Psychology Midterm Master Study Guide

attribution theory

The belief that people attempt to understand events by connecting thoughts and feelings to those events.

fundamental attribution error

A cognitive bias where people overemphasize personal characteristics when judging another person's behavior, neglecting situational factors.

actor-observer discrepancy

The tendency to attribute the behavior of others to internal causes while attributing our own behavior to external causes.

blaming the victim

A phenomenon where people assign blame to a victim of tragedy to cope with their distress.

self-serving bias

The tendency to attribute successes to internal factors and failures to external factors.

self-effacing bias

Attributing successes to external factors and failures to internal factors.

just-world phenomenon

The belief that the world is fair, leading people to think that actions will yield just consequences.

prejudice

A negative attitude toward another person or group formed in advance of any experience with them.

stereotype

A fixed, oversimplified, and often biased belief about a group of people.

discrimination

The process of making unfair distinctions between people based on perceived group membership.

automatic prejudice

An unconscious and automatic negative thought about someone or a group of people.

ingroup

'Us'—people with whom we share a common identity.

outgroup

'Them'—those perceived as different from our ingroup.

scapegoat theory

The tendency to blame someone else for one’s own problems.

other-race effect

The tendency to recognize and remember faces of one's own race more readily than those of other races.

attitudes

A learned tendency to view and judge things in a certain way.

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 technique

A persuader makes a large request expecting it to be refused, then follows it with a smaller request.

central route to persuasion

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

peripheral route to persuasion

Occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker’s attractiveness.

cognitive dissonance theory

The theory that we act to reduce discomfort when two of our thoughts are inconsistent.

Leon Festinger

Psychologist known for developing cognitive dissonance theory.

norms

Accepted standards of behavior for any given group.

social contagion

The spread of behaviors, attitudes, and affect through crowds and other social aggregates.

conformity

The tendency for an individual to align their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors with those of the people around them.

Asch study

A study showing that 75% of participants conformed to incorrect answers provided by others.

chameleon effect

A phenomenon where individuals mimic the behavior of those around them.

normative social influence

Conforming to be accepted and belong to a group.

informational social influence

Change in opinions or behavior when we conform to individuals we believe have accurate information.

Milgram’s study on obedience

An experiment showing the power of authority and how it can lead individuals to act against their ethics.

social facilitation

The presence of others enhances performance on well-rehearsed tasks.

social inhibition

The presence of others diminishes performance on poorly rehearsed tasks.

social loafing

Diminished performance in groups due to the assumption that others will take over the work.

deindividuation

Loss of self-awareness and self-restraint in group situations, often leading to unrestrained behavior.

group polarization

Beliefs become more extreme when part of a like-minded group.

groupthink

Desire for harmony or conformity results in poor decision making in a group.

culture

Socially shared beliefs, values, norms, expectations, and practices within a group or society.

tight culture

Cultures that have strong expectations for adherence to social norms.

loose culture

Cultures with more flexible and informal social norms.

frustration-aggression principle

Blocking of an attempt to achieve a goal creates anger, which can lead to aggression.

bystander effect

The phenomenon where individuals are less likely to help a victim when others are present.

Kitty Genovese

Her murder in 1964 highlighted the bystander effect due to neighbors witnessing it without intervening.

diffusion of responsibility

Individuals feeling less responsible to act because others are present.

social exchange theory

Concept where relationship actions are based on cost-benefit analysis.

reciprocity norm

Social rule stating that people should return favors and acts of kindness.

social-responsibility norm

Societal expectation to engage in positive behavior to contribute to the community.

conflict

A struggle or clash between opposing forces.

social trap

When individuals act in self-interest to the detriment of long-term interests.

mirror-image perceptions

When opposing parties see each other as evil or wrong while viewing themselves as morally right.

superordinate goals

Shared goals that require cooperation among differing groups.

self-fulfilling prophecy

An expectation that influences behavior, causing it to come true.

GRIT

Growth, resilience, instinct, and tenacity; the ability to show bravery in setbacks.

Limits of intuition

Intuition is often driven by emotion and may not pick up evidence flaws.

Limits of overconfidence

Overestimating capabilities can lead to feelings of inferiority after failure.

Barnum effect

Cognitive bias where individuals believe vague personality descriptions are uniquely applicable to them.

hindsight bias

Looking back at events and perceiving them as predictable after they occur.

theory

A system of ideas intended to explain something based on principles.

hypothesis

A proposed explanation based on limited evidence, starting point for further investigation.

operational definition

Describes something in terms of processes through which it is observed and measured.

replication

Reproducing a study to see if consistent results are obtained.

case study

An in-depth study of one person, group, or event, analyzing nearly every aspect.

naturalistic observation

Recording behaviors in real-world settings without manipulation.

survey

A data collection tool used to gather self-reported information from individuals.

generalizability

Measure of how broadly applicable study results are to a larger group.

wording effect in surveys

The phrasing of a question influences the responses given by participants.

false consensus effect

Overestimating how much others agree with our opinions.

social desirability bias

Respondents giving answers believed to be favorable in social contexts.

sampling bias

Collection of samples that do not represent the broader population accurately.

population

The entire group of individuals or events of interest to the researcher.

simple random sampling

Random selection from a population where every member has an equal chance.

cluster random sampling

Dividing a population into smaller groups, then randomly selecting from those groups.

stratified random sampling

Dividing subjects into subgroups then randomly sampling each subgroup.

correlation

A relationship between two or more variables that does not imply causation.

correlation coefficient

Indicates the direction and strength of the relationship between variables.

scatterplot

Graph representing data points for two variables on a coordinate plane.

causation

When one variable directly affects another.

illusory correlation

Perceiving an association between two variables when none exists.

ex post facto studies

Research trying to determine causes by examining historical data after an event.

experiment

Manipulation of an independent variable to observe effects on a dependent variable.

experimental group

Group in a study that receives the treatment or variable being tested.

control group

Group in the study that does not receive the experimental treatment.

random assignment

Assigning participants to groups so every individual has an equal chance.

single blind procedure

Participants do not know if they are receiving the treatment or control.

double blind procedure

Neither participants nor researchers know which treatment is administered.

placebo effect

Physical or mental health improvement after receiving a placebo treatment.

independent variable

The variable manipulated by researchers in an experiment.

dependent variable

The variable measured in response to changes in the independent variable.

confounding variable

Other factors that may affect the results of an experiment.

validity

Whether a test accurately measures what it intends to measure.

demand characteristics

Participants being aware of experiment's purpose can affect their behavior.

experimenter bias

Scientists' hypotheses unintentionally influence results.

quantitative research

Method of collecting and analyzing numerical data.

qualitative research

Method of collecting and analyzing non-numerical data.

ethics

Principles that protect the rights and welfare of research participants.

informed consent

Process of informing participants about research and obtaining their agreement.

debriefing

Explaining the purpose and rationale of a study to participants post-experiment.

deception

When researchers mislead subjects about key aspects of the research.

psychological stress

An emotional response to external pressures.

culture in research

Behaviors, values, and expectations of research communities.

scientific integrity

Adherence to ethical standards in conducting research.