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Attribution

How individuals perceive their everyday lives.

Dispositional Attribution

Explains a person's behavior as coming from internal factors.

Situational Attribution

Explains a person's actions as coming from external factors.

Explanatory Style

How people explain events that have happened to them, can be optimistic or pessimistic.

Optimistic

Emphasizes external, temporary, and specific causes.

Pessimistic

Emphasizes internal, stable, and global causes.

Actor/Observer Bias

Occurs when people attribute their actions to external factors while attributing others’ behavior to internal factors.

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency to attribute another’s actions to their character and personality.

Self-Serving Bias

Attributing successes to internal factors and failures to external factors.

Internal Locus of Control

The belief that individuals influence events in their lives.

External Locus of Control

The belief that external factors control and influence life events.

Mere Exposure Effect

The phenomenon where people develop preferences for familiar things.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

When someone's expectations about a situation cause that situation to come true.

Social Comparison

The behavior of comparing oneself to others for evaluation.

Stereotype

A widely held but oversimplified belief about a particular group.

Just-World Phenomenon

The belief that the world is fair and people get what they deserve.

Out-Group Homogeneity Bias

The tendency to see members of outgroups as more similar than they are.

In-Group Bias

The tendency to favor one's own group over others.

Ethnocentrism

The belief that one's own culture is superior to others.

Cognitive Dissonance

Mental discomfort from holding conflicting beliefs.

Social Norms

Implicit rules defining what is expected and acceptable in society.

Social Influence Theory

Explains how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are affected by others.

Persuasion

Influencing others’ beliefs, decisions, and actions.

Central Route Persuasion

Involves careful consideration and logic in arguments.

Peripheral Route Persuasion

Relies on superficial cues such as attractiveness.

Foot-in-the-Door

A compliance technique that starts with a small request to gain agreement for a larger one.

Door-in-the-Face

A compliance technique that starts with a large request which is then scaled down.

Conformity

The act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to group norms.

Obedience

Compliance with an order or submission to authority.

Individualism

Emphasizes individual moral worth and autonomy.

Collectivism

Values group goals over individual achievements.

Multiculturalism

The coexistence of diverse cultures in a society.

Group Polarization

The amplification of initial group opinions through discussion.

Groupthink

Desire for group cohesion suppressing dissenting opinions.

Diffusion of Responsibility

Reduced personal accountability in groups.

Social Loafing

The tendency to exert less effort in group work compared to individual work.

Deindividuation

Loss of self-awareness in group settings.

Social Facilitation

Improved performance on simple tasks in the presence of others.

False Consensus Effect

The tendency to overestimate how much others share one’s beliefs.

Superordinate Goals

Shared objectives that require collaboration to reduce conflict.

Social Trap

Pursuing short-term self-interest leading to long-term collective harm.

Altruism

Unselfish concern for others' well-being.

Social Reciprocity Norm

The expectation to return kindness or favors.

Bystander Effect

The likelihood of inaction from bystanders in emergencies.

Operational Definition

Precise definition of a variable, specifying its measurement.

Placebo

A treatment with no therapeutic effect, used as a control.

Control Group

The group that does not receive the treatment in an experiment.

Experimental Group

The group that receives the treatment being tested.

Ethical Guidelines

Principles ensuring responsible research conduct.

Hypothesis

A testable prediction about variable relationships.

Qualitative Research

Research focusing on descriptive, non-numerical data.

Quantitative Research

Research involving numerical data for analysis.

Mean

The average of a set of numbers.

Median

The middle value in a sorted set.

Mode

The most frequently occurring value in a dataset.

Range

The difference between the highest and lowest values.

Central Tendency

Measures that represent the center of a dataset (mean, median, mode).

Variation

The degree of spread in a dataset.

Percentile Rank

The percentage of scores a particular score exceeds.

Regression Towards the Mean

Extreme scores tend to move closer to the average.

Correlational Coefficient

A measure of the strength and direction of the relationship between two variables.

Falsifiable

A quality of a hypothesis that allows it to be disproven.

Replication

Repeating a study to confirm its results.

Confounding Variables

Extraneous variables interfering with the relationship between variables.

Normal Curve

A bell-shaped distribution clustering around the mean.

Skewness

Asymmetry in a distribution indicating a tail on one side.

Bimodal Distribution

A distribution with two distinct peaks.

Effect Size

A measure of the strength of a relationship between variables.

Statistical Significance

The likelihood that a result is not due to chance.

Convenience Sample

A sample chosen based on accessibility.

Random Sample

A sample where every individual has an equal chance of selection.

Random Assignment

Assigning participants to groups by chance.

Sample Bias

A sampling error resulting in an unrepresentative sample.

Generalization

Applying findings from a sample to the larger population.

Single-Blind Procedure

An experimental setup where participants do not know their group.

Double-Blind Procedure

An experiment where both researchers and participants are unaware of group assignments.

Variables

Elements that can change in an experiment.

Experimenter Bias

Researchers' expectations influencing study outcomes.

Social Desirability Bias

Altering responses to appear favorable.

Representation

Ensuring a sample accurately reflects the population.

Peer Review

The evaluation of research by experts prior to publication.

Directionality Problem

Difficulty in determining which variable influences the other.

Third Variable Problem

An unmeasured variable explaining the relationship between two others.

Correlation

A measure of the relationship between two variables.

Causation

Demonstration that one variable directly influences another.

Self-Report Bias

Inaccuracies due to misreporting behaviors or attitudes.

Animal Research

Studying animals to understand human psychology under ethical guidelines.

Informed Consent

Participants' agreement after being informed about the study.

Informed Assent

Agreement from individuals unable to give legal consent, with guardian permission.

Confidentiality

Keeping participants' data private and secure.

Anonymity

Participants' identities not linked to their data.

Deception

Withholding information about study's purpose, justified if necessary.

Debrief

Informing participants about the study's true purpose after participation.