Chapter 1: Intro to Social Psychology Part 1: Wed. Jan. 15 (Basic Outline only)
What is Social Psychology? The scientific study of how individuals think about, influence & relate to one another …in a social context 4 emphases this semester: what are they? Big picture focused on social thinking, social influence, & social relations and Context!
Social Psych and Other Fields Little overlap with clinical psych Differences? Overlaps more with Cognitive Psych and Personality Psych – Sociology – differs from social psychology in level of analysis & research methods used Group vs. individual level of analysis
Importance of Context Influence of context on behavior 1984 Presidential Debate results: How did perceptions differ based on what was heard on the audio tape?
2. Discussion of shoes vs. travel – what do you hear given the context? 3. “Pearls before breakfast” experiment - Violinist playing in the subway station How did context impact people’s reactions to the violinist?
Benefits of Social Psych research: Differs from hindsight Use of theories & predictions (hypotheses) What are theories? Some results appear counterintuitive How to increase voter turnout?