Critical Social Psychology Quiz

Lifespan Psychology B: Social Psychology of the Person

• This module covers social psychology and research methods in individual differences.
• The module aims to explore traditional social psychology, critical social psychology, and individual differences.
• Students will be encouraged to question the distinction between individual and social factors.
• Students will develop a stronger academic voice and take a stance on debates in Social Psychology and Individual Differences.

Aims of Module

• Course Overview
• Social psychology and individual differences
• Research methods and individual differences

Learning Outcomes

• Students will demonstrate knowledge of historical and conceptual debates within social psychology and individual differences.
• Students will demonstrate knowledge of research methods and techniques used to study the person in social psychology and individual differences.
• Students will understand and critically evaluate the empirical evidence underpinning selected theories relating to social psychology and individual differences.
• Students will demonstrate skills in searching for and evaluating scientific evidence related to social psychology and individual differences.
• Students will develop cogent arguments about topics in social psychology and individual differences using appropriate empirical evidence.

Module Structure

• Pre-live session activity
• Live lecture
• Live seminar
• Essential reading
• Canvas discussion board

Module at a Glance

• A schedule of topics, lectures, and seminars.

Assessment

• Lifespan Psychology B is assessed via a 1000-word in-course assessment.
• This module is a 10-credit module, synoptically assessed along with Lifespan Psychology A (Introduction to Developmental Psychology).
• Two 1000-word essays (50% each) are to be completed

Essay Title

• "What matters most when explaining human behaviour: social or individual factors?"
• This essay requires students to select a topic from the module, examine social and individual factors, and come to a conclusion about their relative importance.
• Students need to use academic literature and critically evaluate it.
• Workshops are designed to support this assessment.

What made a good essay last year?

• Clear argument and stance consistently presented.
• Critically evaluated evidence from literature.
• Synthesized rather than listed sources.
• Concepts that spanned the entire module.
• Logical and structured around key themes.
• Clear introductions and conclusions.

Discussion Board

• This module uses a Padlet discussion board for questions.
• Emails will not be responded to, as the teaching team will monitor the discussion board.

Social Psychology and Individual Differences

• The scientific study of social and cognitive processes.

Example Topics in Social Psychology

• Experimental/Traditional Social Psychology: Social influence, prosocial behaviour, aggression, prejudice and discrimination
• Critical Social Psychology: Cultural Psychology, focusing on the socio-political contexts of behaviour and attitudes

Fundamental Axioms Social Psychology

• The construction of reality: is there one universal reality, or are there multiple and competing realities?
• Pervasiveness of social influence: Other people affect our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours.

Experimental and Critical Social Psychology (Stainton-Rogers, 2011)

• Two approaches to the study of social psychology.

How is the person conceptualized in Social Psychology?

• Experimental Social Psychology: People as products of innate instincts, moulded by forces, lacking free will.
• Critical Social Psychology: People as intentional actors within their social world, with the capacity for free will.

Introducing Individual Differences

• Aims to explain observable differences in individuals in terms of underlying psychological differences.
  • How and why people differ in thinking and feeling.
  • How these differences affect behaviour.
  • Taxonomies of individual differences (e.g. Big Five, MBTI)

Example Topics in Individual Differences

• Personality, intelligence, emotional intelligence, attitudes, cognitive abilities.
• Real-world applications such as ageing, wellbeing, and health

Assumptions of Individual Differences

• Differences vary consistently across situations and time.
• Individual differences can be measured and assessed.
• People can be categorized based on personality and intelligence.
• Individual differences inform and predict behaviour and performance

Consistency and Stability

• Consistency across time and situations.
• Relatively stable personality traits after age 30
• Limited consistency in many traits, across situations.

Research Methods in Social Psychology and Individual Differences

• Focus on objectivity and measurement.

Focus on Objectivity and Measurement (1786, 1864)

• Kant argued psychology couldn't be quantified.
• Wundt started scientific examinations focusing on perception.
• Control is important for experiments. First theorists:
  • Sir Francis Galton: lexical hypothesis, identifying stable traits.
  • Kurt Lewin: Behavior = personality x environment

Describing the assumptions Explicit and Implicit

• Social Psychology: Interpersonal Effects, Broad Impact of Social Factors, Framework Development.
• Differential Psychology: Understanding Intrapersonal Factors, Prediction and Description, Introspection and Verification.
• Implicit Assumptions: Tool Efficacy and Unified Theory.

Data Sources: (Self-Reports, Observations, Direct Observations, Objective Measures, Interviews, Experimentation)

• Describing methods for collecting and analyzing data.

Data Collection: Timing (Cross-sectional, Longitudinal, Experimental)

• Explain the different types of data collection

Assessing quality in quantitative research (Reliability, Validity, Generalizability)

• Measures of reliability, validity, and generalizability

Roots of Qualitative Psychology (The turn back to language)

• Split in approaches, philosophy, and the role between person and society.
• Re-connection with Europe: critical of quantitative and experimental methods.
• Branching into Critical Social Psychology: Qualitative methods, critique of taken-for-granted knowledge

Assumptions in Critical Social Psychology

• Focus on understanding, insight, and interpretation rather than just cause and effect.
• No claim to objectivity, representativeness, realism, or control.
• Focus on exploring talk, appropriate questions, rigorous and ethical data collection.

Data Sources in Qualitative Research (Ethnography, Interviews, Focus Groups, Diaries, Documents, Internet, Story Completion)

• Description of different qualitative research methods

Data Analysis in Critical Social Psychology

• Quantitative analysis alone isn’t sufficient; qual analysis aims to analyze patterns of meaning.
• Interpretative insights vary based on the specific analytic technique used.

Assessing quality in Qualitative Research (Sensitivity, Commitment & Rigour, Transparency, Impact)

• Criteria for evaluating the quality of qualitative research, including sensitivity, commitment, rigour, transparency, and impact.

Research methods to explore social and individual differences.

Test your knowledge on critical social psychology and its differentiations from traditional approaches. This quiz covers various methods, assumptions, and theories foundational to understanding social behavior. Challenge yourself with questions on ethnographic approaches and the stability of personality through the years.