Ch.1, Methods of Social Psych Flashcards
Jean-Paul Sartre definition of social psych
humans are beings in a situation and cannot be distinguished from the situation they are in
How is social psychology different from sociology and personality psychology?
Social psych focuses more on individuals, employing experimental methods more than sociology
Social psych vs. personality psych: focuses less on differences among indiviudals and more on how individuals AFFECT ONE ANOTHER
Kurt Lewin’s definition of behavior
Kurt Lewin: behaviour is a function of the person and situation
Social thinking themes of social psychology
INTUITION AND REALITY
We construct our social reality: we explain behavior and attribute it to some cause, we create order, ‘person as scientist’, we construct the world we live in
Social intuitions are powerful and can be perilious: shapes our fears, impressions, and relationships WHETHER FOR GOOD OR BAD
How does dual processing create intuition?
Dual Processing: thinking, memory and attitudes operate on two levels: one conscious and deliberate, the other nonconscious and automatic, CREATES INTUITION
How do dispositions shape behavior?
Dispositions shape behavior: internal forces matter, we are not passive
How is social behavior biological?
Social behaviuour is also biological behavior: nature and nurture working together; evolutionary psychologists ask how natural selection might predispose our actions and reactions in social behaviour
Social Neuroscience: study of neurobiology that underlies social behaviour
RELATING TO OTHERS IS A BASIC NEED: we want to fit in with others, relationships with others drastically impact behaviour,
Why is science not objective?
Values enter the picture with our choice of research topics, products of the culture and time period we live in
Science is not purely objective
We interpret science using our own mental categories, therefore it is subjective
Social representations in science
Social Representations: scholars at work in any given area share a common viewpoint from the same culture, often leaving their work unchallenged by other psychologists who share the same social representations
What are hidden values in psychological/scientific concepts and why are they bad?
Hidden values, values of the psychologist are present when forming concepts
Labelling: value/moral judgements are often hidden within our psychological language
Naturalistic Fallacy and its impacts on science
Naturalistic Fallacy: description of what ought to be INSTEAD OF WHAT ACTUALLY IS; no survey of human behaviour can say what is “right” behaviour
Why is common sense not helpful in science?
PROBLEM: Common sense is only invoked AFTER we know the facts
Counterfactual Thinking
Counterfactual thinking is a concept in psychology that involves the human tendency to create possible alternatives to life events that have already occurred; something that is contrary to what actually happened. Counterfactual thinking is, as it states: “counter to the facts”.
Theory
integrated set of principles that explain and predict observed events, THEORIES EXPLAIN FACTS, IMPLY TESTABLE PREDICTIONS = HYPOTHESIS
Advantages vs. disadvantages of correlations
ADVANTAGES: often uses real world settings
DISADVANTAGE: causation cannot be implied
