APP Social Psychology Vocab 1

Modules 74-76

door-in-the-face phenomenon

following a larger request with a smaller one to incite action; creates guilt and increases the likelihood of a positive response to the smaller request

social psychology

the scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another

attribution theory

suggests how we explain someone's behavior--by crediting either the situation or the person's disposition

self-fulfilling prophecy/Pygmalion effect

a belief or expectation that helps to make itself true, the phenomenon in which people's expectations of others lead them to behave in ways that make those expectations come true

Rosenthal effect

experimenter belief about the individual may cause the individual to be treated in a special way so the individual begins to fulfill the expectancy

fundamental attribution error

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

attitude

feelings, often based on 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

Philip Zimbardo

psychologist; proved peoples behavior depends to a large extent on the roles they are asked to play, conducted the Stanford Prison Experiment

Stanford Prison Experiment

study conducted to investigate the effects of becoming a prisoner or prison guard and role playing

cognitive dissonance theory

the theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent; for example, when our awareness of our attitudes and our actions clash, we can reduce the resulting dissonance by changing our attitudes

Leon Festinger

psychologist; proposed the cognitive dissonance theory

chameleon effect

unconsciously mimicking others' expressions, postures, and voice tones to feel what they are feeling

conformity

adjusting one's behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard

Solomon Asch

psychologist; conducted famous conformity experiment that required subjects to match lines

normative social influence

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

informational social influence

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

Stanley Milgram

psychologist; researched obedience to authority

social facilitation

stronger responses on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others (related to the Yerkes-Dodson law)

social loafing

the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable

deindividuation

the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity

group polarization

the enhancement of a group's prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group

groupthink

the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal or alternatives

peripheral route to persuasion

when we are convinced not by the message itself, but rather by superficial factors

central route to persuasion

when we are convinced by the content of the message, rather than surface elements

actor-observer phenomenon

actors tend to attribute the causes of their behavior to stimuli inherent in the situation, while observers tend to attribute behavior to stable dispositions of the actor

social impairment

the presence of others can inhibit our performance, especially when we are doing something that we are not good at

dispositional attribution

assuming that another's behavior is due to personality factors, not situational ones

situational attribution

attributing behavior to the environment or external factors (not personality)

Norms

shared rules of conduct that tell people how to act in specific situations

Culture

the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next