At What Level does Social Psychology Focus?

& What does Social Psychology typically Focus on?

1. Social Psychology is about more than one specific type of situation
2. Strive to establish general principles of attitude formation and change that apply to a variety of situations, rather than specific domains (economics, sports, competition, etc.)
3. Typically focuses on the individual not the group (sociology); focuses on the individual within a group

What Types of Situations does Social Psych Cover?

List 4 examples.

Social Psych research can include research in to objects of situations.

–How weather changes aggressive behavior

–How celebrity endorsements are affect attitudes about products

–People you never even directly interact with

         -- Tiger Woods Anyone?

–Imagined presence of people can have in influence.

Social Psychology is a ______.

It applies the scientific method of _________ _________, ___________, and ___________ to the study of the human condition.

• Science

• Sytematic Observation,
• Description,
• Measurement

What is Operational Definition?

Give an example.

The specific procedures for manipulating or measuring a conceptual variable.

Example: Imagine wanting to conduct a study on the effects of alcohol intoxication on agression. One of the conceptual variables might be whether or not participants are intoxicated. One researcher might operationally define intoxification as when a participant has a blood alchol level of .10 or more, while another might define it as when a participant says that he or she feels drunk.

What are 3 ways to measure variables?

Describe each one.

1. Self- Reports
2. Observations
3. Technology

• Self-reports
• Observations

What are Self-Reports?

• By the way questions are asked:
• Such as how they are worded
• Or in what order or context they are asked
• They often ask participants to report on thoughts and behaviors from the past (and people's memory of their thoughts or behaviors is very prone to error)

1. They avoid our sometimes-faulty recollections and distorted interpretations of our own behavior
2. Actions can speak louder than words
3. Of course, if individuals know they are being observed, their behaviors, like their self-reports, may be biased by the desire to present themselves in a favorable light.

Subtly

For example, in experiments concerning interracial interactions, researchers may record participants' eye contact and seating distance to demonstrate biases that would not be revealed using more overt measures.

How is Technology used as a unit of measurement?

• Various kinds of equipment are used to measure physiological responses such as changes in heart rate, levels of particular hormones, and sexual arousal
• Computers are used to record the speed with which participants respond to stimuli, such as how quickly they can identify the race of people in photographs or the presence of a weapon in the hands of a white or black man
• Eye-tracking technology is used to measure exactly where and forhow long participants look at particular parts of a stimulus, such as advertisement or video

The effects produced when an experimenter's expectations about the results of an experiment affect his or her behavior toward a participant and thereby influence the participant's responses.

(therefore, because of the experimenter's expectancy effects, the results you find in your experiment may be produced by your own actions rather than by the independent variable).