Social_Psychology_Lecture_1
Social Psychology
Lecture 1 Introducing Social Psychology
Dr Anja Eller
Overview of course I
?Lecture 1: Introducing Social Psychology ?Lecture 2: Social cognition & social thinking ?Lecture 3: Attribution & social knowledge ?Lecture 4: Social influence
?Lecture 5: People in groups
?Lecture 6: Leadership & decision making ?Lecture 7: Prejudice & discrimination
Overview of course II
?Lecture 8: Intergroup behaviour ?Lecture 9: Aggression
?Lecture 10: Affiliation, attraction & love ?Lecture 11: Prosocial behaviour ?Lecture 12: Language & communication ?Lecture 13: Culture
Main sources
?Carlson, Martin, & Buskist(2004; 2nd European edition). Psychology. Harlow: Pearson. Chapters
15 & 16.
?Hogg & Vaughan (2005; 4th edition). Social psychology. Harlow: Pearson.
What is social psychology??“The scientific investigation of how the thoughts, feelings, and behaviour of individuals are
influenced by the actual, imagined or implied
presence of others”(Floyd Allport, 1935)?Examples: Theatre performance, dropping litter
?Human, not animal behaviour
?Overt behaviour, but also feelings, thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, intentions, goals
?Science: theory ?data
Cognitive
psychology
Individual psychology
Social
psychology Social
anthropology
Sociology
Sociolinguistics
Communication
Language
Scientific method: Experiments ?Experimental vs. non-experimental methods ?Experiments: Manipulating one (or more) independent variable(IV) and measuring the effect of the manipulation on a dependent
variable (DV)
?Example: Effect of smiling at people ?Random assignment
?Avoid confounding
?Watch for floor or ceiling effects
?Lab vs. field experiments
Scientific method: Non-experimental
methods
?Experimentation = preferred method of science ?But: not always possible (e.g. allocation of biolog.
sex) or ethical (effects of crime)
?Correlation ≠causation!
?Archival research (historical analysis)
?Case studies (in-depth analysis of single case)?Survey research (questionnaires, interviews)?Field studies (observation)
?Quantitative vs. qualitative data analysis
Research ethics
?Classic studies in social psychology often unethical (e.g. Milgram’s1974 obedience studies)?Nowadays, clear ethical guidelines of BPS, APA, etc. and ethics committees in universities
?Five basic ethical principles:
Protection from harm(e.g. electric shock)
Respect for privacy(anonymity, confidentiality)
Use of deception(50-75% of research uses deception) Informed consent(possibility to withdraw at any time) Debriefing(full explanation of experiment)
Theoretical issues I
?Behaviourism
Going back to Skinner and Pavlov
This perspective emphasizes role of
reinforcement/learning in social behaviour
?Cognitive psychology
Going back to Koffka& K?hler’s Gestalt psychology
Focuses on active interpretation & cognitive processes 1950’s & 60’s: cognitive consistency theories
1970’s: attribution theories
From late 1970’s: social cognition (meta-theory)
Theoretical issues II
?Evolutionary social psychology
Going back to Darwin
Behaviour explained by “survival of the fittest”(e.g.
attraction to certain sexual mates)
?Personality theory
Social behaviour explained in terms of enduring attributes (e.g. “the authoritarian personality”) Now seen as only partial explanation of behaviour
≠collectivist theories that take context & social norms into account (e.g. social identity theory)
Social psychology in Europe ?Social psychology started in Europe, but shifted
to US with rise of fascism in 1930’s
?Post-war period: slow rebuilding, but very influenced by American thinking, then Europeans pushed for more social social psychology ?Since early 1970’s: powerful & influential renaissance of social psychology in Europe ?Founding of EAESP & EJSP
?Particularly important: Henri Tajfel(Social Identity Theory) & Serge Moscovici(social
representations)
Summary of lecture
?What is social psychology??Scientific method
Model
Experiments
Non-experimental methods ?Research ethics
?Theories in social psychology ?Levels of explanation
?Social psychology in Europe
Recommended reading ?Carlson et al. (2004): chapter 15?Hogg & Vaughan (2005): chapter 1