Chapter 1: Introduction
Social psychology = the scientific investigation of how the thoughts, feelings and behaviors
of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of others.
→ interested in explaining human behavior and NOT animals; behavior is
observable and measurable, refers not only to obvious motor activities but also more
to subtle actions such as a raised eyebrow, how we dress & what we say and write.
→ also interested in feelings, thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, intentions and goals;
are not directly observable.
Social psychologists map psychological aspects of behavior onto fundamental cognitive
processes and structures in the human mind, and sometimes to structures and
neuro-chemical processes in the brain.
Implied presence = It means the indirect presence of others that is implied; shaped by
societal roles and cultural norms.
Conformity = group expectations provide norms with powerful effects on an individual’s
behavior.
What makes social psychology distinct from for example sociology or political science is a
combination of what it studies, how it studies it and what level of explanation is sought.
→ science involves the formulation of hypotheses.
Adversarial collaboration = when researchers who champion different theories and work in
different labs with different research traditions collaborate closely in full openness to test
predictions from a specific theory.
Two types of methods for social psychology testing:
1. experimental
a. laboratory experiment
b. field experiment
2. non-experimental
a. archival research
b. case studies
c. qualitative research & discourse analysis
d. survey
e. field studies
Experimentation involves intervention in the form of manipulation of one or more
independent variables, and then measurement of the effect of the manipulation on one or
more dependent variables.
Confounding = where two or more independent variables covary in such a way that it is
impossible to know which has caused the effect.
→ is recorded in a lab to control as many potentially confounding variables as possible.
4
, fMRI = (functional magnetic resonance imaging) to measure where electrochemical activity
in the brain is occurring by oxygen levels.
Subject effects = effects that are not spontaneous, owing to demand characteristics and/or
participants wishing to please the experimenter.
Experimenter effects = effects produced or influenced by clues to the hypotheses under
examination, inadvertently communicated by the experimenter.
Archival research = non-experimental method involving the assembly of data, or reports of
data, collected by others. Useful for investigating large-scale, widely occurring phenomena
that may be remote in time.
Case study = in-depth analysis of a single case (or individual).
Discourse = entire communicative event or episode located in a situational and
socio-historical context.
Discourse analysis = a set of methods used to analyze text, in particular, naturally
occurring language, in order to understand its meaning and significance.
Field study is the same as a field experiment, but without any interventions are
manipulations.
Survey research is used to predict people’s actions, such as voting. They have problems
that need to be addressed (sampling error, investigator bias, and people’s mistrust of being
questioned).
Statistics is used to investigate the magnitude and/or significance of effects
- t-test is a procedure to test the statistical significance of an effect in which the mean
for one condition is greater than the mean for another
- an effect is statistically significant if statistics reveal that it, or a larger effect, is
unlikely to occur by chance more often than 1 in 20 times.
Informed consent = permission granted in full knowledge of the possible consequences.
Debriefing = the researchers would explain why they used deception and explain the
purpose of it.
Social identity = a similar dress style and hanging out together are cues at least to a
temporary shared group membership.
Metatheory = a set of interrelated concepts and principles concerning which theories or
types of theory are appropriate.
Theories in social psychology
● Behaviorism
Radical behaviorist = one who explains observable behavior in terms of
reinforcement schedules without recourse to any intervening unobservable (e.g.
cognitive) constructs.
5
Social psychology = the scientific investigation of how the thoughts, feelings and behaviors
of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of others.
→ interested in explaining human behavior and NOT animals; behavior is
observable and measurable, refers not only to obvious motor activities but also more
to subtle actions such as a raised eyebrow, how we dress & what we say and write.
→ also interested in feelings, thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, intentions and goals;
are not directly observable.
Social psychologists map psychological aspects of behavior onto fundamental cognitive
processes and structures in the human mind, and sometimes to structures and
neuro-chemical processes in the brain.
Implied presence = It means the indirect presence of others that is implied; shaped by
societal roles and cultural norms.
Conformity = group expectations provide norms with powerful effects on an individual’s
behavior.
What makes social psychology distinct from for example sociology or political science is a
combination of what it studies, how it studies it and what level of explanation is sought.
→ science involves the formulation of hypotheses.
Adversarial collaboration = when researchers who champion different theories and work in
different labs with different research traditions collaborate closely in full openness to test
predictions from a specific theory.
Two types of methods for social psychology testing:
1. experimental
a. laboratory experiment
b. field experiment
2. non-experimental
a. archival research
b. case studies
c. qualitative research & discourse analysis
d. survey
e. field studies
Experimentation involves intervention in the form of manipulation of one or more
independent variables, and then measurement of the effect of the manipulation on one or
more dependent variables.
Confounding = where two or more independent variables covary in such a way that it is
impossible to know which has caused the effect.
→ is recorded in a lab to control as many potentially confounding variables as possible.
4
, fMRI = (functional magnetic resonance imaging) to measure where electrochemical activity
in the brain is occurring by oxygen levels.
Subject effects = effects that are not spontaneous, owing to demand characteristics and/or
participants wishing to please the experimenter.
Experimenter effects = effects produced or influenced by clues to the hypotheses under
examination, inadvertently communicated by the experimenter.
Archival research = non-experimental method involving the assembly of data, or reports of
data, collected by others. Useful for investigating large-scale, widely occurring phenomena
that may be remote in time.
Case study = in-depth analysis of a single case (or individual).
Discourse = entire communicative event or episode located in a situational and
socio-historical context.
Discourse analysis = a set of methods used to analyze text, in particular, naturally
occurring language, in order to understand its meaning and significance.
Field study is the same as a field experiment, but without any interventions are
manipulations.
Survey research is used to predict people’s actions, such as voting. They have problems
that need to be addressed (sampling error, investigator bias, and people’s mistrust of being
questioned).
Statistics is used to investigate the magnitude and/or significance of effects
- t-test is a procedure to test the statistical significance of an effect in which the mean
for one condition is greater than the mean for another
- an effect is statistically significant if statistics reveal that it, or a larger effect, is
unlikely to occur by chance more often than 1 in 20 times.
Informed consent = permission granted in full knowledge of the possible consequences.
Debriefing = the researchers would explain why they used deception and explain the
purpose of it.
Social identity = a similar dress style and hanging out together are cues at least to a
temporary shared group membership.
Metatheory = a set of interrelated concepts and principles concerning which theories or
types of theory are appropriate.
Theories in social psychology
● Behaviorism
Radical behaviorist = one who explains observable behavior in terms of
reinforcement schedules without recourse to any intervening unobservable (e.g.
cognitive) constructs.
5
