Social Psychology Study Guide-What is Science?• Science is the study of something in the world. Something based on facts and research. It is what we use to explain the world about us.• Systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through ovservation and experimentation. • One of several different techniques people use to gain information about the world.• Also gain information from culture and experiences.“Common Knowledge” -Can be wrong or contradictory. Ex.) “The more the merrier” “Two is a party. Three’s a crowd” “Never too old to learn” “Can’t teach an old dog new tricks”Popular Media • Can only tell part of the story. There is too much space and time limitations. • Must simplify for a broad audience. • May misrepresent scientific findings (intentional or unintentional) Types of explanations:• Belief based explanations:-Authority telling you what is true and not-Accepted as truth in the absence of evidence or in the presence of contradictory evidence.-Often accepted on the basis of:1. Indoctination (accepting group’s idea)2. Upbringing 3. Personal need (ex. When down...think of karma and how everything will work out.• Common sense explanations:-Gut feelings/ intuitions-Deduction- using logic and ration to come up with an answer.-Based on own sense of what is true about the world around us. (gut feelings)-Derived from observed events, previous experiences... these are the things that seem intuitively true or logical. -not things we have rigorously tested. Ex) friends may easily get jobs straight out of college... we tend to ignore regression and unemployment and believe we will too. Or if our friends don’t get jobs easily we ignore our qualifications and believe we will also have trouble finding a job after graduation.)Limitations to common sense:-Based on very few observations-Based off of what has been seen or hear. -Not rigourosly tested and can sometimes be wrong.Is common sense useless?-Not it often provides good general guidelines,suggestions for research. However, it is best to back it up with data and research especially when consequenses are high.• Scientific Explanation:-Based on Scientific method. 1. State problem (observe phenomonom)2. Conduct literature review (see what has already been done on subject)3. State Hypothesis4. Design/ run experiment (after ethics approval)5. Analyze the data6. If data doesn’t support hypothesis reject it and try again, change the variables.7. Once it supports hypothesis share results. (publish, present)What is Social psychology?-Scientific study of thoughts, feelings, and behavior especially in relation to other people.What is the goal of social psychologists? -Have a broad understanding of how human beings think, act and feel-Focus on “normal” day to day behavior. ABC Triad-Affect: how people feel Ex) Feeling anger-Behavior: What people doEx) driving aggresively-Cognition: What people thinkEx) “Tallahassee drivers are the worst” Personal Influences on ABCHow internal, personal changes lead to behavioral changes. Ex. How do people act when they are feeling:-Powerful – stand up styraight, stern, “you are the shit” mentality, cocky and assertive-Lonely – cry, eat, drink, socialize, put selves out there. (humans are social animals with the desire to socialize and interact and belong)Situation influences- How environmental changes lead to behavioral changes. Ex. How people act when they are around :-Other people compared to alone-Older people compared to younger-Same sex compared to opposite sexWhat do Social Psychologists do?• Use scientific method-All questions they look into are empirical questions-Answered through systematic observation experimentation techniques. -Best way to objectively assess realityWhat are characteristics of the scientific explanation?• Scientific explanations are empirical-Best on objective, systematic observations-Rational- follow the rules of logic and are consistent with known facts. (also known as determinism)-Testble- verifiable through observation and can be disproved. (Contrast with psuedoscience)-Parsimonious- simplest explanation is what we end up turning to use. Fewest assumptions and fewest variables.-General- apply beyond original observation and onto a wider base of people.-Tentative- Not given with absolute certainty.-Rigorously evaluated- constantly evaluating...able to be replicable• Theories use abstract concepts that are logically linked-Sexual arousal (affects behavior) is difficult to observe directly.-Hypothesis: IF sexually aroused THEN more likely to participate in risk taking activities.• Concepts myst be grounded in reality-Must be observable• Variables are operationally defined.o Ex. Sexual arousal: when writing about a sexually arousing event, the same parts of your brain are aroused as the time you were aroused and you become sexually aroused again. o During the study they considered the risk taking event to be choosing hit during a game of blackjack. Researchers had some people write a random story and some write about a sexually arousing experience in their life and observed who was more likely to participate in the risk taking behavior such as choosing hit during their game of blackjack. • Experimento Researcher controls the procedureso Participants are randomly assigned to a conditiono Independent variable causes change in the dependent variable. • Quasi Experimentso Infer cause and effect but not conclusively Ex. “men take more risks than female” can’t conclusively say• Non experimental studies:o Correlational approach – how two different concepts are related to one another. Not interested in controlling oither variables. Just look at the relation between two variables. Weakness – cannot prove causation. However, good first step to determine if it has an existing relationship 3 kinds of Correlation studies:• Case study – study one or a very small number of individuals. • Naturalistic observation – studying people in their environments to see how they behave• Survey – questionairres then calculate statistics The easier to draw a line on a scatter plot, the stronger the correlation/relationship is .Reading Social Psychology Articles• Peer Review Processo Top journals have ito Experts review methods and theory; assess validity. Will look for mistakes and innaccuracy.• What if researchers mee up or lie?o There is a
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