1
Q
What is social psychology?
A
- Scientific study of how people’s thoughts, feelings & behavior are influenced by other people
- Describes and explains human social cognitive and behavior
2
Q
What are the four parts of Niko Tinbergen’s framework for why questions?
A
- mechanism: how does it work?
- ontogeny: how does it develop?
- function: what function does this serve?
- phylogeny: when did it orignate?
3
Q
What are the 4 perspectives in social psychology?
A
all locate causes of social cognition & behavior…
- sociocultural: in group-level factors
- evolutionary: in predispositions that helped our ancestors survive and reproduce
- social learning: in the individual’s past experiences of reward and punishment
- social cognitive: in people’s subjective interpretations of the social world
4
Q
Describe the sociocultural perspective
A
- Locates causes of social cognition and behavior in group-level factors
- learned by norms (rules about appropriate behavior)
- ex: helminth/cannabis study
5
Q
Describe the evolutionary perspective
A
- Located causes of social cognition and behavior in predispositions that helped our ancestors survive and reproduce
- through natural selection
- ex: babies scared of snakes/spiders or cats scared of cucumbers
6
Q
Describe the social learning perspective
A
- Locates causes of social cognition and behavior in the individual’s past experiences of reward and punishment
- through direct learning (individual gets rewarded/punished) or indirect learning (sees other people get rewarded/punished)
- ex: bobo doll study
- ex: over imitation
7
Q
Describe the social cognitive perspective
A
- Locates causes of social cognition and behavior in people’s subjective interpretations of the social world
- Emphasizes attention, interpretation, judgment, and memory
- ex: video w/ basketball/gorilla (inattentional blindness)
- ex: cooperation study
- ex: skateboarding study
8
Q
What is inattentional blindness?
A
when one fails to perceive an unexpected stimulus in plain sight, purely due to a lack of attention rather than any vision defects or deficits
9
Q
Describe the study with cooperative or non-cooperative faces. Which perspective is it?
A
- had a prisoners dilemma game and took pictures of cooperators or noncooperators
- then had other participants do dot probe tasks with those pictures coming up
- people took longer on task for non-cooperators meaning they paid more attention to them
- non-cooperators grab more of our (automatic, preconscious) visual attention
- social cognitive perspective
10
Q
What are norms?
A
- rules about appropriate behavior
- ex: wedding dresses should be big, white, & poofy
- ex: the way you stand in an elevator
11
Q
Describe the helminth and cannabis study. Which perspective is it?
A
- cannabis protects against helminths (parasites)
- recorded cannabis use in aka-hunter gatherers & assessed their helminth infection
- more smoking was associated with less infection
- ppl might have norm of smoking cannabis because it serves function of protecting against helminths
- sociocultural perspective
12
Q
Describe an example of overimitation
A
- Imitating irrelevant actions in addition to relevant ones
- ex: if an adult dances in front of a door before they open it, a child might watch them and do the exact same thing rather than just open the door (wouldn’t happen in a dog)
- overimitation seems unique to humans
13
Q
Do people pay more attention to cooperators or non-cooperators?
A
non-cooperators
14
Q
What are descriptive methods vs experimental method?
A
Descriptive:
- methods involved attempts to measure or record behaviors, thoughts, or feelings in their natural state
- typically describe phenomena, often empirically (in numbers)
- correlation ony
- ex: naturalistic observation, case, study, archival studies, survey studies, established psychological tests
Experimental:
- Involve the researchers setting out to systematically manipulate one source of influence while holding others constant
- causation
- ex: lab studies, field studies
15
Q
Describe the naturalistic observation method
A
- Observing (and sometimes quantifying) behavior as it unfolds in its natural setting
- descriptive method
- ex: who gossips more study
16
Q
Describe case studies
A
- Intensive examination of a single person, group, event/phenomenon
- low generalizability
- descriptive method
17
Q
Describe archival studies
A
- examining archives, or public records of social behaviors
- easy to access and high generalizability
- don’t get to decide what you study b/c you didn’t collect the data (ex: drug-related arrests)
- descriptive method
18
Q
Describe survey studies
A
- Researchers ask people about their thoughts, feelings, opinions, behaviors
- Problem: social desirability bias (ex: studying racism)
- descriptive method
19
Q
What is social desirability bias?
A
- the tendency for people to present themselves in a generally favorable fashion
- ex: studying racism
20
Q
Describe established psychological tests
A
- Instruments for assessing an individual’s abilities, cognitions, motivations
- descriptive method
- ex: The Big 5
21
Q
Describe lab studies
A
- Researchers ask people about their thoughts, feelings, opinions, behaviors
- experimental method
- ex: casual sex/self esteem study
22
Q
Describe the casual sex/self esteem study
A
- people read about a man, woman, or person with no gender info given
- read about target having casual sex, committed sex, or no sexual info given
- participants reported perceptions of the target’s self-esteem
- found that women having casual sex we perceived as having lower self esteem than men having casual sex
- Found that women having casual sex are perceived to have lower self-esteem than women having committed sex
- Even when told that the women are happy having casual sex, people still perceived their self-esteem as lower
23
Q
Describe field studies
A
- Researchers ask people about their thoughts, feelings, opinions, behaviors
- experimental method
- ex: towels in hotel study
24
Q
Describe the towels in hotels study (Goldenstein, Cialdini, & Griskevicius, 2007)
A
- guests has social norms or industry standard method about reusing towels
- found that people reuse towels 10% more with the social norms message than the industry standard
25
What are the 3 basic principles from the Belmont Report (ethics)?
- Respect for persons (Informed consent, privacy & confidentiality, careful consideration of deception, & debriefing)
- Beneficence (Maximize benefits & minimize risk)
- Justice (benefits/burdens of should be equitable across the population, can't exploit subjects because of their circumstances)
26
Compare direct and conceptual replication
- direct: trying to recreate phenomenon in identical environment
- conceptual: still replicating but changing a small part to see if results generalize to diff samples/times/situations
27
What are some ways social psychology findings can fail to replicate?
- shrinking results (evidence gets weaker over time)
- impossible results (ex: claiming ESP is real)
- fraudulent results (faking data)
- engineered results (P-hacking)
28
How much of social psych findings doesn't replicate?
can expect 40-75% of findings in social psychology journals to fail in direct replication attempts
29
Describe the study on who gossips more (Robbins & Karan, 2020)
- recorded snippets of participants conversations for 2-5 days and coded them for gossip
- found that extroverted ppl are more likely to gossip
- found younger ppl more likely to engage in negative gossip than older ppl
- found women more likely to engage in neutral gossip than men
30
What is observer bias?
- When a researcher's expectations, opinions, or prejudices influence what they perceive or record in a study
- problem in naturalistic observation studies
31
What is a problem with case studies?
- low generalizability
- can't make conclusions about human mind, only about the individual you studied
32
What is self-concept?
- a mental representation capturing our views & beliefs about ourselves
- part of self-knowledge
- tested through mirror self recognition test
33
What is the mirror self-recognition test?
- asks "Can the individual visually recognize themselves?” to see if the individual is self-aware
- They mark a body part and put the subject in front of a mirror to see if they notice that mark → if they do it shows they know its them in the mirror
- Only ~10% of 13 month old infants pass test but by 2 years almost all do
34
What is self-esteem?
- Out attitude toward ourselves
- comes from how others respond to us and how we compare ourselves to others
- measured using Rosenberg's self esteem scale
35
What is social comparison theory?
By comparing ourselves to others, we can learn about ourselves → out abilities, beliefs, attitudes
36
Describe the study looking at the reflection of social comparison theory and emotional contagion theory in social media? (De Vries et al,. 2017)
-- Participants took & uploaded a selfie for insta
- Also viewed positive, negative, or no social media posts from confederates before posting their selfie to insta
- Measured participant affect via the PANAS (positive and negative affect scale) & measured their tendency to engage in social comparison
- People high in social comparison had higher negative affect viewing positive posts (vs neutral & no posts) → Supports SCT
- People low in social comparison had higher positive affect after viewing positive posts (vs. neutral and no posts) → Supports ECT
37
Compare social comparison theory and emotional contagion theory
- Social comparison theory suggests that other people’s positive social media posts should negatively affect our emotions
- Emotional contagion theory suggests that other people’s positive social media posts should positively affect our emotions
38
What is self-presentation?
- The process through which we try to control the impressions people form of us
- doesn't always work (ex: humblebragging or self-deception)
39
Describe the humblebragging study
- participants viewed 1 of 3 targets & rated on liking/sincerity
- saw either a humblebrag, brag, or complaint
- results showed that humblebragging doesn't work
- humblebraggers were rated least likable and least sincere
40
What is self-deception?
- When people favor welcome over unwelcome information in a manner that reflects their goals or motivations
- sometimes we think things about ourselves that aren't true (ex: better than avg at driving)
- Trivers thought it can be part of a non-conscious self-presentation strategy... if we believe it about ourselves, others might also believe it
41
What is self-control?
- homeostatic control of your behavior by intervening on your own mental processes
- ex: marshmallow test
- ex: “$400 today is as good to me as $1000 in a year”
42
Describe the social facilitation studies with poverty/cognitive tasks (Mani et al, 2013)
- asked does poverty cause deficits in cognitive functioning?
- study 1 had rich/poor people think about everyday financial demands & then do cognitive tasks
- poor people did worse on difficult tasks after thinking about financial demands
- study 2 had same sugarcane farmers do cognitive tasks pre and post harvest
- they did better post harvest
43
What is evolution?
Changes in gene frequencies over time (due to differences in their rates of replication)
44
Describe mutation
- provides the raw materials for evolution (creates new genes that other forces act on)
- most neutral/harmful (beneficial are rare)
- mutation creates variation
45
Describe selection
- increases in a gene's frequency by virtues of its ability to increase its own reproduction
- only force that produces non-random changes in gene frequencies
- natural selection (ex: peppered moths) & sexual selection (ex: peacocks/sheep)
46
Compare inter and intra sexual selection
intersexual selection:
- between sex
- Reproductive success as a function of ability to attract mates
- ex: peacock tails
intrasexual selection:
- within sex
- Reproductive success as a function of the ability to win competitions for mates
- ex: big-horned sheep
47
What are the 3 products of evolution?
1) adaptations: genes that exist now because they increased reproduction of genes in the past (ex: umbilical cord)
2) byproducts: non-functional features that exist because they are tied to an adaptation (ex: belly button)
3) noise: completely random features that are not functional or linked to an adaptation (ex: soapy cilantro)
48
What are adaptive problems?
- A problem posed by the (physical or social) environment that, if solved, would increase reproduction
- Natural selection builds machines that solve adaptive problems (adaptations)
49
Why do people have sex?
as a defense against pathogens
50
What do human mating relationships vary on?
investment
51
Do humans prefer long-term or short-term mating? Does gender matter?
- selection favors long-term mating strategies in both males & females
- but men are also more interested in short-term mating than women on average
52
What are the 3 key routes to partner preferences?
- direct benefits: preferences can exist because of direct fitness advantage to you
- indirect benefits: preferences for partners who don't benefit you, but do benefit your offspring
- non-functional preferences
53
What is the parental investment theory?
- The sex that invests more (food, care protection, time) in offspring will be more selective in picking partners... females
- The sex that invests less will compete more vigorously for access to partners... males
54
Describe the study with women's faces during/not during ovulation
- showed photos of same women when ovulating vs not
- men considered them more attractive when they were ovulating
- ovulation is cue of fertility
- supports that men are more attracted to women at high fertility because doing so would mean gaining direct fitness benefits (more offspring)
55
Describe the exotic dancers study
- measured the earning of exotic dancers at high fertility, low fertility, menstruation
- got higher tips from men at higher fertility
- consistent with hypothesis that men are more attracted to women at high fertility because doing so would mean gaining direct fitness benefits (more offspring)
56
What do women and men want in partners?
- women more than men want resources (and cues to resource potential)
- men more than women want physical attractiveness (and cues to fecundity)
- both want kindness, intelligence, etc. most (sexes are much more alike than different)
57
Describe the study on what women want in terms of attractiveness/SES status (Chu et al)
- female students rate men who varies in physical attractiveness & socioeconomic status for desire as a long term-partner
- highly attractive men with medium SES were rated highest
- highly attractive men w/ high or low SES status rated similarly
- exception: hot rich women want hot rich men
58
Describe the attractiveness/resources study across 40 countries (Buss)
- asked men and women if resources or physical attractiveness was more important
- most women (97% of countries) said resources were more important than attractiveness
- most men (92% of countries) over women said attractiveness was more important
- conceptually replicated
59
What is Sternberg's triangular model of love?
- love is based on 3 scales
1) passion (physiological arousal, longing)
2) intimacy (feelings promoting close bonds, emotional support)
3) commitment (saying you love each other & maintaining that love)
60
What is Berscheid & Walster’s Two-Factor Theory?
- love = arousal + name for it
- ex: arousal from bridge study
61
Describe love as a commitment device
- love acts as a commitment device in a relationship just like a lease does for tenants/landlords
- feelings of love commit you to your partner even if they aren't optimal
- allows each person to trust their partner will stay committed
- allows people to form relationships in first place (even if not optimal)
62
Describe the study testing effects of love on attention to others (with a dot probe task)
- people in romantic relationships wrote an essay about a time they felt strong love or felt strong happiness
- Completed a dot-probe task w/ an attractive person popping up
- Slower response = more attention paid to attractive person
- People who wrote about love were faster on dot probe task showing they didn't pay attention to the attractive person
- only have eyes for their partner
63
Describe the rose colored glasses study (Murray et al)
- measured degree of unrealistic idealization of partner & relationship satisfaction
- for couples with high unrealistic idealization of partner, marital satisfaction stayed steady/high
- for couples low in idealization (and group overall), marital satisfaction declines over the 3 years
64
What is Trivers' definition of parenting?
Parenting = Any investment of resources in offspring
65
What is neoteny?
- looking babyish/cute
- Infants heads and faces differ from adult heads and faces in a lot of ways
66
Describe the baby neoteny study
- Manipulated baby faces to be highly neotenous or non-neotenous
- Asked participants to rate how cute the infant was & how much they would like to care for the infant
- People find the more neotenous babies cuter & want to care for them more
67
How do baby dogs exploit us?
- Unlike wolf pups, dog pups are abandoned by mothers at 8 weeks
- Pups can benefit from being cute to humans when they are most in need (and won’t get parental help)
- Participants rated the cuteness of photos of 3 diff breeds of dogs from birth to 7 months
- Dogs were rated as cutest around 8 weeks
68
Describe the baby names in Frontier states study
- Frontiers attract people high in openness to experience, wanting to be and display their individualism
- People living in frontier (more recently-settled) US states are more individualistic
- found that people in frontier states give their babies more unique names
PSYCH 135
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