1/21/2011

StudyBlue printing of 1/21/2011 html, body, div, span, applet, object, iframe, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, p, blockquote, pre, a, abbr, acronym, address, big, cite, code, del, dfn, em, font, img, ins, kbd, q, s, samp, small, strike, strong, sub, sup, tt, var, b, u, i, center, fieldset, form, label, legend, table, caption, tbody, tfoot, thead, tr, th, td { margin: 0; padding: 0; border: 0; outline: 0; font-size: 100%; background: transparent; } body { line-height: 1; } blockquote, q { quotes: none; } blockquote:before, blockquote:after, q:before, q:after { content: ''; content: none; } /* remember to define focus styles! */ :focus { outline: 0; } /* remember to highlight inserts somehow! */ ins { text-decoration: none; } del { text-decoration: line-through; } /* tables still need 'cellspacing="0"' in the markup */ table { border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0; } /* end RESET */ .header { min-width:800px; } .logo { padding:6px 20px 2px 20px; margin:0; font-size:25px; font-weight:bold; color:#808285; position:relative; border-bottom: 1px solid #c5c5c5; } .logo-blue { color:#70adc4; } .logo-desc { font-weight:normal; font-size:19px; color:#cccccc; margin-top:50px; position:absolute; display: none; } .back-button { position:absolute; top:20px; right:20px; font-size:13px; line-height:25px; color:rgb(0,175,225); font-weight:normal; } .back-button a { color:rgb(0,175,225); } .instructions { padding:0; margin:0; width:100%; position:relative; color:rgb(100,100,100); } .step-holder { border-left:1px solid #ededed; margin-left:20px; } .steps { padding:15px 0; float:left; width:24%; border-right:1px solid #ededed; text-align:center; } .steps-01 { } .steps-02 { } .steps-03 { } .steps-04 { } .label { padding:5px 10px; } .print-button { } .print-button a { background-color:rgb(0,175,225); color:white; line-height: 19px; padding:9px 8px 5px 30px; font-size:14px; text-decoration:none; background-image: url(images/printer.png); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-position: 7px 50%; -moz-border-radius: 5px; -webkit-border-radius: 5px; } .print-button a:hover { background-color:black; } .theNote .content { width: 8.0in !important; margin: 5px auto; padding:20px; background-color:white; } .theNote .header { border-bottom: 1px dashed #C8C8C8; font-size: 17px; padding: 0 0 10px; line-height: 19px; color: #00ADE1; min-width:500px; } .theNote .body { font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 10px 0; } .theNote{ padding:6px 0; clear:both; background-color: rgb(200,200,200); } .theNote h3{ color: rgb(100,100,100); } .theNote h1, .theNote h3{ background-color:white; padding:2px 20px; width:8.0in !important; margin: 0 auto; font-size: 15px; } .theNote h1{ padding-top: 10px; font-size: 15px; } .theNote h1:first-child{ font-size: 20px; } .theNote h3 { font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; } #options { border: 3px double #ccc; padding: 5px 12px; margin: 10px 50px 10px 20px; float: left; } #info { border-top: 1px solid #ccc; padding-top: 5px; font-style: italic; } li { margin: 5px 10px 5px 25px; } ul li { list-style: disc; } ol li { list-style: decimal; } img { border: 0; } table { clear: both; width: 100%; border: 1px solid #c5c5c5; border-width: 1px 0; margin: 0; page-break-after: always; } table#page { page-break-after: auto; } td { text-align: center; font-size: 12px; border-bottom: 1px dashed #c5c5c5; height: 1.75in; width: 50%; padding-left: 15px; } .leftside { border-right: 1px solid #cccccc; padding: 0 15px 0 0; } .bottom td { border-bottom: none; } .clearfix { clear:both; line-height:1px; height:1px; } img { max-width:80%; max-height:150px; margin:20px; } @media print {.header { display: none; } .content .header{ display:inherit; } table { border: 1px dashed #bbb; border-width: 1px 0; } .theNote{ background-color:white; } } 1/21/2011 Social Psychology as Science Friday, January 21, 2011 I. Social Psychology A. is relevant 1. focuses on human behavior 2. asks the age-old question, “What is the nature of human nature?” -Jean Jacques Rousseau’s “Noble Savage” who is corrupted by society? -Humans are born free innocent and completely uncorrupt. Society and civilation corrupts us and turns us into savages -Sigmund Freud’s piles of garbage held in check by society? Death instinct, humans are generally bad (opposite of Rousseau. -Lewin - science that produces nothing but books is a failure. We need to go past the book and apply it to life. how can we translate what is in the books to real life? 3. the importance of applied research B. can be vitally important The Bomb and the Psychology of commitment - the US wanted to get a bomb before te nazis and started the Manhatten project in order to get the bomb built first. Half the way through, they realized that Hitler was not going to have the bomb, but they kept going at it and eventually made the bomb. Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo, basic people given the appropriate situation, can behave sadistically even though they are not sadists. Global warming - people are very involved and effect it a lot. Technology will not get us anywhere if it isn't for the people who use it. "The first half of the 20th centruy belonged to the physicists; the second half will belong to the social scientists." bertrand Russel C. is a science, however inexact A way to look at the world and a way of learning more about it. II. Truth and Science (More than one kind of truth) A. Narrative Truth the kind of truth that comes from personal wisdom 1. rings true 2. rhetorically sound and aesthetically appealing 3. a kind of “literary” truth -Frued didn't do any experiments but still was able to be incredibly influential. B. Historical Truth 1. verifiable through repeated observations 2. the stuff of science and empiricism has to have enough past data to validate the information 3. precision and reliability important a. precise and technical language. measures and observations must be repeatable and reliable. It is at the service of other people, everyone needs to understand what is being said. AGGRESSION: everyone has a different definition, so social psychology had to come up with one agreed upon definition: Behavior intended to cause harm to another. Instrumental vs. Hostile Aggression: Some aggression has no emotion (Instrumental) - football - using aggression to get to a goal. Hostile Aggression is propelled by an emotion. Physical vs. relational aggression: physical - self explanitory, relational: excluding, spreading rumors, etc. 4. Science is skeptical; characterized by a critical attitude. Social psychologists are encouraged to disprove and 'do it better'. III. Social Scientists, Science, and Values A. Historical Truth > Narrative Truth B. Some obvious values 1. guide some psychologists to social psychology 2. determine topics or behaviors of interest 3. determine choice of method 4. influence how we use knowledge C. Some nonobvious values 1. Data don’t speak for themselves. People have to interpret it, and sometimes they are wrong. 2. We all fall prey to nonconscious ideologies. Consensual values or assumptions that we hold without even realizing it. ie: good will always win out; the world is ultimately fair; winning matters; different is bad 3. Language is value-laden. independent versus deviant -someone who violates norms...which one slaves to conformity versus cooperative - goes along with the crowd? education versus propaganda -"New information in which I agree is called education, new information in which I disagree is called propoganda: assertive versus aggressive - woman vs man saying something forcefully. IV. Summary A. Social psychology is relevant, can be vitally important, and is a science, however inexact. B. Social psychologists value historical truth over narrative truth. C. Both obvious and nonobvious values play a role in science.