Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Psychology and Sociology

Selective Exposure

Dolf Zillmann provides a theoretical explanation of how people interact with the media. Persuasion in media has the power to convince people. Media has the power to change behavior, attitude, thinking, and emotions.

He wonders why entertainment is not being studied as an agent of mass media.

He points out two different areas: effects research/media effects, and audience research.

Theories are made on assumptions. Assumptions in social science disciplines are never tested. Soul, feelings, intelligence are nothing you can observe. Behaviorists study human behaviors. Around 1970, they understood that they should study not what media does to humans, but what humans do to media.

Communications is a result of sociology plus psychology.... Continue reading "Selective Exposure and Mood Management in Media" »

substitution:

nominal: one`s

verbal: do/does/doesn't/don't

clausal: so

ellipsis

nominal: both (kids)

verbal: have you… yes, I have.

clausal: is he? He didn't tell me

Conjunction (cohesion device)

Adversative: however, on the other hand

Additive: and

Temporal: first, then

Causal: because(reason)

lexical cohesion

reiteration: repetition, synonym, superordinate (illness,pneumonia), general word 

reference

anaphoric (before) 

“this” (ideas/facts) demonstrative

“that” (objects/people) personal

“these/those” (comparative)

Conversation Analysis

• An approach to studying social interaction, encompassing verbal and non-verbal conduct in everyday life.

• Seeks to uncover how members of a society create a sense of social order.

• CA posits that the meaning of an action derives from its placement within a series of actions. For example, "I did it too" only makes sense in context.

• It establishes its own assumptions, methodology, and theoretical framework.

• Its primary concerns are the organization of knowledge, social order, sense-making, social rules, and structures within interactions.

Ethnomethodology

• A sociological perspective focusing on how people interpret their everyday world.

• "Analysis of ways of doing and knowing".

• Its central focus is connecting knowledge, action, and context.

What Are Humans According to Bandura?

We will talk about this in the context of Zillmann's Mood Management theory, because it helps to understand what are the basic notions of Zillmann's theory. Zillmann was based on the premise that humans are hedonists, pleasure seekers. In Zillmann's and in the whole exposure research following him, the assumption was that people are hedonists. But if we look at the reasons why they do what they do, they should be more specific than saying they are looking for a pleasant state of mind. It would not be possible to explain people's use of media from which they suffer, if you assume that people are hedonists. With Bandura it is a different story. Bandura's model is a complex picture, a mix between environment,... Continue reading "Bandura's Model: Understanding Human Behavior and Observational Learning" »

Perceptual Grouping

Perceptual Grouping is the tendency to group several stimuli together into a recognizable pattern. This includes:

• Continuity: Only the obvious continuous patterns or relationships are considered.
• Closure: The perceptual process will close gaps that are unfilled from sensory inputs. We may see a whole where none exists or may not see what exists.
• Proximity: Nearness states that a group of stimuli that are close together will be perceived as a whole pattern of parts belonging together. For example, students coming out of a lecture hall.
• Similarity: The greater the similarity of stimuli, the greater the tendency to perceive them as a common group. For example, a group of people coming out of an office building demonstrates proximity

A Composite Map of Social Class in the U.S.

The upper class
Wealthiest Americans earning more than $180,800 a year, owning large suburban homes, driving new luxury cars. Wealth comes from investment income (usually). About 5% of all American households.
The upper middle class
Well-off professionals, such as doctors, lawyers, professors, with incomes ranging from about $100,000 to about $180,000 or so. About 15% of all American households.
Lower Middle Class
Skilled services, office workers, skilled craftsmen, with household incomes from about $38,000 to about $100,000. About 40% of American households.
Working Class
Factory workers, mechanics, office workers, etc. About 20% of American households. Income from about $20,000 to $38,000.
The lower class
People... Continue reading "Social Class in the U.S.: Inequality, Mobility, and Gender" »

Research Design Types

Cross-Sectional Design

• A cross-sectional design is used for research that collects data on relevant variables one time only from a variety of people, subjects, or phenomena.
• A cross-sectional design provides a snapshot of the variables included in the study at one particular point in time.
• Cross-sectional designs generally use survey techniques to gather data, for example, the U.S. Census.

Advantages

• Data on many variables
• Data from a large number of subjects
• Data from dispersed subjects
• Data on attitudes and behaviors
• Good for exploratory research
• Generates hypotheses for future research
• Data useful to many different researchers

Disadvantages

• Increased chances of error
• Increased cost with more subjects and each location
• Cannot measure

1- Why is background knowledge important in learning?

It is important because it helps (you) to comprehend new tasks and ideas for the new knowledge

How? connecting old & new information using retrieval.

2- Express the process of assimilation and give an example. (Piaget's Cognitive Constructivism)

Assimilation is the way by which INCOMING info is modified in our minds, so we can understand it.

E.G.  a) Student knows "will" is future ("She will play soccer") - here, the student needs to accomodate becauuse "may" is a possibility and "will" was certainty.

b) Once he/she has understood both (may & will), equilibration has taken place.

3- Explain what is ZPD (Vigotsky's Social Constructivism)

The distance between actual developmental level and

Cultural Dimensions of Spain

Power Distance

Power Distance refers to the extent to which individuals in a society accept and expect unequal distribution of power. Spain has a high score (57) on this dimension, indicating a hierarchical society where people accept a clear hierarchy without question.

Individualism

Individualist societies emphasize self-reliance and independence, while collectivist societies prioritize group loyalty and support. Spain is considered collectivist (score: 51), making Spaniards more comfortable interacting with non-European cultures and fostering teamwork in the workplace.

Masculinity

Masculine societies value competition, achievement, and success, while feminine societies prioritize caring and quality of life. Spain scores... Continue reading "Cultural Dimensions of Spain: A Comprehensive Analysis" »

The Cognitive Approach to Sleep

Definition/Explanation:

The cognitive approach views sleep as something that facilitates information processing. Sleep is used to secure information gathered during the day in long-term memory. Memories and learning are moved to long-term storage during sleep.

According to the cognitive approach, dreams are not meaningless. In fact, they are essential points of our problem-solving process and allow information to be synthesized and recombined to gain insight.

Domhoff (2011) argued that dreams are what occur when the mind doesn't have anything else to do. During the day, we daydream, but during the night, we aren't in control, and our dreams seem more vivid and engrossing. He believes that dreams are mental processes... Continue reading "Cognitive Approach to Sleep: Memory and Problem-Solving" »