Social Psychology

Attitude

A way of thinking or feeling about a target that is often reflected in a person's behavior.Examples of attitude targets are individuals, concepts, and groups.

Social Psych

scientific study of how we are influenced by social world (real and perceived)

What are the 6 levels of analysis?

1. Culture/environment

2. Relationships/groups

3. Behavior

4. Thoughts/feelings/perceptions

5. physiology

6. chemistry/DNA

Attraction

Feeling of liking or being interested in someone

Attitudes

Opinions of liking or being interested in someone

Social cognition

How we think about the social world

Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)

Overestimate on personal factors (& underestimate situational factors) when explaining others behavior

Cognitive Dissonance

Unpleasant psychological tension when your behaviors & beliefs conflict

Construal

Your interpretation of the social environment

Self-fullfilling Prophecy

Your expectations come true because you act to make them true

Basic Research goal

Evaluate theory/empirical research

Basic Research Emphasis

adding knowledge to understand the field (knowledge for the sake of knowledge)

Applied Research Goal

Evaluate real world problems

Applied Research Emphasis

Applying what we know to an actual problem/situation

Confirmation Bias

Look for evidence that confirms that you are correct

Correlation designs

-measures 2 or more variables

-est. relationship between them

-no variable manipulation

Why use a correlation research design?

predict the future

What can we learn from correlation designs?

Covary, direction of relationship, strength/magnitude

Names for covariates

Predictor variables (IV) and Criterion/Outcomes variables (DV)

Third variable problem

Spurious

Quasi Experimental

Groups are not randomly assigned

Natural Experiment

Experimenter doe not actually manipulate a variable

Data Collection methods

Self-report, observation, archival, physiological, behavior/performance

Survey

Written or verbal questions asked of participants

What is looked for in a measure

reliable, accuracy, valid

Reliable

Consistent

Accuracy

Known standard for measurement

Valid

measure what it says it will measure

Naturalistic observation

describe the behavior as it normally occurs

Structural oberservation

elicit desired behavior

Unobtrusive observation

collects data on a subject's natural behavior without them being aware of the study or their presence being noticed

Participant observation

Disguised or undisguised

Nonparticipant observer

in the mix but not engaging

Time sampling

behavioral data collection method that involves dividing an observation period into fixed time intervals and recording the presence or absence of a specific behavior at designated moments within those intervals

Behavior sampling

systematic method for documenting behavior by observing and recording it only during specific, scheduled times, rather than continuously

Event Sampling

observational method where researchers wait for a specific behavior or event to occur, then record it along with any antecedents and consequences, rather than observing a continuous period of time

How to record observations?

yes/nos, frequency, duration, rating and description

schema

Mental models that guide action/behavior

Representative Heuristics

a mental shortcut where people estimate the probability of an event by how well it matches a stereotype or prototype (categories)

Availability heuristics

a mental shortcut where people judge the likelihood or frequency of an event based on how easily instances or occurrences of that event come to mind

Planning Fallacy

Underestimating the time it takes

Affective forecasting

predicting how we will feel in the future

Impact bias

more intense prediction vs reality

Durability bias

How long the emotional impact will last

Hot cognition

Mental processes influenced by desires and feelings and automatic behaviors (unintentional, uncontrollable, non conscious, cognitively efficient)

Affective forecasting often groups what biases?

Impact bias and durability bias

Hot cognition includes:

-mood-congruent memory

-directional goals

-motivated skepticism

-need for closure

Mood-congruent memory

psychological tendency to recall memories that match one's current emotional state

Directional goals

rationalize to achieve outcome (effected by emotion)

Motivated Skepticism

Looking for holes in arguments

Need for closure

make a decision to quick

type 1

hot cognition

Type 2

cold cognition

Hot cognition speed

fast--quick intuitive

Cold Cognition Speed

Slow--deliberate & effort

Chameleon Effect

Unintentional mimicking of anohers behavior

Priming

Triggers associated thoughts

Cautionary tale of priming

Priming, stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination

Explicit Attitudes

Known to the person, formed intentionally, influence deliberate behavior, self-report

Implicit Attitudes

Unknown to person, formed unintentionally, influence automatic behaviors, measure through implicit association tests

Psychological significance of groups

Need to belong, provide means of social comparision, sense of identity, survival & well being

Need to belong

Human need to affiliate with others (groups & pairs)

Social facilitation

Perform better w/ others around

Social loafing

Perform worse when part of a group

What leads to group think?

-cohesion

-isolation

-biased leadership

-decisional leadership

Stigmatized group

Group that suffers from social disapproval based on some characteristic that sets them apart from the majority

Stereotyping

mental process of using information shortcut about a group to effectively naviage social situations or make decisions

Social influence

one person causes a change in attitude or behavior in another person, whether intentionally or unintentionally

Social attribution

way a person explains the motives or behaviors of others

research participant

person being studied as part of a research program

research confederate

Person working with a researcher, posing as a research participant or as a bystander

Reciprocity

act of exchanging goods or services, By giving a person a gift, the principle of ____ can be sued to influence others, they then feel obligated to give back

Prejudice

evaluation or emotional toward people based on merely heir group membership

Observational learning

learning by observing the behavior of others

obedience

responding to an order or command from person in a position of authority

Discrimination

Behavior that advantages or disadvantages people merely based on group membership

Culture of honor

culture in which personal or family reputation is especially important

Conformity

Changing one's attitude or behavior to match a perceived social norm

Blind to the research hypothesis

when participants in research are not aware of what is being studied

WEIRD Cultures

Western, educated, industrialized, reich, and democratic

terror management theory

theory that proposes that humans manage the anxiety that stems from the inevitability of death by embracing frameworks of meansing such as cultural values and beliefs

Social neuroscience

interdisciplinary field concerned with identifying the neural processes underlying social behavior and cognition

Scientific method

method of investigation that includes systematic observation, measurement, and experiment and the formulation, testing and modification of hypotheses

Samples of conviences

participants that have been recruited in a manner that prioritizes convenience over representativeness

Participant variable

the individual characteristics of research subjects

Operationalize

how researchers specifically measure a concept

manipulation check

measure used to determine whether or not the manipulation of the independent variable has had its intended effect on the participants