What is the definition of “social psychology”? How is this field different than sociology and personality psychology?

Name and briefly describe the three historical perspectives that contribute to social psychology.

Define and describe the five influential perspectives in modern social psychology: social cognitive, evolutionary, cultural, neuroscience, & existential. Be able to give and recognize examples from each.

What is the central question that social psychologists want to answer?

What are the four core assumptions of social psychology?

What is the “situation”? What is a “disposition”?

What does it mean to say that our thoughts, feelings, and actions are social?

Why do we use the scientific method to answer questions about social behavior?

Describe the steps of the scientific method as they apply to social psychology.

Be sure to review research methods:

What is a theory? What is a hypothesis?

What is correlational research?

What is a positive correlation? What is a negative correlation?

Describe the three reasons why correlation is not evidence of causation.

What research method does allow us to test for cause and effect?

In an experiment, what are the independent and dependent variables? What are the treatment and control conditions?

What is random assignment and why do experimenters use it?

What is replication? Why is it important in research?

What are some of the ethical principles that social psychologists must follow in doing research on human participants? (How do researchers avoid harming participants?)

Define/explain deception, informed consent, debriefing. Why or when would we use each?