Social psych

What is Social psychology?

The study of social behaviors among individuals + groups

Or

The Scientific study of how people think about, influence, and relate to eo

What is Sociology?

The study of broad groups in society + the resulting changes + consequences to society over time

What’s the difference between Social psych + Sociology?

Social psych lies at psychology’s boundary w sociology, but it focuses more of individual rather than groups

What 3 categories can Social psychology be split into?

The scientific study of:

• Social thinking

• Social imfluence

• Social relations

What 4 things does Social thinking consist of?

• How we perceive ourselves + others

• What we believe

• Judgements we make

• Our attitudes

What 4 things does Social influence consist of?

• Culture + Biology

• Pressure to conform

• Persuasion

• Groups of people

What 4 things does Social relations consist of?

• Helping

• Agression

• Attraction + intimacy

• Prejudice

What are the 3 Big ideas of Social thinking?

• We construct our social relaity

• Our social intuitions are powerful, sometimes perilous

• Attitudes shape, and are shaped by behavior

What are the 2 Big ideas of Social influences?

• Social influences shape behavior

• Dispositions shape behavior

What are the 2 Big ideas of Social relations?

• Social behavior is also biological behavior

• Feelings + actions toward people are sometimes negative + sometime not

What are 3 examples of where Social psych is applicable?

• Individualistic vs Collectivist societies

• Patriarchal vs Matriarchal society systems

• Judicial, governing, academic, institutional systems

Who is a Notable figure in social psychology in the 19th century?

• and what did he create?

Norman Triplett

• The Competition machine

What did Norman Triplett do?

He conducted one of social psychology’s first laboratory experiments, cuz he was interested in Bicycle racing. So, he noticed that cyclists’ times were faster when they raced together than when each one raced alone in competition. 

Explain the Competition machine

• and what were the results of it?

2 fishing reels were mounted on a wooden frame, + connected with silk lines over pulleys to small flags. 40 Participants (aged 8 to 17) turned the crank as fast as possible to reel in a fixed distance, tracked by the position of the flags. But the Children had to complete the task both working entirely alone + working side-by-side in pairs (competing directly against each other while viewing each other's progress).

• Results → Triplett discovered that most children wound the fishing reel more quickly when working side-by-side in competition than when working alone.

What is Social facilitation?

• and who was it coined by?

The theory that in the presence of others, individuals preform better on tasks than if they were alone

• Floyd Henry + Norman Triplett

What did other studies reveal about Social facilitation?

That on some tasks the presence of others hinders performance.

What did Floyd Henry Allport (20th century) write?

• and what’s he considered?

the 1924 textbook social psych

• the father of social psych

What did Kurt Lewin (post WW2) do?

Him + his students studied (1947) group dynamics and said that → The whole of a group are greater than the individuals that make up the group

What may Social psychology research + theory have implications for?

Other branches of psych, because they all have intersect with each other

In which 3 places does Social psychology research begin to emerge in the 20th century?

• Germany

• Italy

• France

What are the 3 reasons Humans like to construct their own reality?

• We like to have order in our world

• We like predictable events

• We like to attribute behavior to some cause

According to research, what is based primarily on culture?

Differences like preffered body size in mates, definition of social justice, and wether you’re expressive or reserved

When did Social psych texts begin to appear?

Year 1900

What do people construct their behavior to be?

Predictable

In the 1970s, what did the Feminist movement influence social psychologists to study?

Gender + sexism

What do the principles of Social thinking, influences, and relations affect?

• and what do they have implications for?

Judicial procedures + Juror decisions

• Human health + well being

What do the principles of Social thinking, influences, and relations Influence?

Behaviors that’ll enable an environmentally sustainable human future

What are 4 Social conditions that led to studies within social psychology?

• 1940s → Fascism in Europe

• 1950s → look-alike fashions + intolerance to differing views

• 1960s → riots + rising crime rates

• 1970s → sexism

What 3 things Constitute culture?

• Ideas

• Attitudes

• Traditions

What are 2 Criticisms of Social psych?

• Dangerous, cuz it can be used to manipulate ppl

• Trivial, cuz it documents the obvious

What is Culture transmission?

Ideas, behaviors and traditions shared by ppl passed from one gen to the next

What do Correlational designs provide?

• and what cant Correlational research do?

Limited information about casual connections between events

• Establish cause + effect

What does Correlational research look at?

Natural associations

What do Experimental designs enable?

Researchers to examine causal connections but are limited

What does Experimental research look at?

Causal relations

What is a Theory?

An integrated set of principles/a scientfic shorthand that’s used to make predictions + explain events

What do the effects found in the Laboratory mirror?

The effects in the field

What 3 theories did Leon Festinger (post-ww2) create?

• Proximity effect,

• Social comparison,

• cognitive dissonance

What is the Proximity Effect?

People are more likely to develop friendships + relationships with people who are physically close to them.

What is Informal social communication?

The casual + spontaneous exchange of information + opinions between people in everyday social interactions.

What is Social Comparison Theory?

The idea that people evaluate their own abilities, opinions, and behaviors by comparing themselves to others.

What is Dissonance?

An aroused state of uncomfortable tension

What is the 1980s Replication Crisis?

A concern that many scientific findings cannot be reliably reproduced when researchers repeat the original studies, and that nothing is being empirically replicated

What is the Publisher phenomenon/ the Publish or perish?

• and why is it?

It’s how publishers want new studies + new findings

• because its very hard to perfectly replicate research across decades + different populations than on paper

What are 2 examples of Fraud in Social psych?

• Dietrich Staple (Social psychologist who fabricated numbers and got reported by his students)

• Louisa Masria (Director of division of neuroscience who manipulated images the FDA used)

To try and solve the fraud problem of 1980, what 5 things did psychologists do?

• Increase the reporting standards

• Reduce procedural bias in/from older works

• Increase the use of stricter adherence to P<.05 (Which is statistically significant)

• Reduce bias to observe accurate statistical effects across studies

• Use meta-analysis to compare statistical effects between research investigations

What is Risk of bias (ROB)?

The amount of bias in a study’s procedure and/or data analysis that could skew/make the findings

Does Risk of bias always mean research fraud?

No, Risk of bias can occur even when researchers are acting honestly + ethically.

What are the 2 reasons Research can have bias even without fraud?

Because:

• Research rarely goes perfectly

• Researchers can’t account for every single variable/deviation

Why can Participants' choices create empirical questions?

Because they have the ethical right to voluntarily participate in any aspect of a study which can affect the study's results.

When are the 3 times Risk of bias = Fraud?

• If Data analysis is ineffectively reported ( e.g., group averages aren’t reported, but the authors report a significant difference)

• Data is removed from analysis without empirical rationale

• Procedure is largely inconsistent between participants or groups

What does the WEIRD dilemma stand for?

• And what percentage of the global population is considered part of ‘W.E.I.R.D’?

• W – Western

• E – Educated

• I – Industrialized

• R – Rich

• D – Democratic

12%

What is the WEIRD dilemma?

How so much psychological research relies on participants from W.E.I.R.D populations, which doesn’t represent the global population.

What are the 5 R’s of Indigenous partnerships in Canadian research?

• Reciprocity (mutual benefit + exchange)

• Respect

• Relevance (relevant to the Indg community)

• Responsibility (to conduct research ethically + protect participants)

• Relationships (research should be built on trust, communication, collaboration)

What is Social psychology recognized as in the 21st century?

A pillar of understanding human behavior

What concepts are still referenced today in applied work?

Key concepts from seminal research (50s,60s,70s)

Why does Social behavior continue to evolve?

Because humans adapt their social behavior to changing environmental + societal demands → (eg, changing political climates, COVID-19 pandemic, social media)

What is Social media?

Technologies that facilitate the creation + sharing + aggregation of content through virtual communities + networks

How are Social identities captured in social media?

• and how is communication facilitated?

By profiles

• Thru text posts, comments, digital photos, videos, and/or other data that generates online interaction (e.g., polls, reactions, stickers)

What are the 5 ways that Social media differs from Old media?

It has greater:

• Reach

• Frequency

• Usability (easier to use)

• Relevancy (to society)

• Permanence (can be accessed anywhere0

What are the 7 parts of a Reference/Citation?

1) Authors

2) Year of publication

3) Title

4) Journal volume

5) Issue

6) Chapter

7)  Pages

What are the 6 things Research papers consist of?

• Abstract

• Introduction/Background

• Aims/Hypothesis

• Methodology

• Results

• Discussion

What is an Abstract in a research paper?

• and what does it usually NOT contain?

A 250-word, at-a-glance summary of the entire study, that can include key words

• All of the fine-grain details of a full study

What Findings does an Abstract typically report?

• and how can it be organized?

The most notable findings for the primary outcome.

• it can be split into sections or can be a general summary

What is the main purpose of the Introduction/Background section in a research paper?

• and what does 2 things does it typically contain?

It “sets the scene” for the research,

• A history of the problem/question + Points of controversy/debate among the literature

What is the Aim/Hypothesis of a research study?

What you are hoping to accomplish or answer with your study.

Why is a Hypothesis vital?

For Statistical testing, by testing the “null hypothesis” compared to the “experimental hypothesis”

Where do Hypotheses come from?

The Theoretical background established in the introduction

What is Methodology?

• and what 6 things does it include?

How you conduct your study

• Ethics approval

• Information about the sample you recruited (and their relevant demographic information)

• Materials needed

• Measures used

• Procedure of the study

• Data analysis

What is the Results section of a research study?

The findings from your data analysis, reported in → Writing, tables, and figures

What is Quantitative research include in the Results section?

Statistical analyses (Numbers)

What does Qualitative research include in the Results section?

Thematic analysis of interview or written responses

What is the purpose of the Discussion section?

• and what 2 things does it do?

To interpret the results

• Identify the strengths + limitations of the study

• Provide direction for future work

What does the Discussion section provide context for?

The numbers and/or themes found in your data analysis

What is Dyadic communication?

• and what’s an example of it?

Non-verbal communication

• When monkeys reacted to the ‘death’ of a robot monkey by gathering around it (what we categorize as: troop gathering + expression of sadness)

Who is the Communications model made by?

• and what are the 3 steps of it?

Duck + McMahon, Hadjistavropoulos et al.; Prkachin & Craig; Rosenthal

• Step A: the Action of communication (verbal + non-verbal)

• Step B: the Interaction

• Step C: the Transaction

What is Step A of the communication model?

Receiving verbal +  nonverbal cues from who you’re communicating with

What is Step B of the communication model?

Our ability to receive the message + interpret the signals from Step A using our senses (vision, hearing,etc)

What is Step C of the communication model?

• and what informs our response here?

When we decide the meaning of the message/action we witnessed/received based on how successfully or poorly we interpreted the communication

• How we judged this communication

In the monkey example, what’s the Communication model represent?

• Step A: the Action of communication → of the monkeys gathering around the dead monkey

• Step B: the Interaction → Us capturing the behavior in our perception + categorizing it

• Step C: the Transaction → where we look at the extended meaning of that message

What’s another example of the communication model?

• Step A = a patient reflexively responds to getting a needle

• Step B = The nurse witnesses the facial movements

• Step C = The nurse assumes the patient felt pain during the injection

What 4 things does Verbal communication consist of?

• Language → (Written/Spoken)

• Structure

• Sound

• Semantics + Pragmatics

What 3 things does Structure consist of?

• Phoneme

• Morpheme

• Grammar

What 2 things does Sound consist of?

• Tone

• Prosody

What are Phonemes?

the Smallest unit of spoken language, a Set of speech sounds that distinguish words in a given language

How do you form new words in Phonemes?

By changing the letters to make new words

(Eg, changing b in bat to c for cat)

How do Phonemes differ from one language to another?

In some languages one phoneme can have different tones/inflections to indicate meaning

(Eg, Dene, Mandarin Chinese, Navajo, Vietnamese)

What are Syllables?

the Rhythmic building blocks of words, what phonemes come together to form

How are Syllables counted?

By how many times our mouths open + our chins drop when pronouncing words

What are Morphemes?

• And what are the 2 kinds of it?

the smallest unit of MEANING in language

• Free + Bound

What are the 6 types of Free morphemes?

• Nouns

• Prefixes

• Verbs

• Adjectives

• Prepositions

• Articles

What are Bound morphemes?

• and what are the 2 types of it?

Non words on their own but attach them to a free morpheme and then it gets meaning

• Prefixes

• Suffixes

What are Words?

• and what are all words?

Single + Distinct units of language that communicate meaning

• Abstract, becuz all are made up by us

What are Semantics?

How the patterns of phonemes, syllables, and morphemes (language sounds) earn their meaning as words or phrases

Why do we use Words?

• and what do words convey?

To label different people, places, and things,

• Some kind of judgment + greater meaning (eg, Was It a war crime or collateral damage? Surveillance or intrusion of privacy? Etc)

What are Pragmatics?

• and what do they tie into?

How context around language sounds contributes to their meaning as words/phrases

• Connotation

What is Connotation?

The emotional or cultural feelings/language tied to a word

What is Prosody?

The Audible qualities of spoken language that add meaning to standard language sounds (phoneme +morpheme), words, phrases, and sentences.

What 4 things does Prosody include?

• Intonation

• Stress

• Rhythm

• Volume

What is Intonation?

• and what does it signal?

the Rise + fall of our voice as we speak

• Emotions + Different sentence types → Fall-rise patterns (eg, Statements vs questions vs explanations)