BABS1201 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Gordon Allport, Karl Popper, Eastern Philosophy
17 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
PSYC1001
19TH MARCH 2018
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
× The subject matter- social psychology is about everyday life; it is intrinsically the most
interesting field within psychology!
× Definitions of social psychology
- Gordon Willard Allport, 1935: ‘the scientific investigation of how the thoughts,
feelings and behaviours of individuals are influenced by the actual or implied
presence of others’
- David Guy Myers, 1990: ‘the scientific study of how people think about, influence
and relate to each other’
× Key terms ® social psychology is scientific, uses individuals as units of analysis, and an
imagined or implied presence is enough (social is in the mind!)
× What do social psychologists study?
- How can we influence others?
- How can attitudes be changed?
- How can we tell when a person is lying?
- Do groups make better judgements than individuals?
- What influences conformity?
- How do intimate relationships develop?
- How do we form impressions?
× Methods of social psychology- a multi-method discipline, methodological creativity
- Controlled laboratory experiments
- Descriptive and survey techniques
- Field experiments and unobtrusive techniques, i.e. performed in a way such that
the people involved do not realise that they are part of a psychological
experiment (e.g. the ‘honking’ study)
× Scientific method alone produces reliable knowledge
- Attacks by postmodernism- relativism, social and cultural factors
- Impossibility of achieving truth
- Superstition, religion = science?
- Fundamental misunderstanding of science vs. falsification (Karl Popper)
- The unique status of scientific understanding
× History of social psychology
- Explosive growth since the 1960’s
- A uniquely Western product
- Arose out of Western individualism, enlightenment and empiricism
- Eastern philosophy and religion have much to say about the human condition, but
this has remained speculative
- Or- perhaps it is only in modern individualistic Western cultures that social life
became problematic, and thus the subject of study?!
× Social psychology informs other disciplines
× Understanding the social world- benefits of studying social psychology:
- The human search for understanding-
× Curiosity (desire to know)
× Skepticism (critical faculties)
× Danger of gullibility (fake news, urban myths, etc.)
× Gullibility vs. Scepticism
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
The subject matter- social psychology is about everyday life; it is intrinsically the most interesting field within psychology! Gordon willard allport, 1935: the scientific investigation of how the thoughts, feelings and behaviours of individuals are influenced by the actual or implied presence of others". David guy myers, 1990: the scientific study of how people think about, influence and relate to each other". Key terms social psychology is scientific, uses individuals as units of analysis, and an imagined or implied presence is enough (social is in the mind!) Methods of social psychology- a multi-method discipline, methodological creativity. Field experiments and unobtrusive techniques, i. e. performed in a way such that the people involved do not realise that they are part of a psychological experiment (e. g. the honking" study) Attacks by postmodernism- relativism, social and cultural factors. Fundamental misunderstanding of science vs. falsification (karl popper) Arose out of western individualism, enlightenment and empiricism.
