AP Psychology- Social Psychology, Motivation, Emotion, and Personality

What is social psychology?

A subfield in psychology that deals with how our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by our social interactions with others.

What are social perceptions?

Processes by which we form impressions, make judgments, and develop attitudes about the people and events that constitute our social world.

What is impression formation?

The process of developing an opinion or impression of another person.

Define social schema.

A mental image or representation that we use to understand our social environment.

What are stereotypes?

Oversimplified generalizations about the characteristics, attitudes, and behaviors of members of a particular group.

What is a self-fulfilling prophecy?

An expectation that helps bring about the outcome that is expected.

What is attribution in psychology?

An assumption about the causes of behavior or events.

What are dispositional causes?

Causes relating to the internal characteristics or traits of individuals.

Define situational causes.

Causes relating to external or environmental events.

What is the fundamental attribution error?

The tendency to attribute behavior to internal causes without regard to situational influences.

What does the actor-observer effect refer to?

The tendency to attribute the causes of one's own behavior to situational factors while attributing the causes of other people's behavior to internal factors or dispositions.

What is self-serving bias?

The tendency to take credit for our accomplishments and to explain away our failures or disappointments.

Define attitude.

A positive or negative evaluation of persons, objects, or issues.

What is the elaboration likelihood model?

A theoretical model that posits two channels by which persuasive appeals lead to attitude change: a central route and a peripheral route.

What does attraction refer to in social psychology?

Feelings of liking for others, along with having positive thoughts about them and inclinations to act toward them in positive ways.

What is the matching hypothesis?

The belief that people tend to pair off with others who are similar to themselves in physical attractiveness and other characteristics.

Define proximity in social psychology.

Nearness or propinquity.

What is reciprocity in social relationships?

The principle that people tend to like others who like them back.

What is prosocial behavior?

Behavior that benefits others.

What is bystander intervention?

Helping a stranger in distress.

Define social norms.

Standards that define what is socially acceptable in a given situation.

What is prejudice?

A preconceived opinion or attitude about an issue, person, or group.

What does discrimination refer to in social psychology?

Unfair or biased treatment of people based on their membership in a particular group or category.

What are in-groups?

Social, religious, ethnic, or national groups with which one identifies.

Define out-groups.

Groups other than those with which one identifies.

What does out-group negativism refer to?

A cognitive bias involving the predisposition to attribute more negative characteristics to members of out-groups than to those of in-groups.

What is in-group favoritism?

A cognitive bias involving the predisposition to attribute more positive characteristics to members of in-groups than to those of out-groups.

Define out-group homogeneity.

A cognitive bias describing the tendency to perceive members of out-groups as more alike than members of in-groups.

What characterizes an authoritarian personality?

A personality type characterized by rigidity, prejudice, and excessive concerns with obedience and respect for authority.

What is the contact hypothesis?

Allport's belief that under certain conditions, increased intergroup contact helps reduce prejudice and intergroup tension.

Define frustration in a psychological context.

A negative emotional state experienced when one's efforts are blocked.

What does compliance mean in social psychology?

The tendency to accede to the requests or demands of others.

What is social validation?

The tendency to use other people's behavior as a standard for judging the appropriateness of one's own behavior.

What is the foot-in-the-door technique?

A compliance technique based on securing compliance with a smaller request as a prelude to making a larger request.

What does bait-and-switch refer to in compliance techniques?

A compliance technique based on 'baiting' an individual with an unrealistically attractive offer and then replacing it with a less attractive offer.

Define the low-ball technique.

A compliance technique based on obtaining a person's initial agreement to purchase an item at a lower price before revealing hidden costs that raise the ultimate price.

What is the door-in-the-face technique?

A compliance technique in which refusal of a large unreasonable request is followed by a smaller, more reasonable request.

What does obedience mean in psychology?

Compliance with commands or orders issued by others, usually persons in a position of authority.

What is legitimization of authority?

The tendency to grant legitimacy to the orders or commands of persons in authority.

Define racism.

A negative bias held toward others based on their ethnicity or racial identification.

What is stereotype threat?

A sense of threat evoked in members of stereotyped groups when they believe they may be judged or treated stereotypically.

What is personal identity?

Part of our psychological identity that involves our sense of ourselves as unique individuals.

What is social identity?

Part of our psychological identity that involves our sense of ourselves as members of particular groups.

Define conformity.

The tendency to adjust one's behavior to actual or perceived social pressures.

What is social facilitation?

The tendency to work better or harder in the presence of others than when alone.

What does social loafing refer to?

The tendency to expend less effort when working as a member of a group than when working alone.

Define deindividuation.

Loss of self-awareness that may occur when one acts in concert with the actions of a crowd.

What is group polarization?

The tendency for members of decision-making groups to shift toward more extreme views in whatever direction they were initially leaning.

What is the risky-shift phenomenon?

A type of group polarization effect in which a group discussion leads to the adoption of a riskier course of action than the members would have endorsed initially.

What does groupthink refer to?

Janis's term for the tendency of members of a decision-making group to be more focused on reaching a consensus than on critically examining the issues at hand.

What is telecommuting?

A form of working at home in which people communicate with their home office and clients via computer or telecommunication.

Define organizational culture.

A system of shared values and norms within an organization.

What is motivation?

The process of starting, directing, and maintaining physical and psychological activities.

What are instincts?

Preprogrammed tendencies that are essential to a species's survival.

Define drive-reduction theory.

A theory of motivation stating that motivation arises from imbalances in homeostasis.

What is a need in psychology?

Something essential for survival.

What is a drive?

An internal state that arises in response to a disequilibrium in an animal's physiological needs.

Define primary drives.

Drives that are directly related to survival, such as the need for food, water, and oxygen.

What are secondary drives?

Drives that are learned or acquired through experience, such as the drive to achieve monetary wealth.

What is homeostasis?

Constancy or equilibrium of the internal conditions of the body.

What does arousal theory propose?

People have an optimal level of tension that they seek to maintain by increasing or decreasing stimulation.

What is the Yerkes-Dodson law?

The psychological principle stating that performance is best under conditions of moderate arousal rather than either low or high arousal.

Define opponent-process theory of motivation.

The primary or initial reaction to an emotional event (State A) will be followed by an opposite secondary emotional state (State B).

What are incentives?

External stimuli or rewards that motivate behavior although they do not relate directly to biological needs.

What is Maslow's hierarchy of needs?

A motivational theory in psychology comprising a five-tier model of human needs.

Define self-actualization.

A concept in personality psychology referring to a person's constant striving to realize his or her potential.

What is the lateral hypothalamus's function?

Controls hunger, thirst, and emotions.

What is the function of the ventromedial hypothalamus?

Responsible for the feeling of satiation.

What does set-point theory refer to?

The range of weight the body has to perform its best.

What is achievement motivation?

A desire for significant accomplishment: for mastery of things, people, or ideas.

What is extrinsic motivation?

A desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened punishment.

Define intrinsic motivation.

A desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake.

What does James-Lange theory of emotion state?

An emotional stimulus triggers a behavioral response that sends feedback to the brain, creating the feeling of a specific emotion.

What is the Cannon-Bard theory of emotion?

A theory stating that an emotional stimulus produces two co-occurring reactions — arousal and experience of emotion.

Define emotion.

A complex pattern of changes, including physiological arousal, feelings, cognitive processes, and behavioral reactions.

What does the two-factor theory propose?

To experience emotion one must (1) be physically aroused and (2) cognitively label the arousal.

What is general adaptation syndrome (GAS)?

The pattern of nonspecific adaptational physiological mechanisms in response to continuing threats.

What is personality in psychology?

The psychological qualities of an individual that influences characteristic behavior patterns across different situations.

What characterizes a type A behavior pattern?

Includes excessive emphasis on competition, aggression, impatience, and hostility.

What is a type B behavior pattern?

A less competitive and less aggressive pattern of behavior.

What is stage theory?

The idea that an individual must pass through one stage of development before reaching the next stage.

Define Oedipus crisis.

According to Freud, a boy's sexual desires toward his mother and hostility toward his rival father.

What is meant by the unconscious?

The domain of the psyche that stores repressed urges and primitive impulses.

What is the id in Freud's theory?

The primitive, unconscious part of the personality that strives for basic drives.

What is the ego in psychoanalysis?

The aspect of personality involved in self-preservation activities and directing instincts into appropriate channels.

Define the superego.

The aspect of personality representing internalized values and standards of society.

What are defense mechanisms?

The ego's protective methods of reducing anxiety by distorting reality.

What is womb envy according to Horney?

The notion that men may feel envy because they cannot bear children.

What does personal unconscious refer to?

Jung's term for the unconscious mind as described by Freud.

What is the collective unconscious?

Part of an individual's unconscious inherited and common to all members of the species.

What are complexes in Jung's theory?

Core patterns of emotions and memories organized around a common theme.

What are archetypes?

Universal symbols representing common human experiences.

What are trait theories?

Theoretical views stressing that personality consists of broad, enduring traits.

What are the big five traits?

Openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism (OCEAN).

What is factor analysis?

A statistical method used to identify clusters of related items on a test.

What does temperament refer to?

The innate aspects of an individual's personality, such as introversion or extroversion.

Define somatotype theory.

William Sheldon's theory suggesting body type influences personality.

What does triadic reciprocal determination refer to?

A behavioral and personality model that includes the interaction of behavior, internal cognition, and environment.

Define self-efficacy.

The belief in one's ability to succeed in specific situations.

What is locus of control?

A person's belief about the extent to which they control the outcomes of events in their lives.