frq 21

actor-observer bias

the tendency to blame our actions on the situation and blame the actions of others on their personalities

Algorithm

A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem.

altruism

unselfish regard for the welfare of others

arousal theory

Low Arousal - Harder task High arousal - easy tasks

Being bored leads us to seek out activities.

A theory of motivation suggesting that people are motivated to maintain an optimal level of alertness and physical and mental activation.

availability heuristic

estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common

belief perseverance

clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited

openness

willingness to try new things and be open to new experiences

extraversion

A personality dimension describing someone who is sociable, gregarious, and assertive

introversion

a personality trait that signifies that one finds energy from internal sources rather than external ones

Agreeableness

how trusting, good-natured, cooperative, and soft-hearted one is

Neuroticism

degree of emotional instability or stability

central route persuasion

occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts

cognitive behavioral therapy

a popular integrative therapy that combines cognitive therapy (changing self-defeating thinking) with behavior therapy (changing behavior)

cognitive restructuring

a therapeutic approach that teaches clients to question the automatic beliefs, assumptions, and predictions that often lead to negative emotions and to replace negative thinking with more realistic and positive beliefs

confirmation bias

a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence

Deindividuation

the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity

denial

psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which people refuse to believe or even to perceive painful realities.

displacement

psychoanalytic defense mechanism that shifts sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person, as when redirecting anger toward a safer outlet

door-in-the-face technique

asking for a large commitment and being refused and then asking for a smaller commitment

episodic memory

the collection of past personal experiences that occurred at a particular time and place

external locus of control

the perception that chance or outside forces beyond your personal control determine your fate.

extrinsic motivation

a desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened punishment

foot-in-the-door technique

asking for a small commitment and, after gaining compliance, asking for a bigger commitment

free association

in psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing

fundamental attribution error

the tendency for observers, when analyzing another's behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition

General Adaptation Syndrome stages

1. Alarm (a state of arousal by the CNS, sympathetic nervous system, and adrenal gland stimulation)
2. Resistance (the person attempts to adapt to the stressor, physiological symptoms may disappear, if successful then third stage is prevented or delayed)
3. Exhaustion (the adaptive energy is depleted and disease is of adaptation may ensue)

group polarization

the enhancement of a group's prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group

groupthink

the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives

incentive motivation

external factors in the environment that exert pulling effects on our actions

informational social influence

influence resulting from one's willingness to accept others' opinions about reality

internal locus of control

the perception that you control your own fate

intrinsic motivation

a desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake

Kinesthetic system

The sensory system that monitors the positions of the various parts of one's body.

learned helplessness

the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events

mental set

a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past

mere exposure effect

the phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them

normative social influence

influence resulting from a person's desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval

Peripheral route to persuasion

occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker's attractiveness

projection

psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others

prospective memory

remembering to do things in the future

prototype

a mental image or best example of a category

Rationalization

defense mechanism that offers self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for one's actions

Rational Emotive Therapy

A Cognitive Therapy based on Albert Ellis' theory that cognitions control our emotions and behaviors; therefore, changing the way we think about things will affect the way we feel and the way we behave.

reaction formation

psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which the ego unconsciously switches unacceptable impulses into their opposites. Thus, people may express feelings that are the opposite of their anxiety-arousing unconscious feelings.

reciprocity norm

an expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them

regression

psychoanalytic defense mechanism in which an individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated

representative heuristic

judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes

repression

in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories

self-efficacy

An individual's belief that he or she is capable of performing a task.

self-fulfilling prophecy

a belief that leads to its own fulfillment

semantic memory

memory for knowledge about the world

social facilitation

stronger responses on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others

social inhibition

The tendency to perform complex or difficult tasks more poorly in the presence of others

social loafing

the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable

sublimination

putting bad urges into acceptable social ways (boxing/football)

vestibular system

three semicircular canals that provide the sense of balance, located in the inner ear and connected to the brain by a nerve

Yerkes-Dodson Law

developed Yerkes-Dodson law which states that performance is best at intermediate levels of arousal

Conscientiousness

A personality dimension that describes someone who is responsible, dependable, persistent, and organized