Social psychology - what is social psychology

Social psychology - the scientific study of the way individuals think, feel and behave in social    situations

scientific method:

hunches based on background knowladge, personal experience or casual observation - theory about social behaviour - predictions derived from theory hypothesis - empirical research - predictions confirmed/disconfirmed

As a science - the psychological labatory

• full control over all events that occur during the experiment
• subjects randomly assigned to the different experiences (conditions) of the experiment
• some kind of mild deception involved]informal consent and debriefing

Experiment -  is a hypotesis test in which something is done in order to see its effect on something else

Self Report - participants report their own behaviour, thoughts, feelings and behavioural inclininations

- large amount of data

-repersentive sample

-ensuring anonymity

Archival research 

- Janis 1972 used the archival method to explore how cohesive groups can make poor decisions with disastrous concequences ('group thinking')

- Archival method is biographical, autobigrophical and media accounts

Observation of behaviour - recording and coding of behaviour as it occurs 

Participation observations - intensive involvement with people in their natural enviroment, usually over an extended period of time

Social cognition - the study of 'the cognitive processes and structures that influence and are influenced by social behaviour.'

The computer- a metaphor for the human mind

Social cognition

- people…