A. ___________ is defined as the scientific field that seeks to understand the nature and causes of individual behavior and thought in social situations.B. Social psychologists ask many different questions, ranging from “what is jealousy?” to “what is the relationship between heat and aggressive behavior?” These questions all have the goal of understanding the social side of life—how we think about others and interact with them.Social Psychology Is Scientific in NatureA. Social psychology is a scientific discipline. Science is:a. _____________b. Methods that can be used to study a variety of topicsB. Core values of a scientific field:a. _______: A commitment to gathering and evaluating information about the world in as careful, precise, and error-free a manner as possible.b. Objectivity: A commitment to obtaining and evaluating such information in a manner that is as free from bias as humanly possible.c. Skepticism: A commitment to accepting findings as accurate only to extent they have been verified over and over again.d. ____________: A commitment to changing one’s view—even views that are strongly held—if existing evidence suggests that these views are inaccurate.Social Psychology Seeks to Understand the Causes of Social Behavior and Social ThoughtA. The actions and characteristics of othersa. Having others watch us can affect our thoughts and behaviors (e.g., noticing an attractive person is looking at you and smiling at a party).b. In addition, the physical characteristics of others may affect our thoughts and behaviors (e.g., feeling uncomfortable around someone with a disability).B. _______ Processesa. We are always trying to make sense out of the social world, and this basic fact leads us to engage in lots of social cognition—to think long and hard about other persons—and what we infer about these people influence how we behave towards them (e.g., if a friend is late in meeting us, we react with more annoyance if the excuse they give us is one they have given us before).C. Environmental variablesa. The physical environment does influence our feelings, thoughts, and behavior (e.g., feeling warm and uncomfortable can raise our feelings of aggression and irritability).D. Biological factors: Many of our behaviors, such as emotional reactions, may be partly due to genetic factors.a. _________: A branch of psychology that examines the role of genetic factors in human behavior.b. Social psychologists and the evolutionary perspectivei. For example, social psychologists may study attractiveness. Choosing a mate may depend on the characteristics they show (e.g., reproductive capacity), according to the evolutionary perspective.ii. It is important to note that the evolutionary perspective holds that we are born with innate tendencies or predispositions. Whether or not they are shown depends on our environment.The search for Basic Principles in a Changing Social WorldOne goal of science is the development of basic principles that are accurate regardless of when or where they are tested. However this goal is complicated by the existence of huge cultural differences and rapid changes in social life.Social Psychology: Advances at the BoundariesA. ______________ and behavior: Two sides of the same social coina. Social psychologists are examining the link between social thought and overt social behavior.b. What we think about influences our actions and the consequences of these actions affect our thoughts; it is a continuous loop.B. The role of emotion in the social side of lifea. Social psychologists have always been interested in emotions and moods, and with good reason: They play a key role in many aspects of social life (i.e. helping behavior).b. This interest in emotions and moods has exploded in recent years.C. Relationships: How they develop, change, and strengthen—or enda. _____ are our social ties with other persons ranging from casual acquaintance or passing friendship, to intense, long-term relationships such as marriage or lifetime friendships.b. Social psychologists have long sought to understand the nature of social relationships – how they begin and change over time, and why, gradually some strengthen while others die.D. The role of implicit (non-conscious) processesa. Automatic processes that we may not be fully aware of on a conscious level shape some of our social thought and behavior.b. For example, we tend to like things that are closely related to out self-concept, and these preferences can influence our behaviors (like where we choose to live) even though we are not aware of these preferences (e.g., people named Louis are more likely to live in St. Louis).E. Taking full account of social diversitya. Due to shifts in demographics, psychologists have increasingly recognized the importance of taking cultural factors and differences into account.b. Social psychology now adopts a ___________, which seeks to understand the cultural and ethnic factors that can influence social behavior.How Social Psychologists Answer the Questions They Ask: Research as the Route to Increased KnowledgeA. ________________: Carefully observing behavior as it occurs.a. Naturalistic observation takes place in natural settings (e.g., shopping malls) and the observer watches behavior inconspicuously, being careful not to influence the people they are watching in any way.B. _______________: A large group of people is asked to respond to questions concerning their behavior and/or attitudes (e.g., attitudes toward affirmative action programs).a. Advantages of the survey method:i. A large amount of information from many people can be gathered relatively easily.ii. Researchers can obtain opinions about new social issues quickly, as surveys can be readily created.b. Survey requirements:i. The survey participants must be representative of the larger population from which they are drawn, so conclusions can be reached.ii. Survey questions should not seem to suggest a right or wrong answer, so researchers must be careful about the wording of items.C. Correlation: The search for relationshipsa. A ___________ is the tendency for one event to change as the other changes.i. Correlations help researchers make predictions (e.g., how well a students will do in college based on their SAT scores).ii. A number, ranging from -1 to +1, represents correlations. The further away from 0 a correlation is, the stronger the relationship between the variables.iii. Positive correlations mean as one