PSYC 2310 Lecture : PSYCH 1200 - CH 2 NOTES.docx
31 Mar 2012
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Each bystander assumes that someone else would help or call for help. Diffusion of responsibility psychological state in which each person feels decreased personal responsibility for intervening. Hypothesis a tentative explanation or prediction about some phenomenon. *if an emergency occurs, then the greater the number of bystanders, the less likely any one bystander will be to intervene. Formulate a testable hypothesis (ask a question) translate hypothesis into prediction test hypothesis (research) analyze findings & draw conclusions build theories develop new hypotheses (self-correcting) Theory set of formal statements broader than hypotheses; specify lawful relations between certain behaviours & their causes. Theory of social impact used to explain a variety of human social behaviours. Hindsight after-the-fact related past events can be explained in many creative, reasonable, & sometimes contradictory ways: understanding through prediction & control is a scientific alternative to after-the-fact understanding. Variable any characteristic that can differ (i. e. gender, age, ethnicity, etc. : memory, personality, intelligence, stress, etc.
