U2 Psych; AOS1 - Ch6 Person perception KEYWORDS

define social cognition

involves how we perceive, think about and use information to understand and make judgements about ourselves and others in different social situations

define person perception

refers to the mental processes we use to think about and evaluate other people

define physical cues

relate to the way people look and act

define cognitive biases

faulty thinking patterns that affect decision making and judgements

define halo effect

tendency for the positive impression of a person in one area to positively influence our opinions or judgement

define reverse halo

when the positive impression actually causes us to view a person less favourably

define horn effect

when negative impressions cause us to judge another more negatively

define body language

non-verbal communication involving expression of feelings and thoughts through facial expressions, eye gaze, posture, gestures or other movements

define eye contact

one of the most influential non-verbal communication tools

define behaviour

a more accurate predictor of a person compared with appearance

define salience

any personal characteristic that is distinctive or noticeable in its context and therefore attracts attention

define social categorisation

tendency to categorise people into groups based on their shared social characteristics

define intergroup

any group that you belong to or identify with

define outgroup

any group that you do not belong to or identify with

define attribution

the process by which we explain the cause of our own or another person's behavior

define internal factors

characteristics of the person

define external factors

associated with the situation or environment

define fundamental attribution error

tendency to overestimate the influence of personal factors and underestimate the impact of situation factors on other people's behaviour

define saliency bias

the person is standing out in the forgeound of your visual scene and captures your attention whilst the situation is barely noticeable in the background

define just world hypothesis

the belief that the world is a just place in which people generally get what they deserve and deserve what they get

define actor observer bias

our tendency to attribute our own behavior to external or situational factors, yet attribute others' behaviour to internal factors

define self serving bias

occurs when judging ourselves we tend to take the credit for our success and deny responsibility for failure, which is blamed on external, situational factors

define attitude

an evaluation a person makes about an object, person, group, event or issue

define tri-component model

all three components must be present before it can be said that an attitude exists

cognitive component of tri-component model

what we think about something

affective component of tri-component model

feelings towards something

behavioural component of tri-component model

what you do about something, the action

define stereotype

a generalisation about the personal characteristics of the members of a social group

define social stigma

negative labels and attitudes associated with disapproval or rejection

define cognitive dissonance

occurs when people experience discomfort because they have conflicting beliefs, or because their behaviors contradict their beliefs

define cognitive bias

a systematic error of judgment and faulty decision making

define heuristics

mental shortcuts that allow us to make quick decisions on limited information

define availability heuristic

making a judgment based on how easy or difficult it is to bring specific examples to mind

define representativeness heuristic

categorizing a person, object, event or anything else by judging how closely it matches our idea of a typical member of the category

define affect heuristic

making a judgement that is influenced by the emotion being experienced at the time

define prejudice

negative attitude towards another person or social group, formed in advance of any experience with that person or group

define old fashioned prejudice

majority openly reject miniority group members with obvious views

define modern prejudice

subtle, hidden and expressed in ways more likely to be accepted

define explicit prejudice

prejudice that is consciously held and usually deliberately thought about

define implicit prejudice

prejudice that is typically unconsciously held - person holding prejudice is unaware they are doing so

define discrimination

when a person or a social group is treated differently than others

define direct discrimination

happens when someone is treated unfavorably because of a personal characteristic protected by the law

define indirect discrimination

happens when there is an unreasonable requirement, condition, or practice that disadvantages a person or a group of people, because of a personal characteristic

define intergroup

contact involes increasing direct contact between two groups who are prejudiced against each other

define extended contact

sustained or ongoing contact either directly or indirectly over a period of time

define contact hypothesis

proposes close, prolonged contact of a direct nature leads to a re-evaluation of incorrect stereotypes about the group and its members

define mutual interdependence

when the two groups must depend on each other

define superordinate goals

goals that cannot be achieved by any one group alone and overrides other existing goals that each group may have

define equality of status

states that the two groups must be of equal status so that one group doesn't feel more valued or more important than the other

define cognitive intervention

involves changing the way in which someone thinks about prejudice