A History of Social Psychology

social psychology: The scientific study of how individuals think, feel, and behave in a social context.

Focus, level of analysis. Sociologists are more macro related & study large groups with more qualitative methods

Ask questions about when things go wrong, or different. focuses on disorders.a-typical.

Focuses on differences between individuals that remain relatively stable across a variety of situations. what makes you, you.

focuses on the relevance of processes to social behavior.
Thinking, remembering, reasoning, on an individual basis.

Theory: An organized set of principles used to explain observed phenomena. Hypothesis: A testable prediction about the conditions under which an event will occur.

(+) Early research by Triplett and Ringelmann established an enduring topic on social psychology: how the presence of others affects an individuals performance.
His work was noteworthy because after observing the bicyclists tended to race faster when racing in the presence of others than when simply racing against a clock, he designed an experiment to study this phenomenon in a carefully controlled, precise way.

(+) Early research by Triplett and Ringelmann established an enduring topic on social psychology: how the presence of others affects an individuals performance.
. In contrast to Triplett, however, Ringelmann noted that individuals often performed worse on simple tasks such as pulling rope when they performed the tasks with other people.

Wrote the 1^st social psychology textbooks
Credit for the creation of social psychology as a distinct field of study goes to the writers of the first three textbooks in social psychology:

Allport’s book in particular, with its focus on the interaction of individuals and thei social context and its emphasis on the use of experimentation and the scientific method, helped establish social psychology as the discipline it is today.

In 1936, Gordon Allbort (younger brother of Floyd) formed the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. The name of the society illustrates these psychologists’ concern for making important, practical contributions to society.
How can so many people so blindly follow a leader (Hitler).
Started Society of the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) – its mission is to improve humanity with real world solutions to problem in everyday life.

As a youth in Turkey, Sherif has witnessed groups of Greek soldiers brutally killing his friends. After immigrating to the US, Sherif drew on this experience and began to conduct research on the powerful influences groups can exert on their individual members.
First to show is it is possible to study real world conflicts, and complexities of human behavior, in naturalistic settings, and yet to so in a systematic way.

One of the fundamental principles of social psychology that Lewin helped established was that behavior is a function of the interaction between the person and the environment. This position, which later because known as the inter-actionist perspective, emphasized the dynamic interplay of internal and external factors.
Through these studies Lewin showed how social psychology could enlarge our understanding of social problems and contribute to their colutions
“No research without action, no action without research.” (do something with the findings, implement, but don’t jump into research without knowing it makes sense)

(+) Stanley Milgram’s experiments demonstrated individuals’ vulnerability to the destructive commands of authority.
Milgram’s research was inspired by the destructive obedience demonstrated Nazi officers and ordinary citizens in WWII, but also looked ahead to the civil disobedience that was beginning to challenge institutions in many parts of the world.
Ethical criticism
Important study: had people deliver electric shocks to a person in another room, when told to do so by authority figure (obedience study).
Methodological Criticism
Experimenter Expectancy Effects (double blind technique): experimenter and experimentist don’t know what group they’ve been assigned to (ex. Real drug vs. placebo). Placebo is the safeguard, it is very important.

1) Cross-Cultural Research: Social psychologists are becoming increasingly interested in cross-cultural research, which helps us break out of our culture-bound perspective.2) Multiple Perspectives: Some psychology research takes what might call a “hot” perspective, focusing on emotion and motivation as determinants of our thoughts and actions. Other research in the field takes on a “cold” perspective that emphasizes the role of cognition, examining the ways that people’s thoughts affect how they feel, what they wan, and what they do.3) Development of international and multicultural perspectives. The cultural and geographical background of researchers and participants begins to change, as well as the recognition that many social psychological phenomena once assumed to be universal may actually vary dramatically as a function of culture.