Читать книгу Social Psychology - Daniel W. Barrett - Страница 57

As noted in the main text, all individuals create what may be called lay theories about why people do what they do. Like scientists, laypersons often informally “test” their theories while acting on and in the world (Kelly, 1963). For instance, a college male may believe that pointing out how beautiful his potential boss’s legs are beneath her short skirt is a good strategy for securing an offer during a job interview and may act on this. Once he recognizes the indignant facial expression and her finger pointing toward the door, he will likely reconsider his strategy and revise his lay theory of interpersonal influence. Scientists too test our theories about human behavior, but we do so in a much more systematic fashion (and with more tact!). We don’t rely on one or even a handful of cases but instead gather large amounts of data from many people in carefully selected circumstances before drawing conclusions (Sansone, Morf, & Panter, 2004).

Okay, social psychologists like to observe, explain, and predict human social behavior, and we do so by moving past lay theories and into the realm of rigorous research. How do we do it? What methods do we use? Throughout this text I will describe the most commonly used research methods, from the tried-and-true paper-and-pencil laboratory experiments to cutting edge, high tech procedures like functional magnetic resonance imagery (fMRI; see Chapter 2). Rather than trying to cover the huge range of research terms, methods, and challenges in one chapter (which may seem a bit arduous or tedious), I will instead spread them across chapters, introducing these in the context of actual social psychological research. For now, let us look at the importance of well-crafted questions, the need for testable hypotheses, and the role of theory in science.