Social psychology – 2021-2022
INTRODUCTION
Social psychology
= scientific investigation of how the thoughts, feelings and behavior of individuals are
influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of others
- Focuses on how people are similar
- Draws on knowledge in evolutionary biology and neurosciences
- Investigates how people think about, relate to, influence and are affected by
others
3 streams of research
- Social thinking = the social world we perceive in subjective we construe our
own reality
- Social influence = the social context influences our behavior
- Social relations = how is cooperation achieved and conflict resolved
Social psychology is a science because
It aims to formulate theories following the scientific method
- Is it objective?
o Facts can be objective, but a collection of facts is not more a science
than bricks a house
o Challenge: use the facts to build a theory
o Why do we want a theory? = an integrated set of principles that explain
and predict observed events
Nothing is more practical than a good theory L. Lewis
A good theory
o Is able to explain a wide range of phenomena
o Allows predictions which may confirm or negate the
theory (summarize and imply testable predictions =
hypothesis
o May be adapted when observations don’t match
the theory
o Is a source of new research ideas
o Generates applications
- What to watch out for
o The subjective nature of perceptions – you see what you expect
o The naturalistic fallacy – bridging what is to what ought to be
Confusing what is from what is good from what ought to be
o Hindsight bias – I knew it all along
1
, The point is not that common sense is predictable wrong, on the
contrary, common sense is often right BUT AFTER THE FACT
Thinking that we knew it all along is a form of self-deception
We need science to sift reality from illusion and genuine
predictions from hindsight
Correlation is not causality
Indicates relationship, but not necessarily one of cause and effect
- Advantages of correlational studies: easy to conduct in naturalistic settings
and plot (regression lines) – real life settings
- Disadvantages
o Don’t know direction
o Over-interpretations – see patterns where there aren’t - ignore
regression to the mean
o Danger of interfering causality
Experimental method
- Searching for cause and effect
- Sample of subjects
o Through random assignment
Independent variable – manipulation
Experimental group
Control group
Dependent variable
Measure of learning
Measure of learning
Interaction effects examples
- A genetic variant of the MAO enzyme leads to violent behavior only when it
coincides with abuse in childhood
- Hormone oxytocin boosts trusting behavior in economic game only for people
with high and dispositional trust
- Intuitive – heuristic reasoning – outperforms algorism when uncertainty is high
Advantages of controlled experiments
- Dissociate cause and effect
- Isolate effect of one particular variable
Disadvantage
- Often difficult to generalize to real-life settings – low ecological validity
- Conducted with homogeneous populations – WEIRD populations
- Replication problems
Solved by random assignment!
2
,Laboratory research ( controlled situation ) field research (everyday situation)
Method
Correlational (2/+ factors are naturally associated) experimental (manipulating
some factor to see its effect on another)
Ethics – principles
- Tell potential participants enough about experiment – informed consent
- Be truthful
- Protect participants form harm and discomfort
- Treat information confidentially
- Debrief participants
o Fully explain the experiment afterwards, including any deception
o Except for when the feedback would be distressing – they have been
stupid or cruel
3
, STUDYING THE SELF (AND OTHERS) IN A SOCIAL WORLD
Understanding others
By imitating them! = chameleon effect
o We don’t find it hard imitating someone yawning or coughing,
scratching head, movements …
o We are not really aware of it (chameleon effect). People tend to
coordinate their movements unconsciously.
o One of the mechanisms making this possible are the mirror neurons
Mirror neurons
o Were discovered not that long ago by change. They discovered that the
same neuron was activated when a monkey grabbed a banana, as
when the supervisor grabbed the banana. The same cell becomes
active, whether you do something or someone else does the
movement! So your brain interprets the action the same way. very
active with babies as well; babies learn the world by looking others
doing things
o They allow us to feel what others feel; when you see a spider on
another person, sometimes you feel the spider yourself as well. Or
when it is very hot outside and you need water, when someone else is
drinking, you almost taste it yourself. Or when someone is in pain, you
can feel it as well.
o They are the essence of embodied simulations! Which makes
interaction possible and interpersonal relations
o Implications:
Learning through imitation
Empathy – understanding feelings of others
You can’t have empathy without mirror neurons
Theory of mind – understanding intentions of others
You can feel what others’ intentions are. We feel what
others feel and we understand them in a deeper level and
can anticipate to that because we can feel what they feel
and what they might do in the future
4
INTRODUCTION
Social psychology
= scientific investigation of how the thoughts, feelings and behavior of individuals are
influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of others
- Focuses on how people are similar
- Draws on knowledge in evolutionary biology and neurosciences
- Investigates how people think about, relate to, influence and are affected by
others
3 streams of research
- Social thinking = the social world we perceive in subjective we construe our
own reality
- Social influence = the social context influences our behavior
- Social relations = how is cooperation achieved and conflict resolved
Social psychology is a science because
It aims to formulate theories following the scientific method
- Is it objective?
o Facts can be objective, but a collection of facts is not more a science
than bricks a house
o Challenge: use the facts to build a theory
o Why do we want a theory? = an integrated set of principles that explain
and predict observed events
Nothing is more practical than a good theory L. Lewis
A good theory
o Is able to explain a wide range of phenomena
o Allows predictions which may confirm or negate the
theory (summarize and imply testable predictions =
hypothesis
o May be adapted when observations don’t match
the theory
o Is a source of new research ideas
o Generates applications
- What to watch out for
o The subjective nature of perceptions – you see what you expect
o The naturalistic fallacy – bridging what is to what ought to be
Confusing what is from what is good from what ought to be
o Hindsight bias – I knew it all along
1
, The point is not that common sense is predictable wrong, on the
contrary, common sense is often right BUT AFTER THE FACT
Thinking that we knew it all along is a form of self-deception
We need science to sift reality from illusion and genuine
predictions from hindsight
Correlation is not causality
Indicates relationship, but not necessarily one of cause and effect
- Advantages of correlational studies: easy to conduct in naturalistic settings
and plot (regression lines) – real life settings
- Disadvantages
o Don’t know direction
o Over-interpretations – see patterns where there aren’t - ignore
regression to the mean
o Danger of interfering causality
Experimental method
- Searching for cause and effect
- Sample of subjects
o Through random assignment
Independent variable – manipulation
Experimental group
Control group
Dependent variable
Measure of learning
Measure of learning
Interaction effects examples
- A genetic variant of the MAO enzyme leads to violent behavior only when it
coincides with abuse in childhood
- Hormone oxytocin boosts trusting behavior in economic game only for people
with high and dispositional trust
- Intuitive – heuristic reasoning – outperforms algorism when uncertainty is high
Advantages of controlled experiments
- Dissociate cause and effect
- Isolate effect of one particular variable
Disadvantage
- Often difficult to generalize to real-life settings – low ecological validity
- Conducted with homogeneous populations – WEIRD populations
- Replication problems
Solved by random assignment!
2
,Laboratory research ( controlled situation ) field research (everyday situation)
Method
Correlational (2/+ factors are naturally associated) experimental (manipulating
some factor to see its effect on another)
Ethics – principles
- Tell potential participants enough about experiment – informed consent
- Be truthful
- Protect participants form harm and discomfort
- Treat information confidentially
- Debrief participants
o Fully explain the experiment afterwards, including any deception
o Except for when the feedback would be distressing – they have been
stupid or cruel
3
, STUDYING THE SELF (AND OTHERS) IN A SOCIAL WORLD
Understanding others
By imitating them! = chameleon effect
o We don’t find it hard imitating someone yawning or coughing,
scratching head, movements …
o We are not really aware of it (chameleon effect). People tend to
coordinate their movements unconsciously.
o One of the mechanisms making this possible are the mirror neurons
Mirror neurons
o Were discovered not that long ago by change. They discovered that the
same neuron was activated when a monkey grabbed a banana, as
when the supervisor grabbed the banana. The same cell becomes
active, whether you do something or someone else does the
movement! So your brain interprets the action the same way. very
active with babies as well; babies learn the world by looking others
doing things
o They allow us to feel what others feel; when you see a spider on
another person, sometimes you feel the spider yourself as well. Or
when it is very hot outside and you need water, when someone else is
drinking, you almost taste it yourself. Or when someone is in pain, you
can feel it as well.
o They are the essence of embodied simulations! Which makes
interaction possible and interpersonal relations
o Implications:
Learning through imitation
Empathy – understanding feelings of others
You can’t have empathy without mirror neurons
Theory of mind – understanding intentions of others
You can feel what others’ intentions are. We feel what
others feel and we understand them in a deeper level and
can anticipate to that because we can feel what they feel
and what they might do in the future
4
