PSYCH 10 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Fundamental Attribution Error, Scientific Method, Solomon Asch
Document Summary
It is an experimental subfield not clinical. Social psychologists are most interested in understanding social behavior and its impacts. They study the social influences that explain why the same person will act differently in different situations. They use the scientific method and are guided by theory. Social psychology is the scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another. It is the tendency, when analyzing others" behavior, to overestimate the influence of personal traits and underestimate the effects of the situation. It is most likely to occur when stranger acts badly. It is driven by ego and a desire to protect ourselves. Napolitan and colleagues (1979): students attributed behavior of others to personal traits, even when they were told that behavior was part of an experimental situation. To preserve energy, our brain develops shortcuts that could be biased, we need to be aware of these biases so that we can minimize their negative impacts.
