Chapter One: What Is Social Psychology
When the brain isn’t engaging in any active task, its default pattern of activity involves social thinking
The social contexts in which we find ourselves can influence us profoundly
Social Psychology: The scientific study of how individuals think, feel, and behave in a social context
Walton: Conducted an experiment in which they told female engineering students that it was typical to go through periods of social stress - this intervention eliminated the large gender difference between GPAs
Norman Triplett: Published the first research article in social psych
Max Ringlemann: Conducted social research in the 1880s
William McDougall, Edward Ross, and Floyd Allport: Wrote the first three textbooks in social psychology
Hitler had a great impact on the field
People became desperate for answers to social psychological questions
Many social psychologists living in europe fled to the us, establishing the field in the us
1936 Gordon Allport - Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues
Kurt Lewin: Fled to the US in the early 1930s
Interactionist Perspective: Behavior is a function of the interaction between the person and the environment
Advocated for social psychological theories to be applied to practical issues
Stanley Milgram’s research
Social psych entered a period of expansion and enthusiasm
Also a time of crisis and heated debate
Dominant research method: lab experiments
Critics said certain practices were unethical, theories were historically and culturally limited, and there was experimenter bias
More rigorous ethical standards were instituted
More practices to guard against bias
More attention paid to possible cross-cultural difference
Social Cognition: The study of how we perceive, remember, and interpret info about ourselves and others
In 1970s and 80s, dominant perspective was called “cold” bc it emphasized the role of cognition
“Hot” perspective focused on emotion and motivation
Hot vs cold = the conflict between wanting to be right and wanting to feel good about oneself
Behavioral genetics and social psych
Are political attitudes partially inherited?
What role do genes play in sexual orientation/identity?
Evolutionary psych and social psych
To understand a social psych issue, we should ask how the underlying tendencies and reactions may have evolved from our natural-selection ancestors
How people perceive their world is influenced by the beliefs, norms, and practices of the people and institutions around them
Cross-cultural Research: Examine similarities and differences across a variety of cultures
Collectivist v Individualist cultures
Multi-cultural Research: Examine racial and ethnic groups within cultures
Behavior economics focuses on how psychology relates to economic decision making
Social psych, political science, philosophy, and neuroscience
Understanding the political divide
Environmental studies, public health
How to get people to conserve energy, adopt healthier habits, and avoid skin cancer
Social Neuroscience: The study of the relationship between neural and social processes
How playing violent video games can affect brain activity and subsequent acts of aggression
How different patterns of activity in parts of the brain relate to how people are likely to perceive themselves
Embodied Cognition: Focuses on the close links between our minds and the positioning, experiences, and actions of our bodies
People’s perceptions and judgements reflect and can influence their bodily experiences
The social brain - made possible through advances in tech
Today we can see images of the brain through noninvasive procedures
PET - Positron Emission Tomography: Imaging test that can help reveal the metabolic or biochemical function of your tissues and organs
ERP - Event-related Potential: Small voltages generated in the brain structures in response to specific events or stimuli
TMS - Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation: Noninvasive procedure that uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells in the brain to improve symptoms of depression
fMRI - Functional Magnetic Resonance Imagining: Measures the small changes in blood flow that occur with brain activity
Online communication
Facilitates research
Becoming a provocative topic of study
When the brain isn’t engaging in any active task, its default pattern of activity involves social thinking
The social contexts in which we find ourselves can influence us profoundly
Social Psychology: The scientific study of how individuals think, feel, and behave in a social context
Walton: Conducted an experiment in which they told female engineering students that it was typical to go through periods of social stress - this intervention eliminated the large gender difference between GPAs
Norman Triplett: Published the first research article in social psych
Max Ringlemann: Conducted social research in the 1880s
William McDougall, Edward Ross, and Floyd Allport: Wrote the first three textbooks in social psychology
Hitler had a great impact on the field
People became desperate for answers to social psychological questions
Many social psychologists living in europe fled to the us, establishing the field in the us
1936 Gordon Allport - Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues
Kurt Lewin: Fled to the US in the early 1930s
Interactionist Perspective: Behavior is a function of the interaction between the person and the environment
Advocated for social psychological theories to be applied to practical issues
Stanley Milgram’s research
Social psych entered a period of expansion and enthusiasm
Also a time of crisis and heated debate
Dominant research method: lab experiments
Critics said certain practices were unethical, theories were historically and culturally limited, and there was experimenter bias
More rigorous ethical standards were instituted
More practices to guard against bias
More attention paid to possible cross-cultural difference
Social Cognition: The study of how we perceive, remember, and interpret info about ourselves and others
In 1970s and 80s, dominant perspective was called “cold” bc it emphasized the role of cognition
“Hot” perspective focused on emotion and motivation
Hot vs cold = the conflict between wanting to be right and wanting to feel good about oneself
Behavioral genetics and social psych
Are political attitudes partially inherited?
What role do genes play in sexual orientation/identity?
Evolutionary psych and social psych
To understand a social psych issue, we should ask how the underlying tendencies and reactions may have evolved from our natural-selection ancestors
How people perceive their world is influenced by the beliefs, norms, and practices of the people and institutions around them
Cross-cultural Research: Examine similarities and differences across a variety of cultures
Collectivist v Individualist cultures
Multi-cultural Research: Examine racial and ethnic groups within cultures
Behavior economics focuses on how psychology relates to economic decision making
Social psych, political science, philosophy, and neuroscience
Understanding the political divide
Environmental studies, public health
How to get people to conserve energy, adopt healthier habits, and avoid skin cancer
Social Neuroscience: The study of the relationship between neural and social processes
How playing violent video games can affect brain activity and subsequent acts of aggression
How different patterns of activity in parts of the brain relate to how people are likely to perceive themselves
Embodied Cognition: Focuses on the close links between our minds and the positioning, experiences, and actions of our bodies
People’s perceptions and judgements reflect and can influence their bodily experiences
The social brain - made possible through advances in tech
Today we can see images of the brain through noninvasive procedures
PET - Positron Emission Tomography: Imaging test that can help reveal the metabolic or biochemical function of your tissues and organs
ERP - Event-related Potential: Small voltages generated in the brain structures in response to specific events or stimuli
TMS - Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation: Noninvasive procedure that uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells in the brain to improve symptoms of depression
fMRI - Functional Magnetic Resonance Imagining: Measures the small changes in blood flow that occur with brain activity
Online communication
Facilitates research
Becoming a provocative topic of study