PSY 240 Exam 1 - Gulker, Purdue

Social Psychology

the scientific study of the feelings, thoughts, and behaviors of individuals in social situations

Power of the Situation

situations determine behavior, regardless of attributes

The Milgram Experiment

study where participants were assigned to shock the “learner” (confederate) for wrong answers; purpose to test how far participants would go, turned out 62.5% were willing to shock until lethal

Fundamental Attribution Error

the failure to recognize or underestimate the impact of situational influences on behavior, along with the tendency to overemphasize the impact of dispositions on behavior

Dispositions

internal factors such as beliefs, values, personality traits, and abilities that guide a person’s behavior

Channel Factors - “Nudges”

situational circumstances that appear unimportant on the surface but that can have strong effects on behavior - facilitating it, blocking it, or guiding it

ex: giving the option to opt out rather than the option to opt into something

Construal

an interpretation of or inference about the stimuli or situations that people confront

ex: having the option to “opt in” causes suspicion, but having the option to “opt out” doesn’t

Gestalt Psychology

usually nonconscious interpretation of what the object represents as a whole

Schemas

knowledge structures consisting of any organized body of stored information that is used to help in understanding events

ex: men have a schema to not use the urinal directly next to someone else unless necessary

Stereotypes

a belief that certain attributes are characteristic of members of a particular group

ex: speaking louder in a nursing home because you assume the residents are hard of hearing

Automatic/Nonconscious Processing

involuntary and unconscious processes that give rise to implicit attitudes and beliefs that cannot be readily controlled by the conscious mind; faster than controlled processing and can operate in parallel

Controlled/Conscious Processing

conscious, systematic, and deliberate processing that can override automatic responses; results in explicit attitudes and beliefs of which we are aware

Natural Selection

an evolutionary process that molds animals and plants so that traits that enhance the probability of survival and reproduction are passed on to subsequent generations; may explain many human behaviors

Group Living

evolutionarily adaptive - protects from predators and provides the cooperation needed to obtain resources

Language

facilitates the ability to live in complex groups

Theory of Mind

the understanding that other people have beliefs and desires; may be impaired in autistic children

Naturalistic Fallacy

claim that the way things are is the way they should be

Independent (Individualistic) Cultures

cultures in which people view themselves as distinct individuals, connected to others by voluntary relationships but essentially separate

Interdependent (Collectivistic) Cultures

cultures in which people define themselves as part of a group and prioritize collective ties over individual freedom or control

Tight Societies

have stricter rules and demands for conformity (more common when society is under threat)

Loose Societies

fewer rules and demands for conformity

WEIRD Societies and Generalizability

many findings of social psychology have been obtained from a very limited group of people: Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic

Hindsight Bias

the tendency after learning about a given outcome to be overconfident about whether they could have predicted the outcome

Hypothesis

a prediction about what will happen under particular circumstances

Theory

a body of related propositions intended to describe some aspect of the world

Observational Research

observing participants in social situations

Archival Research

analyzing social behaviors documented in past records

Survey Research

asking participants questions, usually through an interview or a questionnaire

Correlational Research

research not involving random assignment to different situations or conditions; it is conducted to determine whether there is an association between two or more variables

Experimental Research

randomly assigns people to different conditions, and that enables researchers to make strong inferences about why an association among variables exists or how these different conditions affect behavior

External Validity

an indication of how well the results of a study generalize to other contexts

Internal Validity

the likelihood that only the manipulated variable could have produced the results

Reliability

the degree to which the way in which researchers measure a given variable is likely to yield consistent results

Validity

the correlation between some measure and some outcome that the measure is supposed to predict

Regression to the Mean

the tendency of extreme scores on a variable to be followed by or associated with less extreme scores; bell curve

Statistical Significance

a measure of the probability that a given result could have occurred by chance

Replication

reproducing the results of a scientific study

Mundane Realism

the experiment is superficially similar to everyday situations

Experimental Realism

the experiment absorbs and involves its participant

Deception

when participants in research are misinformed or misled about the study’s methods and purposes

Demand Characteristics

the cues in an experiment that tell the participant what behavior is expected

ex: informed consent, debriefing

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

a university committee that examines research proposals and makes judgments about the ethical appropriateness of the research; all research conducted at colleges and universities must be approved by an IRB

Applied Research

research concerned with using current understanding of a phenomenon in order to solve a real world problem

Intervention

an effort to change a person’s behavior

Basic Research

science or research concerned with trying to understand some phenomenon in its own right with a view toward using that understanding to build valid theories about the nature of some aspect of the world

“Social Me”

the parts of self-knowledge that are derived from social relationships

Introspection

“know thyself” seems to imply that self-knowledge can be acquired through introspection; can be accurate in some aspects but others can be a better source

Self-Schema

a cognitive structure, derived from past experience, that represents a person’s beliefs and feelings about the self in general and in specific situations

"The Looking Glass Self”

other people’s reactions to us (their approval/disapproval) can serve as a mirror

Reflected Self-Appraisal

a belief about what others think of one’s social self

Situationism

aspects of the self may change depending on the situation

Working Self-Concept

subset of self-knowledge that is brought to mind in a particular context

Independent View of Self

the self is seen as a distinct, autonomous entity, separate from others and defined by individual traits and preferences

Interdependent View of Self

the self is seen as connected to others and defined by social duties and shared traits and preferences

Socialization

many agents guide women and men into different self-construals: women are more likely to refer to relationships when describing self; women are more attuned to external social cues while men are more attuned to their internal responses

Social Comparison Theory

the hypothesis that people compare themselves to other people in order to obtain an accurate assessment of their own opinions, abilities, and internal states

Upward Social Comparisons

may motivate self-improvement by making us feel worse about the self

Downward Social Comparisons

may boost self-esteem by making us feel better about the self

Self-Esteem

the overall positive or negative evaluation an individual has of themself

Trait Self-Esteem

a person’s enduring level of self-regard across time

State Self-Esteem

the dynamic, changeable self-evaluations a person experiences as momentary feelings about the self

Sociometer Hypothesis

the assertion that self-esteem is an internal, subjective index or marker of the extent to which a person is included or looked on favorably by others

Self-Enhancement

the desire to maintain, increase, or protect one’s positive self views

Better-Than-Average Effect

the finding that most people think they are above average on personality traits and ability dimensions

Self-Affirmation Theory

people can maintain a sense of self-worth following threatening information by affirming a valued aspect of themselves unrelated to the threat

Self-Verification Theory

people strive for stable, accurate beliefs about the self because such self-views give a sense of coherence

Self-Regulation

processes by which people initiate, alter, and control their behavior for their goals, including ability to resist short-term rewards that thwart long-term goals

Actual Self

the self that people believe they are

Self-Discrepancy Theory

a theory that behavior is motivated by standards reflecting ideal and ought selves

Ideal Self

the self that embodies an individual’s wishes and aspirations

Ought Self

the self that is concerned with duties, obligations, and external demands an individual feels compelled to honor

Promotion Focus

standards of the ideal self

Prevention Focus

standards of the ought self

Self-Presentation

presenting the person that we would like others to believe we are

Impression Management

attempts to control how other people will view us

Face

the public image of ourselves that we want others to believe

Self-Handicapping

the tendency to engage in self-defeating behaviors in order to have an excuse ready should one fail; strategy for protecting the self

Self Monitoring

the tendency to monitor one’s behavior to fit the current situation

Low Self-Monitors

more likely to behave according to internal preferences

High Self-Monitors

try to fit their behavior to the situation