Download Working definition of Social Psychology

Theoretical Perspectives &
Methods of Inquiry
Working definition of
Social Psychology
• Discipline that uses the scientific method in
an attempt to understand and explain how
the thoughts, feelings & behavior of
individuals are influences by the actual,
imagined or implied presence of others.
Major Theoretical Perspectives of
Social Psychology
• Hypothesis
– Testable “hunch” about the nature of the world.
• Theory
– Scientific explanations that connect &
organize existing observations and
suggest fruitful paths for future research
Sociocultural Perspective
• Searches for causes of social behavior in influences
from larger social groups.
– Preferences, prejudices, political persuasions are affect
by nationality, social class, current historical trends.
– Social Norms - rules & expectations about appropriate
social behavior
– Culture - Beliefs, customs, habits & language shared by
the people living in a particular time & place
Evolutionary Perspective
• Searches for the causes of social behavior in the
physical and psychological dispositions that helped
our ancestors survive & reproduce.
– Natural selection
– Adaptations
Social Learning Perspective
• Focuses on past experiences as determinants
of a person’s social behavior.
– Driven by personal experience w/ rewards &
punishment.
• Social Learning
– relatively stable change in a person’s behavior
attributed to observation of other people.
• Imitative behavior, vicarious reinforcement
Phenomenological Perspective
• View that social behavior is driven by a
person’s subjective interpretations of events
in the environment.
– Social constructivist view
• e.g., gender appropriate behavior
• Does not suggest that objective reality does not
exist, rather emphasizes situation & interpretation
Social Cognitive Perspective
• Focuses on mental processes involved in
paying attention to, interpreting, judging &
remembering social experiences
• View of individual as information processors
– Motivated-Tactician Model - individuals as
flexible social thinkers who choose among
multiple cognitive strategies based on current
goals, motives & needs
The Scientific Method
• 1. Set of values
• 2. Method of systematic & controlled observation
• Nature of the scientific method
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Accuracy
Objectivity
Skepticism
Open Mindedeness
Psychological Investigation
• Discovery - formulating ideas about the
nature of behavior.
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Hypotheses
Theories
Theoretical & Operational definitions
Constructs
Advantages of Using the
Scientific Method
• Avoid:
– Confirmatory bias
– Availability heuristic
– Mood effects
The Three Questions
• “How are things”?
• “How are things related to each other”?
• “How did they get to be that way”?
Descriptive Research
• “How things are”
• Goal = Careful mapping out of a situation
or set of events.
• Is not concerned with causal explanations.
• Usually considered necessary first step in
developing research.
• Not usually sufficient.
Types of Descriptive Research
• Naturalistic Observation
• Participant-Observer
• Survey Research
– Validity & Reliability
– Sampling
Deductive Reasoning
Universal Truth
Specific
Instance
Inductive Reasoning
General Rule
Specific
Instance
Making Inferences to Populations
Population
Sample
Relational Research
• “How things are related to each other”
• Goal = How what happens changes along
w/ some other set of observations.
– Are X and Y significantly related?
• Form, direction and strength the relationship
• Can not usually draw cause and effect
conclusions.
– Reciprocal effect; spurious correlation
Experimental Research
• “How they got to be that way”
• Goal = Identification of causes.
• Random assignment of subjects & control
of variables.
– Independent & dependent variables
• 3 requirements for cause and effect