Social Psychology Exam 1

  1. Define social cognition
    • The ways in which people think about themselves and the social world
    • Includes how they select, interpret, remember, and use social information to make judgments and decisions
  2. Automatic (low effort) thinking
    • Think that is non-conscious, unintentional, involuntary, and effortless
    • Allows us to form judgments easily
    • These are based on our past experiences and knowledge of the world
  3. Define schemas
    • Mental structures that organize our knowledge about the social world
    • Based on themes or subjects and that influence the information people notice, think about, and remember
    • Ex: our schema about frat boys is they are loud, douchey, obnoxious party-goers
  4. Why are schemas useful?
    • They help us figure out what is going on
    • Ex: Guest lecturer comes into class. Half the class is told he's mean and cold hearted; the other half he is nice and likeable.
    • Students used the given schema and rated the professor accordingly. The ones who were told he was mean wrote he was mean and vice versa.
  5. Korsakov's syndrome
    • People cannot form new memories and much approach every situation as if it is new
    • Some people go to great lengths to form memories and reasons for why things were the way they were
  6. Stereotypes about race and weapons
    • People were more likely to shoot blacks even if they were not weapon wielding
    • This resulted in the most shootings of an armed person, but also the most of an unarmed person
  7. What is schema accessibility?
    • Ex: guy sits next to you on a bus and mutters incoherently to himself and rocks in his seat
    • There are three types
    • 1) Chronological - If you have had alcoholism in your family you think he's an alcoholic. If you've had a history of mental disorders, he has a mental disorder
    • 2) Related to a current goal - If you are studying about a disease in your abnormal psych class you might attribute the disease to this person
    • 3) Recent experiences - Reading book about mental disorders that morning, you attribute him to have a mental disorder
  8. What is schema priming?
    The process by which recent experiences in cease the accessibility of a schema, trait, or concept
  9. Define self-fulfilling prophecy
    The ase hereby people have an expectation abou what another person if like, which influences how they act toward that person, which causes that person to behave consistently with people's original expectations, making the expectations come true
  10. Example of self-fulfilling prophecy
    • Students in a class were given a test
    • Researchers told the teacher that certain students would perform better, they chose these kids out of random
    • Students that were chosen as bloomers showed significantly greater IQ score gains than the other students did
  11. How do teachers treat bloomers?
    • 1) Create a warmer emotional climate, more personal attention, encouragement, and suppor
    • 2) Give more material to learn and more difficult material
    • 3) Give bloomers more and better feedback
    • 4) Give bloomers more opportunities to respond in class and give them longer to respond
  12. Define reign of error
    People can "cite the actual course of events as proof that they were right from the beginning"
  13. An example of self-fulfilling prophecies
    • A girl with is about to go in for a job interview
    • Someone who has negative expectations about her qualifications, gender, race, previous place of employment, etc is interviewing her
    • Can she overcome these expectations?
    • If the interviewer is not paying attention, no
    • But if the interviewer is paying attention and trying to make an effort, yes
  14. Define judgmental heuristics
    • Mental shortcuts people use to make judgments quickly and efficiently
    • Sometimes we do not have schemas or there are too many schemas so we must apply judgmental heuristics
    • MOST of the time they are highly functional and serve us well
  15. Define availability heuristic
    • A mental rule of thumb whereby people base a judgment on the ease with which they can bring something to mind
    • If someone asks you if they are lazy and you can only think of them being active, you will tell them they are active. If you can only think of them being lazy, they are lazy.
  16. Define base rate information
    • Information about the frequency od members of different categories of the population
    • Ex: More in state than out of state students. Someone who fits a Cali demographic may be from the in state school because of the statistical evidence.
    • We focus more on representativeness heuristics than base rate information
  17. Define representativeness heuristic
    • A mental shortcut whereby people classify something according to how similar it is to a typical case
    • Student in NYU has blonde hair, relaxed, likes the ocean -> assume he's from Cali
    • We focus more on representativeness heuristics than base rate information
  18. Define analytic style thinking
    • A type of thinking in which people focus on the properties of objects without considering their surrounding context
    • This is common in western cultures
  19. Define holistic thinking
    • A type of thinking in which people focus on the overall context, particularly the ways in which objects relate to each other
    • This is common in east Asian cultures
  20. Define controlled thinking
    Thinking that is conscious, intentional, voluntary, and effortful
  21. What is counterfactual thinking?
    Mentally changing some aspect of the past as a way of imagining what might have been
  22. Define thought suppression
    • The attempt to avoid thinking about something we would prefer to forget
    • --Although thinking about it and reasoning is proven to be psychologically healthier than suppression
  23. Define overconfidence barrier
    The fact that people usually have too much confidence in the accuracy of their judgments
  24. Define social perception
    The study of how we form impressions of and make inferences about other people
  25. Define nonverbal communication
    • The way in which people communicate, intentionally, or unintentionally, without words
    • Nonverbal cues include facial expressions, tone of voice, gestures, body position and movement, the use of touch and gaze
    • Generally more honest than verbal cues
  26. Define encode
    To express or emit nonverbal behavior, such as smiling or patting someone on the back
  27. Define decode
    To interpret the meaning of the nonverbal behavior other people express, such as deciding that a pat on the back was an expression of condescension and not kindness
  28. What are the 6 major emotions?
    • Anger, fear, disgust, happiness, surprise, sadness
    • Pride and contempt are also cross-culturally recognized
  29. Define display rules
    • Culturally determined rules about which nonverbal behaviors are appropriate to display
    • Ex: US it is discouraged to show shame while others embrace or encourage it
  30. What is an emblem?
    • A nonverbal gesture that has a well-understood definition within a given culture
    • Usually have a direct verbal translation such as flipping someone off means "fuck you" or "fuck off"
  31. Define the implicit personality theory
    A type of schema people use to group various kinds of personality traits together; for example, many people believe that someone who is kind is generous as well
  32. Define attribution theory
    A description of the way in which people explain the causes of their own and other people's behavior
  33. Internal attribution
    The inference that a person is behaving in a certain way because of something about the person, such as attitude, character, or personality
  34. External attribution
    • The inference that a person is behaving a certain way because of something about the situation the person is in
    • The assumption is that most people would respond the same way in that situation
    • IE tripping on a sidewalk
  35. Define covariation model
    A theory that states that to form an attribution about what caused a person's behavior, we systematically note the pattern between the presence or absence of possibly causal factors and whether or not the behavior occurs
  36. Consensus information
    Information about the extent to which the other people behave the same way toward the same stimulus as the actor does
  37. Distinctiveness Information
    Information about the extent to which one particular actor behaves in the same to different stimuli
  38. Consistency Information
    Information about the extent to which the behavior between one actor and one stimulus is the same across time and circumstances
  39. Define correspondance bias (also known as fundamental attribution error)
    • The tendency to infer that people's personality corresponds to, or matches, their dispositions and personalities
    • People tend to underestimate external influences when explaining other people's behavior
    • When we try to explain someone's behavior we focus on the person, not the external environment
    • The situation is too hard to see or know
  40. What is the two-step process?
    • Analyzing another person's behavior first by making an automatic internal attribution and only then thinking about possible situational reasons for the behavior, after which one may adjust the original internal attribution
    • 1) We make an internal attribution -- we assume that a person's behavior was due to something about that person
    • 2) We then attempt to adjust this attribution by considering the situation the person was in
  41. Cultural differences
    • Americans are more focused on internal attributions and we focus on the main target in pictures (zoom)
    • Other, more Asian cultures, focus on external attributions and focus on the whole picture (panorama)
    • The Asians tend to take the 2nd step in the two-step process, Americans stop at 1
  42. What is the actor/observer difference?
    • The tendency to see other people's behavior as dispositionally caused but focused more on the role of situational factos when explaining one's own behavior
    • We see things differently if we are in the situation or watching the situation
    • Refers to perceptual saliency: we notice other people's behavior more than the situation
    • Likewise, we notice our own situation more than our behavior
    • Ex: tripping on a sidewalk
  43. Self-serving attributions
    • People tend to take personal credit for their successes but blame their failures on external events beyond their control
    • We do this to preserve our self-esteem and we want people to think highly of us
  44. Define defensive attributions
    Explanations for behavior that avoid feelings of vulnerability and mortality
  45. What is "belief in a just world"
    A form of defensive attribution wherein people assume that bad things happen to bad people and good things happen to good people
  46. Explain nature vs nurture
    • Nature is the belief that we are who we are because of heredity and genetics
    • Nurture is the belief that we are who we are because of how we are raised and from our surroundings. Environment determines our behavior
  47. Explain free will vs determinism
    • Free will is the belief that the individual has control over his/her life and can choose to make decisions
    • Determinism is the belief that everything is pre-decided for us and we have no control over what we do
  48. Optimism vs pessimism
    • Optimism is the belief that we can make the world a better place
    • Pessimism is the belief in suffering and pain
    • 3rd source of suffering is the natural world
    • 2nd source is the natural world
    • ***1st srouce of anguish/suffering is others
  49. Explain the experimental method
    • It is an objective and systematic method of research in any scientific analysis
    • The goals are to determine if a variable influences some form of social behavior
  50. Define independent variable
    • The factor being studied
    • This is manipulated by the experimenter
  51. Explain dependent variable
    The behavior being studied or measured
  52. Other terms about research methodology
    • Control group - Receives no treatment or stimulus
    • Sample size - Number of people in experiment
    • Replication - Repeating the experiment to verify results
  53. Explain laboratory experiment advantages
    • There is direct control over the independent variable
    • We ran randomly assign
    • We can simplify the world to control behavior
  54. Explain laboratory experiment disadvantages
    • Mundane realism is low. This is the degree to which the study resembles real-world events. Higher is better.
    • External validity - This is the degree of "generalizibility" of the findings to the population
  55. What is the main subject of psych studies?
    College sophomores
  56. What are demand characteristics?
    • Cues that reveal the hypothesis under study
    • The people in the experiment determine what the experiment is about
    • We don't want people feeling like they have a demand for something, IE politics
  57. Evaluation apprehension
    The participant has a concern about being observed during a study so they are not themselves
  58. What is an overt field study?
    Participants are aware they are being watched
  59. What is a covert field study?
    Participants are unaware they are being watched
  60. Field study advantages
    • High mundane realism
    • High external validity
    • Covert studies avoid evaluation apprehension and demand characteristics
  61. Field study disadvantages
    • The independent variable must be salient (apparent, obvious)
    • Dependent variable is simple
    • Practical problems show up that can destroy the experiment
  62. Ethics is social psychology
    • Cannot deceive the participants
    • Must get the participant's approval before the experiment (also sets up demand characteristics)
    • Must provide a debriefing to give the participant a FULL explanation of what went on, after the study was over
  63. Charles Darwin
    • Toward the end of his life he studied facial expressions
    • 1. Facial expressions are universal and innate (we are born with them)
    • 2. Human facial expressions evolve from animal emotions and expressions
    • 3. Facial expressions have survival value
  64. Paul Ekman testing universal facial expressions
    • Went out with Friesen and proved that it was true
    • Facial expressions are universal
  65. Paul Ekman random shit
    • The human face has 44 muscles
    • Ekman determined we have roughly 10,000 facial expressions
  66. Define and explain micro-momentary expressions
    • 1) Average facial expression lasts 1 to 1.5 seconds
    • 2) We mask our emotions with facial expressions. IE we are sad, we mask to seem like we are happy
    • 3) MME are brief, contradictory facial expressions of emotion
    • 4) Ex: girl in hospital seemed very happy. She was released and killed herself. Exploration revealed that she was angry via MME's
  67. What are some cues of facial deception?
    • 1) Lots of blinking and using a false smile with extra laughter
    • 2) Masking - we hide the true emotion with a fake expression
    • 3) Display rules - cultural rules that dictate the appropriate conditions for displaying emotions
  68. Explain the study with law enforcement
    • Many agencies were subjected to a test to determine if people were lying
    • Only the secret service passed
  69. Explain the development of facial expressions
    • Newborns are born with one active facial muscle
    • We use the face to display emotion from birth to 1.5 years
    • Once we develop voice we stop with face
    • Most infants smile after birth
    • Babies only 36 hours old can imitate happy, sad, and surprised emotions
  70. Other cues in nonverbal communication
    • 1) Body language - gestures, movements, postures
    • 1b) Emblems - Body movements with specific meanings. Refers to a GIVEN culture
    • 2) Gazing - High level of eye contact can refer to someone liking another person
    • 2b) During job interviews a high level of eye contact yields high success of being hired
  71. Gender roles in nonverbal communication
    • 1) Females are superior to males in the use of emotional cues
    • 2) Females are both more effective at both sending and receiving unspoken messages
    • 3) Socialization -> Women are raised to express their emotions and feelings, males are told to go play
  72. Explain attribution theory
    • After something bad happens we ask why?
    • We want causality - 1 things causes another
    • We need to understand the cause
  73. Causal attribution
    • The process of explaining the causal nature of events
    • 1) Personal attribution -> Attribution based on internal characteristics (personality, talent, moods, effort)
    • 2) Situational attributions -> Attribution based on external factors (luck, government, religion)
  74. Locus of control
    • Generalized beliefs about the control of ones personal and situational behavior (and the behavior of others)
    • Do others control you? Or do you control yourself?
  75. Internal locus of control
    The individual assumes responsibility for life events
  76. External locus of control
    The person accepts uncontrollable forces that determine life events
  77. Development of locus of control expectancies
    • Develop tendencies that push you to develop internal or external LOC's
    • a) Internal LOC is related to high parental expectations and autonomy (freedom) in childhood
    • b) External LOC is related to a hostile, strict upbringing. Parents care TOO much
  78. Locus of control and achievement
    • a) Higher ILOC yields a higher GPA and higher levels of education
    • b) Higher ELOC yields higher drop-out rates. If I study it doesn't make a difference and I'll fail, so why study?
  79. Modification of LOC attributes
    • a) Aging is associated with an increase in ILOC. We gain a larger sense of the world and gain more control
    • b) Trauma may produce higher levels of ELOC. Helpless, can't control, such as divorce and rape
  80. Fundamental attribution error
    • The tendency to overestimate dispositional factors and ignore situational factors
    • We assume people are angry based on the situation
    • Lady is screaming at a customer, judge her as a bitch without considering the situational factors. Only focus on her personality.
  81. Actor-observer difference
    • The tendency to attribute our behavior to situational causes and the behavior of others to their personalities
    • Judge others on personality
    • Judge ourselves based on the situation
  82. Self-serving attribution bias
    • The tendency to take credit for successes but to blame others (or the situation) for our errors
    • American politics thrives here
  83. False-consensus effect
    • a) The tendency to overestimate commonality of one's opinions, beliefs, attributions, and behavior
    • b) People ignore (the true) consensus information in favor of their self-generated attributions
    • They believe their behavior ius typical, but not everyone agrees with us
  84. Confirmation bias
    Tendency to search for information that confirms our beliefs and attributions
  85. Schema
    Mental set used to organize information abut the social world
  86. Classic study about schemas
    • "On being insane in insane places"
    • Found people with no mental illness and admit them to a psych ward
    • Not one staff could tell they were sane
    • All the patients could tell they were normal
    • Staff thought their normal behavior was abnormal
  87. Self-fulfilling prophecy
    • When a person's initial expectation about someone leads to actions that cause the expectations to come true
    • **Someone else judges you and you live up or down to that expectation
    • This bias' how you see yourself
  88. Belief-perseverance effect
    • Tendency to cling to initial beliefs even after being discredited
    • People will believe things even if there's no need
    • Want to believe things despite evidence
  89. Base-rate fallacy
    • Tendency to base our beliefs on vivid images or anecdotes rather than on consensus statistical data
    • Ex: presidents tell stories
  90. Heuristics
    • These are rule of thumb methods that allow us to make quick, although not always accurate, judgments
    • It is NOT an algorithm (slower speed, more accurate)
    • They ARE educated guesses (much faster, less accurate)
  91. Availability heuristic
    Tendency to overestimate how likely an event will occur by how easily other instances or examples come to mind
  92. Representativeness heuristic
    • Tendency to classify information according to ho similar it is to a typical case
    • Someone stole a TV and we assume he's a Mexican
Author
ZShales
ID
103465
Card Set
Social Psychology Exam 1
Description
Social Psychology Exam 1
Updated