PSYC 305 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1-2: Gestalt Psychology, Operational Definition, Behaviorism

• School: University of Calgary
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 305
• Professor: Dane Tyler Burns

Document Summary

Social psychology - the scientific study of the way in which people"s thoughts, feelings, and behaviour are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people. Construal the way in which people perceive, comprehend and interpret the social world. Fundamental attribution error the tendency to overestimate the extent to which people"s behaviour stems from personality traits and to underestimate the role of situational factors. Behaviourism school of psychology maintaining that to understand human behaviour, one need only to consider the reinforcing properties of the environment. Gestalt psychology school of psychology stressing the importance of studying the subjective way in which an object appears in people"s minds, rather than the objective physical attributes of the object. The need to feel good about ourselves and then need to be accurate are motives of primary importance to social psychologists. The self-esteem approach the need to feel good about ourselves.