Learning Objectives for Chapter 1 BE ABLE TO APPLY ALL OF THESE CONCEPTS TO YOUR LIFE Introduction to Social Psychology 1 How does social psychology study human behavior thoughts and feelings o The scientific study of how people think about influence and relate to each other as groups and as individuals 2 Why is it difficult to define social psychology o We are bio psycho social organisms 3 How does social psychology relate to sociology and other areas of psychology o It looks at how were shaped by our biology and neurobiology and it lies between the boundaries of sociology and psychology 4 Which field is most closely related to social psychology and often studied in unison o Social neuroscience 5 What does social psychology focus on o Social psychology is the scientific study of how people think about influence and relate to one another Its central themes include the following 1 How we construe our social worlds 2 How our social intuitions guide and sometimes deceive us 3 How our social behavior is shaped by other people by our attitudes and personalities and by our biology 4 How social psychology s principles apply to our everyday lives and to various other fields of study 6 How did behaviorism and Freudian psychoanalysis contribute to the field of social o Automatic and non conscious vs controlled and conscious 7 What important 20th century event stimulated interest in social psychology and psychology why did it do so o World War II 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 and our limitations o Biological Roots evolved cultural animal the environment we evolved to thrive in is different than the one we live in now o We Construct Our Reality There is an objective reality out there but we always view it through the lens of our beliefs and values o Selfish impulse vs social conscience Nature says Go culture says Stop Competing internal and external drive 9 What is the ABC triad and how does it apply to what social psychologists do o Goal Have a broad understanding of how human beings think act and feel o Focus on normal day to day behavior o All of the questions asked are empirical questions o ABC Triad Affect how people feel ex feeling anger Behavior What people do ex driving aggressively Cognition What people think ex thinking that others are out to get you Research Methods 1 How does labeling relate to bias in research and what are some examples of this Labeling one characteristic two different ways could make it look negative or positive Bashful or cautious holding back or an observer Terrorist or freedom fighter 2 Why can t we just use common sense to tell us about social psychology Experiments reveal that outcomes are more obvious after the facts are known 3 What is the hindsight bias The tendency to exaggerate after learning an outcome ones ability to have foreseen how something turned out Also known as the i 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 events dropped and feelings A theory is an integrated set of principles that explain and predict observed Evolution is seen as just a theory but gravity is also a theory Gravity is the theoretical explanation for the facts your keys fall to the ground when 5 What can and can t correlational research tell us about human behavior thoughts Correlational studies sometimes conducted with systematic survey methods discern the relationship between variables such as between amount of education and amount of income Knowing two things are naturally related is valuable information but it is not a reliable indicator of what is causing what or whether a third variable is involved 6 What does it mean for two variables to be positively correlated with one another Negatively correlated with one another Positively the two factors scores rise and fall together Negatively as one factor score goes up the other goes down 7 What can correlation coefficients range from What does the sign mean From 1 0 to 1 0 correlation The sign means a negative correlation the sign means to positive 8 What is the 3rd variable problem with correlational research A third variable might be involved in the situation that has not been taken into account Therefore correlational research allows us to predict but it cannot tell us whether changing one variable will cause changes in another 9 What are some of the unintended influences on survey research Unrepresentative sample Order of questions Response Questions Wording of Questions 10 What is the goal and what are the features of experimental research a Why are these features important for achieving the goal of experimental 11 What are independent and dependent variables Independent Variable The experimental factor that a researcher research manipulates Dependent Variable The variable being measured so called because it may depend on manipulations of the independent variable 12 What is an operational definition and why is it important How you define a construct within an experiment Some constructs are easier to define than others What does it mean to wear black clothes What do we mean by aggresstion 13 What are the ways in which we evaluate a measure we that we are using to assess a certain construct Validity and reliability a What is a main effect 14 What does it mean to have an interaction of effects on a dependent variable Interaction of effects when the effect of one independent variable on the dependent variable depends on the value or level of the other independent variable Main effect When an independent variable has an effect of similar magnitude and direction across levels of the other independent variables 15 What are demand characteristics Text Cues in an experiment that tell the participant what behavior is expected 16 What are the pros and cons of correlational and experimental research Correlational o Pros Often used real world settings o Cons Causation often embiguous o Experimental Pros can explore cause and effect by controlling variables and Cons some important variables cannot be studied with by random assignment experiments Chapter 2 Study Points The Self AS ALWAYS BE ABLE TO APPLY ALL OF THESE CONCEPTS TO YOUR LIFE 1 What is the spotlight effect o The belief that others are paying more attention to our appearance and behavior than they really are It
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