Social Psychology Final Exam Review Guide Introduction Research Methods Social Psychology The scientific study of the way in which people s feelings behaviors and thoughts are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people Hindsight Bias tendency of people to view events as more predictable than actually are after they have already occurred Scientific Method a set of principles and procedures that are used by researchers to develop questions collect data and reach conclusions o Hypothesize thinking of testable prediction o Operationalize figure out exactly how to test prediction o Measure conduct study and measure concepts in which you are interested o Evaluate examine data to determine if predictions were right or wrong o Revise Replicate if right replicate experiment to confirm if wrong revise hypothesis Hypothesize hypothesis must contain two variables must make a specific prediction about variables relationship under specific circumstances o Variable anything that can hold more than one value can be measured and manipulated Independent Variable IV The variable that the researcher manipulates to see if it has an effect on another variable Dependent Variable DV The variable that the researcher measures to see if it is or isn t Operationalize process by which we make a conceptual variable one that we can actually measure influenced by the IV o Conceptual Vs Operational Conceptual Broad Operational Specific Measurement o Observational Method used to describe nature researcher observes people and records their behavior Strengths Limitations Easy to do Can be done in both lab or field setting Behavior is often difficult to observe Only allows for description not prediction or explanation Provides no information about causation o Correlational Method used to examine relationship between variables Surveys commonly used Random Selection participants are chosen at random allows conclusion to be drawn about a larger population Strengths Allows researcher to study variables that would be difficult or unethical to manipulate Surveys provide information about a lot of people very quickly Limitations Causation correlation doesn t always mean causation Third Variable Problem does X cause Y or maybe H causes Y Random Selection if difficult to achieve Provide no information on causality o Experimental Method allows researcher to determine whether or not X caused Y involved experimenter to manipulate the IV A true experiment must manipulate the IV have random assignment of subjects to experimental conditions reasonable attempts to hold the situation constant all experiments must be the same except for manipulated IV Strengths Allows conclusion about causality Allows experimenter to rule out other variables Limitations Results may not be applicable to broader population Some variables are difficult unethical to manipulate Some lab studies aren t applicable in the real world Evaluate to evaluate findings must look at validity of experiment o Construct Validity Are you measuring what you say you re measuring o Internal Validity How sure are you that nothing other than the IV could cause this result o External Validity How well can these results be applied to other situations with other people Revise Replicate If findings indicate the hypothesis was correct one must replicate in order to prove that results weren t due to statistical error If finding indicate the hypothesis was incorrect one must revise the hypothesis or revise the operational aspect Ethics in Research o No undue or irreversible stress o Informed consent o Full disclosure The Self The Self Concept In order to study the effects of the situation on a person we must first understand the person o All the knowledge and beliefs that people have about themselves o Self Culture Independent the self is a separate autonomous entity Interdependent Collectivist the self is connected with others Self Knowledge o Introspection Looking inward to examine our own thoughts feelings People don t rely on introspection as commonly as one would think True reasons for feelings and behavior can be hidden from consciousness o Self Perception People infer what they think or how they feel by observing their behavior Self perception of emotion Facial feedback hypothesis changes in facial expression can lead to corresponding changes in emotion Self perception of motivation 2 strategies of motivation Intrinsic motivation wanting to engage in an activity because it would be interesting and enjoyable Extrinsic motivation wanting to engage in an activity because of external rewards or pressures Over justification effect when someone is offered extrinsic motivation for an activity they already have intrinsic motivation to do their intrinsic motivation decreases Providing rewards doesn t decrease intrinsic motivation when there was no intrinsic motivation to begin with Performance contingent rewards can actually increase intrinsic motivation Two factor theory of emotion 2 factors are necessary to experience an emotion Person must experience physiological arousal than person must make cognitive interpretation that explains the source of the arousal Arousal Cognition Emotion Social Comparison evaluating one s abilities and opinions by comparing themselves to others To whom do you compare yourself o To anyone who is around When do you compare yourself o If no objective standard o If uncertain about performance Goals of Social Comparison o Self Enhancement to feel better about oneself o Know what excellence is o Accuracy Self Evalutions Judgment of one s self worth o How do we feel about ourselves o Self esteem Consists of positive and negative self evaluations Often measured by Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale Contingencies of self worth People base their self esteem on different specific attributes about themselves other s approval their own appearance academic performance etc Sociometer hypothesis Self esteem is a marker of how socially accepted someone feels Mindsets can also affect Self esteem Growth mindset abilities can grow get better or worsen Fixed mindset abilities are fixed at certain amounts o Major implications of self control Diets Studying Tolerating an annoying person Keeping your Self Control temper Breaking habits Self Presentation o Strategic self presentation process by which people try to shape what others think of them o Self monitoring tendency to regulate one s own behavior to meet the demands of a situation High self monitor concerned