AP Psychology: Unit 4 (ALL)

Person Perception

The process of forming impressions and making judgments about others based on appearance, behavior, and social context.

Attribution (Attribution Theory)

The explanation we create for the causes of behavior, either our own or others’.

Dispositional Attributions

Assigning behavior to internal factors like personality, traits, or abilities.

Situational Attributions

Assigning behavior to external factors like environment, circumstances, or luck.

Explanatory Style

A person’s habitual way of explaining events, typically categorized as optimistic or pessimistic.

Actor-Observer Bias

The tendency to attribute our own actions to situational factors while attributing others’ actions to their disposition.

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency to overemphasize personality traits and underestimate situational factors when judging others’ behavior.

Self-Serving Bias

The tendency to credit successes to personal traits and blame failures on external factors.

Internal Locus of Control

Believing that personal actions and decisions shape life outcomes.

External Locus of Control

Believing that external forces, like fate or luck, determine life outcomes.

Mere Exposure Effect

The phenomenon where repeated exposure to something increases our preference for it.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

When expectations influence behavior in a way that makes those expectations come true.

Mirror-Image Perceptions

When opposing groups see each other in similar negative ways, often fueling conflict.

Social Comparison (Upward, Lateral, or Downward)

Evaluating oneself by comparing to others, either to those better (upward), similar (lateral), or worse off (downward).

Relative Deprivation

Feeling worse off by comparing oneself to others who appear to have more.

TOPIC 4.2 Attitude Formation and Attitude Change

Attitude

A learned tendency to evaluate objects, people, or events in a certain way.

Stereotype

A generalized belief about a group of people.

Social Identity

A person’s sense of who they are based on group membership.

Cognitive Load

The amount of mental effort being used in working memory.

Prejudice

A negative attitude toward a group based on stereotypes rather than personal experience.

Discrimination

Unjustified negative behavior toward a group or its members.

Implicit Attitudes

Unconscious beliefs that influence our behavior and perceptions.

Just-World Phenomenon

The belief that the world is fair and people get what they deserve.

Outgroup

A group to which a person does not belong.

Out-Group Homogeneity Bias

The tendency to see members of an outgroup as more similar to each other than they actually are.

Ingroup

A group to which a person belongs and identifies with.

In-Group Bias

The tendency to favor members of one’s own group over outsiders.

Ethnocentrism

Evaluating other cultures based on the standards of one’s own culture.

Scapegoat Theory

The idea that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by blaming a group for societal problems.

Other-Race Effect

The tendency to recognize faces of one’s own race more accurately than those of other races.

Belief Perseverance

Holding onto a belief despite contradictory evidence.

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to seek and interpret information that supports existing beliefs.

Cognitive Dissonance

The mental discomfort experienced when holding conflicting beliefs or attitudes.

TOPIC 4.3 Psychology of Social Situations

Role

A set of expectations about how someone in a certain position should behave.

Social Norms

The unwritten rules for how people should behave in society.

Social Influence Theory

The study of how people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are affected by others.

Normative Social Influence

Conforming to fit in or gain approval from others.

Informational Social Influence

Conforming because we accept others’ opinions as reality.

Persuasion

The process of changing attitudes or beliefs through communication.

Elaboration Likelihood Model

A theory of persuasion suggesting two routes—central (logic-based) and peripheral (emotion-based).

Central Route Persuasion

Persuasion based on logic, evidence, and deep processing.

Peripheral Route Persuasion

Persuasion influenced by superficial cues like attractiveness or emotions.

Halo Effect

The tendency to assume someone’s positive qualities in one area extend to other areas.

Foot-in-the-Door Technique

A persuasion method where agreeing to a small request increases the likelihood of agreeing to a larger one.

Door-in-the-Face Technique

A persuasion method where a large, unreasonable request is followed by a smaller, more reasonable one.

Conformity

Adjusting behavior to match group norms.

Obedience

Following direct orders from an authority figure.

Culture

The shared beliefs, behaviors, and norms of a group.

Tight Culture

A culture with strict social norms and low tolerance for deviance.

Loose Culture

A culture with relaxed social norms and high tolerance for deviance.

Individualism

A cultural focus on personal goals and independence.

Collectivism

A cultural focus on group goals and interdependence.

Multiculturalism

Recognizing and valuing diverse cultural backgrounds within a society.

Group Polarization

When group discussions lead to more extreme attitudes or decisions.

False Consensus Effect

The tendency to overestimate how much others agree with our beliefs.

Groupthink

When group pressure leads to poor decision-making by discouraging dissent.

Diffusion of Responsibility

The reduced sense of personal responsibility in group settings.

Social Loafing

Exerting less effort when working in a group than when working alone.

Deindividuation

Losing self-awareness and personal responsibility in group situations.

Social Facilitation

Improved performance on tasks in the presence of others.

Social Trap (and/or Dilemma)

A situation where individuals act in their own interest but harm the group in the long run.

Superordinate Goals

Shared goals that require cooperation between conflicting groups.

Prosocial Behavior

Positive, helpful, and cooperative behavior.

Altruism

Selfless concern for the well-being of others.

Social Responsibility Norm

The expectation that people should help those in need.

The Bystander Effect

The tendency for people to be less likely to help when others are present.

Social Exchange Theory

The idea that relationships are based on a cost-benefit analysis.

Reciprocity Norm

The expectation that people will return favors and acts of kindness.

Personality

An individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting.

Psychodynamic Theory

A psychological perspective that analyzes how behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts, originating from Freud’s theories.

Psychoanalysis

Freud’s theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; also, a therapeutic technique used to expose and interpret unconscious tensions.

Free Association

A psychoanalytic technique in which a person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing, to explore the unconscious.

Id

The part of the unconscious mind that seeks to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives, operating on the pleasure principle.

Ego

The rational part of personality that mediates between the id and superego, operating on the reality principle.

Superego

The part of personality that represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment, striving for perfection.

Defense Mechanisms

Unconscious protective behaviors that reduce anxiety by distorting reality.

Denial

Refusing to accept reality or facts to protect oneself from experiencing anxiety.

Displacement

Shifting aggressive or sexual impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person.

Projection

Attributing one’s own unacceptable thoughts, feelings, or motives to another person.

Rationalization

Justifying behaviors or feelings in a way that avoids the true reasons for them.

Reaction Formation

Acting in a manner opposite to one’s true feelings to reduce anxiety.

Regression

Reverting to an earlier stage of development in response to stress.

Repression

Burying distressing thoughts and feelings in the unconscious.

Sublimation

Redirecting socially unacceptable impulses into acceptable activities.

Projective Tests

Personality assessments that use ambiguous stimuli to reveal unconscious thoughts and feelings.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

A projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through stories they make up about ambiguous scenes.

Rorschach Inkblot Test

A projective test that uses inkblots to analyze a person’s inner feelings based on their interpretations.

Preconscious

The part of the mind containing thoughts and memories that are not currently in awareness but can be easily retrieved.

Unconscious

The part of the mind that holds thoughts, memories, and desires not consciously accessible but influencing behavior.

Collective Unconscious

Carl Jung’s theory that a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species’ history influences human behavior.

Humanistic Psychology

A perspective that emphasizes personal growth, free will, and self-actualization.

Unconditional Positive Regard

A caring, accepting, nonjudgmental attitude that Carl Rogers believed fosters self-awareness and growth.

Self-Actualizing Tendency

The drive to fulfill one’s full potential and achieve personal growth.

Social-Cognitive Theory

A perspective that views behavior as influenced by interactions between people’s traits and their social environment.

Behavioral Approach

A perspective emphasizing how the environment shapes behavior through conditioning.

Reciprocal Determinism

The interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment.

Self

The core of an individual’s personality, involving self-awareness and self-perception.

Self-Concept

A person’s understanding and evaluation of themselves.