Paige

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Discussion 1: Introduction to Social Psychology     
Hi class,
        My name is Paige and I am just finishing up my 2nd year and will be entering into my 3rd year of the Ph.D Clinical Psychology program this coming fall. After reviewing the syllabus, the course seems like a fair workload. I like how the assignments are different than traditional papers and reviews of literature; learning how to think critically and analytically about the literature is an important clinical skill.
        Finkel and Baumeister (2019) highlight how social psychology is unlike other psychology fields in that there is no specific focus; it pertains to anything regarding how people generally think, feel, and behave and is therefore applicable to many other fields of study (Finkel & Baumeister, 2019). Social psychology is not a novel area of study to me. However, after this weeks readings, I realized that new social psychology, specifically discursive work is. Discourse methods provide an opportunity for interpersonal accounts and interactions to be recorded and critically analyzed (Tuffin, 2004). Discourse analysis is a growing part of critical social psychology that studies social situations involving language (Tuffin, 2004). Discourse methods recognize that talking about emotion, for example, in one way has particular effects versus when talking about emotion in another way; it is recognized that emotion is a social practice that is constructed interactionally (Tuffin, 2004). Therefore, previously believed inner psychological constructs such as emotions, memories, and attitudes are also influenced by the ways in which they are talked and written about (Tuffin, 2004). I am looking forward to developing this new sort of analytical orientation in regard to new social psychology that will alter my interpretation and help me understand thorough analysis.
References
Finkel, E.J. and Baumeister, R.F., (Eds) (2019). Advanced Social Psychology; The State of Science 2nd Edition. New York: Oxford University Press.
Tuffin, K. (2004). Understanding Critical Social Psychology. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.