Social Psych Ch. 1

Front 1

what is social psychology?

Back 1

- the scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the presence of others
- study of the social environment

Front 2

hindsight bias

Back 2

- the tendency to exaggerate, after learning an outcome, one's own ability to have foreseen it
- the "i-knew-it-all-along" phenomenon

Front 3

key ideas of SP- behavior, sense of self, attitudes, bio, p but p, social reality

Back 3

- social influences shape our behavior
- social influences shape the self- individualist v. collectivist cultures
- personal attitudes and dispositions shape behavior ex. shy people may not go crazy at rock concerts
- social behavior is biologically rooted
- our social intuitions are often powerful but sometimes perilous- we make rapid and efficient judgements about people, but these judgements are over-simplified/generalized and error-prone
- we construct our own social reality- people respond to how we act

Front 4

the inductive method- the relationship between T and R

Back 4

- the circular relationship between theory and research
-- ...THEORY suggests predictions for RESEARCH which suggests changes in THEORY...

Front 5

theory

Back 5

- explain and organize facts or observations about human behavior
- predict new events or observations
- TESTABLE AND FALSIFIABLE

Front 6

good theories- based on? s, AfD, stimulating of NT and NR

Back 6

- based on multiple sources of info
- as simple of possible while accounting for the datea
- stimulating of new thought and new research

Front 7

research: hypothesis, sources of H= I&ET, NO, PR, testing H

Back 7

- h= a testable proposition that describes the relationship that may exist between events
- sources: introspection of everyday theorizing, naturalistic observation, previous research and theory
- testing: field research

Front 8

field research- advantages and limitations

Back 8

- A= people act more naturally when they are unaware of observation (in natural environment)
- L= no control over the sample size of pepple or environment, which allows other factors to come in and possible influence

Front 9

survey research: definition, population, representative sample

Back 9

- gathering data to test a hypothesis
- population- entire group of interest to researchers to which they wish to generalize their findings
- representative sample- a sample of the population that mirrors the population of interest, includes subgroups in the same proportion as found in the population

Front 10

sources of bias/error in survey research- construction of the survey (OQ, WQ, RO; participant characteristics (S-A, H)

Back 10

- Sample v. population
-- non-random subject pools- very difficult to get an accurate "random" sample
-- sample size- smaller samples lead to error
- Construction of the survey
-- order of the questions
-- response options
-- wording of questions (framing)
- Participant characteristics
-- accuracy of self-assessment (not as insightful as we'd like)
-- honesty of reporting- deliberately mislead surveyor, social desirability

Front 11

experimental research

Back 11

- systematically vary an aspect of the situation, control all others, and observe (measure) the effects of the variations

Front 12

elements of the experiment: independent variable, operational definition

Back 12

- the variable the researcher manipulates
- the CAUSE in the cause-and-effect relationship
- OD: defines the phenomenon were interested in in ways that systematically allow it to be measured and varied

Front 13

elements of the experiment: random assignment of participants to condition

Back 13

- experimental group- ex. intense/painful shock
- control group- ex. mild/ticklish shock
- want a random group sample b/c you want to know that the difference in the IV is what is causing the results

Front 14

elements of the experiment: control for expectancy effects, single blind, double blind

Back 14

- people behave differently based on their expectations which can harm the accuracy of the results
- subject "single blind"- they dont know what they are being studied for
- subjects and experiemnters "double blind"- both subject and experimenter and being deprived of information in order to prevent expectancy effect

Front 15

elements of the experiment: dependent variable, operational definition

Back 15

- the variable the researcher measures
- the EFFECT in the cause and effect relationship. ex. affiliation
- OD: affiliation is defined by given the option of 2 rooms (they pick 1)

Front 16

elements of the experiment: data

Back 16

- quantitative information collected about the dependent variable

Front 17

Importance of Schachter (1959) study

Back 17

- says "study of the effects of electric shock on bodily processes in college students"
- Different form of shock- intense and painful vs. mild and ticklish
- Study is really about effects of fear
- After being told what kind of shock they would receive they were given the option of 2 waiting rooms- alone or with others who are waiting
- hypothesis confirmed: those in the high-fear condition were more likely to choose the group waiting room over the solitary room compared with those in the low-fear condition

Front 18

advantages of experimental method

Back 18

- high degree of CONTROL- ability to rule out third variable explanation, regulation of temporal sequence of events
- can infer causality

Front 19

limitation of experimental method- EV, NF, CPMV, CEMV, CV, HE

Back 19

- external validity- artificial situations lead people to behave differently, short durations
- narrow focus on specific question
- some variables physically cant be manipulated
- some variables ethically cant be manipulated
- cant control all variables- despite efforts confound variables create differences
- observation "hawthorne" effects- subjects act differently when they know theyre being observed

Front 20

positive correlation

Back 20

- when HIGH values of one variable are associated with HIGH values of another variable
- vary in the SAME direction
- ex) the more afraid people become, the more likely they are to seek affiliation

Front 21

negative correlation

Back 21

- when HIGH values of one variable are associated with LOW values of another variable
- vary in OPPOSITE directions
- ex) the more afraid people come, the less likely they are to want to be alone

Front 22

strength of the correlation

Back 22

- how close is the relationship?
- how accurate is the prediction?
-- perfect (straight line), high, moderate (bit scattered), weak (very scattered)

Front 23

graphical way to characterize a correlation

Back 23

- scatterplot
- representation of 2 variables (1 on x axis and 1 on y axis)
**- knowledge of score on....
- as strength decreases, more scattered the graph becomes

Front 24

measuring correlation: correlation coefficient

Back 24

- "r"
- -1= strongest negative
- 0= no relationship
- 1= strongest positive

Front 25

advantages of correlational methods for personalty research: QE, OMA, QI

Back 25

- often quick and efficient
- often the only method available (for practical and ethical reasons)
- provides a quantitative index of the relationship between variables

Front 26

limitations of correlational methods for personalty research

Back 26

- cant infer causation- correlation does NOT mean causation
-- directionality problem
-- third variable problem

Front 27

correlation and causality: time-lagged correlations

Back 27

- look at relationships between variables repeatedly over time
- may reveal sequences of changes- which came first? high levels of fear or high levels of affiliations?
- can be SUGGESTIVE of causal direction (but not definite)- allows you to make a better causal inference

Front 28

multifactor study

Back 28

**- do an experimental study to study effects of fear on affiliative behavior
- do a correlational study to study relationship between birth order and affiliative behavior

Front 29

outcomes of multifactor study- main effects v. interaction effects. shows?

Back 29

- main effects: effects of each variable on the dependent measure (affiliation)
- interaction effects: qualify the effect of one variable on the dependent measure by taking the other variable into account
- shows how situations may impact one kind of person but not another