Chapter 1 Introducing Social Psychology

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Chapter 1 Introducing Is the scientific investigation of how the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others

1 Chapter 1 Introducing Is the scientific investigation of how the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others (G. W. Allport, 1954). Is the scientific investigation of how the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others 1

2 ABCs of Affect Emotions, feelings, and mood Behavior Verbal and nonverbal action Cognition Thought, sensation, perception, processing, and memory Is the scientific investigation of how the thoughts, feelings and behaviors of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others Philosophy? Folk Wisdom /Common sense? Is the scientific investigation of how the thoughts, feelings and behaviors of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others What is scientific investigation? How different is it from other ways of knowing? A set of procedures used to gather, analyze, and interpret information. Systematic, empirical, objective, logical, testable (falsifiable) (Mainstream) Social psychology is an experimentally based science. 2

3 Is the scientific investigation of how the thoughts, feelings and behaviors of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others Who is this others? At the heart of social psychology is social influence: Humans are social animals whose behavior is both influenced by (are products of) and influences (produces) the social environment Dynamic relation between the social and environment Individuals is a combination of both social and cognitive processes Individuals construe situations, or construct own realities What are other disciplines that study human beings? Within the Social Sciences? Within Psychology? 3

Effects Actions and characteristics of others Cognitive processes Environmental variables Cultural context Biological factors Level of explanation Example: Studying prejudice A sociologist - may

4 Effects Actions and characteristics of others Cognitive processes Environmental variables Cultural context Biological factors Level of explanation Example: Studying prejudice A sociologist - may study how American prejudice towards Japanese has changed since WWII A clinical ψist may test various therapies for people with antisocial personalities who exhibit great degrees of prejudice A personality ψist may develop a questionnaire to identify men who are very high or low in degree of prejudice towards women A social ψist manipulate exposure to a member of some category of people (e.g. Elderly) and measure the thoughts and concepts that are cognitively oriented (social cognitive ψ) or manipulate various kinds of contact between individuals of different groups and examine the effects of these manipulations on the degree of prejudice exhibited. Important Themes in 1. The power of the situation (social influence) 2. The subjective construction of reality the impact of a situation depends upon personal and subjective meaning Rather than the objective characteristics of the situation- social psychologists are interested in people s construal of their social environment. 3. Interplay of motivational and cognitive factors motivational wishes, desires, hopes cognitive the way our minds work 4. Applicable to important social issues 4

5 Social behavior is the result of the complex interaction between the person and the situation Person : typically refers to all of the characteristics that the person carries into a social situation. Includes physical attributes, attitudes, beliefs, preferences, and psychological traits. Situation: focus on events outside the person. These include both temporary features such as environmental demands and long-la A Brief History of [Social] ψ has a long past, but only a short history Essentially a 20 th century field Social psychology as a term came into common usage around the turn of the 20th century. 90% of social psychologists who had ever lived were still alive in 1979 (Cartright in Brehm, et al, 2005) In contrast: Personality ψ - Freud, Jung, Adler, Rogers are all long dead. Why long past? 5

6 [Social] ψ has a long past, but only a short history Essentially a 20 th century field Social psychology as a term came into common usage around the turn of the 20th century. 90% of social psychologists who had ever lived were still alive in 1979 (Cartright in Brehm, et al, 2005) In contrast: Personality ψ - Freud, Jung, Adler, Rogers are all long dead. Social psychology is interested in old issues Do individuals perceive reality accurately? Are people capable of free will, or is behavior is determined? Are the basic instincts of humans good or evil? Birth and Infancy: 1880s 1920s W. Wundt (Germany) & W. James (in the US) establish the first psychology experiments 1880s-1900s European scholars were influential First social ψ Experiment by N. Triplett How social factors effected bicycle riding? (Social Facilitation) First textbooks contained the phrase social psychology in their titles by McDougall & Ross 1924 most influential textbook by Floyd Allport Accepted as the rise of experimentation in social ψ 1930s - social ψ began to grow as a solid field Kurt Lewin Father of Social Psy ( ) B(ehavior) = P(erson)+ S (ituation) Muzafer Sherif Norm formation studies WW2 and Post war era Sparked much research (e.g. authoritarian personality, conformity, obedience, persuasion, group dynamics) Practical applications (e.g. communication, propaganda) Brain drain from Germany (mainly to the U.S) 6

7 More history 50s - 60s: social influence Festinger, Asch, Milgram, Darley & Latane European researchers regained importance Studied group dynamics, decision making, etc. 70s: cognitive revolution Attribution, interpersonal perception, biases &heuristics 80s: social cognition is on the rise. Also social identity, persuasion and new topics like love and relationships, evolutionary psychology 90 s decade of the brain Contemporary Themes in Social Psychology Social Cognition Biology and the Brain Focus on Self Focus on Conflict and Social Problems Social psychological theories about human behavior have been applied to a range of contemporary problems, including: prejudice energy shortages AIDS unhealthy habits violence in schools 7

8 Why People Study Social Psychology Curiosity About People Experimental Philosophy Making the World Better Applied Research is Fun How Much of Social Psychology Is True? Self-Correcting Nature of Science Replication Reliance on Student Samples Cultural Relativity Western cultures dominate social psychology research Cultural differences may be substantial and important Resources: Scholarly Journals Journal of Personality and (JPSP) Personality and Bulletin (PSPB) Journal of Experimental (JESP) Psych Bull, Psych Review, PSPR, AESP Not google! / But googlescholar Societies Society for Personality and (SPSP) Society of Experimental Social Psychologists (SESP) In-mind.org 8

9 Overview of the Scientific Method State problem Formulate testable hypothesis Design study and collect data Test the hypothesis with the data Communicate study results For Tuesday Read Pages Chapter 2 (Culture and Nature) Review psyc 201 notes Assignment [@courseware/assignments] Read Loftus and Palmer (1974) article Fill in assignment #1 handout 9

Ch 1: History, Definitions, and Methods in Social Psychology. I. A Breif History of Social Psychology

Ch 1: History, Definitions, and Methods in Social Psychology I. A Breif History of Social Psychology 1 A. A Young Field/ Old Wine Essentially a 20 th Century field 90% of all Social Psychologist are still