PSYCH 2700 MIDTERM REVIEW QUESTIONS
Psychology is - Answers - the scientific study of behavior and mind
What is social psychology? - Answers - the scientific study of how people's thoughts,
feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people
Social psychology is empirically based, meaning..... - Answers - that theories and ideas
are based on real-world observations
People's beliefs about the popularity of a decision are.... - Answers - biased on their
own decisions (believe their own decisions are more popular than they really are)
Procedural justice is - Answers - procedures used to determine whether guilt or
innocence are fair
People who are high in procedural justice are more likely to.... - Answers - obey laws
than people who are low in procedural justice
Folk wisdom is founded in - Answers - acecdotal commentary and/or reasoning
Philosophy provides the backbone for psychology but is also limited by... - Answers - -
speculative explanations
- explanations for the same process can contradict each other
Social psychology vs. Sociology - Answers - - social psychology: what is true for all
people, regardless of social class, culture, etc.
- sociology: general principles concerning how societies operate
Personality psychology vs. Social psychology - Answers - - personality psychology:
aspects of personality that make people unique and different (individual differences)
- social psychology: psychological processes people have in common that can be
influenced by the social world (social situations, internal or external)
People often explain behavior of others in terms of... - Answers - dispositional
(personality) factors
People with high attachment avoidence behave differently depending on the quality of
the relationship - Answers - - low quality: typical avoidance of closeness
- high quality: less avoidnce for closeness
Basic Human Motives - Answers - - the need to be accurate
- the need to feel good about ourselves
The need to belong (affiliate)
,- other motives and needs
The need to be accurate - Answers - people are generally motivated to see the world as
it is, but they lack information, and they lack time and energy
The need to feel good about ourselves - Answers - people are motivated to maintain
high feelings of self-worth, people often also bend the facts a bit to cast themselves in a
favorable light
The need to belong - Answers - The social world exists because people need to feel
connected to others.
- frequent, non-aversive interactions with others
- explains why we form enduring, close relationships
Other motives and needs - Answers - biological needs can be very motivating especially
in a state of deprivation. Fundamentally, people are motivated by the need to survive
and reproduce (natural selection)
Conflicting motives - Answers - when fundamental motives pull us in different directions,
things get especially interesting.
Hindsight bias - Answers - "i knew it all along"
Basic research - Answers - studies designed to improve theories and predictions to
increase our understanding
Applied research - Answers - studies designed to help understand and solve real-world
problems
Theory - Answers - an organized set of principles that can be used to explain observed
phenomena
Hypothesis - Answers - a testable statement or idea about the relation between two or
more variables
Science as a generative inductive process - Answers - - not all theories come from pre-
existing theories
- theories are often developed inductively by recognizing patterns of association within
observations and then speculation about why those patterns occur
3 research methods in social psychology - Answers - 1. Observational method
2. Correlational method
3. Experimental method
What do the three research methods have in common? - Answers - obtaining a
representative sample is key, need operational definitions
, Observational method - Answers - the goal is to describe what a particular group of
people, type of behavior, or content of media is like, observe people or media and
systematically record measures of their attributes
Iterrater reliability - Answers - the level of agreement between different coders
Observational method: ethnography - Answers - researchers try to understand a group,
culture, etc. By observing it from the inside
Observational method: archival studies - Answers - researchers try to understand a
group, culture, etc. By observing accumulated documents of that group, culture, etc.
(diaries, magazines, novels, newspapers)
Operational definitions - Answers - a measure and/or manipulation of some aspect (the
precise specification of how variables are measured or manipulated
Correlational method - Answers - to systematically measure and assess the association
between one variable and another variable, allows you to test hypotheses
Understanding correlations - Answers - the strength of a correlation indicates the
degree to which values on variable A can be predicted from values on variable B
Correlation coefficient - Answers - a statistic that assess how well you can predict one
variable based on another (+1 perfect correlation in positive direction)
R= .00 ->
R= .30-.50 ->
R= 1.00 -> - Answers - R=.00 -> no association between variables A and B
R=.30-.50 -> moderate association
R= 1.00 -> perfect association (this never happens)
The direction of a correlation indicates whether the association between variables A and
B is.... - Answers - positive or negative
- positive: A and B move in the same direction
- negative: A and B move in opposite directions
Correlations can range from - Answers - -1 to +1
Surveys/questionnaires - Answers - researchers often use surveys/questionnaires when
interested in correlations
2 advantages of surveys/questionnaires - Answers - - easy to design, administer, and
score
- allows researchers to assess associations between variables that may be difficult to
observe
Psychology is - Answers - the scientific study of behavior and mind
What is social psychology? - Answers - the scientific study of how people's thoughts,
feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people
Social psychology is empirically based, meaning..... - Answers - that theories and ideas
are based on real-world observations
People's beliefs about the popularity of a decision are.... - Answers - biased on their
own decisions (believe their own decisions are more popular than they really are)
Procedural justice is - Answers - procedures used to determine whether guilt or
innocence are fair
People who are high in procedural justice are more likely to.... - Answers - obey laws
than people who are low in procedural justice
Folk wisdom is founded in - Answers - acecdotal commentary and/or reasoning
Philosophy provides the backbone for psychology but is also limited by... - Answers - -
speculative explanations
- explanations for the same process can contradict each other
Social psychology vs. Sociology - Answers - - social psychology: what is true for all
people, regardless of social class, culture, etc.
- sociology: general principles concerning how societies operate
Personality psychology vs. Social psychology - Answers - - personality psychology:
aspects of personality that make people unique and different (individual differences)
- social psychology: psychological processes people have in common that can be
influenced by the social world (social situations, internal or external)
People often explain behavior of others in terms of... - Answers - dispositional
(personality) factors
People with high attachment avoidence behave differently depending on the quality of
the relationship - Answers - - low quality: typical avoidance of closeness
- high quality: less avoidnce for closeness
Basic Human Motives - Answers - - the need to be accurate
- the need to feel good about ourselves
The need to belong (affiliate)
,- other motives and needs
The need to be accurate - Answers - people are generally motivated to see the world as
it is, but they lack information, and they lack time and energy
The need to feel good about ourselves - Answers - people are motivated to maintain
high feelings of self-worth, people often also bend the facts a bit to cast themselves in a
favorable light
The need to belong - Answers - The social world exists because people need to feel
connected to others.
- frequent, non-aversive interactions with others
- explains why we form enduring, close relationships
Other motives and needs - Answers - biological needs can be very motivating especially
in a state of deprivation. Fundamentally, people are motivated by the need to survive
and reproduce (natural selection)
Conflicting motives - Answers - when fundamental motives pull us in different directions,
things get especially interesting.
Hindsight bias - Answers - "i knew it all along"
Basic research - Answers - studies designed to improve theories and predictions to
increase our understanding
Applied research - Answers - studies designed to help understand and solve real-world
problems
Theory - Answers - an organized set of principles that can be used to explain observed
phenomena
Hypothesis - Answers - a testable statement or idea about the relation between two or
more variables
Science as a generative inductive process - Answers - - not all theories come from pre-
existing theories
- theories are often developed inductively by recognizing patterns of association within
observations and then speculation about why those patterns occur
3 research methods in social psychology - Answers - 1. Observational method
2. Correlational method
3. Experimental method
What do the three research methods have in common? - Answers - obtaining a
representative sample is key, need operational definitions
, Observational method - Answers - the goal is to describe what a particular group of
people, type of behavior, or content of media is like, observe people or media and
systematically record measures of their attributes
Iterrater reliability - Answers - the level of agreement between different coders
Observational method: ethnography - Answers - researchers try to understand a group,
culture, etc. By observing it from the inside
Observational method: archival studies - Answers - researchers try to understand a
group, culture, etc. By observing accumulated documents of that group, culture, etc.
(diaries, magazines, novels, newspapers)
Operational definitions - Answers - a measure and/or manipulation of some aspect (the
precise specification of how variables are measured or manipulated
Correlational method - Answers - to systematically measure and assess the association
between one variable and another variable, allows you to test hypotheses
Understanding correlations - Answers - the strength of a correlation indicates the
degree to which values on variable A can be predicted from values on variable B
Correlation coefficient - Answers - a statistic that assess how well you can predict one
variable based on another (+1 perfect correlation in positive direction)
R= .00 ->
R= .30-.50 ->
R= 1.00 -> - Answers - R=.00 -> no association between variables A and B
R=.30-.50 -> moderate association
R= 1.00 -> perfect association (this never happens)
The direction of a correlation indicates whether the association between variables A and
B is.... - Answers - positive or negative
- positive: A and B move in the same direction
- negative: A and B move in opposite directions
Correlations can range from - Answers - -1 to +1
Surveys/questionnaires - Answers - researchers often use surveys/questionnaires when
interested in correlations
2 advantages of surveys/questionnaires - Answers - - easy to design, administer, and
score
- allows researchers to assess associations between variables that may be difficult to
observe
