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Exam 1 Study Guide - Introduction to Social Psychology | SOP 3004, Study notes of Psychology

Material Type: Notes; Professor: Charman; Class: Intro Social Psy; Subject: Social Psychology; University: Florida International University; Term: Fall 2009;

Typology: Study notes

Pre 2010

Uploaded on 10/31/2009

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Exam #1 Study Guide
Friday, September 11, 2009
10:47 PM
1. What is the primary thesis and the four secondary these of social psychology?
a. Primary
i. Human social though and social behavior is governed greatly by the situation in which the thoughts and
behaviors occur
b. Secondary
i. Power of situational forces is much greater than people think
ii. Social thought and behavior often don't fit into rational/logical theories
iii. People's perceptions are more important in affecting social behavior/thought than the feature of the
situation
iv. Social thought/behavior are function of both person and situation
2. What are the differences between social psychology and sociology?
a. Sociology
i. Study groups of people
ii. Study how people are influenced by social variables
iii. Little emphasis on experimental research methods
b. Social psychology
i. Study individuals
ii. Study how people are influenced by specific, immediate variables
iii. Heavy emphasis on experimental research methods
3. Describe the hindsight bias and give a real world example of the hindsight bias.
a. Hindsight bias
i. Tendency to overestimate one's ability to have foreseen the outcome, but after learning the actual
outcome
ii. Ex) Football games: "I should be coaching this team."
iii. Ex) War b/w British and Gurkas in India
1. British had advanced weapons, bigger army
2. Gurkas had more experience in war
3. After people found out outcome, said they knew that side would win
4. What are the basics of the scientific method?
a. Define a question
b. Collect information
c. Use theory to form hypothesis
d. Collect and analyze data that test hypothesis
e. Interpret data and form conclusions
f. Revise theory
5. What is a theory? How do we determine what makes a good theory? How is a theory different from a hypothesis?
a. Theory
i. Conceptual framework that shows how variables are assumed to relate to each other
ii. Integrated set of principles that explain and predict observed events
b. Hypothesis
i. Testable prediction that describes relationship b/w events
ii. Often used to test theories
c. Good theory has:
i. Predictive ability
ii. Broad applicability
iii. Simplicity
iv. Testability
6. What is the purpose of random sampling? What is the difference between random sampling and random assignment?
a. Random sample
i. Sample where each member of population has equal chance of being in sample
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Exam #1 Study Guide

Friday, September 11, 2009 10:47 PM

  1. What is the primary thesis and the four secondary these of social psychology? a. Primary i. Human social though and social behavior is governed greatly by the situation in which the thoughts and behaviors occur b. Secondary i. Power of situational forces is much greater than people think ii. Social thought and behavior often don't fit into rational/logical theories iii. People's perceptions are more important in affecting social behavior/thought than the feature of the situation iv. Social thought/behavior are function of both person and situation
  2. What are the differences between social psychology and sociology? a. Sociology i. Study groups of people ii. Study how people are influenced by social variables iii. Little emphasis on experimental research methods b. Social psychology i. Study individuals ii. Study how people are influenced by specific, immediate variables iii. Heavy emphasis on experimental research methods
  3. Describe the hindsight bias and give a real world example of the hindsight bias. a. Hindsight bias i. Tendency to overestimate one's ability to have foreseen the outcome, but after learning the actual outcome ii. Ex) Football games: "I should be coaching this team." iii. Ex) War b/w British and Gurkas in India
  4. British had advanced weapons, bigger army
  5. Gurkas had more experience in war
  6. After people found out outcome, said they knew that side would win
  7. What are the basics of the scientific method? a. Define a question b. Collect information c. Use theory to form hypothesis d. Collect and analyze data that test hypothesis e. Interpret data and form conclusions f. Revise theory
  8. What is a theory? How do we determine what makes a good theory? How is a theory different from a hypothesis? a. Theory i. Conceptual framework that shows how variables are assumed to relate to each other ii. Integrated set of principles that explain and predict observed events b. Hypothesis i. Testable prediction that describes relationship b/w events ii. Often used to test theories c. Good theory has: i. Predictive ability ii. Broad applicability iii. Simplicity iv. Testability
  9. What is the purpose of random sampling? What is the difference between random sampling and random assignment? a. Random sample i. Sample where each member of population has equal chance of being in sample

ii. Ensures that the sample is representative of the population b. Random assignment i. Each participant has equal chance of being assigned to any condition in experiment

  1. What is the difference between observational, correlational, and experimental research? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? a. Observational research i. Researcher observes people and measure their behavior ii. Describe social behavior iii. Pro: can study things in natural, real-world settings iv. Con: some behaviors hard to observe b. C orrelational research i. Determine if and how much variables are associated with each other 1. -1 = perfect negative correlation 2. +1 = perfect positive correlation 3. 0 = no correlation ii. Predict social behavior iii. Pro: can study real-world factors that can't be manipulated in a lab iv. Con: can't make causal claims c. Experimental research i. One or more variables manipulated by experimenter ii. Confounds controlled through random assignment iii. Pro: can make strong causal claims b/c of experimenter control iv. Con: studies behavior in unrealistic setting
  2. Explain social behavior.
  3. What is the purpose of operational definitions? a. Describe a concept in terms of observable and measurable qualities
  4. What does a positive correlation mean? A negative correlation? a. Positive i. The larger one variable (x) is, the larger the other variable (y) is b. Negative i. The larger one variable (x) is, the smaller the other variable (y) is
  5. Why does correlation not equal causation? (In other words, what is the direction of causality problem and the third variable problem?) a. Just because two things may be correlated does not mean that one causes the other i. There may be other extraneous variables that might not be taken into consideration ii. Ex) Violent TV and aggression
  6. Possible third variable: neglectful parents
  7. What are the two key aspects of experimental research? Why are they important? a. One or more variables are manipulated by the experimenter b. Confounds are controlled through random assignment
  8. What is the difference between an independent variable and a dependent variable? a. Independent i. What the experimenter manipulates b. Dependent i. What the experimenter measures
  9. What is a confound? Why is it a problem to have a confound in an experiment? a. Uncontrolled extraneous variable that can influence dependent variable in systematic way i. Can't make cause/effect relationship when present
  10. How can participant characteristics and experimenter characteristics bias the results of a study? What is the s ocial desirability bias?

i. Yell b/c angry or angry b/c yell? b. Facial feedback hypothesis i. Changes in expression can lead to corresponding changes in mood c. How they relate i.

  1. What are the main differences between individualistic and collectivistic cultures? a. Individualistic i. Independent self-concept ii. Identity based on personal achievements/goals iii. People encouraged to validate the self iv. Disapproves of conformity b. Collectivist i. Interdependent self-concept ii. Identity based on one's social groups iii. People encouraged to restrain self and fit in with group iv. Disapproves of egotism
  2. How do people enter a state of self-awareness? What happens when they do? How can people cope with self-awareness?
  3. What is self-esteem? How can people maintain unrealistically high levels of self-esteem? a. Self-esteem i. Affective component of the self consisting of a person's positive and negative evaluations b. Maintain unrealistically high self esteem: i.
  4. What are self-serving cognitions? Unrealistic optimism? a. Self-serving cognitions i. Most people think they're better than average for most traits ii. People take credit for successes and distance themselves from failure b. Unrealistic optimism i. People think their future will be better than the average person ii. Con: underestimate negative consequences of one's behavior
  5. College girls having sex & contraception
  6. When do people experience false consensus and when do people experience false uniqueness? a. False consensus i. Tendency for people to overestimate extent that others share their opinions and undesirable behaviors 1. "Everybody cheats on their taxes." ii. Tendency for people to underestimate extent that other people share their abilities and desirable behaviors
  7. College students and alcohol abstainers a. "I'm practically the only one who doesn't drink."
  8. What does Basking In Reflected Glory (BIRG) mean? a. Increasing self-esteem by associating with others who are successful i. Wearing team's colors after they win a game b. People cut themselves off from failure
  9. What is the purpose of making downward social comparisons? a. Comparing self to someone who is worse off to feel better about self
  10. What is self-handicapping? When are people likely to engage in self-handicapping behaviors? a. Behaviors designed to sabotage one's own performance to provide excuse for failure i. Ex) Experiment with unsolvable puzzles and 2 drugs to take before 2nd set of puzzles (one to improve performance, one to impair performance) 1. People did horribly first time 2. Took impairing drug 3. Did horribly on the 2nd set and blamed the drug
  1. Are positive illusions adaptive? What is the illusion of control? a. b. Illusion of control i.
  2. What is self-presentation? The spotlight effect? How does self-monitoring relate to self-presentation? What does it mean to be a high or low self-monitor? a. Self presentation i. Strategies people use to shape what others think of them 1. Self verification a. Desire to have people see us the way we see ourselves ii. Self-monitoring
  3. Tendency to change behavior b/c of self-presentation concerns of the situation
  4. High self monitors change self depending on situation iii. Spotlight effect
  5. Tendency for people to not understand that the world does not revolve around them
  6. Overestimate how much people are paying attention to them
  7. *Be able to define all of the “self-” words a. Self-reference effect b. Self-concept c. Self-perception d. Self-awareness e. Self-enhancement f. Self-serving cognitions g. Self-esteem h. Self-handicapping i. Self-presentation j. Self-monitoring
  8. What is the confirmation bias? What is belief perseverance? Why does belief perseverance occur? a. Confirmation Bias i. Tendency to search for info that confirms one's preconceptions. b. Belief perseverance i. Tendency to maintain beliefs, even after they have been discredited ii. Explanations we come up with to support our beliefs survive
  9. What are the three steps of a self-fulfilling prophecy? a. Perceiver develops false belief about target i. I mistakenly believe someone is rude. b. Perceiver treats target in manner consistent with false belief i. B/c of this, I don’t say hello to her when I see her. c. Target responds to treatment in a way that confirms the originally false belief i. B/c I didn’t say hi to her, she didn’t say hi to me. Therefore, she is rude.
  10. What are heuristics? Why do we use heuristics? a. Shortcuts people use to make complex judgments, but in itself, is not irrational or illogical i. Cognitive miser ii. Limited processing capability
  11. What is the availability heuristic? How does the availability heuristic relate to false consensus? How does it relate to the base-rate fallacy? a. Availability heuristic i. Tendency to estimate the likelihood that something will happen by how easily instances of it come to mind b. False-consensus i. c. Base-rate fallacy i. Tendency for people to be relatively insensitive to numerical base rate information