Unit 4-Social Psychology and Personality

Attribution Theory

Why behaviors happen

Explanatory style

How we describe why those behaviors happen

Attribution theory: Dispositional Factors

Internal in Nature

Relatively unchanging

Attribution theory: Situational Factors

External

Temporary

Fundamental Attribution Error

overestimating the effect of dispositional factors in a individuals behavior

Minimize the effect of situational factors

Example of Fundamental Attribution Error

a classmate fails an exam

Dispositional factors

A classmate doesn't want to study

Relatively permanent factors

Classmate is lazy

Example of Fundamental Attribution Error

Situational Factors

External factors

A classmate works a night job

Temporary factors

Classmate will eventually quit their job

Regardless of attribution

Nothing changes about the behavior itself

Explanatory Style

Optimistic Explanatory Style

External causes

relatively temporary causes

Specific causes

Explanatory Style

Pessimistic Explanatory Style

Personal causes

Permanent causes

Pervasive causes

Example of Explanatory Style-O

Optimistic explanatory style

external causes: the questions were hard

Relatively temporary causes

they didn't have enough study time

Specific causes

working at night reduced their study time

Example of Explanatory Style-P

Pessimistic Explanatory Style

Personal causes

They are not a very good student

Permanent causes

They are not very smart

Pervasive causes

They are unmotivated

Regardless of attribution style

nothing changes about the behavior itself

qoute

"there is nothing god or bad, but thinking makes it so"

Cognitive biases influence what

the way we attribute our behaviors and thoughts

this is a selection of potential cognitive biases

Examples of cognitive biases

availability heuristic

Representative heuristic

Confirmation bias

Anchoring bias and belief perseverance

Overconfidence

Availability heuristic

Heuristic: thinking shortcut or rule of thumb-we consider some examples but not all of them

It distorts our estimate of how likely something is to occur

Relevant examples -people I know who have that type of car

Highly publicized examples-the car is very nicely rated in websites

Sensational examples-the car winning a prize like the car of the year

Confirmation bias

Bias: unreasonable partiality or preferences

Focus on supportive examples

Dismissal of non-supportive examples

Overconfidence bias

Excessive belief in one's own abilities.

The belief that we did better than others

The belief that we are or were correct

Representative heuristic

Distorts estimates of how typical an example is of an entire category

Base-rate fallacy- a single guy gets a flu shot and it doesn't work we think al the flu shots don't work

Estimates of probability ignore base rates

Should I explore this unfamiliar dark alley?

Cognitive bias

Availability heuristic-yes bc I won the lottery in such a dark alley

Confirmation Bias-yes bc one time I did not have a bad experience

Overconfidence Bias- yes bc I can handle any mugger despite any self defense training

Representative Heuristic-Yes bc surely the many reports of alley crime don't include this one

how can our judgement and reasoning be distorted

By predictable cognitive factors

Locus of Control-Internal

the amount of control people perceive they have over events or conditions in their lives

Internal Locus of Control

Life events or conditions are the result of ones efforts and abilities

One has control over what happens to them

Locus of Control-External

Life events or conditions are the result of one's control

Things happen and there's not much that can be done about them.

Cultural Influences-Internal locus of control

individualistic cultures may emphasize taking credit for ones achievements

I scored a record number of points so we won

External Locus of Control-Collectivist cultures may encourage the sharing of achievement

The points I scored were only part of the reason we won

Which one is ideal in all situations?

none

Internal-Self blame when things do not go well

Frustration when things truly beyond ones control

External Locus of control-Not accepting appropriate responsibility for failures

learned helplessness

Mere exposure effect

frequency=familiarity

familiarity=positivity

What contributes to familiarity?

Self-fulfilling prophecy

Pygmalion effect

A false belief about a situation

brings out new behavior making the false belief true

Even if the belief is false, beliefs can be favorable or unfavorable

We live up or down to our beliefs and expectations

social comparison

comparing oneself with others for self evaluation

Can make u feel better or worse relative to how you think of others

Compares themselves to less accomplished people-they may feel better about themselves

compares themselves to more accomplished people

can be motivating if one feel successful

can be discouraging if one feel unsuccessful

Relative deprivation-what we once felt good about doesn't feel as good when u find out someone did way better

I just bought my fist car-what could I think in terms of social comparison?

My neighbor also just bought a car, their car has dents in it so mine is better

I just bought my fist car-what could I think in terms of mere exposure?

I see it every time I leave my house, I selected its color and style so I like it

What is a stereotype?

A generalized belief about a group of people, a member of a group, or a social category

They are mental short cuts in thinking that alleviate cognitive load

What do many of our stereotypes develop into

our schemas or mental frameworks

what are most stereotypes like

negative and exagerated

What can they lead to?

Prejudice is when a stereotype can lead to a negative attitude in advance of having experience with a person or a group

What can these negative attitudes lead to?

they can create strong negative emotions than can lead to hatred

What can negative attitude can lead to what?

Discrimination, it is when someone is hostile towards the rejected group

How can implicit attitudes and biases occur?

With little or no conscious awareness

What did the study from the University of Cali and Uni of Chicago show?

that applicants with ethnic sounding names were less likely to be contacted by employers even when the resume was identical to non-ethnic names

It also showed that gender was similarly biased towards certain types of jobs, such as automotive repair or retail clothing

implicit attitudes-Just-world phenomenon

The just world hypothesis or phenomenon is when a person sees the world as a fair place

Good people have good things happen to them and bad people have bad things happen to them

What does the Just-world phenomenon help us with?

Reduce our anxiety when difficult realities confront us, such as homeless people

what is in-group bias

when we tend to view our own group as having favorable attributes and likability

what is out-group bias

the tendency to see the members in other groups as having unfavorable attributes or characteristics

what can they both lead to

discriminatory behaviors

Implicit attitudes-what is ethnocentrism?

we tend to see our won ethnicity or social groups as being the correct and most just compared to other groups

what can it lead to

a misunderstanding of other ethnicity and social groups behaviors actions or beliefs.

What is belief perseverance

holding onto one's initial beliefs even after they have been shown to be false

what does confirmation bias work alongside of and they often strengthen each other

belief perseverance

belief perseverance-once an attitude develops what happens

it becomes durable

belief perseverance-when you share evidence that disconfirms their belief, what happens

people will often dig in and ignore it

Confirmation bias

we see what we want to see

we seek evidence that supports our beliefs and attitudes

we will ignore or dismiss evidence that we don't like

What is cognitive dissonance

when we have two things in our mind that are fundamentally at odds with each other, it creates a state of imbalance

Example of it

if we believe that we should be environmentally conscious but behave in ways that in misalignment with that belief, that makes dissonance

What does it create

a state of psychological discomfort forcing us to make a change

What can we do

change our behavior to align with our attitudes or beliefs, or we can change the beliefs to align with our behavior

Change of attitude example

everyone does it and its one bad habit

Why might your behavior change in different situations?

Due to the expectations or social norms of how we should behave at that time or place

Social Influence theory

we might very our behavior in different situations because we are going along or conforming with how others are acting

Normative social Influence

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

you will apply because your friend group won't think less of you

informational social influence

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

suggests that you will apply because your friends have convinced you that you are certain to be accepted

Solomon Asch Line Experiment

which line (A, B, or C) matches the first line. Easy task, but other confederate "participants" also gave answers, sometimes wrong ones. 76% of participants went along with the false norm at least once and gave the wrong answer. Teens conform more than adults and conform less when the other participants can't hear them. (normative influence)

crucial example of applying social influence theory

persuasive technique 1-choose the right route-what is central route

Change attitudes by using facts, details and logic

Peripheral route

change attitudes by using peripheral cues (feel emotion connected to a product or behavior, how attractive it is, endorsements)

What are both of these components of?

The elaboration likelihood model

The elaboration likelihood model

one could be more persuasive because of the halo effect, when we assume one positive aspect of a person suggests other aspects are positive to

Persuasive technique 2

Don't show me the door

what is the food in the door

make a small request that is agreed to then return with a larger second request

what is the door in the face

make a large request that is refused, then return with a smaller request

Non-experimental methodology

Case studies, correlational, naturalistic observation, meta analysis

when do we use these

when searching for relationships or attempting to describe behavior

experimental methodology

manipulating variables and using random assignment to place participants in groups

why do we use them

to prove cause and effect-that a hypothesis is correct

What does conformity mean

the adjusting of one's opinions, judgements or actions so that they are more consistent with others or the norms of a situation

what can it include

outright compliance( going along with a group when asked ) or be more subtle

The asch line experiment-confederates were involved

the confederates unanimity made it easier for one to conform

What happened

Some subjects answered as the rest of the group did even though they could clearly see the answer was wrong

What were the social normative types involved then?

Normative and Informational Social Influence

What happened when only one other confederate answered truly

Conformity weakened

What did they find

Majority of participants conformed to group pressure at least once

especially when another dissenter gave the correct answer

did the size of the majority matter

yes

students often share they would not have conformed but.....

they would

Zimbardo - Stanford Prison Experiment/Lucifer Effect-what did they find

unexpected early termination

what mattered

random assignment of prisoners and guards

what affected the prisoner and guard behavior

"role playing"

Participants behaved as they thought of what

as they thought prisoners and guards would according to expectations

What did Zimbardo later apply his experiment to ?

to the Abu Ghraib scandal in Iraq

Why was it controversial?

harming participants

who did the role playing also affect

Zimbardo as well

APA ethical guidelines-Before the experiment

Before the experiment:

Informed consent

Institutional review board- to make sure everything is ethically okay

APA ethical guidelines

confidentiality/anonymity

protection from harm

limited deception

APA ethical guidelines-After

Debriefing-what your expectations were and if u had to lie to them, why

Both Asch and Zimbardo experiments happened before what

the implementation of the current APA ethical guidelines, after the 1980s they were written

Milgram Shock Experiment-what's the background of it

Could the Nazi's I was just listening to orders excuse apply elsewhere

What did he use?

confederates and deception " the experimenter" and the "learner"

how many opportunities were given to shock the learner

36

could the learner be seen by the teacher

no

What did they find

2/3 of participants shocked the learner 36 times

what would the learner say

my heart is bothering me, in most cases they continued

What statement did the teachers say

I wont be responsible for this

to that statement would would the experimenter say

it is essential that u continue