PSY220H1 Lecture 1: jan16slides.doc
Document Summary
The scientific study of the reciprocal influence of the individual and his or her social environment. Other people (and their thoughts feeling, attitudes and. Social psychology: a foothold in abstract theory and concrete practice. Social psychology is not like chemistry or physics: we traffic in probabilities, likelihood, and correlations, rather than absolute laws. Ex: extrinsic student have better performance than intrinsic student. Despite the enormous variability of human behaviour, it is possible to extract some basic patterns of human behaviour. Intuitions must be tested against empirical data sometimes even our grandma"s intuitions are wrong! (i. e. not supported by data) Plus sometimes two opposing clich s may seem equally intuitive: You are working on a task (rolling cigars in a cuban cigar factory) with 20 other people. The owners expand the factory so that now 100 people are all rolling cigars side-by-side. On the one hand, you might think more people, more competition, more impetus to perform better.
