PSYC 512 Content Summary Week 1

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Feb 20, 2024

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1 Content Summary: Introduction to Social Psychology Chris Webb Department of Behavioral Sciences, Liberty University PSYC 512: Social Psychology Dr. Tracy Gomez March 26, 2023

2 Introduction What is Social Psychology? This field of psychology explores the human mind through the lens of social context. The environment surrounding an individual can affect how they think, behave, and feel (Kassin et al., 2021). Social Psychology by Kassin et al. (2021). introduced the concept of social psychology and how it differs from other fields. In Chapters one and two, the authors explore social psychology's history, founders, and research. In Theories in Social Psychology, Derek Chadee (2022) takes the topic of researching social psychology and brings it to the forefront of the reader’s mind. Within Chapter 8, he explores the psychological concept of relative deprivation and cognate theories. At the beginning of the chapter, he explores the history of relative deprivation, specifically the comparisons of research studies throughout history. In the second part, he discusses the cognate theories related to relative deprivation. These theories include Social Comparison Theory, Equity Theory, J-Curve Theory of Revolution, and Just World Theory. In research studies by Jerry Burger (2009) and Jared Bartels (2019), the authors bring up two psychology experiments that have caused a debate among the population due to their ethical concerns. Jerry Burger (2009) explores Stanley Milgram’s obedience studies which started on August 7, 1961. A continuing question about Milgram's research is whether his findings would be replicated today (Blass, 2000). Jared Bartels (2019) revisits the research study in 1971 entitled The Stanford Prison Experiment. He highlights that the original orientation set an expectation of guard abuse in the participants' minds, decreasing the experiment's validity. Bartels (2019) conducted three studies and concluded that participants, who were given basic information during the orientation, displayed fewer acts of violence towards the prisoners than those who were given the same orientation as the guards from the Stanford Experiment.

3 Summary Points Internal Validity Internal Validity is defined by Kassin et al. (2021) as the level of causation the independent variable has on the effects observed on the dependent variable. A research study by Jared Bartels (2019) contained high levels of internal validity due to the study's two groups of participants–the control and experimental group. The control group was given basic information about their roles as guards and prisoners. The experimental group was given the same length of information but contained expectations regarding the guards' behavior, the prisoners' behavior, and the study's outcome (Bartels, 2019). The results from the students’ assessments showed levels of violence and abuse, similar to the Stanford Prison Experiment, in the experiment group that exceeded the control group. Thus, the independent variable (type of information) influenced the dependent variable (the assessment answers). Basic Research Basic research is defined by Kassin et al. (2021) as research to heighten the understanding of human behavior. Seamus Power (in press) conducted a research study in which he observed and interviewed Irish citizens during economic troubles. During the study, he tested the J-Curve Theory of Revolution, which is the spike in unrest within a population due to a drop in expected fortunes (Chadee, 2022). Power did not seek to change or better his community with the results from his study but to bring in additional information social psychologists have about the J-Curve Theory of Revolution. Informed Consent An essential point in research studies in social psychology is informed consent. Informed Consent is an individual’s intentional, voluntary decision to participate in a research study after

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