PSY 102 Study Guide - Summer 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Arousal, Yale University, Stereotype
PSY 102
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
Social psychology: the scientific study of how people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are
influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others
➔ Relies on the scientific method (theories, hypotheses, empirical data)
➔ Based on context
◆ Emphasis is on the social nature of individuals
● “Other people” do not have to be real or present
○ Can be implied or imaged and can even be yourself
ABC’s of social psychology
➔ Affect: feelings
➔ Behavior: actions
➔ Cognition: thoughts
What is not social psychology?
➔ Clinical psychology
➔ Personality psychology
◆ Focuses on individual differences between people (traits)
◆ Social psychology aims to understand behavior
● Typical a person x situation interaction
➔ Cognitive psychology
◆ Social vs non-social stimuli
➔ Sociology
◆ Sociology studies cultures, society, groups
◆ Social psychology focuses more on the individual
➔ Philosophy
◆ Philosophy is focused on rationalizing and thinking, but not scientific study
● No testing hypotheses using experiments
What can social psychology teach us?
➔ How to achieve a goal
➔ Use implementation intentions: if-then plans
◆ By making a plan, you link a situation to an action
● When you encounter that situation, you automatically behave the way you
want
● “If they serve pizza, I will have a salad”
Situations are powerful determinants of our behavior
➔ Our subjective perceptions of others, ourselves, and of situations (construals)
Channel factors: situational factors that appear unimportant on the surface but might have great
consequences on behavior
➔ Behavior is a function of both person and environment
Social psychology and common sense
➔ Common sense seems to explain many social psychological findings after the fact
◆ Common sense cannot explain findings before the scientific method is conducted
What are the two major lessons of social psych?
1. Situation is important determinant of our behavior
2. Construals of that situation are also important
Article Review
➔ How to search for an article
◆ PsycInfo
● Google psycinfo ucsb
● Search now
● Type keywords
◆ Google Scholar
➔ Find a topic from the textbook
➔ Upload to gauchospace Wednesday Aug 29th before 12:30PM
Document Summary
Social psychology: the scientific study of how people"s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Relies on the scientific method (theories, hypotheses, empirical data) Emphasis is on the social nature of individuals. Other people do not have to be real or present. Can be implied or imaged and can even be yourself. Focuses on individual differences between people (traits) Social psychology focuses more on the individual. Philosophy is focused on rationalizing and thinking, but not scientific study. By making a plan, you link a situation to an action. When you encounter that situation, you automatically behave the way you want. If they serve pizza, i will have a salad . Our subjective perceptions of others, ourselves, and of situations (construals) Channel factors: situational factors that appear unimportant on the surface but might have great consequences on behavior. Behavior is a function of both person and environment.
