Chapter 1: The mission and the method page 3
Table of Contents
A brief history of social psychology.......................................................................................................3
1880s and 1890s:...............................................................................................................................3
Early 20th century:..............................................................................................................................3
1950s and 1960s:...............................................................................................................................3
Behaviourism.................................................................................................................................3
Freudian psychoanalysis................................................................................................................3
Recent history:...................................................................................................................................4
Social cogniton:.............................................................................................................................4
Evolutonary psychology:...............................................................................................................4
What do social psychologists do?..........................................................................................................5
Social psychology:..............................................................................................................................5
ABC triad:...........................................................................................................................................5
Social psychology’s place in the world...................................................................................................6
Social psychology’s place in the social sciences.................................................................................6
Anthropology.................................................................................................................................6
Economics......................................................................................................................................6
History...........................................................................................................................................6
Politcal science..............................................................................................................................6
Social psychology’s place within psychology.....................................................................................6
Why people study social psychology.....................................................................................................7
How do social psychologists answer their own questons?...................................................................8
Accumulated common wisdom.........................................................................................................8
Overview of the scientic method.....................................................................................................8
Scientic theories..............................................................................................................................8
Independent variable:....................................................................................................................8
Dependent variable.......................................................................................................................8
Operatonal deiniton....................................................................................................................8
Construct validity of the cause.......................................................................................................9
Construct validity of the efect......................................................................................................9
Research design.................................................................................................................................9
Experimental studies.....................................................................................................................9
Laboratory and ield experiments..................................................................................................9
Nonexperimental studies.............................................................................................................10
,How much of social psychology is true?..............................................................................................11
Self-correctng nature of science.....................................................................................................11
Reliance on student samples...........................................................................................................11
Cultural relatvity.............................................................................................................................11
, A brief history of social psychology
1880s and 1890s:
Triplett: found out that the presence of others increases performance
- Experiment: competition machine where children had to wind up a fishing reel, either
alone or with others
Ringelmann: found out the presence of others decreases performance
- Experiment: men pulling a rope in different group sizes
See Chapter 14 for more information on these studies, and the reason for their difference in
findings.
Early 20th century:
The first textbooks on Social Psychology got published by McDougall, Ross and later Allport.
Many happenings, dilemmas and situations in the early 20th century led to many intellectuals
questioning the human behaviour and society. Three basic ideas rose from this:
- Modern life makes people vulnerable to alienation and exploitation by giant social
systems.
- We learn who we are from other people and our interactions with them.
- Modern humans act less on the basis of firm inner moral principles than on the basis of
following the crowd.
Two important (and still relevant) ideas for social psychology emerged from this period:
- Attitudes are the most useful and important concept in social psychology (by Allport)
o This means behaviour is mainly influences by relatively stable impressions
about certain things or people.
o See Chapter 7
- Behaviour is a function of the person and the situation (by Lewin)
o This means the behaviour of a person depends on the person and its
characteristics, in combination with the type of situation it’s in.
1950s and 1960s:
Social psychology emerges as a separate field in psychology.
The members of psychology as a whole are divided between the following two camps at this
point:
Behaviourism
- Behaviourism – theoretical approach that seeks to explain behaviour in terms of
learning principles, without reference to inner states, thoughts, or feelings
- These learning principles could be, for example, rewards or punishments
- Depended greatly on experiments and the scientific method
Freudian psychoanalysis
- Freudian psychoanalysis – theoretical approach that seeks to explain behaviour by
looking at the deep unconscious forces inside the person
- Depended on interpretations of individual experiences
Table of Contents
A brief history of social psychology.......................................................................................................3
1880s and 1890s:...............................................................................................................................3
Early 20th century:..............................................................................................................................3
1950s and 1960s:...............................................................................................................................3
Behaviourism.................................................................................................................................3
Freudian psychoanalysis................................................................................................................3
Recent history:...................................................................................................................................4
Social cogniton:.............................................................................................................................4
Evolutonary psychology:...............................................................................................................4
What do social psychologists do?..........................................................................................................5
Social psychology:..............................................................................................................................5
ABC triad:...........................................................................................................................................5
Social psychology’s place in the world...................................................................................................6
Social psychology’s place in the social sciences.................................................................................6
Anthropology.................................................................................................................................6
Economics......................................................................................................................................6
History...........................................................................................................................................6
Politcal science..............................................................................................................................6
Social psychology’s place within psychology.....................................................................................6
Why people study social psychology.....................................................................................................7
How do social psychologists answer their own questons?...................................................................8
Accumulated common wisdom.........................................................................................................8
Overview of the scientic method.....................................................................................................8
Scientic theories..............................................................................................................................8
Independent variable:....................................................................................................................8
Dependent variable.......................................................................................................................8
Operatonal deiniton....................................................................................................................8
Construct validity of the cause.......................................................................................................9
Construct validity of the efect......................................................................................................9
Research design.................................................................................................................................9
Experimental studies.....................................................................................................................9
Laboratory and ield experiments..................................................................................................9
Nonexperimental studies.............................................................................................................10
,How much of social psychology is true?..............................................................................................11
Self-correctng nature of science.....................................................................................................11
Reliance on student samples...........................................................................................................11
Cultural relatvity.............................................................................................................................11
, A brief history of social psychology
1880s and 1890s:
Triplett: found out that the presence of others increases performance
- Experiment: competition machine where children had to wind up a fishing reel, either
alone or with others
Ringelmann: found out the presence of others decreases performance
- Experiment: men pulling a rope in different group sizes
See Chapter 14 for more information on these studies, and the reason for their difference in
findings.
Early 20th century:
The first textbooks on Social Psychology got published by McDougall, Ross and later Allport.
Many happenings, dilemmas and situations in the early 20th century led to many intellectuals
questioning the human behaviour and society. Three basic ideas rose from this:
- Modern life makes people vulnerable to alienation and exploitation by giant social
systems.
- We learn who we are from other people and our interactions with them.
- Modern humans act less on the basis of firm inner moral principles than on the basis of
following the crowd.
Two important (and still relevant) ideas for social psychology emerged from this period:
- Attitudes are the most useful and important concept in social psychology (by Allport)
o This means behaviour is mainly influences by relatively stable impressions
about certain things or people.
o See Chapter 7
- Behaviour is a function of the person and the situation (by Lewin)
o This means the behaviour of a person depends on the person and its
characteristics, in combination with the type of situation it’s in.
1950s and 1960s:
Social psychology emerges as a separate field in psychology.
The members of psychology as a whole are divided between the following two camps at this
point:
Behaviourism
- Behaviourism – theoretical approach that seeks to explain behaviour in terms of
learning principles, without reference to inner states, thoughts, or feelings
- These learning principles could be, for example, rewards or punishments
- Depended greatly on experiments and the scientific method
Freudian psychoanalysis
- Freudian psychoanalysis – theoretical approach that seeks to explain behaviour by
looking at the deep unconscious forces inside the person
- Depended on interpretations of individual experiences
