Social Psych Final Exam Vocab (Ch 1-13)

Anthropology

Seeks culture-level explanations for human behavior by exploring a specific culture in depth, utilizing primarily observational research

Biological/Physiological Psychology

Examines the influence of genes, hormones, brain functioning and structure, and other elements of the nervous system, on all kinds of human behavior

Causal Relationship

Relationship that exists when a change in one variable can be shown to produce a change in another one

Classical Conditioning

Form of learning in which a previously neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus after being paired with an unconditioned stimulus

Clinical Psychology

Examines the nature, causes, and consequences of mental disorders and dysfunction of individuals who deviate from the norm and seeks ways to treat them

Cognitive Psychology

Seeks to explain mental processes such as memory, problem solving, decision-making, language, and the nature of consciousness

Collectivistic Culture

Type of society in which people’s self-concepts tend to be intimately tied to and defined by their group memberships, people subordinate personal preferences and goals to the group’s, and where individual choice is not highly valued

Control Group

Group of participants that did not receive the treatment and serves as a comparison to assess the effects of the treatment

Confound

In an experiment, a factor that changes along with the independent variable and can prevent a clear assessment of the effects of the IV on the DV

Correlation

Two variables are correlated when a change in one variable is associated with a change in the other variable

Culture

System of enduring meanings, perceptions, attitudes, beliefs, and practices shared by a large group of people

Dependent Variable

Measured variable that is expected to be affected by manipulation of the independent variable

Experiment

Study in which one or more variables are systematically varied in order to examine the effects on one or more other variables

Hindsight Bias

Incorrect belief that, after a person has already learned the outcome of a particular event, they would have accurately predicted the outcome before it occurred

Hypothesis

Prediction about the nature of social phenomena, oftentimes in the form of a proposition about how two factors are related to one another

Independent Variable

Manipulated variable that is expected to change the dependent variable

Individualistic Culture

Type of society in which people’s self-concepts tend to be stable, not ted to particular groups, and people place their personal preferences and goals above those of the group and value individual choice

Instrumental Conditioning

Form of learning in which reinforcement is given or punishment is administered in order to increase or decrease a specific behavior

Lay Theory

Explanation for social behavior that is possessed by an ordinary (lay) person without advanced training in psychology and without using scientific methods

Natural Selection

Genes that tend to increase the chances of survival of their carrier are more likely to be passed on to a new generation

Personality Psychology

Investigates the development and nature of personality traits over the lifespan

Random Assignment

Each participant in a study has an equal chance of being assigned to any condition

Social Cognition

Mental processes involved in perceiving, attending to, remembering, thinking about, and making sense of oneself and others

Social Learning

Learning by observing or hearing that someone else was reinforced or punished for engaging in a particular behavior

Social Psychology

Scientific study of the social experiences and behaviors of individuals

Sociology

Examines group-level phenomena— such as societal trends, cultural norms, the effects of race or social class, and so forth

Theory

Set of interrelated statements that explain and predict patterns of observable events

Treatment Group

Group of participants assigned to receive the treatment

Authority Principle

Increased likelihood that people will do what is requested or suggested by a perceived authority

Bait-and-Switch

Social influence tactic in which a person psychologically commits to a product and then, suddenly, the product is replaced with a related product that is more expensive

Chameleon Effect

When people mimic the movements of others without conscious awareness of doing so

Commitment/Consistency Principle

Increased likelihood that people will enact a behavior that is consistent with their own past behavior and allows them to follow through on prior commitments

Compliance

Behavioral response to a request

Confederate

Person who pretends to be a participants but is really working with the experimenter

Conformity

Change in one’s responses in order to fit in

Deadline Technique

Setting a specific end date for an opportunity, such as a sale or service, in order to increase its desirability

Descriptive Norm

What most people are or are not doing in a particular context

Door-in-the-Face Technique

Sequential procedure of (a) making a relatively large request, (b) waiting until the request has been refused, and © subsequently scaling back to a smaller request

Focus Theory of Normative Conduct

Idea that social norms can be divided into those that are descriptive and those that are injunctive and that whichever norm people focus their attention on is likely to be more influential

Foot-in-the-Door Technique (FITD)

Sequential procedure in which (a) a small request is made and, following compliance, (b) a larger request is made

Informational Influence

Adoption of other’s behaviors, attitudes, and/or beliefs because those individuals are perceived as sources of valid information about objective reality

Injunctive Norms

What people should or shouldn’t do in a specific situation

Labeling Technique

Bestowing a positive label on a person in order to gain compliance to a request

Liking/Friendship Principle

People are more likely to adhere to a request from a positively evaluated other, such as a friend or an admired person

Limited-Quantity Technique

Restricting the quantity of a product, service, or opportunity in order to increase its desirability

Low-Ball Tactic

Enticing consumers to agree to purchase something and then subsequently inform them that the price is higher than initially promised

Normative Influence

Alteration of one’s behaviors, attitudes, or beliefs in order to be accepted by another person or group

Obedience

Behavioral response to a request from an authority

Persuasion

Change in attitudes or beliefs

Reactance

Unpleasant arousal that triggers behavior intended to protect or reinstate freedoms that are restricted or threatened

Reciprocity Principle

Increased likelihood that an individual will comply with a request from a person or an entity who has previously done a favor to that individual

Scarcity Principle

People are more likely to value options and items when they are difficult to obtain or otherwise limited in their availability

Social Influence

Internal or external change in a person caused by real or imagined pressure from others

Social Norm

A rule and/or standard that is typically unwritten and guides social behavior

Social Validation (or Social Proof) Principle

Increased likelihood that a person will enact a particular behavior to the extent that others are thought to be engaging in that same behavior

That’s-Not-All Technique

Adding new incentives to a deal before the consumer has been given the opportunity to either accept or decline the deal and without increasing the price

Actor/Observer Effect

When the attributions for a person’s behavior vary according to whether one is the actor (doing the behavior) or an observer (of the behavior)

Attribution

Judgment about the cause of behavior

Blended Emotions

Wherein an expression reflects more than one emotion

Correspondence Bias

Tendency to assume that outward behavior corresponds to inward attitudes and to ignore situational influences

Decoding

Interpretation of facial expressions and other nonverbal behavior

Display Rules

Rules indicating which facial expressions are appropriate in a given context

Fundamental Attribution Error

Attributing behavior to dispositional factors while ignoring situational ones

Gambler’s Fallacy

Believing that the odds of a coin coming up heads are greater after having just come up tails rather than heads in the last flip

Hot Hand Illusion

Incorrectly thinking that identical random outcomes are “streaks”

Illusion of Control

False belief that one can control or influence random or chance events

Illusory Correlation

Overestimation of the extent to which two variables are correlated

Implicit Personality Theory

Lay or unscientific theory about the kinds of person characteristics that are typically found together

Meta-analysis

Combines multiple studies, usually by different researchers, into one analysis that allows the researcher to draw conclusions about the set of studies as a whole

Nonverbal Behavior

Perceptible social behavior that is extra linguistic and not primarily intended to manipulate the physical world

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

When an initially inaccurate expectation leads to behaviors that cause that expectation to come true

Acquiescence Bias

Tendency to agree with or say “yes” to questions

Actual Self

Who one is

Better-Than-Average Effect

Judging that one is above average on most desirable characteristics

Bias Blind Spot

Believing that one is immune to cognitive biases that affect others

Context Effects

Variations in responding because of survey features encountered prior to answering a question

Counterfactual Thinking

Imagining what could have happened (but did not)

Downward Social Comparison

Contrasting one’s own performance, ability, or situation with individuals who did less well, have weaker abilities, or are in worse situations

Extremity Bias

Tendency to provide answers that are at the extremes of the response options

Extrinsic Motivation

Desire to perform a behavior as a result of external rewards or pressures

Facial Feedback Hypothesis

Idea that people infer their feelings from their facial expressions

False Consensus Effect

Believing that one’s opinions or behaviors are more common than they actually are

False Uniqueness Effect

Holding incorrect beliefs about how different one is from others

Ideal Self

Image of a hypothetical self that possesses the qualities and features that a person wishes she or he had

Illusion of Transparency

Incorrect belief that others can “read” our emotions or detect our lies merely by looking at our facial expressions

Impression Management

Efforts to project the image of the self that a person wants others to have

Ingratiation

Attempts to get particular persons to like us

Interpersonal Self

Way we present ourselves to other people

Intrinsic Motivation

View of religion as an end in itself

Introspection

Looking internally at the self to examine who one is, how one feels, and so forth

Ironic Process of Mental Control

Trying to control one’s thoughts or behavior in a way that produces the very thoughts or behavior that one is trying to avoid

Ought Self

Image of a hypothetical self who a person believes important others think he or she should be

Overjustification Effect

When one’s intrinsic motivation— such as enjoyment experienced by simply enacting behavior— is weakened by the presence of extrinsic motivation

Response Effects

Unintended variations in question responses that stem from procedural aspects or features of the survey instrument, such as the wording of a question or the order of the questions

Schemas

Cognitive structures that organize knowledge about particular objects of thought, such as concepts, experiences, or roles

Self

Psychological apparatus that gives a person the capability to consciously think about him or herself

Self-Concept

Set of beliefs a person has about the characteristics they possess

Self-Discrepancy Theory

Idea that each person has an actual, ideal, and ought self

Self-Esteem

Overall positive or negative evaluation of oneself

Self-Evaluation Maintenance Model (SEM)

Postulates that a person typically only makes social comparisons when this will improve their self-evaluation