Unit 0: The Science of the social side of life Flashcards
(24 cards)
Who is the father of social psychology?
Gordon W. Allport
What is the definition of social psychology?
it is the scientific study of how individuals thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of others.
What does Gordon Allport suggest about communication and behaviour in social psychology?
- Communication is goal-oriented(serves a purpose)
- Behavior is influenced by multiple factors like motives, goals, perspective, and cultural background
What do social psychologists primarily study?
how groups,culture, emotions, and other factors influence individual behavior
social experience->self-identities->social behaviour
what makes social psychology scientific in nature?
- accuracy
- replicability
- objectivity (bias)
- skepticism
- open-mindedness
What is bias?
beliefs not founded in known facts
Expand on accuracy, replicability, objectivity (bias), skepticism and open-mindedness?
Accuracy-> gather + evaluate in a precise, error-free manner
Replicability -> same findings x
Objectivity -> free from bias
Skepticism-> accept findings once verified
Open-mindedness-> changing ones views once evidence indicates otherwise
What are the components of the evolutionary psychology perspective?
Variation; organisms of the same species vary on many different ways
Inheritance; variations can be heritable
Selection; adoptive variations are more common in populations(electable to reproduce)
What is the outcome of the components from evolutionary psychology?
isolated characteristics of individuals can become a characteristic of a species
What are the two groups of social pscyhologists
Focused on:
social behaviour- how ppl act in social situations
social thought- how they make sense of the world, understand themselves and others
Eg. Bribing,gifts, tip,dress up = models we use
Which theories integrate both social thought and social behvaviour?
Modern theories of Social Psychology
Why is the role of emotion significant in social psychology?
Emotions and moods significantly impact social behaviour, such as helping others
Eg. positive emotions increase tendency to help others
What do social psychologists investigate regarding social relationship?
they investigate the nature of relationship and their impact on well-being as they can add to happiness or disrupt us
View partner realistically or “rose colored glasses” and can single people be as happy as married people?
- good as long as its restrained by healthy level of degree
- yes they can be due to varying values
What tools do researchers in social neuroscience use?
Tools like fMRI
- brain activation when doing certain activities
- heart rate or neural activity
- response latency when presented a stimuli or choice
whats the significance of mirror neurons in social psych?
mirror neurons-> empathy
allows us to “put ourselves in another persons shoes”
How is empathy defined?
- “capacity to experience, vicariously the emotions and feelings of other people”
- does not include judgment, focus is on validation and making the other person feel understood
- requires active listening and noticing nonverbal cues
what experiment was lead to link mirror neurons with empathy?
Hypothesis: higher empathy= increased activity in frontal operculum (location of the neurons)
Measure: Questionnaire to divide high and low empathy sample, fMRI done whilst watching a video
Hypothesis confirmed
who is associated with one of the earliest cognitive theories in social psych?
Kurt Lewin
what do cognitive theories emphasize in social psych?
behavior and how individuals interpret and represent their experiences
eg, produce an uncomfortable state of cognitive arousal that motivates us to resolve the cognitive conflict
which types of theories predominated in which years?
50s and 60s- cognitive theories
70s- attribution theories and social cognition
what do attribution theories focus on?
focus on how individuals explain the causes of their own and others behavior, and the consequences of casual explanations
whats the main idea and components of Lewins Field Theory?
Main idea; social behaviour= interaction between the individual+ the situation
Components; individuals perception of the situation, their needs and goals, and the social forces at play
Further expand on the Lewins Field Theory
- the overall psychological environment that an individual perceives at a given time and experience+interact
- dynamic nature(changes with time and experience)
- influence on behavior
