Learning Objectives for Chapter 1 Introduction to Social Psychology 1 How does social psychology study human behavior thoughts and feelings o We asked questions that we can actually empirically test o By asking questions that intrigue us These questions all deal with how people view and effect one another 2 Why is it difficult to define social psychology o There are many parts to the study of social psychology 3 How does social psychology relate to sociology and other areas of psychology o They all focus on how people think feel and act 4 Which field is most closely related to social psychology and often studied in unison o Sociology social psychology psychology 5 What does social psychology focus on o How people think about relate and influence one another 6 How did behaviorism and Freudian psychoanalysis contribute to the field of o We see behaviorism gave us a really solid methodology to the study of social o Gives us some pretty rigorous guidelines to what social psych is o Freud implied that we have an unconscious mind We act and we are unaware that we are doing so This still effects our behaviors and how we act overall 7 What important 20th century event stimulated interest in social psychology and why did it do so o Nazi trials during WWII o Most of the Nazi s claimed that they were just following orders o Got people interested in what could cause such negative behaviors o Why are people willing to obey authority figures without any question in such a bad situation 8 What are some of the most important common themes of social psychology what do they mean and why are they important o Power of the situation Our situations determine our possibilities o Biological roots Our behavior comes from thousands of years of evolution o We construct our reality All about how we try to make sense of everything occurring around us o We have duplex minds that enable intuitions self conscious and vice versa A lot goes on that we are unaware of Nonconscious processes affect our attitude and decisions o Self impulse Competing internal and external drives 9 What is the ABC triad and how does it apply to what social psychologists do o Affect How people feel Behavior What people do Cognition What people think o It helps them to have a broad understanding of how human beings think feel and act Research Methods 1 How does labeling relate to bias in research a We can potentially have these biases for or against people or things b Labeling individuals will influence ones outlook or perspective on that person and skew the results of research c We need to be aware that people have biases d The idea is that good science should be able to weed these issues out i No matter what we do we still have biases against things e The peer review process can help to eliminate things 2 Why can t we just use common sense to tell us about social psychology a Common sense can ultimately be contradicting 3 What is the hindsight bias a The tendency to exaggerate one s ability to have foreseen the outcome of a situation after it has already occurred i Also known as the knew it all along phenomenon 4 What is a theory and what does your book say about the comparison between evolutionary theory and the theory of gravity a A theory is an integrated set of principals that explain and predict observed b Evolution s only a theory but so is gravity 5 What can and can t correlational research tell us about human behavior thoughts and feelings a It CAN tell us how one variable is associated with another but CAN T ell us about causation 6 What does it mean for two variables to be positively correlated with one another Negatively correlated with one another a One variable is increasing decreasing while the other variable is doing the b One variable is increasing decreasing while the other variable is doing the 7 What can correlation coefficients range from What does the sign mean 1 00 to 1 00 a b The sign means that it is simply either a positive or negative correlation 8 What is the 3rd variable problem with correlational research a When there is a possibility that neither of the variables have a casual effect on the other and that there is in fact a result of a third lurking variable that is causing the outcomes 9 What are some of the unintended influences on survey research a Unrepresentative samples question order response options and question 10 What is the goal and what are the features of experimental research Why are these features important for achieving the goal of experimental research a Experimental research is all about trying to demonstrate causation events same opposite wording b We are only looking at one cause an effect c We actually have control over the setting which helps us to achieve the overall goal 11 What are independent and dependent variables a Independent variables are the variables that a researcher manipulates in an experiment EX how many sleeping pills a participant takes b Dependent variables are the variables being measured EX The time it takes for the participant to fall asleep after taking X amount of sleeping pills i May depend on the manipulations of the independent variable 12 What is an operational definition and why is it important a Definitions of a characteristic that is being investigated b It is important because it makes it clear what your variables are and helps you to determine how you can measure them 13 What are the ways in which we evaluate a measure we that we are using to assess a certain construct a Validity Accurately measuring what we want to measure b Reliability All about consistency in our results 14 What does it mean to have an interaction of effects on a dependent variable What is a main effect other IV combination a When the effect of the IV on the DV depends on the value or level of the b When an IV has an effect of similar magnitude and direction across all levels of the other IV The effect of one of our variables on the DV no combination 15 What are demand characteristics Text a Cues in an experiment that tell the participant what behavior is expected 16 What are the pros and cons of correlational and experimental research a We can definitely determine causation with experimental research but can t b With experimental it can be costly and hard to do along with ethical with correlational guidelines i Smoking and lung cancer we can t do a study to test this because it is unethical to have people smoke just for study Study Points The Self 1 What is the spotlight effect a
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