

Six universal emotions exist but cultures differ in display rules

Other Nonverbal Channels

Eye gaze, touch, space, gestures, tone all communicate meaning

First Impressions

Formed quickly from limited information