AP PSYCHOLOGY VOCAB — SOCIAL SCIENCE

Tragedy of the Commons/Social Trap

People in a group acting on their self-interests to obtain short-term gains; in the long run, the group is disadvantaged

False Consensus Effect

An individual overestimates the number of people who agrees with them

Social Facilitation

Tendency to perform simple/well learned tasks better in presence of others

Social Inhibition

Tendency to perform complex, difficult, unmastered tasks more poorly in front of others

Stereotype

Positive/negative generalized belief about a group of people

Prejudice

Undeserved (usually negative) attitude towards a group

Discrimination

Unjustifiable negative behavior towards a group

Ethnocentrism

Belief that one’s culture/group is superior to another

Scapegoat Theory

Tendency to blame someone else for one’s own problems; often results in prejudiced feelings towards the blamed

Social Loafing

When an individual in a group puts forth less effort when working towards a common goal than if held individually responsible for the goal

Groupthink may occur with…

• Respected and directive leader

• High cohesion with group members

• Isolation of group from others

• Not falsifying group’s ideas externally; members only listens within the group

• Stressful situations with perceived limited solutions

Avoiding Groupthink requires…

• Diversity in the group

• Devil’s advocate: Someone is assigned as an “outsider” by questioning all decisions made and offering alternate views

• Dialectal Inquiry Method: 2 subgroups work separately on different plans

Social Psychology

The scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to another

Attribution Theory

How people explain behaviors and mental processes of themselves and others

Situational Attributions

Relates to external circumstances that are experienced

Dispositional Attributions

Relates to internal qualities of others

Fundamental Attribution Error

Tendency for observers, when analyzing another’s behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation (external) and overestimate the impact of personal disposition (internal)

Actor Observer Bias/Effect

Tendency for the person to attribute to their own situation to situational factors

• Mike believes he did well because the teacher gave him an easy FRQ

…And for others to attribute a person’s behavior to dispositional factors

• Mike’s classmates thinks he does well because he’s smart

Attitudes

Beliefs and feelings that predispose our reactions to objects, people, and events

Social Roles

Behaviors, attitudes, and characteristics expected of an individual who holds a specific position in society

• Ex: Student and teacher

Social Groups

Two or more individuals holding common goals/interests

Group Norms

Implicit and explicit rules for all members about behaviors and attitude; leads to smooth interactions with no conflict

In-Group Bias

Tendency to have preferential treatment towards those in the same group

Out-Group Homogeneity Bias

Tendency to have a negative outlook on those outside of the group

Role-Playing Affects Attitude

When one adopts a new role, their actions may feel phony/artificial, but over time would possibly accept their role

Deindividuation

Group setting causes one to lose their self-identity and abandon normal restraints; feeling of anonymity

Cognitive Dissonance

Mental strain/tension that results from holding 2 conflicting beliefs, values, or attitudes

Ways to Reduce Cognitive Dissonance

• Change behavior/cognition

  • Stop eating the donut

• Justify behavior/cognition by changing conflicting cognition

  • “I’m allowed donuts once in awhile”

• Justify by adding new cognition

  • “Going to exercise off the calories”

• Ignore/deny any info conflicting with existing beliefs

  • “It didn’t have that much calories”

Groupthink — Irving Janis

Individuals self-censor beliefs to preserve group harmony; MAY cause poor decisions

Tendency to make bad decisions because of the illusion that the plan of action is good and supported by all

Group Polarization

After discussing a topic, the group members’ beliefs become more extreme than prior to discussion; from having belief —> belief becoming stronger

Confirmation Bias

Tendency to search for info that confirms one’s perceptions

Contact Theory

Contact between 2 hostile groups will reduce animosity, but only if groups are made to work towards a similar/subordinate good that benefits all; can reduce prejudice and discrimination

Jane Elliot

Brown Eyed Blue Eyed 1968

Richard LaPiere

Attitudes do not always affect behavior

• Experiment with an Asian couple going around to hotels that say they wouldn’t want to serve an Asian; only one hotel followed through with their words

Conformity

A change in behavior and belief caused by real/imagined social pressure

Confederate

Person who works for the experimenter by behaving in different ways

Solomon Asch’s Conformity Experiment

Conformity is most likely to occur when a group’s opinion is unanimous

Social Influence Theory

Reasons for conforming

• Informational influence

  • When someone conforms because they believe the group is right

• Normative Social Influence

  • Result of wanting to be liked or part of a group by following social norms

What strengthens conformity?

• One’s incompetence/insecurity

• Group has at least 3 people

• One’s culture strongly encouraging respect for social standards

Milgram’s Shock Study

Subjects were tested to see how far they’d comply to shocking others under orders; psychology ethical guidelines were completely overhauled afterwards

In Milgram’s experiment, when was the person’s obedience the highest?

• Proximity

• Authority figure is supported by a prestigious institution

• Victim is depersonalized or at a distance

Obedience

A form of compliance that occurs when people follow directions from someone with authority

Bystander Effect

The more people that witness an emergency, the less likely one person is to help

What explains the Bystander Effect?

Diffusion of responsibility

Diffusion of Responsibility

The larger the group of people who witness the problem, the less responsible any one individual feels to feel; assumption that someone else will help

Altruism

An unselfish behavior that benefits others at some cost to the individual

Norms of Reciprocity

The expectation that we should return help, not harm, to those who have helped us

Social Responsibility Norm

The social standard that one should assist those in need when possible

Observational Learning/Modeling

Learning to do something by watching others → mimicking the behavior

A Model

An individual who performs a behavior that serves as an example

Vicarious Reinforcement

When an individual observes another person who is reinforced for doing a behavior; consequently, the original individual imitates that behavior expecting a similar outcome

Expectancy

The belief that one’s behavior will bring about a desired outcome base off previous learning

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Any expectation, positive or negative, about a situation or event that impacts an individual’s behavior in such a manner that causes that expectation to be fulfilled

Self-Serving Bias

The tendency to overstate one’s role when there’s a positive outcome and understate it in when there’s a negative outcome

Just-World Phenomenon

Belief that good things happen to good people while bad things happen to bad people

Implicit Attitudes

Attitudes that individuals hold but may not be consciously aware of

Demonstrations of how implicit attitudes reflect negative evaluation of others

• Just-world phenomenon

• Out-group homogeneity bias

• In-group bias

• Ethnocentrism

Peripheral Route to Persuasion (Elaboration Likelihood Model)

Superficial distractors to persuade

• Experts

• Attractive/famous people

Central Route to Persuasion (Elaboration Likelihood Model)

When one focuses on the factual content of the message in order to make their decision

The Halo Effect

Occurs when you make positive assumptions about someone based on a single positive trait

• More attractive people are less likely to be convicted

• Can influence people when hiring

Foot-In-The-Door

• A request is made

• Individual agrees

• A larger request is then made to the individual

• That individual is more likely to accept the larger request after accepting the smaller request

Door-In-The-Face

• A large request is made

• Individual denies the large request

• A smaller request is then made of the individual

• The individual is more likely to accept the smaller request after denying the larger one

Mere Exposure Effect

Increased liking for someone/something resulting from repeated exposure

Person Perception

Mental processes used to form impressions and make judgments about others; involves interpreting information about others, such as their behavior, appearance, and social cues to infer their intentions, traits, and emotional states

Social Comparison

A type of person perception that occurs when people evaluate themselves based on comparisons to other members of society or social circles; can be upward or downward; people often judge their own sense of deprivation relative to others

Relative Deprivation

Perception that one is worse off relative to those with one whom compares oneself

Belief Perseverance

The tendency for individuals to hold onto a belief even after being presented with info that discredits it