Social Psychology History PDF

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Meaning of social psychology The scientific study of the way in which people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people: parents, teachers, employers, friends, strangers- indeed by the entire social situation. And, social influence is the effect of words, actions, or mere presence of other people on our thoughts, feelings, attitudes, or behavior. The goal of social psychology is to identify properties of human nature that make almost everyone susceptible to social influence, regardless of social class or culture. History of social psychology The earliest experiment in the field of social psychology was done by Norman Triplett in 1898. The first social psychology textbook was published in 1908 by Edward Ross. Experimental approach to conduct research on social psychology developed by Kurt Lewin and Festinger during the 1940s and 1950s. In 1954, Festinger and other social psychologists edited the research methods of Behavioral Sciences. Muzafir Sherif(1936), Solomon Asch(1952) thru compliance studies and Stanley Milgram’s studies of obedience (1974) has shown that the demand for compliance in cultural groups is significant and the degree to which people in authority can contribute to obedience and serious harm to others. Social psychology quickly expanded to study other topics. John Darley and Bibb Latané (1968) developed a model that helped explain when people do and do not help others in need, and Leonard Berkowitz (1974) pioneered the study of human aggression. Meanwhile, other social psychologists, including Irving Janis (1972), focused on group behavior, studying why intelligent people sometimes made decisions that led to disastrous results when they worked together. Still other social psychologists, including Gordon Allport and Muzafir Sherif,

focused on intergroup relations, with the goal of understanding and potentially reducing the occurrence of stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. Social psychologists gave their opinions in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education U.S. Supreme Court case that helped end racial segregation in American public schools, and social psychologists still frequently serve as expert witnesses on these and other topics (Fiske, Bersoff, Borgida, Deaux, & Heilman, 1991). Social psychology expanded in 20th century to include attitude and cognitive processes. The focus of these researchers, including Alice Eagly, Susan Fiske, E. Tory Higgins, Richard Nisbett, Lee Ross, Shelley Taylor, and many others, was on social cognition. Prominent Social Psychologists  Norman Triplett (1861-1931) He published one of the first experiments related to social psychology. The report, appearing in the American Journal of Psychology in 1898, compared how fast children wound a reel when alone and in competiton with another child. He concluded that the presence of another contestant "serves to liberate latent energy not ordinarily available."  Muzafer Sherif (1906-1988) He was a Turkish-born social psychologist who, with his wife Carolyn, conducted the Robber's Cave experiment in which boys at a summer camp were divided into two rivil groups and ultimately overcame fierce intergroup hostility after working toward superordinate goals. He also studied norm formation, attitude change, and many other topics.  Stanley Milgram (1933-1984) He is famous for a set of studies suggesting that most people will obey an experimenter's order to administer potentially deadly levels of electric shock to a protesting stranger. He

also invented several research techniques unrelated to obedience, such as the lost-letter technique, cyranoid technique, and small-world ("six degrees of separation") technique.  William McDougall (1871-1938) He cofounded the British Psychological Society in 1901 and published one of the first social psychology textbooks, An Introduction to Social Psychology (1908). He opposed behaviorism, believing instead that human behavior could be explained by instincts, and was controversial for his views on eugenics and inherited racial differences.  Kurt Lewin (1890-1947) He was an early leader of group dynamic research and is regarded by many as the founder of modern social psychology. Lewin's Equation, B=f(P,E), stipulates that behavior is a function of the person and environment, and he advocated "action research" applying this equation and scientific methods to address social problems such as prejudice and group conflict.  Leon Festinger (1919-1989) He developed the theory of cognitive dissonance, a motivational theory suggesting that people seek to minimize discomfort caused by inconsistent beliefs and behaviors. He also developed social comparison theory, devised several of the earliest nonparametric statistical tests, and documented the key role of proximity in social relationships.  Solomon Asch (1907-1996) He is best known for laboratory studies on conformity showing that under certain circumstances, a large percentage of people will conform to a majority position even when the position is clearly incorrect. He also published seminal studies on the primacy effect and halo effect, and helped inspire Stanley Milgram's research on obedience to authority.

 Floyd Allport (1890-1978) He is considered a founder of experimental social psychology, in part for his theoretical rigor and emphasis on measurement, and in part for his popular 1924 textbook Social Psychology, which went through 13 editions over the ensuing 50 years. Perspectives in social psychology  Socio-cultural perspective This perspective stresses the importance of social norms and culture. It proposes that children learn behavior through problem-solving interactions with other children and adults. Through these interactions, they learn the values and norms of their society. Social psychologists using this perspective might look at how cultural norms and social influence impact social behavior. When considering something like aggression, for example, a person taking this perspective would look at how people are socialized to behave aggressively in certain situations.  Evolutionary perspective This perspective argues that social behaviors developed through genetics and inheritance. It emphasizes the role of biology and gene transmission across generations to explain current behavior. When looking at a social problem such as aggression, a psychologist taking this perspective would consider how genetics and evolutionary influences contributed to the development of the behavior.

 Social Cognition perspective This perspective supports an information processing model of social behavior, where we notice, interpret, and judge the behavior of others. New experiences can either be assimilated (using already held beliefs to interpret the event) or accommodated (which involves changing existing beliefs in response to the event.) By understanding how

information is processed, we can better understand how patterns of thoughts impact behavior.  Social learning perspective It stresses the importance of unique experiences in family, school, community, etc. According to this viewpoint, we learn behaviors by observing and mimicking the behavior of others. In our earlier example of aggression, someone taking the social learning perspective would be interested in how people learn aggressive behaviors from parents, peers, and even media influences. Research Methods in social Psychology  Observational Method It is the method by which psychologist examines individual and note down their actions, observations, and perceptions. The experimental approach may take various forms depending on what investigator aim for and how much they want to measure what they experience.  Archival Analysis The observational method is beyond the observations of real-life behaviour. In this research method, researcher can examine the collected documents, or archives, of a culture , a technique known as an archival analysis.  Correlational Method With this method, two variables are systematically measured and the relationship between them is assessed. Calculating correlation coefficient helps to predict one variable from another.

 Surveys

The research method in which representative sample of people is asked questions about their attitudes and behavior. It is the convenient way to measure the people’s attitudes. Surveys have a number of advantages, one of which is allowing researchers to judge the relationship between variables that are difficult to observe.  Field Experiments Scientists research behavior outside the laboratory conditions in the natural settings. In this method the participants do not realize that the things they are observing are really an experiment. The external validity of such research is high as it exists in real world and is the best way to increase the external validity of the experiment

References: https://www.simplypsychology.org/social-psychology.html https://nobaproject.com/modules/research-methods-in-social-psychology...