AP Psychology Unit 4.1 Attribution Theory and 4.2 Attitude Formation

Social Psychology

branch of psychology concerned with the way individuals’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by others.

Attribute

quality or feature regarded as a characteristic or inherent part of someone or something.

Attribution Theory

states that we explain another person’s behavior by crediting either the situation or the person’s disposition.

Fundamental Attribution Error

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

Actor-Observer Bias

the tendency to attribute one's own actions to external factors (situational) while attributing others' actions to internal factors (personality). 

Prejudice

an unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude toward a group of people, typically based in stereotyped beliefs or negative feelings.

Stereotype

generalized belief about a group of people.

Discrimination

An unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group and its members.

Implicit prejudice

Unconscious attitudes, feelings, and stereotypes that influence a person’s behavior without their awareness. Implicit prejudice can be in direct contrast to a person’s openly held beliefs.

Explicit prejudice

Consciously held attitudes or beliefs that influence a person’s actions.

Just world phenomenon

the tendency to believe that the world is just and fair; people get what they deserve and deserve what they get.

Scapegoat Theory

explains that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame.

Other-race effect

the tendency to recall faces of one’s own race more accurately than faces of other races.

In-group vs Out-group

Close friends vs friends from school

Attitude

feeling or feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events.

Foot-in-the-door phenomenon

the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request.

Door-in-the-face- phenomenon

the tendency for people to comply to a smaller request after rejecting an initially larger request.

Peripheral route persuasion

occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as the speaker’s attractiveness.

Central route persuasion

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

Role

set of expectations about a social position, defining how those in that position ought to behave.

The Stanford Prison Experiment

purpose of the experiment was to see how well participants assimilated to their assigned roles. (guards and prisoners)

Cognitive Dissonance

When our attitudes and behaviors don’t line up.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

People act to reduce this discomfort they feel when their actions are inconsistent with their thoughts.