Chapter 1 The Mission and the Method

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Chapter 1 - The Mission and the Method

• A Brief History of Social Psychology
• What Do Social Psychologists Do?
• Social Psychologys Place in the World
• Why People Study Social Psychology
• How Do Social Psychologists Answer Their Own
  Questions?
• How Much of Social Psychology is True?

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The Mission and the Method

• Is it possible for human beings to live in peace?
• How does the situation influence our behavior?
• Can social psychology help us to understand the
  complexity of human behavior?

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A Brief History of Social Psychology

• Earliest Social Psychology Experiments
• Norman Triplett, 1897-1898
• Max Ringelmann, 1880s
• Introduction of Textbooks -1908
• Edward Ross (sociologist)
• William McDougall (psychologist)

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A Brief History of Social Psychology

• Influences in Early 20th Century
• Gordon Allport
• Kurt Lewin
• Influences in 1950s and 1960s
• Behaviorism
• Freudian psychoanalysis
• Social Psychology as a Science

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Contemporary Themes in Social Psychology

• Social Cognition
• Biology and the Brain
• Focus on Self
• Focus on Conflict

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What Do Social Psychologists Do?

• Broad understanding of how human beings think,
  act, and feel
• ABC Triad
• Personal and Situational Influences on ABC
• Use of the Scientific Method

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Social Psychologys Place in the World

• Within the Social Sciences
• Anthropology
• Economics
• History
• Political Science
• Sociology
• Psychology

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Social Psychologys Place in the World

• Within Psychology
• Biological Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Personality Psychology
• Social Psychology

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Why People Study Social Psychology

• Curiosity About People
• Experimental Philosophy
• Making the World Better
• Applied Research
• Fun and Fascinating

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How Do Social Psychologists Answer Their Own
Questions?

• Accumulated Common Wisdom
• Adages are often contradictory
• Poor method of discovering the truth
• May be a starting point for questions

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Scientific Method

• State problem
• Formulate testable hypothesis
• Design study and collect data
• Test the hypothesis with the data
• Communicate study results

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Food for Thought - Does Chicken Soup Reduce Cold
Symptoms?

• Hypothesis
• Chicken soup reduces upper respiratory
  inflammation
• Experiment
• Effect of chicken soup on white blood cells
  (neutrophils)
• Independent variable Chicken soup
• Dependent variable Neutrophil counts

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Food for Thought - Does Chicken Soup Reduce Cold
Symptoms?

• Result
• Chicken soup reduced neutrophil counts
• People were less congested after eating chicken
  soup than before
• Communicate results
• Manuscript was published in scientific journal
  Chest

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Scientific Theories

• Constructs linked in some logical way
• Linked through observable variables
• Variables are operationally defined
• Scientific theory must be testable

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Variables Independent and Dependent

• Independent variable
• Observable event that causes person to do
  something
• Manipulated versus individual difference
• Dependent variable (operational response)
• Observable behavior produced by the person

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Construct Validity

• Construct validity of the cause
• Independent variable - theoretical stimulus
• Construct validity of the effect
• Dependent variable theoretical response

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Research Design

• Experiment
• Researcher controls procedures
• Participants are randomly assigned
• Allows for statements of cause and effect
• Quasi-experiment
• No random assignment

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Features of Experimental Studies

• Internal Validity
• Independent variable caused change in dependent
  variable
• Confederate
• Person pretending to be a participant

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Laboratory and Field Experiments

• Laboratory Experiments
• Experimental realism
• Mundane realism
• Field Experiments
• External validity
• Findings can be generalized

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Nonexperimental Studies

• Correlational Approach
• No effect to control variables or random
  assignment
• Correlation
• Relationship between two variables
• Correlation coefficient
• Weakness does not prove causation

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How Much of Social Psychology Is True?

• Self-Correcting Nature of Science
• Reliance on Student Samples
• Cultural Relativity
• Western cultures dominate social psychology
  research
• Cultural differences may be substantial and
  important