CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCING SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Key terms:
Social psychology = the scientific investigation of how the thoughts, feelings and behaviours of
individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of others’
behaviour = What people actually do that can be objectively measured.
Science = Method for studying nature that involves the collecting of data to test hypotheses.
Theory = Set of interrelated concepts and principles that explain a phenomenon.
Data = Publicly verifiable observations.
Hypotheses = Empirically testable predictions about what co-occurs with what, or what causes what.
Confirmation bias = The tendency to seek, interpret and create information that verifies existing
explanations for the cause of an event
Independent variables = Features of a situation that change of their own accord or can be
manipulated by an experimenter to have effects on a dependent variable.
Dependent variables = Variables that change as a consequence of changes in the independent
variable.
Brain imaging = Social neuroscientists are using new techniques, such as fMRI, to establish
correlates, consequences and causes of social behaviour.
Confounding = Where two or more independent variables covary in such a way that it is impossible
to know which has caused the effect.
fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) = A method used in social neuroscience to measure
where electrochemical activity in the brain is occurring.
External validity/Mundane realism = Similarity between circumstances surrounding an experiment
and circumstances encountered in everyday life.
Internal validity/Experimental realism = Psychological impact of the manipulations in an experiment.
Subject effects = Effects that are not spontaneous, owing to demand characteristics and/or
participants wishing to please the experimenter.
1
,Demand characteristics = Features of an experiment that seem to ‘demand’ a certain response.
Experimenter effects = Effects produced or influenced by clues to the hypotheses under examination,
inadvertently communicated by the experimenter.
Double-blind = Procedure to reduce experimenter effects, in which the experimenter is unaware of
the experimental conditions.
Social desirability = Pressure to respond socially desirably
Evaluation apprehension = Know they are being observed, leading to anxiety, distraction and
impeded performance
Correlation = Where changes in one variable reliably map on to changes in another variable, but it
cannot be determined which of the two variables caused the change.
Archival research = Non-experimental method involving the assembly of data, or reports of data,
collected by others.
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 analyse text – in particular, naturally occurring
language – in order to understand its meaning and significance.
Statistics = Formalised numerical procedures performed on data to investigate the magnitude and/or
significance of effects.
t test = Procedure to test the statistical significance of an effect in which the mean for one condition
is greater than the mean for another.
Statistical significance = 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.
Metatheory = Set of interrelated concepts and principles concerning which theories or types of
theory are appropriate.
Radical behaviourist = One who explains observable behaviour in terms of reinforcement schedules,
without recourse to any intervening unobservable (e.g. cognitive) constructs.
Neo-behaviourist = One who attempts to explain observable behaviour in terms of contextual factors
and unobservable intervening constructs such as beliefs, feelings and motives.
2
,Cognitive theories = Explanations of behaviour in terms of the way people actively interpret and
represent their experiences and then plan action.
Social neuroscience = Exploration of brain activity associated with social cognition and social
psychological processes and phenomena.
Evolutionary social psychology = An extension of evolutionary psychology that views complex social
behaviour as adaptive, helping the individual, kin and the species as a whole to survive.
Evolutionary psychology = A theoretical approach that explains ‘useful’ psychological traits, such as
memory, perception or language, as adaptations through natural selection.
Reductionism = Explanation of a phenomenon in terms of the language and concepts of a lower level
of analysis, usually with a loss of explanatory power.
Level of explanation = The types of concepts, mechanisms and language used to explain a
phenomenon.
Positivism = Non-critical acceptance of science as the only way to arrive at true knowledge: science
as religion.
Operational definition = Defines a theoretical term in a way that allows it to be manipulated or
measured.
Völkerpsychologie = Early precursor of social psychology, as the study of the collective mind, in
Germany in the mid- to late nineteenth century.
Experimental method = Intentional manipulation of independent variables in order to investigate
effects on one or more dependent variables.
Behaviourism = An emphasis on explaining observable behaviour in terms of reinforcement
schedules.
3
, WHAT IS SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Social Psychology = Scientific investigation of how the thoughts, feelings and behaviours of
individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of others (Allport).
Study behaviour (obvious & subtle behaviours) – can be observed and measured.
Behaviour is publically verifiable, but the meaning attached to behaviour is theoretical
perspective, cultural background or personal interpretation.
Also study unobservable processes (feelings, thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, intentions and
goals) – psychological dimension
o Inferred from measured behaviours, influence/determine behaviour
Social: studies how people are affected by other people who are physically, imagined or
implied to be present
o E.g. of implied presence – most do not litter, even if no one is watching and there is
no possibility of being caught – because people, through the agency of society, have
constructed a powerful social convention/norm that proscribes such behaviour -
implies presence of other people & determines behaviour even in their presence.
Social psychology = science
o Because, it uses scientific method = involves the formulation of hypotheses
(empirically testable predications about the outcome of an experiment)
o dictates that no theory is true just because it sounds logical. The validity of a theory
is based on its correspondence with fact.
o Experiments – have to be replicable = able to repeat them elsewhere with another
set of people and still obtain the same results
o Opposite of science = dogma/rationalism (understanding based on what authority
say)
S.P. = related to cognitive psychology, individual psychology (except it explains social
behaviour and not individual behaviour), social anthropology, sociology (group behaviours
and interactions, but their unit of analysis is the group and not the members of the group),
and sociolinguistics language communication.
Often investigate fields such as conformity, persuasion, obedience, racism, prejudice, sexism,
emotion, attraction, leadership, communication, crowd behaviour, social conflict, the jury
and prosocial behaviour.
Social Psychology and its close neighbours
4
Key terms:
Social psychology = the scientific investigation of how the thoughts, feelings and behaviours of
individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of others’
behaviour = What people actually do that can be objectively measured.
Science = Method for studying nature that involves the collecting of data to test hypotheses.
Theory = Set of interrelated concepts and principles that explain a phenomenon.
Data = Publicly verifiable observations.
Hypotheses = Empirically testable predictions about what co-occurs with what, or what causes what.
Confirmation bias = The tendency to seek, interpret and create information that verifies existing
explanations for the cause of an event
Independent variables = Features of a situation that change of their own accord or can be
manipulated by an experimenter to have effects on a dependent variable.
Dependent variables = Variables that change as a consequence of changes in the independent
variable.
Brain imaging = Social neuroscientists are using new techniques, such as fMRI, to establish
correlates, consequences and causes of social behaviour.
Confounding = Where two or more independent variables covary in such a way that it is impossible
to know which has caused the effect.
fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) = A method used in social neuroscience to measure
where electrochemical activity in the brain is occurring.
External validity/Mundane realism = Similarity between circumstances surrounding an experiment
and circumstances encountered in everyday life.
Internal validity/Experimental realism = Psychological impact of the manipulations in an experiment.
Subject effects = Effects that are not spontaneous, owing to demand characteristics and/or
participants wishing to please the experimenter.
1
,Demand characteristics = Features of an experiment that seem to ‘demand’ a certain response.
Experimenter effects = Effects produced or influenced by clues to the hypotheses under examination,
inadvertently communicated by the experimenter.
Double-blind = Procedure to reduce experimenter effects, in which the experimenter is unaware of
the experimental conditions.
Social desirability = Pressure to respond socially desirably
Evaluation apprehension = Know they are being observed, leading to anxiety, distraction and
impeded performance
Correlation = Where changes in one variable reliably map on to changes in another variable, but it
cannot be determined which of the two variables caused the change.
Archival research = Non-experimental method involving the assembly of data, or reports of data,
collected by others.
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 analyse text – in particular, naturally occurring
language – in order to understand its meaning and significance.
Statistics = Formalised numerical procedures performed on data to investigate the magnitude and/or
significance of effects.
t test = Procedure to test the statistical significance of an effect in which the mean for one condition
is greater than the mean for another.
Statistical significance = 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.
Metatheory = Set of interrelated concepts and principles concerning which theories or types of
theory are appropriate.
Radical behaviourist = One who explains observable behaviour in terms of reinforcement schedules,
without recourse to any intervening unobservable (e.g. cognitive) constructs.
Neo-behaviourist = One who attempts to explain observable behaviour in terms of contextual factors
and unobservable intervening constructs such as beliefs, feelings and motives.
2
,Cognitive theories = Explanations of behaviour in terms of the way people actively interpret and
represent their experiences and then plan action.
Social neuroscience = Exploration of brain activity associated with social cognition and social
psychological processes and phenomena.
Evolutionary social psychology = An extension of evolutionary psychology that views complex social
behaviour as adaptive, helping the individual, kin and the species as a whole to survive.
Evolutionary psychology = A theoretical approach that explains ‘useful’ psychological traits, such as
memory, perception or language, as adaptations through natural selection.
Reductionism = Explanation of a phenomenon in terms of the language and concepts of a lower level
of analysis, usually with a loss of explanatory power.
Level of explanation = The types of concepts, mechanisms and language used to explain a
phenomenon.
Positivism = Non-critical acceptance of science as the only way to arrive at true knowledge: science
as religion.
Operational definition = Defines a theoretical term in a way that allows it to be manipulated or
measured.
Völkerpsychologie = Early precursor of social psychology, as the study of the collective mind, in
Germany in the mid- to late nineteenth century.
Experimental method = Intentional manipulation of independent variables in order to investigate
effects on one or more dependent variables.
Behaviourism = An emphasis on explaining observable behaviour in terms of reinforcement
schedules.
3
, WHAT IS SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Social Psychology = Scientific investigation of how the thoughts, feelings and behaviours of
individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of others (Allport).
Study behaviour (obvious & subtle behaviours) – can be observed and measured.
Behaviour is publically verifiable, but the meaning attached to behaviour is theoretical
perspective, cultural background or personal interpretation.
Also study unobservable processes (feelings, thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, intentions and
goals) – psychological dimension
o Inferred from measured behaviours, influence/determine behaviour
Social: studies how people are affected by other people who are physically, imagined or
implied to be present
o E.g. of implied presence – most do not litter, even if no one is watching and there is
no possibility of being caught – because people, through the agency of society, have
constructed a powerful social convention/norm that proscribes such behaviour -
implies presence of other people & determines behaviour even in their presence.
Social psychology = science
o Because, it uses scientific method = involves the formulation of hypotheses
(empirically testable predications about the outcome of an experiment)
o dictates that no theory is true just because it sounds logical. The validity of a theory
is based on its correspondence with fact.
o Experiments – have to be replicable = able to repeat them elsewhere with another
set of people and still obtain the same results
o Opposite of science = dogma/rationalism (understanding based on what authority
say)
S.P. = related to cognitive psychology, individual psychology (except it explains social
behaviour and not individual behaviour), social anthropology, sociology (group behaviours
and interactions, but their unit of analysis is the group and not the members of the group),
and sociolinguistics language communication.
Often investigate fields such as conformity, persuasion, obedience, racism, prejudice, sexism,
emotion, attraction, leadership, communication, crowd behaviour, social conflict, the jury
and prosocial behaviour.
Social Psychology and its close neighbours
4
