social psych 1

Self-concept (העצמי מושג)

The sum of all the beliefs that a person has about himself.

Self perception theory (Bem)

People learn about themselves by observing their own behavior, especially when internal cues are vague.

Overjustification effect

When external rewards or reasons for a behavior become salient, people may infer that their intrinsic motivation for that behavior is lower.

Self-reference effect

Information processed in relation to the self is remembered better.

Self discrepancy theory (Higgins)

Our self-perceptions have motivational functions, describing potential gaps between the Actual self (who we think we truly are), Ideal self (who we want to be), and Ought self (who we believe we should be).

Actual self

Who we think we truly are.

Ideal self

Who we want to be.

Ought self

Who we believe we should be, often representing expectations from others.

Promotion focus

An orientation associated with the ideal self, driven by motivation for advancement and achieving desired outcomes, often resulting in feelings of joy and satisfaction upon achievement.

Prevention focus

An orientation associated with the ought self, driven by motivation for avoiding negative outcomes and meeting obligations or expectations, often resulting in feelings of relief or calmness upon meeting expectations.

Causal attribution

The process of trying to understand the reasons for human behavior. We are motivated to find explanations for events and behaviors.

Foot in the door effect

When a person agrees to a small request, they are more likely to agree to a subsequent, larger request, often explained by self-attribution processes.

Entity theory (Fixed mindset) (Carol Dweck)

The belief that intelligence or ability is a fixed quality that performance reflects. Failure is attributed to this fixed ability, leading to helplessness and avoidance of challenges.

Incremental theory (Growth mindset) (Carol Dweck)

The belief that intelligence or ability is a changing, flexible thing that can be cultivated through learning and effort. Academic success is attributed to investment and effort.

Man as a scientist (Heider)

The view that people seek reasons for what happens around them, similar to how a scientist seeks reasons for natural phenomena. People act as social scientists trying to understand their own and others' behaviors.

Covariation Model (Kelly)

A theory suggesting that behavior is attributed to a factor (person, situation) that is present when the behavior occurs and absent when it does not. It involves checking Consensus, Distinctiveness, and Consistency.

Consensus

Whether other people behave similarly in the same situation (High consensus -> situation; Low consensus -> person).

Distinctiveness

Whether the person behaves differently in other situations (High distinctiveness -> situation; Low distinctiveness -> person).

Consistency

Whether the person behaves similarly in the same situation at different times (High consistency -> person/situation; Low consistency -> situational/random).

Random error (מקרית טעות)

A mistake that cannot be explained.

Systematic error (שיטתית טעות)

An inaccurate measurement or bias that can potentially be corrected.

Fundamental attribution error

The tendency to overemphasize dispositional (person) factors and underemphasize situational factors when explaining the behavior of others.

Just world

A belief that everyone gets what they deserve, which can influence attributions.

Perceptual salience

People or aspects of the situation that are most noticeable tend to receive more attribution. We focus on what is most salient in our perspective.

Actor-observer bias

When explaining their own behavior, people attribute more to the situation; when explaining others' behavior, they attribute more to the person's characteristics.

Pluralistic ignorance

A situation where people believe others feel differently than they do, despite everyone behaving in the same way, often due to embarrassment or misinterpreting others' behavior.

Order effects

The order in which information is presented influences how it is judged and encoded.

Primacy effect

Information presented first has a disproportionate influence on judgment, often by shaping the interpretation of later information.

Recency effect

Information presented last has a disproportionate influence on judgment.

Bottom-up processing

Data-driven information processing, where conclusions are drawn based on stimuli in the external world. Building general understanding from details.

Top-down processing

Theory-based information processing, where new information is filtered and interpreted based on pre-existing knowledge and expectations (schemas).

Schema (ידע מבנה)

A mental representation that organizes previous knowledge, influencing attention, memory, and interpretation of new information.

Confirmation bias

The tendency to search for or interpret information in a way that confirms one's pre-existing beliefs or hypotheses.

Construal (הבנייה)

Using schemas and prior knowledge to give subjective meaning to stimuli and interpret behaviors.

Priming (הטרמה)

Procedures that momentarily activate a particular idea or schema, influencing subsequent information processing, judgment, and behavior.

Dual approach to judgment and decision making

Describes two cognitive systems for processing information: System 1 (intuitive, automatic, fast) and System 2 (rational, controlled, slow).

System 1

The intuitive, not conscious, automatic, fast, associative, emotional system, operating without significant cognitive resources.

System 2

The conclusive, conscious, controlled, slow, cognitive energy-dependent, logical, rational system.

Heuristic

A rule of thumb or mental shortcut that provides a quick and economical, though not always accurate, solution to judgment problems.

Bias (הטיה)

A systematic error in thinking, often caused by the use of heuristics.

Methodological bias

A judgment demonstrating a systematic deviation from a norm or standard, often a result of using heuristics.

Availability heuristic

Estimating the probability or frequency of an event based on how easily examples come to mind (ease of recall). It can lead to over or underestimation due to factors like salience, recency, or vividness.

Unpacking phenomena

People tend to give a higher probability to a detailed description of an event than to a less detailed one.

Anchoring heuristic

When making an estimate, people tend to start with an initial value (anchor) and adjust from there, but the adjustment is often insufficient.

Insufficient adjustment

The tendency to not adjust sufficiently away from the initial anchor point.

Representativeness heuristic

Evaluating probability or categorization based on how well something matches a prototype or perceived characteristics, reflecting an implicit assumption that "like goes with like". This can sometimes lead to ignoring base-rate information.

Attitude (עמדה)

An evaluation of an object along a positive-negative dimension, involving Affect (feelings), Cognitions (beliefs/knowledge), and associated Behaviors.

Affect/Emotion

Feelings about an object (liking/disliking, specific emotions).

Cognitions

Beliefs about an object (knowledge, memories).

Behaviors

Actions taken regarding the object and behavioral intentions.

Strength of position (Availability)

The extent to which an attitude is readily accessible and influential on thinking and behavior.

Response time (Response latency)

The time it takes to respond to an attitude question; shorter times often indicate stronger attitudes.

Fluency

The ease or difficulty associated with information processing, which can influence judgments. Easier processing (fluency) can be perceived as more valid or truthful. Difficulty (disfluency) can lead to slower, more analytical processing.

Likert scale

A numerical scale used to assess attitudes, typically with labeled anchors at each extreme.

Physiological measures

Methods like measuring facial muscle activity or brain activity used to assess attitudes indirectly.

Social me (William James)

Refers to the parts of self-knowledge derived from social relationships; the self is seen as a social entity.

Introspection

Focusing attention on oneself in a deliberate attempt to enhance self-understanding.

Narrated self (McAdams)

People continuously weave stories about themselves to integrate goals and make sense of life.

Self-schemas

Organized mental representations of people's beliefs and feelings about themselves, in general and in specific situations, that help process self-relevant information more quickly and remember schema-consistent information better.

Self-affirmation theory

Efforts to maintain an overall sense of self-worth when confronted with threats to a valued self-image, often by affirming other positive qualities.

Automatic self-control strategies

Self-control strategies deployed automatically, linking temptations to goals to help resist impulsive behavior.

Self-presentation

Presenting oneself in a particular way to others.

Self-monitoring

Adjusting one's behavior in different situations.

Self-handicapping

Engaging in self-defeating behaviors to provide an excuse for potential failure, protecting the public self and self-worth.

Discounting principle

Our confidence in a particular cause for an outcome is reduced if other plausible causes exist.

Augmentation principle

(Implied counterpoint to discounting) Confidence in a cause increases if the outcome occurs despite inhibiting factors.

Theory of mind

The ability to understand others' beliefs and desires, which is central to comprehending their behavior.

Social cognition

The study of how people think about others and the social world.

Framing effect

The influence on judgment resulting from how information is presented, including order or wording.

Pure framing effect

Changing the frame of reference (like order) while keeping information content the same.

Spin framing

Framing that changes the content or emphasis to favor a particular perspective.

Temporal frame

Thinking about actions and events within a particular time perspective.

Construal level theory

Theory about the relationship between psychological distance and abstract or concrete thinking. Distant events are thought of abstractly, near events concretely.

Subliminal stimulus

A stimulus presented below the threshold of conscious awareness that can still prime schemas.

Rational system

(See System 2) Slower, controlled cognitive system based on rules and deduction.

Intuitive system

(See System 1) Automatic cognitive system performing mental operations that influence judgment, such as assessing availability or similarity.

Illusory correlations

The belief that two things are related when they are not, often due to selective attention to instances that fit expectations.

Dual-Process Approaches to Persuasion

Models suggesting people process persuasive messages sometimes mindlessly (peripheral/heuristic route) and sometimes deeply (central/systematic route).

Elaboration-likelihood model (ELM) (Petty & Cacioppo)

A persuasion model with two routes: central and peripheral.

Heuristic-systematic model (HSM) (Chaiken)

A persuasion model with two routes: systematic (central) and heuristic (peripheral).

Central (systematic) route

Persuasion occurs through careful, deliberate thinking about the message content, logic, and argument strength. Leads to more enduring attitude change.

Peripheral (heuristic) route

Persuasion occurs by attending to easy-to-process, superficial cues like source attractiveness, expertise, or message length, without much thought about the arguments. Leads to temporary attitude change.

Motivation (in persuasion processing)

The extent to which a person is willing to devote time and energy to processing a message; high motivation (e.g., due to personal relevance) increases central route processing.

Ability (in persuasion processing)

The extent to which a person has sufficient cognitive resources, time, and knowledge to process a message deeply; high ability increases central route processing.

Source characteristics (in persuasion)

Aspects of the person delivering the message that influence persuasion, including attractiveness, credibility, and certainty.

Attractiveness

Likable or physically appealing sources are often more persuasive, especially via the peripheral route.

Credibility

Credible sources (high expertise and trustworthiness) are more persuasive.

Expertise

Knowledge or skill in a domain; a component of credibility.

Trustworthiness

Perceived honesty and lack of bias; a component of credibility.

Certainty

Sources who express views with confidence tend to be more persuasive.

Sleeper effect

Messages from unreliable sources may initially have little influence but increase in persuasiveness over time as the message content is dissociated from the source.

Message characteristics (in persuasion)

Aspects of the message content that influence persuasion, including quality, vividness, and the use of fear appeals.

Message quality

Messages that are logical, clear, appeal to values, and state desirable consequences are generally more persuasive, especially via the central route. Explicit conclusions and arguing against self-interest can increase quality.

Vividness

Messages that are colorful, interesting, and memorable can be more effective, but the vivid information must be relevant to the message.

Fear (in message)

Fear-inducing messages can be effective if they include clear, concrete steps to address the source of the fear; too much fear can lead to denial.

Audience characteristics (in persuasion)

Characteristics of the message recipients influencing persuasion, including need for cognition, mood, age, and audience size/diversity.

Need for cognition

A person's tendency to enjoy thinking deeply; high need for cognition increases central route processing, while low need increases peripheral processing.

Mood

People in a positive mood are often more easily persuaded, particularly via the peripheral route.