Welcome to Social Psychology:Lecture #1 topics

Who is So-Jin Kang? Your expectations for this course Course syllabus Research in social psychology

What is social psychology? Correlational designs vs. experimental designs Examples of experiments with 1 vs. 2 independent

variables

Introduction:Who is So-Jin Kang?

Your expectations:What do you want from this course?

What do you hope to gain from this course? What 3 qualities make a good instructor? Tell me 3 interesting things about yourself.

REMEMBER: Keep this anonymous!

What is social psychology?

the _________ study of how _________ think, feel, and behave in regards to _________ .

how individuals’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are affected by others

Why study social psychology?

BEAUTY AND BRAINS DON’T MIX:

Attractive people are seen as less smart

than unattractive people.

For example…

Why study social psychology?

vs

Why study social psychology?

PEOPLE WILL LIKE AN ACTIVITY MORE

IF YOU REWARD THEM:

They come to associate positive reinforcement

with the activity.

Why study social psychology?

PLAYING VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES

RELEASES AGGRESSION:

People will be less likely to vent their

anger in other violent ways.

Why study social psychology?

hindsight bias:

_________ our ability to have predicted an

outcome _________ the outcome is known.

Correlational designs

measure the _________ between variables _________ manipulated by the researcher

correlations tell us: how _________ 2 measures are how well 1 variable can _________ another

Correlational designs

- _________ ≥ r ≥ + _________

r = _________ of relationship

+ / - = _________ of relationship

Correlational designs

If r = +1.00:

0

1

2

3

4

0 1 2 3 4

Self-Esteem

Po

pu

lari

ty

Correlational designs

If r = -1.00:

0

1

2

3

4

0 1 2 3 4

Stress

Hap

pin

ess

Correlational designs

If r = 0.00:

0

1

2

3

4

0 1 2 3 4

Flossing Frequency

Rai

nfa

ll

Correlational designs

Main advantage:

lets you examine relations between variables that are _________ / _________ to _________

Main disadvantage:

_________ ≠ _________

Correlational designs

If x and y are correlated, it could be because:

_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ AND _________

Correlational designs

An example:

If self-esteem and popularity are positively

correlated, it could be because:

_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ AND _________

Experimental designs

establish _________ relationships between variables

_________ 1 or 2 variables to see the effect on another variable

TWO KEY CHARACTERISTICS: _________ _________

Experimental designs

EXPERIMENTAL CONTROL IS ACHIEVED BY: _________ procedure, setting, behaviour _________ of 1 or 2 variables at a time

independent variable (IV):

variable that is _________

dependent variable (DV):

variable that is _________

Experimental designs

RANDOM ASSIGNMENT:

all participants have _________ chance of receiving a given manipulation

idiosyncratic factors _________ in all conditions ensures no systematic differences between

conditions, EXCEPT for _________ itself

Experiment with 1 independent variable

independent

variable

dependent

variable

conceptual

variables

operational

variables

type of TV show

# punches to

Bobo doll

HYPOTHESIS: TV violence causes aggression.

Experiment with 1 independent variable

0123456789

10

Sesame Street Sopranos

TV show

# o

f p

un

ches

th

row

n

RESULTS:

Experiment with 2 independent variables

independent

variable #1

independent

variable #2

dependent

variable

conceptual

variables

operational

variables

type of TV show

temperature of lab room

# punches to

Bobo doll

HYPOTHESIS: TV violence causes aggression,

but ONLY in hot temperatures.

Experiment with 2 independent variables

RESEARCH DESIGN:

Cool room

(20C)

Hot room

(35C)

Sopranos Sesame Street

Sopranos Sesame Street

# of punches to Bobo

doll

? ? ? ?

Experiment with 2 independent variables

0123456789

10111213

Sesame Street Sopranos

TV show

# o

f p

un

ches

th

row

n

Cool room

Hot room

RESULTS: main effect for _________

main effect for _________

interaction between _________ & _________

Experiment with 2 independent variables

main effect:

_________ all other independent variables,

_________ effect of 1 independent variable on the

dependent variable

interaction:

when the effect of 1 independent variable on the

dependent variable _________ on the _________

of the 2nd independent variable.

Experiment with 2 independent variables

3 33

13

0123456789

10111213

Sesame Street Sopranos

TV show

# o

f p

un

ches

th

row

n

Cool room

Hot room

MAIN EFFECT FOR TV SHOW:

0123456789

10111213

Sesame Street Sopranos

TV show

# o

f p

un

ches

th

row

n average # of punches thrown by Sesame Street viewers = _________ average # of punches thrown by Sopranos viewers = _________

REGARDLESS of temperature, Sopranos viewers threw _________ punches than Sesame Street viewers.

Experiment with 2 independent variables

3 33

13

0123456789

10111213

Sesame Street Sopranos

TV show

# o

f p

un

ches

th

row

n

Cool room

Hot room

MAIN EFFECT FOR TEMPERATURE:

0123456789

10111213

Cool room Hot room

Room temperature

# o

f p

un

ches

th

row

n average # of punches thrown by people in cool room = _________ average # of punches thrown by people in hot room = _________

REGARDLESS of TV show, people in the hotter room threw _________ punches thanpeople in the cooler room.

Experiment with 2 independent variables

3 33

13

0123456789

10111213

Sesame Street Sopranos

TV show

# o

f p

un

ches

th

row

n

Cool room

Hot room

INTERACTION: no effect of temperature among Sesame Street viewers

large effect of temperature on Sopranos viewers: _________

viewers were _________

violent than _________

viewers

Experimental designs

Main advantage:

lets you establish _________ relations between variables

Main disadvantage:

findings may not be _________ to different populations, settings (_________ validity)