Social Psych Exam 1

Social Psychology 1

The attempt to understand and explain how the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of other human beings

Three Key Elements of the Scientific Process

1) Systematic Observations 2) Examination of solvable problems

3)Public knowledge

Cold Read

Broad guesses that narrow down based on the participants responses

Hot Read

Doing research on the participant before hand

Barnum Effect

the psychological tendency to accept vague, general personality descriptions as uniquely applicable to oneself

ex. At times you are extroverted, sociable, while at other times you are introverted, wary, reserved.

How are many psychological and educational interventions not put to the scientific test?

Critical Incident Stress Debriefings

we don’t need as much debriefing and therapy after traumatic events as we think, we are actually quite resilient (we just assumed we needed it)

Two Ways to Misinterpret Correlations

Directionality and Third Variable

Third Variable

A possible outside variable could be the reason for the seen correlation

Directionality

Instead of variable A influencing variable B, Variable B is influencing Variable A

Manipulation, comparison, and control

Three Key Elements of Experimentation

Manipulation

the purposeful and deliberate change of one or more independent variables by the researcher to observe its effect on the dependent variable

Comparison

the element of testing a treatment or intervention against a standard, alternative, or placebo condition

Control

A variable with no changes to standard conditions

Independent Variable

The factor being changed

Dependent Variable

The response factor, or the results of the changes in the independent variable

Correlational vs. Experimental Study

Correlational is an unmanipulated study (relationship between two variables in its natural setting), and in an experimental study, one variable is being manipulated to test the cause-and-effect relationship between two or more variables (needs random assignment)

Difference between a manipulated and a selected independent variable

A manipulated variable is one that you can actively control or change, while a selected independent variable is a characteristic that exists within your participants that you cannot alter or control. 

Construct, Internal, and External

Three main types of validity when examining a study

Construct Validity

Accuracy of Measurements and Manipulations

ex. were the participants engaged? Could they see through the experiment?

Internal Validity

Can the researcher make cause-and-effect statements?

External Validity

Generalizability of results

ex. could this generalize to other groups besides the ones tested? Is there a wide range who were tested? This happened in the lab, could it translate to the real world?

Quasi Experiment

Participants are not randomly assigned to conditions. They are already organized into groups that can be assigned to conditions 

ex. schools that have different start times

Facilitated Communication Findings

They compared the results of the facilitator's interpretation of what an object is and the autistic individuals' response when they were not receiving help from the facilitator. The autistic individuals were not able to identify objects correctly without the help of the facilitator, in comparison to when they did have assistance from the facilitator. 

Replication Crisis

Psychology studies are not being replicated or repeated to verify or prove the validity of their results. Instead, society accepts the results from the study the first time without confirmation of reproducibility. 

Self Knowledge, Interpersonal Self, Agent Self

Three key areas of the self

Self Knowledge

Self Awareness, information about self, self-esteem, self deceptions

Agent Self

Decision Making, Self-control, taking charge of situations, active responding

Interpersonal Self

Public self, self presentation, member of groups, relationship partner, social roles, reputation

Planning Fallacy

An individual estimating that a task will take less time than it realistically does

Affective Forecasting

Predicting the intensity and duration of future emotions

Impact Bias

Overestimating the enduring impact of emotion-causing events

ex. Your FB team won the super bowl and you think you’ll be on cloud nine all year, but realistically the excitement wears away after a day

Immune Neglect

Tendency to neglect the speed and strength of the psychological immune system which enables recovery and resilience after bad things happen

Synthetic Happiness

An individual thinking that something will take less time than it realistically does. 

ex. “i am so much better off” “It turned out for the best”

Problems with Self-esteem Movements in Schools

Promoted narcissism and arrogance, formed risk-averse and fear of failure behaviors, and a disconnect between objective achievements

What were the conditions of obedience that Milgram found?

1. People are highly likely to obey authority, even when it goes against their own moral beliefs

2. Emotional distance 

3. Closeness of authority 

4. Institutioinal authority 

5. Liberating effects of group influence

Obedience

Compliance of abehavior in response to a direct command from a person in authority

Milgram’s Experiment

(May 1962) An authority figure encourages 40 male Yale students to shock vulnerable victims. They shock people from 15 v- all the way up to 450 V (if they make it that far) when they get questions they are being asked wrong. An increase in shock with each error. Will they obey? 2/3 of the subjects made it all the way to 450 V. 

Why did Milgram conduct the obedience experiments?

He was afraid of the Holacaust happening again. So he wanted to test if people would kill if someone in an authority position told them to. Since that is what the Germans did the Jews. 

What did the “teacher” Herbert Winer say was important about how Milgram conducted the obedience experiment?

Don’t ask people what they would do in that situation, you put them in the situation. 

Foot-in-the-door Obedience Experiments

They start at 15 V and work their way up to 450 V. Its like baby steps. If you ask someone to jump right to shocking someone at 450 V they are more likely to say no, then if you ease them into the torturing process. Going from smaller requests to larger ones. 

Recent Reinterpretations of Milgram’s Obedience Experiments

1. Less about obedience and more about “engaged followership” 

1. For some participants they may have seen it as a social contract that they were entering into with the experimenter 

2. When the fourth prod was sued “You have no other choice but to continue”) no subject continued

3. Some participants really didn’t think the “learner” was being harmed. 

Situations that increased Obedience

1. The person giving the orders is close at hand and percieved to be a legititamate authority 

2. The authority figured is assosicated with a prestigous institution 

3. The victim is depersonalized or in another room 

4. No role models for disobeying the authority figure

Differences between Propaganda vs. Education

The flexibility of language. Good message= education. Bad Message= propaganda 

Simply depends on the individual's opinion on what’s good vs. bad.

Persuasion

Process by which a message induces changes in beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors

Two message routes of persuasion

Central and Peripheral

Central Persuasion Route

Focusing on the arguments. Used when people are motivated and able to think about an issue. DIRECT!

Peripheral Persuasion Route

Focusing on the cues that trigger acceptance without thinking too much

Six Principles that elicit compliance

1. Commitment (Foot-in-the-door)

2. Scarcity (Limited Time Offer)

3. Authority (Seen as credible)

4. Reciprocity (Feeling indebted)

5. Liking (Attractiveness/aesthetic)

6. Consensus (Social Proof)

Q-Ratings

Respondents are given the choices for each person or item being surveyed. The score is calculated by dividing the percetage of respondents who answer “One of my favorites” by the Toal percentage of respondents who are familiar with the subject times 100. 

Three Key Elements of a Cult

A charismatic leader, mind control, and exploitation

Group

Two or more people- for longer than a few moments- interact with and influence one another and perceive one another as “us”

Anonymity, Contagion, Suggestibility

Three Key Elements to Crowd Psychology

Group Polarization

When a somewhat agreed upon belief in a group intensifies as they discuss it. Conservatives become more conservative when surrounded by each other over time, and liberal become more liberal as they spend time with each other. Extremified opinions. 

Social Faciliation

a psychological phenomenon where the presence of others improves an individual's performance on a task (simple task- arousal increases performance) (difficult task- too much arousal hinders performance)

Why are we aroused in the presence of others?

It triggers a heightened state of alertness due to increased stimuli, a concern about being evaluated, and the potential for distractions

Social Loafing

Tendency for people to exert less effort when they pool their efforts towards a common goal than when they are individually accountable

Free Rider

people who benefit from the group rewards but offer little in return

How can you reduce social loafing?

You can reduce social loafing by making the task more challenging, appealing (significant rewards), and involving (creates a sense of “we”)

5 Phases of Group Development

Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning

Forming Phase

members become orientated 

Storming Phase

conflict occurs

Norming Phase

standards for behaviors and roles are established

Performing Phase

the group has reached a point where it can work as a unit to achieve desired goals

Adjourning Phase

the group disbands

Deindividuation

Loss of self-awareness and evaluation apprehension; occurs in group situations that foster responsiveness to group norms, good or bad

When is deindividuation likely to occur?

when there are feelings of anonymity, in larger groups, doing arousing or distracting activities, diminished self-awareness

ex. kids on Halloween and the amount of candy they take

Collective Effervescence

The idea is the shared feeling of awe when you are moving in unison with others.

Examples of Collective Effervescence

Cheering on the yankees in the stands at the championship.

Dancing all together in a mosh pit at homecoming. 

Creator of Collective Effervescence

Dacher Keltner

What psychological needs does fandom meet?

1. Need to belong 

2. Distinctiveness 

3. Certainty and Structure 

4. Provide meaning to life

Foot-in-the-door Example

a charity worker might first ask if you're willing to wear a small "Save the Environment" pin, and after you agree, they then ask you to sign a petition and donate to their cause

Door in the face phenomenon

a salesperson might ask for a $500 purchase, and when refused, follow up by offering the same item for $200

Low-ball technique

a car salesman might advertise a car at a very low price to get a customer's commitment, then, after the customer has invested time and effort, inform them of hidden fees or a higher actual price, relying on the customer's desire for consistency to accept the new terms. 

What predicts conformity?

1. Group Size (3-5)

2. Cohesion, Status (“WE” feeling)

3. Public Response (Private vs. Public)

4. Prior Commitment (Have you promised to perform a certain way)

5. Unanimity (Is every else but you disagreeing)

Affect, Behavior, Cognition

ABCs of Attitudes

Affect (ABC)

mere exposure effect- our tendency to develop preferences for things simply because we are familiar with them

Behavior (ABC)

What your actions say about your attitude

Cognition (ABC)

refers to beliefs, thoughts, and attributes associated with an attribute object

When are attitudes most likely to predict behaviors?

1. When the measures of the attitude are very specific 

2. Behaviors are aggregated over time and situations 

3. Attitudes are consciously prominent and influence thought regarding the choice

4. Attitudes come to mind easily

What is an example of how attitudes have not predicted behaviors?

• Participants: LaPierre traveled across the U.S. for 2 years with a Chinese-American couple.

• Procedure:

  • They visited 251 hotels, restaurants, and other establishments.

  • At each location, LaPierre observed whether the couple was served or refused service.

  • Only 1 out of 251 establishments refused service.

  • Later, LaPierre sent a questionnaire to the same establishments, asking:

    "Will you accept members of the Chinese race in your establishment?"

  • 92% of respondents said they would not accept Chinese guests.

Social Cognition

The mental processes that underlie human social behavior

Examples of Embodied Cognition

1. Judge other people to be more generous and caring after they had briefly held a warm cup of coffee, rather than a cold drink.

2. Those sitting in hard, cushionless chairs were less willing to compromise in price negotiations than people who sat in soft, comfortable chairs.

Framing

The Flexibility of language

90% lean meat vs. 10% fat meat

In the summer of 2020 there were riots in Mpls vs. In the summer of 2020 there was social unrest

False Uniqueness Effect

Tendency to underestimate the number of people who share one’s prized characteristics or abilities

False Consensus Effect

Tendency to overestimate the number of other people who share one’s opinion

Confirmation Bias

eager to verify our beliefs, less inclined to disprove them

Overconfidence

Unaware of our errors

Remedies for Overconfidence

Explain why statement is wrong, get people to think of one good reason why their judgement might be wrong, break the task or opinion down

Representative Heuristic

The tendency to presume, sometimes despite contrary odds, that someone or something belonged to a particular group if resembling a typical member.

Availability Heuristic

A cognitive rule that judges the likelihood of things in terms of their availability in memory.  If instances of something come readily to mind, we presume it to be commonplace.

Conjunction Fallacy

when someone judges that the probability of two events occurring together (a conjunction) is more likely than the probability of one of those events alone

Illusory Thinking

Perception of a relationship where none exists, or perception of a stronger relationship than actually exists

How is gambling and regression to the mean related to illusory thinking?

1. Gambler’s Fallacy (a type of illusory thinking)

• Belief: “After a series of losses, I’m due for a win.”

• This assumes outcomes will "balance out" in the short term, which isn’t true for independent random events (like a roulette wheel or slot machine).

Connection: They’re mistaking regression to the mean for a kind of predictable correction, when in fact each event is independent and random.

How do moods impact judgements?

Good and bad moods trigger memories of experiences associated with those moods. Moods color our interpretations of current experiences.

Belief Perseverance

 Persistence of one’s initial conceptions, such as when the basis for one’s belief is discredited but an explanation of why the belief might be true survives.

Fundamental Attribution Error

When trying to understand the cause of someone’s current behavior, we tend to overestimate the influence of personal traits and underestimate the influence of the situation

Why do most Westerners make the fundamental attribution error?

People are taught to see themselves and others as independent individuals with stable characteristics.

How does the fundamental attribution error relate to the Milgram Obedience experiments?

When people learn about Milgram’s results, they often respond like this:

“I would never do that.”
“Those people must have been cruel, heartless, or morally weak.”

✅ This is a classic example of the fundamental attribution error—assuming the participants obeyed because of internal flaws (e.g., being "bad people") while ignoring the powerful situational pressures they faced.

Weak Ties

Weak tie relationships are social connections that are not very close or intimate, such as acquaintances, distant colleagues, or casual contacts. They contrast with strong ties, which include close friends and family members.

Benefits of Weak Ties

Increased happiness, access to novel information and experiences, combating loneliness, and enhancing social networks