PSYCH 221 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Fundamental Attribution Error, Universal Property, Social Influence
Document Summary
Psych 221 chapter 1 introducing social psychology. Social psychology: the study of how people"s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by real or imagined presence of others. Social influence: the effect that words, actions, and the presence of others have on our thoughts, feelings, behavior, and attitudes. Personality psychology ignores the role played by social influence (situation: focuses on analysis of individual in the context of the social situation. Goal: identify universal properties that make almost everyone susceptible to social influence. Psychologist attempt to answer the same questions as philosophers using the scientific method. Empirical question: answers derived from experimentation and measurement rather than personal opinion. People are often unaware of the true reasoning behind their actions: commonsense answers; justifications. Social psychologist uses scientific methods to determine the conditions in which outcomes are most likely to take place. Cross-cultural research demonstrates universality of theories or determines additional variables. Behaviorism: understanding human behavior focusing on reinforcement and punishment.
