PSYC 325 - Chapter 1, Part 2

Social Psychology Overview

Introduction

  • Lecture 2 taught by Dita Kubin, PhD at Concordia University, PSYC325/04 Winter 2025.

Outline of Today's Lecture

  • Administrative issues discussed:

    • Sharing notes among students.

    • Participant pool and Mastery training details.

    • Office hour room allocations.

  • Coverage of the rest of Chapter 1

  • Discussion on the brief history of social psychology.

  • Exploration of current trends in social psychology.

History of Social Psychology

Birth and Infancy (1880s–1920s)

  • Norman Triplett (1898)

    • Introduced the concept of social facilitation.

    • Conducted a bicycling study demonstrating that cyclists perform better in the presence of others.

    • Conducted fishing reel study, illustrating performance improvements through competition.

  • Max Ringelmann (1913)

    • Identified the phenomenon of social loafing through tug of war studies.

    • Found that individual effort decreases in group settings.

Call to Action (1930s–1950s)

  • Influence of Adolf Hitler on the field:

    • 1930s marked by unrest in Europe leading to migration of academics to North America.

    • 1940s war times fueled an explosion of psychological research focused on propaganda and public support for the war.

  • Key figures and theories from this period:

    • Kurt Lewin (1930s) - Emphasized that behavior is a function of the interaction between a person and their environment.

    • Muzafer Sherif (1936) - Conducted groundbreaking research on social influence and group processes.

    • Gordon Allport (1954) - Authored "The Nature of Prejudice;" a major work on intergroup relations.

    • Solomon Asch (1951) - Famous for studies on conformity.

    • Leon Festinger (1954, 1957) - Pioneered research on social comparison and cognitive dissonance.

Confidence and Crisis (1960s–Mid 1970s)

  • Explosion of interest in psychological phenomena:

    • Stanley Milgram (1960s) - Known for research on obedience and authority.

    • Albert Bandura (1960s) - Developed theory of social learning and self-efficacy.

    • John Bowlby (1960s) - Contributed to attachment theory.

    • Abraham Maslow (1960s) - Proposed the hierarchy of needs.

  • Period marked by ethical turmoil:

    • Concerns over the ethics of lab experiments and biases in research.

An Era of Pluralism (Mid-1970s–2000s)

  • Response to the crisis led to more rigorous ethical standards:

    • Establishment of Research Ethics Boards (REBs) and Institutional Review Boards (IRBs).

  • Adoption of more stringent research protocols to mitigate biases (e.g. double-blind studies).

  • Emphasis on cross-cultural differences in behavior and the importance of diverse methodologies:

    • Growth of social cognition as a subfield.

    • Increase in multicultural and international perspectives.

Replication Crisis (2010–Present)

  • Concerns about the lack of reproducibility in psychological studies:

    • Direct and conceptual replication discussed, including examples related to social loafing.

  • Significant replication attempts included those by Open Science Collaboration (2015), revealing low replication rates of studies.

  • Broader implications realized in fields beyond social psychology, highlighting the integrity of research methodologies.

Solutions to the Replication Crisis

  • Emphasis on new research standards and practices:

    • Transparent research protocols, pre-registrations, and sharing of methods and data.

    • Collaboration across multiple labs for replication studies.

Current Trends in Social Psychology

Integration of Emotion, Motivation, and Cognition

  • Exploration of the cold and hot perspectives in social psychology:

    • The balance between cognitive explanations and the influence of emotions and motivations on social phenomena.

  • Motivated cognition: Impact of these perspectives on behavior and decision-making.

Cultural Perspectives

  • Definition and importance of culture in social psychology.

  • Distinction between cross-cultural and multicultural research:

    • Evaluation of universal versus culturally-specific psychological theories.

    • Examples of cultural differences in emotional expression and discrimination.

The Social Brain and Body

  • Introduction to social neuroscience:

    • How neural processes influence social interactions and responses.

    • The roles of the amygdala in social stimuli reactions.

    • Connections between social pain (rejection) and physical pain experiences.

New Technologies and the Online World

  • Advances in noninvasive techniques for studying brain processes:

    • Use of technologies like fMRI and PET in social psychological research.

  • Implications of social media and technology on human behavior:

    • Questions surrounding relationship dynamics, attraction on social networks, and cyberbullying.

Loneliness in the Online World

  • Consequences of increased loneliness in contemporary society:

    • The cyclical nature of loneliness and its health implications.

    • How social media may contribute to feelings of loneliness through displacement vs. stimulation hypotheses.

Closing

  • Questions and discussion points mentioned for further exploration in the course.

  • Reminder of assigned reading and upcoming class work.