Offer a definition of social psychology Scientific study of how people s thoughts feelings and behaviors are influenced by other people 1 focused on individuals 2 Understand feelings affect behaviors and thoughts cognition 3 relationship between self and others 4 scientific study Explain why description and explanation are important to scientific social psychology Description Observation Answers the question What Ex What is aggression What causes aggression Theory Answers the question Why Ex Why are humans aggressive Theories connect and organize observations into a larger framework Theories shape new hypotheses Give three reasons why theories are useful 1 Connect and organize existing observations 2 Suggest where to look for more information and answers 3 Help us make predictions about future events and control previously unmanageable Describe the four major theoretical perspectives of social psychology phenomena 1 Social cognitive Subjective experience mental processes of social events is a cause of social behavior Cognitive processes are often biased toward making us feel better about ourselves a subjective experience mental processes of social events is a cause of social behavior cognitive processes are often biased toward making us feel better about ourselves 2 Social learning Past learning experiences are a major cause of social behavior Skinner Focuses on Rewards vs Punishments Imitating others rewarded behavior 3 Socio cultural Influence of larger social groups is major cause of social behavior Social norms rules of appropriate behavior Culture beliefs customs habits and language shared by a group of people in a specific time and place 4 Evolutionary Physical and psychological predispositions that helped our ancestors survive and reproduce are a major cause of social behavior our beliefs attitudes and behaviors shaped by evolution focus on similarities across cultures 3 major components to evolution Heritability Variation Natural selection genes that regulate development passed on from parents a small percentage of genes change randomly some variations are more helpful for survival than others determines which random variations are passed on through heredity List the two key assumptions shared by the major perspectives in social psychology 1 Social behavior is goal oriented 2 Social behavior represents a continual interaction between the person and the situation Discuss the five fundamental motives behind goal oriented social behavior 1 To establish social ties 2 To understand ourselves and others 3 To gain and maintain status 4 To defend ourselves and those we value 5 To attract and retain mates Explain what is meant by the person and the situation and how they become interwoven through person situation interactions 1 Person features or characteristics that individuals carry into social situations 2 Situation events or circumstances outside the person 3 Person situation interactions we choose what situations we will enter reflective of our personality situations also chose what type of person will enter them by targeting specific types of personalities Describe the two general types of methods used by social psychologists to study behavior 1 Descriptive methods 2 Experimental methods attempts to measure or record behaviors thoughts or feelings in their natural state uncover causes of behavior by systematically varying some aspect of the situation Define the five major types of descriptive methods 1 naturalistic observation 2 Case studies observing behavior as it unfolds in its natural setting behaviors are spontaneous don t rely on people s ability to report researcher may interfere observer bias you tend to see what you want to see time consuming intensive examination of a single person or group rich source of hypotheses allows study of rare behavior observer bias difficult to reconstruct causes from past events 3 Archives 4 Surveys public records of social behaviors easy to access data many interesting behaviors are never recorded asking people questions about their beliefs and behaviors cost effective study of difficult to observe behaviors people who respond may not be representative Social desirability bias tendency for people to say what they believe is appropriate 5 psychological tests assessments that measure differences between people s abilities cognitions motivation behaviors Explain what a representative sample is and why it is important a group of respondents having characteristics that match those of eh larger population the researcher wants to describe Discuss the difference between reliability and validity in psychological tests 1 reliability consistency of the test s results 2 validity extent to which the test measures what it is designed to measure Define correlation and explain what is meant by the statement correlation does not equal causation 1 correlation the extent to which 2 or more variables are associated with one another 2 correlations can provide hints but they do not enable us to draw conclusions about cause and effect just because something is correlated does not mean one is the cause of the other Correlation coefficient a mathematical expression of the relationship between 2 variables ranges from 1 to 1 absolute value indicates magnitude closer to 1 stronger 0 weaker Positive correlation when one variable increases so does the other 50 40 30 20 10 0 50 60 70 80 Negative correlation when one variable increases the other decreases or vice versa No correlation occurs when there is not predictable relationship Explain the experimental method including all of the key concepts associated with this Methodology Independent variable the manipulated variable 1 hypothesis a researcher s prediction about what he or she will find 2 3 Dependent variable the affected variable that we measure change by comparing 4 Random assignment each participant has equal chance of being assigned to a group Hindsight bias After you know the answer it makes sense even if before you couldn t figure it out Internal Validity the extent to which an experiment allows confident statements about cause and effect External Validity the extent to which the results of an experiment can be generalized to other circumstances Reliability getting the same results a Across items b Across time will the experiment be the same if done with other subjects will the experiment be the same done at other times Discuss why combining different methods of inquiry leads social psychologists to
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