The Science of Social Psychology社会心理学的科学.ppt

ATP: Social Psychology: Lecture 1 The Nature of Social Psychology The goals of the lecture series NOT To cover everything in text. Chapters 1 through 11 must be read and learnt. Any part of Chapters 1 through 11 may be examined. TO Illustrate active engagement with the material. Lecture structure Why bother to study social psychology? What social psychology is. Methods in social psychology Why bother with social psychology? 1. To get better grades. 2. To avoid the pitfalls of specialisation. 3. Because all human science is social psychological, e.g., Orne’s (1971) demand characteristics. 4. Because it will make you a better person and will contribute to a better society. Creating or studying phenomena? Improving you, your grades and your society Get in the habit of ‘manipulating’ the material you encounter. Start by choosing one or more things you really want to change about (i) yourself, and (ii) society. For everything you encounter on this course, ask yourself, “what use is this to me in promoting my personal and social goals?” Section 2: What social psychology is “The scientific study of the reciprocal influence of the individual and his or her social context” Manstead Hewstone (1995, p. 588) Example topics within social psychology Helping behaviour (altruism) Aggression Attitudes Attraction (e.g., friendship, love) Interdependence Intergroup relations Prejudice and discrimination Social identity and the self Social influence (e.g., conformity, minority influence) Stereotyping Let’s take a closer look at what the individual parts of the definition mean... “…the scientific study of…”(i.e., Uses ‘the scientific method’) Empirical Systematic study Search for general principles Positive criticism (self-testing) Social and rational (non-subjective) “…the individual…” Psychology is interested in two ‘ABCs’ of the individual. The individual focus distinguishes psychology from related empirical disciplines. e.g., pharmacology