SOCIAL PSYC 372

for NIU (ts was made in 2025)

What is Social Psychology?

The scientific study of how people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by other people

What are the three scientific methods of Social Psychology?

Objective

Reliable

Valid

How is Objective like in Social Psychology?

Usually unbiased, and the explanations are data-driven, not opinion based.

What are some related studies to Social Psychology?

Sociology, anthropology, and study groups

How is Social Psychology interdisciplinary?

Interconnects with other disciplines OUTSIDE of Psychology

Ex: How does politics or evolutionary biology (such as being born a male or female) affect social behavior?

What is Social Psychology intradisciplinary?

Connects to other psychology paths

Ex: how does social psychology relate to cognitive psychology or clinical psychology?'

How many theoretical perspectives of Social Psychology are there?

What are the four theoretical perspectives of Social Psychology?

1. Socio-cultural

2. Evolutionary

3. Social Learning

4. Social Cognitive

What is Culture in the Socio-cultural Perspective?

The characteristic features of a group of people

ex: habits, traditions, beliefs, rituals, norms, languages that are shared and influenced by time and place.

What is socio-cultural perspective?

The influences from larger social groups are causes of social behavior

Ex: The effects of exposure to different others at an early age on attitudes toward diversity in adulthood.

What is evolution in Evolutionary perspective?

Adaptation of physical features and psychological features that aid in attaining goals of survival and reproduction.

Ex: sensitive to environmental demands

What is Evolutionary Perspective?

The physical and psychological predispositions that helped our ancestors survive and reproduce are the causes for social behavior.

ex: Adaption to fear ( fight or flight)

What is the social learning perspective?

Past learning determines future social behavior

ex: Bobo Doll or sharing good news to a partner

Social Cognitive psychology is…

The study of mental processes involved with people’s social experiences

(How do individuals’ knowledge, interpretations, and goals interact with their social environment?)

Does any perspective seem superior than the others?

no!

How many motives are associated to Social behavior?

5

What are the motives that guide social behavior?

1. Establish social ties

2. understand self and others

3. gain and maintain status

4. defend ourselves and loved ones

5. attract and retain mates

What is SP, and what isn’t SP?

It is the study of how people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by others. Things aren’t SP are inter-disciplinary and intra-disciplinary

Define person

features of the individual

ex: attitudes, values, personality, race, sex, and etc.

Define situation

Features outside the individual

ex: presence of others, physical environment

Define-situation interaction

The features of the individual and situation combine to influence social behavior

ex: how someone behaves at a party (situation) depends on their degree of introversion/extraversion)

How many steps are when it comes to mapping out research?

4

What are the four steps when mapping out research?

1. theory

2. research question

3. hypothesis

4. Data

Are theories proven?

NO. Theories are not proven, researchers can’t prove anything, but data can back up a theory.

What is theory?

The explanation of a set of relationships

What goes into theory?

1. describe the relationship among variables

2. organize research finding on a topic

3. direct future scientific hypotheses and inquiries

What is research question?

a question about nondirectional relationships among specific variables

ex: is there a sex difference in aggression?

What is hypothesis?

A specific directional prediction about relationships among variables

ex: males will behave more aggressively than females

what is data?

the set of observations

What is a variable?

Something that varies in research. (Usually, the variables are the object of study.)

Can be described as either a conceptual or an operational

What is a conceptual variable?

An abstract concept that are in idea form without physical or observable properties

(aka constructs and conceptual definitions)

What is Operational variables?

The conceptual variable is translated into variables with physical properties that can be measured

EITHER MANIPULATED OR MEASURED

(aka operationalizations, operational definitions)

What is a measured variable?

Levels that are observed and recorded

ex: gender, height, age, IQ, personality, stress, seld-esteem

What is a manipulated variable?

Controlled by the researcher by assigning participants to levels of the variable

ex: treatment condition vs. no treatment condition experimental vs. control condition

What is the difference between Conceptual and Operational?

Conceptual: variables are abstract- ideas without physical properties

Operational: variables are concrete- observable; have physically measurable properties.

The _______ level is where hypotheses are tested

operational

What are the common types of measures in research?

1. self-report

2. observational measures (or better known as behavioral measures)

3. Physiological measures

How does self-report measures work? What are the pros and cons of this?

Usually done by participants recording their own data with questions given by researchers

Pros: direct measurement, can be administered to many people

cons: desirable responding, heuristics, biases, memory/judgement

How do observational measures (or behavioral measures) work? What are the pros and cons?

Worked by researchers observing and collecting data based on behaviors or physical traces of behaviors

Pros: real behavior/real time, can minimize observer intrusion

cons: long time between behaviors, observer bias, observer effects, reactivity

How do Physiological measures work? What are the pros and cons?

Researchers record biological data based on things like heart rate, hormonal levels, and perspiration

pros: can be unobtrusive, direct

cons: expensic, limited availability

What is the best measure?

Honestly, it depends on the research objectives and constraints, but ideally, multiple techniques used across studies reveal similar results.

Descriptive Methods are… What explanation ties into this method?

Behavior is observed without systematic intervention

Correlation explanation ties into descriptive methods

ex: case studies, surveys, and naturalistic observation

experimental methods are… What explanation ties into this method?

Behavior is observed across systematically manipulated and controlled situations

Causal explanations