Social Psych Week 2 Updated PDF

History, Methods, and Theory Theory: Changes in focus (instinct, attitude, consistency, attributions, social cognition, automatic processing, neuro, culture, best research practices) Changes in issues (prejudice, aggression, riots, crime, multi...

History, Methods, and Theory Theory: Changes in focus (instinct, attitude, consistency, attributions, social cognition, automatic processing, neuro, culture, best research practices) Changes in issues (prejudice, aggression, riots, crime, multiculturalism, morality, religion) Changes in participants (gender, M to F, general to college students, MTurkers) Changes in analysis (Univariate, Multivariate, Mediation) Univariate is the most basic model, analyzing the relationship between two things Multivariate analyzes more variables, but can only look at so many Mediation models look at the reasoning for which a relationship exists in the way that it does (ex. why are women more frequently depressed than men) Changes in research methods (questionable research methods) Dominant Topics of Study: Social Cognition: how individuals make sense of themselves and other individuals. Social Neuroscience: The study of how brain structures and functions relate to social cognitions, emotions, and behaviours. Research Methods: particularly questionable research practices such as p- hacking, NHST, mediation. Research: Untitled 1  Research is the method of asking and answering a question with a set of systematic procedures which assist researchers in avoiding biases. Achievement based data tends to form a normal distribution, where the average is around the centre of a chart, and half of the population falls on either side of the centre line Biases: Self-serving Bias: The tendency to view oneself favourably, from a positive perspective. Illusory Correlation: Seeing relations where none exist. Fundamental Attribution Error: The tendency to overestimate the impact of the person and to underestimate the impact of the situation. Actor/Observer Bias: When judgments are affected by the perspective of the judge. Hedonic Bias: A desire to maximize good things and minimize bad things. These biases can influence us as individuals and therefore they can influence us as scientists. Research methods are in place to help to control these biases from influencing how researchers ask and answer questions. Scientific Method: Start with a research question Choose a theory Theory: A reasonable set of variables that interrelate in some way, helping us understand, predict, and control some phenomena Make a hypothesis Hypothesis: A testable question Gather a sample Sample: A small group meant to represent a specific population in a study Random Sampling: A random selection of people from a population, in order to ensure that majority of the sample is Untitled 2  representative of the desired population Test hypothesis using 1 of 3 methods Nonexperimental Experimental Quasi-experimental Generalize results Nonexperimental Method/Correlational Method Nonexperimental research: Examines the relationship among 2 or more variables in a natural setting Steps: Obtain a random sample from population Obtain measures on 2 sets of variables that you think are related Statistically test the relationship Generalize the findings based on the sample back to the population Signature Criteria: 1. Variables must be observable 2. Variables must be measurable Likert Scale: A multi-point rating scale used to measure survey participants' opinions, attitudes, motivations, and more. Commonly 7 points, but may be more or less Correctional Analysis: Negative Relationship: A relationship where more of one variable leads to less of another variable (more violent television=less aggressiveness) Positive Relationship: A relationship where more of one variable leads to more of another variable (more violent television=more aggressiveness) Untitled 3  No Relationship: A relationship where the presence or lack thereof of one variable does not impact the implications of another variable Strengths Whether 2 variables are related If some phenomena is predictable based on knowledge of another variable If variables are non-causal Weaknesses Direction of relationship is impossible to determine (TV→Agg. Or Agg.→TV?) Possible 3 variable problem (e.g., abuse) Experimental Method: Signature Criteria 1. Control over the Independent Variables Control and treatment group Control group has the same experience as the treatment group, however does not receive the treatment Ex. Control and treatment groups both watch television, but only treatment group watches violent programming 2. Random assignment of the participants to conditions Steps: Design materials and procedures to manipulate the IVs Choose a sample and randomly assign them to the different conditions Measure the effects of the IVs on the DVs Generalize the results from the laboratory to life Pros Can determine causal relationships Untitled 4  Cons Procedures can affect our ability to generalize from the lab to the real world Mundane realism vs experimental realism Mundane Realism: The extent to which something looks like real life (mundane=everyday real life) Experimental Realism: The extent to which an experiment actually works Example: Did the variable you were manipulating actually get manipulated the way we wanted it to Example: In a study interested in television violence and gender, there are two independent variables. We can create a quasi-experimental design for this study; an experimental design that uses non-random criteria when assigning to groups As we cannot randomly assign in this circumstance, we can only deduce whether or not there is a relationship We cannot determine causation Major Theoretical Perspectives: Learning Theory: Behaviourism: Behaviour can change as a result of our experience SR Model (operant conditioning): We are faced with stimuli, and we respond to that Classical Conditioning (Pavlov): Shows how a response to a stimuli can generalize to other stimuli as well Cognition may also cause a response, as it plays a role mediating the relationship of stimuli and response Untitled 5  Consistency/Balance Theory: Humans seek out balance and consistency in their lives Cognitive Dissonance (Festinger): We strive for a balance between cognition and behaviour, and change each of them to match the other Cognition is easier to change rather than behaviour Attribution Theory: Describes the family of theories that describes how human beings determine causation Exchange and Equity Theory: There is an exchange of favours that occurs in social relationships “You scratch my back, I scratch yours” Untitled 6