psych study guide1 & answers - EXAM I Concepts...

EXAM I
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Concepts :
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Allport’s def of Social Psychology - Social psychology is the scientific study of how the
thoughts, feelings, and behavior of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or
implied presence of others.
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Levels of analysis:
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Societal (cultural) – cultural norms, values
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Inter-Group – Group identity; group norms; small groups research
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*Interpersonal – How ppl influence/relate to one another (dyads-2); close
relationships
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*Individual – Personality; How ppl think and feel about social world
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Applied vs. Basic Research:
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Applied – done to solve a problem
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Seek knowledge that addresses socially relevant issues
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Basic – done to figure something out; just knowledge
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conducted for the sake of knowledge alone
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Father of psychology – Kurt Lewin
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Believed in action research
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Social progress
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Correlational vs. Experimental Research:
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Correlational – examines relationships between variables
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Relationship can be positive or negative -> if relationship is stronger than expected
by chance alone , found pos. or neg. relationship
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Positive: both increase / Negative: one increase, one decreases
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Only shows relationship, not what causes what – there might be a 3
rd
factor
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Experimental – Random assignment to conditions
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Treatment vs. Control, outcome for each is compared -> treatment can be claimed
as cause of any observed difference (effect)
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Independent vs. Dependent variables:
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Independent – the variable that is manipulated (casual factor)
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Dependent – The variable that depends on the IV
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the effect you are interested in
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Experimental vs. Mundane realism:
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Experimental – the experiment is more involving; make a psychological impact on
them
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Mundane – people do things that are like everyday life

Demand characteristics – cues in the experiment that seem to “demand” certain behavior
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Experimenters try hide their predictions
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Standardize instructions

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Attribution theory – the study of assigning causes to behavior
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Actor-observer bias :
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your behavior is attributed to the situation (S-driven; “external attributions”)
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other’s behavior attributed to personality (P-driven; “internal attributions”)
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Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE):
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Just the observer bias part (other’ behavior is their personality)
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Kelley’s Attribution Theory