The Field of Social Psychology

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1. Most of us have quite accurate insight into the factors that influence our moods.

1. Most people rate themselves as worse-than-average in rating themselves on socially desirable characteristics.

1. Memory is like a storage chest in the brain, into which we deposit material and from which we can withdraw it later if needed. Occasionally, something gets lost from the “chest” and then we say we have forgotten.

1. People’s behavior is best predicted in terms of their personalities or inner dispositions.

1. To alter the way people act, one needs first to change their hearts and minds.

1. People who are made self-conscious by looking into a mirror act more in line with their attitudes.

1. The greater the reward promised for an activity, the more one will come to enjoy the activity.

1. In overall vocabulary, happiness and intelligence, males and females are not noticeably different.

1. In countries everywhere, girls spend more time helping with housework and child care, while boys spend more time in unsupervised play.

1. Most people would disobey an authority who orders them to hurt a stranger.

1. Persuaders will always be more effective if they acknowledge opposing arguments.

1. In a formal debate, it is always to your advantage to be the last speaker.

1. People pull harder in a tug-of-war when they are part of a team than when they are pulling by themselves.

1. The greater the cohesiveness or “we feeling” in a group, the more likely the group will make a good decision.

1. When white and black students are shown faces of a few white and black individuals and then asked to pick these individuals out of a photographic lineup, both white and black students more accurately recognize the white faces than the black.

1. In a recent national survey, only a minority of Americans indicated that they would be willing to see a homosexual doctor.

1. To be mentally healthy, people need an opportunity to act out, and thus to vent, their aggression.

1. The more often we see something—even if we don’t like it at first—the more we grow to like it.

1. As suggested by the dumb-blonde idea, physically attractive men and women tend to be looked on by others as colder, dumber, and less moral than the plainer people.

1. Opposites attract.

1. One of the best predictors of whether any two people are friends is their sheer proximity, or geographical nearness, to one another.

1. When we feel guilty, we are more likely to help those around us.

1. If you want to buy a new car at the best price, it is best to adopt a tough bargaining stance by opening with a very low offer rather than with a sincere, “good faith” offer.

1. Depressed persons tend to be unrealistic in their perceptions of themselves.

People who favor the death penalty are also more prone to vote a defendant guilty.

Eyewitnesses’ certainty about their own accuracy in viewing a crime is highly related to their actual accuracy.

Research clearly shows a strong positive relationship between material wealth and life satisfaction.

“Everyone else is doing it.” Solomon Asch

“The experimenter told me to.” Stanley Milgram

“It’s better than those other groups.” Henri Tajfel

“It’s so much work, it must be worthwhile.”

Leon Festinger

Do people with firm handshakes really make a better first impression?

Have gender stereotypes changed in recent years?

What is jealousy? What are its causes?

Does heat really increase aggressive behavior?

understanding how and why individuals behave, think, and feel as they do in social situations

Def -› the scientific field that seeks to understand the

nature and causes of individual behavior and thought in social situations

Science› Set of values› Set of methods

Focus on an individual level

We construct our social reality.› Desire predictability› Explanations are based on past experiences.

Intuitions are powerful.› e.g., heuristics

Social influences shape our behavior.

Personality / genetics shape behavior.

Power of the situation:

› Environmental variables› Cultural context› Actions and characteristics

of other people

Power of the person:

› Biological factor› Disposition/Attitudes

Importance of cognition:

› Memories and inferences› Construals of the

situation

Different perspectives are complementary!!

E.G. – poem

Integration of fields› e.g. – journals

Broader understanding of an issue.

Accuracy › careful, precise, and error-free data collection

Objectivity › error-free evaluation of data

Skepticism › accept accuracy only after repeated verification

Open-mindedness› change one’s views inaccurate

1. F (Chapter 2) 10. F (Chapter 6) 19. F (Chapter 11)2. F (Chapter 2) 11. F (Chapter 7) 20. F (Chapter 11)3. F (Chapter 3) 12. F (Chapter 7) 21. T (Chapter 11)4. F (Chapter 3) 13. F (Chapter 8) 22. T (Chapter 12)5. F (Chapter 4) 14. F (Chapter 8) 23. T (Chapter 13)6. T (Chapter 4) 15. F (Chapter 9) 24. F (Chapter 14)7. F (Chapter 4) 16. T (Chapter 9) 25. T (Chapter 14)8. T (Chapter 5) 17. F (Chapter 10) 26. F (Chapter 15)9. T (Chapter 5) 18. T (Chapter 11) 27. F (Chapter 16)

Some common sense is correct.

BUT, it is correct AFTER THE FACT.

Inconsistencies

Post Hoc › Rationalizes rather than explains behavior› Hindsight bias

Definitions › What’s a “soul”?

Incomplete Explanations

The next slide contains a list of anagrams along with their solutions. Please estimate how long it would have taken to solve each anagram if the solution was not provided.

WREAT (WATER) ETRYN (ENTRY) OCHSA (CHAOS) GRABE (BARGE)

WREAT (WATER) – 158 seconds (2min:38sec) ETRYN (ENTRY) – 182 seconds (3:02) OCHSA (CHAOS) – 224 seconds (3:44) GRABE (BARGE) – 173 seconds (2:53)

How do your responses compare with actual times?

My guess is that you grossly underestimated solution times?!

Short Term› need to understand the text!

Long Term› informed consumer of knowledge

interpretation of news stories understanding conclusions

Def – › a testable proposition that describes a potential

relationship that may exist between variables

Purpose of Hypotheses› Suggest how we may falsify a theory› Gives direction to research

Theory about some

aspect of social

behavior

Predictions are disconfirmed

Cofidence in theory is

decreased

Theory is modified

Theory is rejected

Research is conducted

Predictions are confirmed

Confidence in theory is increased

Predictions

Naturalistic observation – def – count of how often a behavior occurs in an environment No manipulation of variables

Survey method – def - large number of people report on their behavior or

attitudes

ADVANTAGES & POTENTIAL BIASES

LIMITATION! - DESCRIPTIVE ONLY!

Def › determine whether changes in one variable are

accompanied by changes in the other

Math› can range from -1.0 to 1.0› absolute value indicates strength› sign indicates direction

Predictions› Accuracy of predictions is based on the strength of the

relationship between the two variables

Advantages - External validity

Limitations - NO CAUSALITY!

Birth control and toasters› Use of birth control was associated with

number of electrical appliances› Causal relationship?› Develop interventions? - hand out

toasters to cause people to use condoms?

Why use correlational research?› sometimes it’s the best option

The Jewish Chronic Disease Hospital Study, 1963

› injected patients with live cancer cells

› got oral consent (patients not told they would receive cancer cells)

› was not reviewed by research committee or treating physician

Def› Systematic manipulation of one variable to determine

if such changes result in changes in another variable

Requirements for experiments: › Random Assignment › Controlled Environment

The basic dilemma of the social psychologist (Aronson & Carlsmith, 1968)

Determine the likelihood that study results were due to chance.

Social psychological research often presents conflicting evidence for a hypothesis

› Different methodologies

› Different conceptualizations of study variables

THEORIES ARE NEVER PROVEN!!!

RESEARCH IS NOT CONDUCTED TO VERIFY A THEORY!!!

Should social psychologists try to solve social problems?

› What would the reasons be for change?

› What are the underlying assumptions?

› Is there a point to doing research if it is not eventually applied?

Values can enter research through:› choice of topics

› researchers

› subjective aspects of science

› culture

How my interests began?

How has they developed?

What are my special interests?

What are my presuppositions and commitments, and how do they influence my teaching and research?