Week 1

Question 1

Social psychology

Answer 1

The scientific study of how individuals think, feel and behave in a social context.

Question 2

Interactionist perspective

Answer 2

An emphasis on how both an individual’s personality and environmental characteristics influence behaviour.

Question 3

Study of Social cognition

Answer 3

The study of how people perceive, interpret and remember information about themselves and others.

Question 4

Behavioural genetics

Answer 4

A subfield of psychology that examines the role of genetic factors in behaviour.

Question 5

Evolutionary psychology

Answer 5

A subfield of psychology that uses the principles of evolution to understand human social behaviour.

Question 6

Culture

Answer 6

A system of enduring meanings, beliefs, values, assumptions, institutions and practices shared by a large group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next.

Question 7

Cross-cultural research

Answer 7

Research designed to compare and contrast people of different cultures.

Question 8

Multicultural research

Answer 8

Research designed to examine racial and ethnic groups within cultures.

Question 9

Behavioural economics

Answer 9

An interdisciplinary subfield that focuses on how psychology – particularly social and cognitive psychology – relates to economic decision-making.

Question 10

Social Neuroscience

Answer 10

The study of the relationship between neural and social processes.

Question 11

Embodied cognition

Answer 11

An interdisciplinary subfield that examines the close links between our minds and the positioning, experiences and actions of our bodies.

Question 12

Theory

Answer 12

An organised set of principles used to explain observed phenomena.

Question 13

Applied research

Answer 13

Research in which the goals are to enlarge the understanding of naturally occurring events and to find solutions to practical problems.

Question 14

General psychological research

Answer 14

Research in which the goal is to increase the understanding of human behaviour, often by testing a hypothesis based on a theory.

Question 15

Operational definition

Answer 15

The specific procedures for manipulating or measuring a conceptual variable.

Question 16

Construct validity

Answer 16

The extent to which the measures used in a study measure the variables they were designed to measure and to which the manipulations in an experiment manipulate the variables they were designed to manipulate

Question 17

Bogus pipeline technique

Answer 17

A procedure in which research participants are (falsely) led to believe that their responses will be verified by an infallible lie detector.

Question 18

Interrater reliability

Answer 18

The degree to which different observers agree on their observations.

Question 19

Subject variable

Answer 19

A variable that characterises pre-existing differences among the participants in a study.

Question 20

Confound

Answer 20

A factor other than the independent variable that varies between the conditions of an experiment, thereby calling into question what caused any effects on the dependent variable.

Question 21

Internal validity

Answer 21

The degree to which there can be reasonable certainty that the independent variables in an experiment caused the effects obtained on the dependent variables.

Question 22

Experimenter expectancy effects

Answer 22

The effects produced when an experimenter’s expectations about the results of an experiment affect his or her behaviour towards a participant and thereby influence the participant’s responses.

Question 23

External validity

Answer 23

The degree to which there can be reasonable confidence that the results of a study would be obtained for other people and in other situations.

Question 24

Experimental realism

Answer 24

The degree to which experimental procedures are involving to participants and lead them to behave naturally and spontaneously.

Question 25

Mundane realism

Answer 25

The degree to which the experimental situation resembles places and events in the real world.

Question 26

Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory (6 steps)

Answer 26

Chronosystem - Historical context
Macrosystem - Cultural beliefs and values
Exosystem - Societal institutions (schools, religious institutions, media etc.)
Mesosystem - Network of interconnections between microsystems
Microsystem - Immediate environment (family, classmates, co-workers etc.)
The individual - Sex, age, health etc.