sociology lecture terms

combination of most or every term in lecture

Conditioning

learning by rewards or punishment

Cognitive Development Theory

The development of a person’s thought over time/life span

symbolic interactionalism

“we have a role in who we become”

agents of socialization

friends, peers, family, media

social communication

where we transmit ideas and information; most common verbal communication

language acquisition device (LAD)

a hypothetical mental capacity that we are innate to learn language, not born a blank slate

para language

the tone, pitch, volume, etc… of your voice to convey different messages

proximics

how we use space with other people, how close we are to people

the thomas theorem

if people define their situation as real, their consequences will be real; people looking at their perception rather than objective facts

the self

the set of concepts we use to define ourselves

self boundaries

necessary to define ourselves

egocentric bias

the idea that you are the most important person in the room, centered around your ego

Cooely theory

“I am whatever I think you think of me”

observational learning

learning by imitating others

Sociology

the study of ALL social interaction

Sociological Imagination

taking our personal lives and connecting them to historical or social forces

New levels of reality

each generation faces new levels of reality, sometimes based on social or catastrophic change

Levels of analysis in sociology

Analyzes our relationships in different categories depending on size

When did sociology develop?

when farm workers turned into factory workers, industrial revolution

Karl Marx

The entire planet worked in social classes

Post Industrial Society Workers

Thinking labor more than working labor

Industrial Society Workers

agricultural or industrial labor

The Dialectic K.M.

each phase rows its own seeds that cause destruction or change to itself

Emile Durkheim

Society is powerful for the people, community creates social integration

Pre Modern Mechanical Solidarity

unity based on being the same

Modern Organic Solidarity

unity based on specialized divisions of labor and interdependence

Social Facts E.M.

Anything that can exercise control over an individual

Egoistic Suicide E.M.

caused from not being well integrated into society and having weak social bonds

Anomic Suicide E.M.

social norms lose their authority, leaving an individual lost from their true desires

Altruistic Suicide E.M.

So well integrated into society, sacrifice

Fatalistic Suicide E.M.

social norms are too much for one person

Max Weber

german sociologist

Verstehen M.W.

empathy, ability to take someones POV

Ideal Type M.W.

logically consistent characteristics of any social phenomenon

3 distinct perspectives of sociology

• Functionalist

• Conflict

• Interactionalist

Functionalist Perspective

views society like a human body, institutions are organs, FUNCTIONS

Manifest Functions

obvious and intended reasons

Latent Functions

not expected or purposeful events

Conflict Perspective

focuses on inequity and what you don’t have

Interactionalist Perspective

acting based on the meanings behind them, meaning is constantly changing and control the world we live in

Critical Theory

mass media in capitalist society creates and maintains inequality

Post Modern Theory

distrustful of science, objective

Culture

social heritage of a people

Society

organized continuing # of people living in a specific area

Material Culture

Physical items that hold culture

Nonmaterial Culture

aspects of culture that aren’t material

Socialization

the process where we internalize and learn about our culture

Components of Culture

• Norms

• folkways

• mores

Folkways

everyday norms on how to behave, not harshly punished

Mores

norms that differentiate right from wrong

Sanctions

punishments or awards for social norms

Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis

“the limits of our language are the limits to our world”

Cultural Universals

an element that is common in ALL cultures

Syncretism

when 2 or more cultural aspects come together to create a new idea

Cultural Relativism

a culture should be only be judges by its own criteria

Ethnocentrism

the belief that ones culture is superior to another

Counter Culture

subcultures that resist aspects of society

Stages of the self G.H. Mead

play, game, generalized other

play stage

imitating what you see

game stage

recognizing other people around us and see ourselves as part of a group

generalized other

recognize that we live in a bigger community, good citizenship

significant other

most important people in your life

“I” and “me”

I as ones true self and Me as the social self

Impression management (E. Goffman)

management of the impressions others have of you

Dramaturgical approach (E. Goffman)

living as a constant performance

front stage (E. Goffman)

the self that is presented to the world - similar to Mead’s “Me”

Backstage (E. Goffman)

the self with no pretense of fear

face work (E. Goffman)

the actions a person takes to maintain the behavior of their desired social identity

face saving (E. Goffman)

saving yourself from embarrassment (laughing it off)

Civil Inattention - slowly going away (E. Goffman)

subtle fine tune performance of nonverbal human interaction that requires not to give attention to others but still respect them at the same time

involvement shields (E. Goffman)

what we use to not look at other people

Creature releases

coughing, scratching nose — picking nose, burping — flatulence, incontinence

studied nonobservance

reaction to a creature release pretending like you never noticed