PSYC 2040 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Social Influence, Inter-Rater Reliability, Ethnocentrism
Document Summary
Chapter 1: the field of psychology: how we think about and interact with others. Intro to social psychology: social psychology- nature and causes of individual behavior and thought in social situations, 3 areas. Not what you study but how you study it (1) set of values (2) several methods that can be used to study a wide range of topics. Methods other than science: (1) common sense- basic knowledge from living. Not always right; often contradictory: (2) authorities. Not always right; often contradictory: (3) unsystematic observation- look around environment. See only what you expect to see. Types of research: observed (a) internal validity- test measures what it claims to measure (b) external validity- extent to which lab findings can be applied to real world situations: (1) descriptive research- describing what you have systematically. Most often used when something is new or relatively rare.
