psyc 2700 final exam - UCONN, Agocha

social psychology

scientific study of behaviors, influences by others

B=f(PxS)

everything = functions (personality x socio-enviornmental) [Kert Lewin]

Construals

the way we perceive, comprehend, and interpret the social world

Social influence

necessary key to social psych. (why quiet and loud people act the same at funeral)

Direct social influence

direct attempts at persuasion

indirect social influence

mere presence of person

transmission

culture, values, information

fundamental attribution error

tendency to overestimate role of traits and underestimate role of the situation on determining behavior

social situations; key and challenge

why did i do that vs. why did that person do that

empirical research

tests validity of observations (assumptions, personal experiences, folk wisdom)

scientific methods

systematic rules for gathering evidence or generating knowledge

observational research

a descriptive research method

correlational research

explanation/prediction

experimental research

control/casual prediction

deduction

research that moves from theory to data

induction

researches that moves from data to theory

scientific method steps

have question you want solved

form hypothesis

conduct research/gather data

analyze data

draw conclusions

observational method

observe people and record measurments

ethnography

Understand a group or culture by observing from the inside without preconceptions

participant observation

observer interacts with the people being observed

archival analysis

examines accumulated documents of group (newspaper, journals)

observational method limitations

- certain behaviors are hard to observe

- confined to one group

- describes behavior but not why they have that behavior

correlational method

systematically measuring relationship between two or more variables (surveys)

correlation coefficient

a statistical index of the relationship between two things (from -1 to +1)

positive correlation

an increase in one variable is associated an increase in the other

negative correlation

an increase in one variable in associated with a decrease in the other

problems with surveys

1. sampling errors (who when where how)

2. asking people to describe their own behavior is likely to be inaccurate

3. answers can be influenced by the way a question is asked phrased, ordered, the number/type of answers allowed

4. correlation doesn't prove causation

experimental method

if two variables are correlated, there are three possible outcomes

third variable explanation

something specific has to do with the two correlated variables

Independent variable

manipulated by researcher (IV causes DV)

dependent variable

measured by researcher to see if it changes based on what the IV is

establishing internal validity

ensuring IV is the only thing that can affect the DV

how to get internal validity

1. gain control over extraneous variables

2. random assignment

(unknowns are always possible)

theoretical population

All of the members of a specific population, both accessible and not accessible to the researcher.

study population

demography

sampling frame

a list of individuals from which the sample is drawn

sample

A small proportion of people who are chosen in a survey to represent the pop

representative sample

allows generalization across ppl and situations

lab study

study conducted in a controlled setting (internal validity)

field study

done in real world (external validity

internal validity

enough control to ensure no extraneous effects

external validity

make sure results generalize to real world

social cognition

how people think about themselves and the social world

automatic thinking (autopilot)

non concious

unintentional

involuuntray

effortless

schemas

mental structures people use to organize their knowledge about the social world

analytical thinking

focus on object properties; low contextual processing

holistic thinking

overall context; high contextual thinking

judgmental heuristics

mental shortcuts people use to make judgements quickly and efficiently (rule of thumb)

availability

ease to bring to mind or retrievability of instances from memory

representativeness

compare to typical case

biased sampling

treating atypical obj. or exampls as if theyre generalized

anchoring and adjustment

use starting point and then adjust

controlled thinking

using every gear

conscious

intentional

voluntary

effortful

monitoring process

automatic searching

operating process

distracting and replacing

conterfactual thinking

imagining alternative scenarios and outcomes that might have happened, but didn't

schemas and perception

Use what we already know about someone to fill in their gaps

schematic thinking

filtering and reconstructing knowledge. we remember what we like

accessibility

ease of schema activation

priming

recent experience increases accessibility

perseverance

schemas can live on and on

self-fulfillling prophecy

when we have a schema about someone we act in a certain way towards them to get the reaction we expect from them

social perception

how we come to understand other people. when we perceive others, we make sense of them

nonverbal behavior

sources other than verbal; face, hands etc

emblems vs display rules

some cultures has specific definitions of certain N.V./places where they are appropriate

NV gender difference

women have more than men

implicit personality theory

a type of schema people use to group various kinds of personality traits together; EX many people believe that someone who is kind is generous as well (depends on culture + context)

casual attribution

way people explain the causes of own and other behavior

internal attribution

personality, mood, ability, effort

external attribution

situation

consensus information

how others would generally act

distinctivness Information

how A would react if B was a different person

consistency information

how A acts across time and in different situations

fundamental attribution error

overestimate internal and underestimate situational

correspondence bias

the tendency to view behavior as the result of disposition even when the behavior can be explained by the situation in which it occurs

self serving attributions

success = internal

failure = external

first impression accuracy

~67% accurate

more correct about broad things than details

the self

what makes you the person you are

self development

a process of consciously improving yourself in various aspects

rudimentary self

overall set of beliefs people have about their personal attributes (Chimps, orangutans, gorillas, dolphins all have)

self concept

"me"

self-awareness

"I"

self knowledge

schema for processing info (organization function)

self control

guiding and controlling ones behavior(executive function)

impression management

self presentation function; "design" self to fit social situation (mirrorball)

western self concept

individualistic culture; self based on unique characteristics; independent

eastern self concept

collectivist culture' self based on relationships; interdependent

Females and the self

small yet very emotionally close friendships

males and the self

bigger and broader friend groups

introspection

examination of one's own thoughts and feelings

Csikszentmihalyi & Figurski (1982) "Beeper study"

found that self thoughts fell right in the middle of what people were thinking about throughout the day

observation

we look at our behavior

comparison

look at other peoples behaviors, then relate to ours

self-awarness theory

1. cue (someone says "hi catherine" or see me in mirror

2. become self aware

3. compare behavior to internal standards

4a. meet standards

4b. fail standard and change behavior

4c. fail standard and flee

components of the self

self knowledge, self control, self presentation

self perception theory

when we don't have a clear sense of our feelings, we will look at our behavior in that moment and use that as a guide

intrinsic motivation

a desire to perform a behavior effectively for our own sake

extrinisic motivation

a desire to perform a behavior due to promised external rewards or threats of punishment

extrinsic motivation flaws

drive may end with reward then overjustification may occur

Greene sternberg and lepper 1976 Overjustification effect

first two weeks of kids playing w puzzles (15 mins). by the end of two weeks (20 mins). started getting rewarded for playing and it went up. No more reward and kids stopped playing all together