Introductory Sociology, Psychology, and Research Methods Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering fundamental concepts in sociology, psychological perspectives, and social science research methods based on class lecture notes.

Learning Theory

The study of how humans learn behavior, asserting that controlling the ways humans learn allows researchers to influence both behavior and personality.

Unconditioned Response

A natural response to something.

Unconditioned Stimulus

A stimulus that naturally triggers a response.

Conditioned Stimulus

An originally neutral stimulus that triggers a conditioned response.

Conditioned Response

A learned response to a previously neutral stimulus.

Sociology

The study of human societies including social behaviour, social change, and institutions.

Institutions

Organizations and social structures (such as religion, school, media, and family) which help shape who we are.

Role

A position within an institution that carries a set of values and expectations (e.g., mother, employee, son, student).

Role Conflict

Conflict that occurs between two overlapping roles.

Status

An individual's position within an institution.

Hierarchy

A system ranking roles that is often connected with power, which can lead to role conflict.

Values

Standards or beliefs regarding what is considered good and bad.

Norms

Rules set out for a particular role that are considered a standard.

Deviant Behaviour

Behaviour that goes against established social norms.

Macrosociology

A school of thought that takes a wide perspective and studies society at a large scale (e.g., all of Canada).

Microsociology

A school of thought focused on social action and interaction among individuals and small groups (e.g., how members of a church act towards each other).

Functionalism

what keeps society running

Feminist Theory

A sociological approach examining the role of women in society, holding that systems are sexist and dysfunctional and that equity does not properly exist.

Critical Race Theory

who is socially included or excluded from social institutions because of their race

Symbolic Interactionism

interactions between people and things by giving meaning to every day interactions, and how we make sense of the world

Conflict Theory / Neo-Marxism

struggles between the rich and powerful who controlled everything and the working class

Behaviourism (1910-1950)

How animal experiments can explain human behaviour, if we find the motivation for behaviour we can control actions

Developmental Psychology

The study of physical and mental growth from birth to old age.

Physiological Psychology

The study of the biological basis of human behaviour, development of the nervous system, and gender differences in brain structure and function.

Personality Psychology

The study of how people differ from one another in terms of traits.

Social Psychology

The study of how people influence one another.

Primary Sources

First-hand sources gathered directly from people or situations studied, providing original perspectives that can be specifically designed for a research question.

Secondary Sources

Information sources gathered from existing materials, which are usually faster and easier to collect to help understand existing knowledge on a topic.

Quantitative Research

Research focusing on numbers and measurable data that can be compared, used to study large groups and identify patterns and relationships.

Qualitative Research

Research focusing on words, descriptions, and opinions.

Independent Variable

The factor that the researcher changes or controls in an experiment.

Dependent Variable

The factor measured in an experiment to see whether it changes because of the independent variable.

Control Group

The group in an experiment that does not receive any experimental treatment or changes, serving as a comparison baseline.

Experimental Group

The group in an experiment that receives the treatment or change being studied.

Content Analysis

A research method involving examining and analyzing written, visual, or recorded information, such as newspaper articles, ads, or social media.

Secondary Analysis

Analyzing data that was originally collected by another researcher or organization.

Interviews

A research method where the researcher asks people questions directly to gather detailed information about their experiences, opinions, behavior, and beliefs.

Observations

A research method where researchers watch and record people's behaviours or actions from the outside without interacting with them.

Participant Observations

A research method where the researcher takes part in the experiment with the group being studied while observing their behavior.

Who is Henry morgentaler

Led the legal fight for abortion,

Who is Dorothea palmer

Social worker and birth control advocate, fought for the reproductive rights in canada

What is clinical psychology

Focuses on treating and assessing, mental and emotional disorders, as well as behavior.

What is experimental psychology

Uses research + experiments to study human and animal behaviour and the mind- controlled laboratory experiments

Culture in anthro

The entire learned, shared, and contested system of knowledge, beliefs, behaviours, traditions, that characterize a group of human beings, the ways of living

Ethnocentrism - anthro

Judging another culture solely by the values and standard of your own culture

Cultural relativism -anthro

Understanding a culture’s beliefs and practices from its own perspective

Etuaptmumk is…

“Two eyed seeing” - looking through eye 1 which is the indigenous way of doing things, and eye 2 is the western way of doing things,

Bf skinner

operant conditioning, reward and punishment to control behavior

Phillip zimbardo

Stanford prison experiment

Karl Marx

society is divided between the rich and powerful and the working class, creates conflict

George H. Mead

Develop identity through interactions, understanding how other people see us

Claude Levi Strauss

people understand thr world through patterns and opposites

Marvin Harris

behavior, and cultures are shaped by our environment, we adapt to our surroundings

Halo effect is?

Bias where your overall positive impression of someone is dictated by the physical qualities of the person