Term
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Definition
| 'I knew it all along phenomenon; tendency to exaggerate, after learning an outcome, one's ability to have foreseen how something turned out. Be careful! We can make up a story to justify almost any belief. |
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Term
| What is social psychology? |
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Definition
| Scientific study of the reciprocal interactions between the real or perceived social world and our thoughts, behaviors, and emotions |
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Term
| How is social psychology different from sociology or personality psychology? |
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Definition
| Compared with sociology, social psychology focuses more on individuals and uses more experimentation. Compared with personality psychology, social psychology focuses less on individuals’ differences and more on how individuals , in general view and affect one another. |
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Term
| The importance of levels of explanation |
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Definition
| different ways things can be explained, and how they can be complementary and not necessarily contradictory. For example, there are social, individual, interpersonal, intrapersonal explanations--none of these are ‘wrong’ or ‘right’--just different levels of explanation for same topic using different views. Helps expand understanding. |
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Term
| How do human values impact social psychology? |
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Definition
| -Human values impact what is accepted or not, and therefore impact social psychology as social psych studies human behavior. 'Zeitgeist'. |
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Term
| What is the naturalistic fallacy? |
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Definition
| what is natural is good, that what is ought to be (i.e. women are naturally nurturing so they ought to stay home with the kids) |
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Term
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Definition
| Studies that seek cause-effect relationships by manipulating one or more factors and controlling others (pros--can explore cause and effect, cons--some important variables cannot be manipulated) |
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Term
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Definition
| Study of naturally occurring relationships among variables (pros--often uses real world settings, can examine many variables, cons--difficult to determine causation |
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Term
| Independent vs. Dependent Variables |
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Definition
Independent Variable: the experimental factor that a researcher manipulates.
Dependent Variable: the variable being measured, so called because it may depend on manipulations of the independent variable. |
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Term
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Definition
| Random assignment is lessening effects of biases by spreading out the subjects over the different conditions randomly. Gives confidence that significant differences are due to treatment, not systematic error |
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Term
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Definition
| the extent to which an experiment is superficially similar to everyday experiences |
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Term
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Definition
| Degree to which an experiment absorbs and involves its participants |
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Term
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Definition
| Cues in an experiment that tell the participant what behavior is expected. Often times can change results as participants will change their behavior to conform to the experimenter’s expectations (expectancy effects) |
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Term
| What ethical issues are involved in social psychology research? |
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Definition
-informed Consent
-Avoiding Harm
-Deception
-Confidentiality |
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Term
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Definition
| a cognitive collection of beliefs and feelings about self that organize & guide processing of self-relevant information (Ex. perceiving ourselves as athletic, overweight smart, etc.) Based on past knowledge, present experiences, and future hopes. *These affect how we perceive, remember & evaluate other people and ourselves |
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Term
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Definition
| tendency to process efficiently and remember well information about ourselves (ex. If you apply what you’re learning in class to your everyday life, you’ll remember the concepts better) |
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Term
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Definition
| a person’s overall self-evaluation or sense of self-worth (sum of all our self-schemas and possible selves) |
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Term
| How reliable is self-knowledge? |
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Definition
| Curiously Flawed-we do not know why we behave the way we do. (ex. underestimate time to complete a task. We have the greatest difficulty predicting the intensity and duration of future emotions, ect.) |
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Term
| What cultural differences are there in self-representations (interdependent vs. independent self)? |
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Definition
Independent Self- (mostly Western or Individualistic countries)-concept of giving priority to one's’ own goals over group goals and defining one’s identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identification.
Interdependent Self- (mostly Asia, Africa, and Latin or Collective countries)- concept of construitting one’s identity in relation to others. |
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Term
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Definition
| A sense that one is competent and effective. If you like yourself overall, that's self-esteem. If you believe you can do something, that's self-efficacy. |
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Term
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Definition
| The extent to which people perceive outcomes as internally controllable by their own efforts or as externally controlled by chance or outside forces. |
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Term
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Definition
| The sense of hopelessness and resignation learned when a human or animal perceives no control over repeated bad events. Uncontrollable bad events leads to perceived lack of control which leads to learned helplessness. |
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Term
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Definition
| The tendency to perceive oneself favorably. We readily excuse our failures, accept credit for our successes, and in many ways see ourselves as better than average. |
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Term
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Definition
| We perceive ourselves to be more successful in future events and less likely to experience negative events. |
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Term
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Definition
| Overestimating or underestimating the extent to which others think and act as we do. On matters of opinion, we find support for our positions by overestimating the extent to which others agree. |
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Term
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Definition
| On matters of ability or when we behave well or successfully we see our talents and moral behaviors as relatively unusual. |
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Term
| Why do self serving biases exist? What are adaptive and maladaptive qualities of this defense? |
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Definition
There are multiple motives for why self serving bias exists. We are motivated to assess our competence, to verify our self-conceptions, and especially motivated to enhance our self-image. Everyone wants to feel good about themselves.
Adaptive by feeling good about oneself and to enter the stressful circumstances of daily life with the resources conferred by a positive sense of self. Helps protect people from depression. Acts as a buffer for anxiety and stress. Belief in our superiority can also motivate us to achieve, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy and can sustain our hope through difficult times.
Maladaptive by possible effect of causing us to blame others or feel cheated out of something we “deserved.” It can be poisonous to a group if everyone feels they are better than the other person. |
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Term
| Factors that Influence Self Identity |
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Definition
| Environmental factors (saliency--spotlight effect, social comparison, events) |
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Term
| Significance of Social Roles |
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Definition
| The roles we play influences how we view ourselves (complexity may be better) |
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Term
| Explanations for Self-Serving Attributions |
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Definition
| Self esteem, presentation to others, information available |
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Term
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Definition
| Protecting one's self-image with behaviors that create a handy excuse for later failure (1.create obstacles that reduce likelihood of success, 2. Devise ready made excuses in case you fail) |
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Term
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Definition
| Pretending to be modest or humble when you really are not |
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Term
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Definition
| A form of impression management, high-self monitors are individuals whose behavior is determined more by the situation and low self-monitors are individuals whose behavior is determined more by by the situation, and low self monitors are individuals with behavior determined more by internal factors such as their own attitudes or beliefs |
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Term
| Basking in Reflected Glory |
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Definition
| A situation in which individuals publicly display their affiliation with successful others even when they have not played an instrumental role in the success of that other person or group. Identification with successful others and disassociation from failing others serves to enhance self-esteem. |
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Term
| The Fundamental Attribution Error |
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Definition
| -tendency to explain other’s actions in terms of their traits. or Observer underestimates situational (external) influences and overestimates dispositional (internal). |
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Term
| What is the actor-observer bias (see also chapt. 2) |
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Definition
| We attribute our behavior to the situation because that is what we see. when observing others we attribute their behavior to their traits. |
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Term
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Definition
| cueing thoughts and attitudes without direct influence. The awakening or activating of certain associations. This can influence a persons thoughts or actions. |
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Term
| Overconfidence phenomenon |
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Definition
| We tend to overestimate how correct we are or how confident we are about a decision or a prediction. |
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Term
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Definition
| We are eager to verify our beliefs but less inclined to seek evidence that might disprove them. |
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Term
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Definition
| Simple, efficient thinking strategies used to form impressions, make judgments and invent explanations. |
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Term
| Representativeness Heuristic |
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Definition
| snap judgments of whether someone or something fits a category. If they represent a typical case. Ex. Deciding that Carlos is a librarian rather than a trucker because he better represents one’s image of librarians |
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Term
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Definition
| quick judgments of likelihood of events (how available in memory) Ex. estimating teen violence after school shootings |
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Term
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Definition
| When we expect to find significant relationships, we easily associate random events; seeing a relationship that is not there |
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Term
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Definition
| he idea that chance events are subject to our influence. (gamblers and their 'lucky' throws |
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Term
| Regression toward the mean |
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Definition
| The statistical tendency for extreme scores or extreme behavior to return toward one’s average. |
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Term
| What are the three components of attitudes(tripartite view?) |
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Definition
| Affect (emotions), behavior, cognitive |
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Term
| Research findings on relationship between attitudes and behavior |
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Definition
| Attitude has less effect on behavior than once thought (moral hypocrisy). |
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Term
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Definition
| A favorable or unfavorable evaluative reaction toward something or someone (often rooted in one's beliefs, and exhibited in one's feelings and intended behavior) |
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Term
| When can attitudes predict behavior |
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Definition
| when social influences on what we say are minimal (i.e., implicit attitudes), when influences on behaviors are minimal, when attitudes are specific to the behavior being examined, and when attitudes are potent |
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Term
| When can behavior affect our attitudes? |
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Definition
| Role playing (assume role, attitudes follow), saying becomes believing, foot in the door phenomenon, evil/moral actions, and interracial/intersocial policies |
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Term
| Attitude formation depends are several learning processes |
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Definition
| Classical conditioning (neutral stimuli paired with unconditioned stimuli & reflexive response, so NS becomes CS and UR becomes CR. Operant Conditioning (reinforcement/punishment), modeling, and (most importantly/strongest) direct experience (higher confidence and more resistant to change |
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Term
| Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) |
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Definition
| A model of how attitudes are formed and changed. Central to this model is the elaboration continuum, which ranges from low elaboration (low thought) to high elaboration (high thought) |
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Term
| What is the Central Route of persuasion? |
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Definition
| when people are focused on an argument, willing to consider it's facets and counterarguments, they are using the central route. More likely to incur persistent attitude changes that are predictive of behavioral change |
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Term
| What is the Peripheral Route of persuasion? |
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Definition
| surface characteristics are presented almost in background, lacking attention; focus on cues that trigger automatic acceptance, easily understood more effective in such situation |
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Term
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Definition
Cognitive Dissonance: tension that arises when one is simultaneously aware of two inconsistent cognitions (e.g., may occur when we realize that we have, with little justification, acted contrary to our attitudes or made a decision favoring one alternative despite reasons for favoring another)
Because this is an unpleasant experience, we often adjust our thinking |
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Term
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Definition
| simpler theory, the theory that when we are unsure of our attitudes, we infer them much as would someone observing us, by looking at our behavior and the circumstances under which it occurs (e.g., if I'm smiling, I must be happy) |
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Term
| Insufficient Justification |
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Definition
| reduction of dissonance by internally justifying one’s behavior when external justification is ‘insufficient’ |
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Term
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Definition
| the result of bribing people to do what they already like doing; they may then see their actions as externally controlled rather than internally appealing |
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Term
| What are the 3 elements of persuasion that social psychologists study? |
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Definition
| the communicator (credibility/attractiveness), the message (reason/emotion, discrepancy, one sided-vs-twosided, primary vs recency), and how the message is communicated (channel--active vs passive, personal vs media) and the audience (analytical/emotional, age) |
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Term
| Impediments to attitude change |
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Definition
| prior public commitment (mild attack), inoculation, and self change. |
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Term
| When are 1-sided vs 2-sided arguments more persuasive? |
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Definition
| when people are aware of opposing arguments, it is more persuasive to acknowledge said arguments. But onesided is better for those who already agree |
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Term
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Definition
| sex: biological status of being female or male; gender: The social, cultural, and psychological aspects that pertain to the traits, norms, stereotypes, and roles considered typical and desirable for those who society has designated as female or male |
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Term
| Are gender differences biological or social? |
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Definition
Both--interaction of both determines gender behaviors. Interactive. Biology and socialization lead to a sexual division of labor.
These roles lead to gender differences. |
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Term
| What are some reliable differences? |
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Definition
| Increased aggression and social dominance for men, more focus on connectedness for women, more independence for men, different sexual behaviors (men more physical/temporal, women more emotional) [note: most of these differences are small, with 90% overlap] |
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Term
| Evolutionary Psych Theory of Gender |
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Definition
| Focuses more on genetics and hormonal effects. Gender differences must be adaptive (or were adaptive at one time), and thus were selected for through evolutionary processes. (criticisms--non-falisifiable and conjecture; hindsight bias). |
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Term
| Cultural Theory of Gender |
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Definition
| nurture side; gender differences emerge based on social learning |
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Term
| different cultural impacts on men/women development |
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Definition
| males are considered more active, more forceful, angry, and women are considered less active, less forceful, and fearful |
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Term
| socializing messages of gender |
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Definition
| children's toys, television, clothing, and activities |
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