Social Psychology Terms and Definitions - Unit 1 Study Guide

Social Psychology

Scientific study of the way in which people's thoughts, feelings, or behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people

Social Psychology focuses on

2 or more people; the individual; an average person

ABC

Affect, behavior, cognition

Affect

Experience of feeling or emotions

Valence

Positive or negative

Motivational intensity

Urge to act

Arousal

Physiological response to action - activiation of the sympathetic nervous system

Behavior

Range of actions and mannerisms made by any organism in an environment; includes intention to act

Cognition

All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

Schema

Network of interconnected ideas; help structure information

Automatic behaviors

Cognitive processes that are unconscious/aware, intentional, involuntary, effortless, and efficient

Controlled behaviors

Cognitive processes that are conscious/aware, intentional, voluntary, effortful, and inefficient

Most behaviors contain...

controlled and automatic responses

Ability and motivation

both required for controlled processes to occur

Norms

standards for accepted and expected behaviors

What is a group?

A set of individuals who have direct interactions with each other and a common fate, identity, or set of goals

What defines a group?

Direct interactions among individuals with a common fate, identity, or set of goals

In-group

Group we belong to

Out-group

Group we don't belong to

Motivated

I want/need to do something

Types of motivation

intrinsic, extrinsic, utility, attainment

Able

I can/think I can do something

Psychological field

Where an individual lives; combination of individual needs and situational factors

Social situation

comprises all influences on behavior that are external to the individual

Situational factor

any aspect of the physical and/or social environment that influences behavior

Individual characteristics

include anything internal that might influence behavior (sex, age, race, personality, etc.)

Social Cognition

a general process we use to make sense of social events

Social perception

the social processes by which we come to comprehend the behavior, words, or actions of other people

Commonsense explanations

simplistic explanations for social behavior based on what we believe to be true of the world (no evidence or proof)

Science

a set of activities designed to generate a systematic, reliable body of knowledge and explanations for social behavior

Hypothesis

a tentative and testable statement about the relationship between variables

What is the first step of the scientific method?

Identify a phenomenon to study

What is the second step of the scientific method?

Form a testable research hypothesis

What is the third step of the scientific method?

Design a research study to test your hypothesis

What is the fourth step of the scientific method?

Carry out study and analyze data

Next generation science standards

an approach to science setting out 8 practices for science and engineering to guide scientific research

What is the Next Generation Science Standards used for?

to uncover scientific explanations for social behavior

Favored techniques of social psychologists to study behavior

Experimental research and correlational research

Experimental research

research involving manipulating a variable suspected of influencing behavior to see how that charge affects behavior; results show causal relationships

Independent variable

the variable that the researcher manipulated in an experiment

Dependent variable

The measure the researcher assesses to determine the influence of the independent variable on the participants' behavior

How many groups must be in an experiment?

2

Experimental group

A group comprised of participants who receive the experimental treatment

control group

a group in an experiment comprised of participants who do not receive the experimental treatment

random assignment

a method of assigning participants to groups in an experiment that involved each participant having an equal chance of being in the experimental or control group

internal validity

if 2 or more groups in an experiment are comparable at the outset - can demonstrate a causal relationship

external validity

generality; if the researchers have a representative sample of their population of interest; diversity in a study

extraneous variable

any variable not controlled by the researcher that could affect the results of a study

confounding variable

extraneous variable in an experiment that varies systematically with the independent variable, making it difficult or impossible to establish a causal connection between the independent and dependent variables

factorial experiment

experimental design which 2 or more independent variables are manipulated

interaction

when the effect of one independent variable in a factorial experiment changes over levels of a second, indicating a complex relationship between independent variables

Correlational research

research that measures 2 or more dependent variables and looks for a relationship between them; causal relationships among variables cannot be established

positive correlation

2 variables in a correlational relationship in which they increase or decrease in the same direction

negative correlation

one variable increases and the other decreases

correlation coefficient

a statistical technique used to determine the direction and strength of a relationship between 2 variables

What are the advantages of lab research?

Tight control over extraneous variables, high internal validity

What is a limitation of lab research?

May not generalize well to real-life situations

Field research

Can come as a field study, field survey, and field experiment

Field study

researcher makes unobtrusive observations of the participants without making direct contact or interfering in any way

field survey

researcher directly approaches participants and asks them questions

field experiment

researcher manipulated one or more independent variables and measures behavior in the participant's natural environment - most useful field technique for social psychologists