Social Psych Exam 1

why do people do what they do?

B = f(P,S)

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behavior is determined both by what you’re like as a person and the situation you’re responding to

* inside stuff: personality traits, temperaments, unique experiences
* outside stuff: the social situation

social psychology

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

social reality

people tend to want to attribute behavior to a cause

* two people may react differently to a situation because they think differently
* objective reality exists, but we always view it through the lens of our beliefs and values

social influences shape our behavior

we speak and think in words that we learned from others

* social situations have a powerful effect on behavior (Nazi influence)
* culture helps define our situations

social neuroscience

explores the neural bases of social and emotional processes and behaviors

* biopsychosocial organisms

culture

the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared and passed on by a large group of people

social representation

a society’s widely held ideas and values

two criticisms of social psychology

* trivial because it documents the obvious
* dangerous because it could be used to manipulate people

hindisight bias

the tendency to exaggerate one’s ability to have foreseen how something turned out

theory

an integrated set of principles that explain and predict observed events

* good theories effectively summarize many observations and make clear predictions that can be used
* rule out alternative explanations

hypothesis

a testable proposition that describes a relationship that many exist between events

* can make a good theory practical
* allows us to test a theory
* gives direction to research

random vs. representative sample

random : one in which every person in the population being studied has an equal chance of inclusion (rare)

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representative: the sample accurately reflects the characteristics of the population

framing

the way a question or an issue is posed

* surveys and questionnaires must be constructed in a way that doesn’t bias responses
* order of questions
* wording
* framing

lab research

a controlled situation

field research

every day situations

* natural, real-life settings outside of lab

correlational research

study of the naturally occurring relationships among variables

* advantage: examines important variables in natural settings
* random assignment
* control
* disadvantage: interpretation of cause and effect is ambiguous

maximize external validity

experimental research

studies that seek clues to cause-effect relationships by manipulating some factor to see its effect on another

* maximize internal validity

correlation coefficient

“r”

* -1 to 1
* measure of effect size
* correlation does not specify cause and effect

random assignment

the process of assigning participants to the conditions of an experiment such that all persons have the same chance of being in a given condition

* eliminates extraneous factors
* main purpose is to minimize differences between groups

independent variable

the experimental factor that a researcher manipulates

dependent variable

the variable being measured, so called because it depends on manipulations of the IV

replication

repeating a research study, often with different participants in different settings, to determine whether a finding could be reproduced

mundane vs. experimental realism

experiments do not need to have mundane realism but they should have experimental realism

* mundane: the experiment is superficially similar to everyday situations
* experimental: the experiment absorbs and involves its participants

informed consent

research participants must be told enough to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate

debriefing

a full postexperimental explanation of the study to participants

deceiving people in experiments

sometimes done to achieve experimental realism

* deception: participants are misinformed or misled about the study’s methods and purposes
* demand characteristics: the cues in an experiment that tell the participant what behavior is expected

internal validity

ability of an experiment to establish the hypothesized cause-effect link

* confounds reduce internal validity by creating alternative explanations

external validity

extent to which an experiment’s result can be generalized to the larger population

* depends on representativeness of sample

spotlight effect

the belief that others are paying more attention to one’s appearance and behavior than they really are

illusion of transparency

the illusion that our concealed emotions leak out and can be easily read by others

self-concept

what we know and believe about ourselves

* “i” self vs. “me” self

self-schemas

beliefs about self that organize and guide the processing of self-relevant information

introspection

looking inside to access information about the self

* people ignore own behaviors because it doesn’t align with self-perception

social comparison

evaluations of one’s opinions and abilities by comparing oneself with others

* can diminish satisfaction
* looking-glass self: our use of how we think or imagine others perceive us as a mirror for perceiving ourselves

SEM Model

theory of how we maintain our self-esteem in the context of social relationships

* behave in a manner that will maintain or increase self-evaluation
* relationships with others impact self-evaluation
* reflection and comparison
* reflection: taking pleasure in another’s high-performance
* comparison: judging one’s own skills with reference to a high-performing other

individualism

the concept of giving priority to one’s own goals over group goals and defining one’s identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications

* generally in the west

independent self

construing one’s identity as an autonomous self -- as a unique individual with particular abilities, traits, values, and dreams

collectivism

giving priority to the goals of one’s group and defining one’s identity accordingly

* generally in the east

self-esteem

a person’s overall self-evaluation or sense of self-worth

* can be threatened by a failure or an unflattering comparison with someone else
* like yourself overall

planning fallacy

the tendency to underestimate how long it will take to complete a task

impact bias

overestimating the enduring impact of emotion-causing events

dual-attitude

automatic, implicit attitudes regarding someone or something often differ from consciously controlled, explicit attitudes

terror management theory

if self-esteem provides a feeling of cultural belonging, and cultural belonging buffers against death anxiety, then self-enhancement may buffer against mortality concerns

* mortality salience condition: describe emotions when thinking about death
* control: replace death with watching TV
* DV = degree to which people made internal attributions for positive events and external attributions for negative event
* internal attributions for positive = higher self esteem
* external attributions for negative = higher self esteem

longitudinal studies

studying the same people over an extended period of time

* found people who had low self-esteem as teens were more likely later to be depressed

self-enhancement

doing whatever it takes to maintain high self esteem

* want positive feedback
* vs. self-verification (verify pre-held beliefs about themselves)

self-efficacy

a sense that one is competent and effective -- how competent we feel on task

* belief you can do something

self-serving bias

the tendency to perceive oneself favorably

self-serving attributions

a form of self-serving bias; the tendency to attribute positive outcomes to oneself and negative outcomes to other factors

* may occur because of errors in how we process and remember information about ourselves

defensive pessimism

the adaptive value of anticipating problems and harnessing one’s anxiety to motivate effective action

false consensus effect

the tendency to overestimate the commonality of one’s opinions and one’s undesirable or unsuccessful behaviors

false uniqueness effect

the tendency to underestimate the commonality of one’s abilities and one’s undesirable or successful behaviors

self-handicapping

protecting one’s self-image with behaviors that create a handy excuse for later failure

self-presentation

expressing oneself and behaving in ways designed to create a favorable impression

self-monitoring

being attuned to the way one presents oneself in social situations and adjusting performance for the desired impression

two brain systems

system 1: automatic processing

* intuitive, automatic, unconscious, and fast way of thinking
* “intuition” / “gut-feeling”
* first impression judgements

system 2: controlled processing

* deliberate, controlled, conscious and slower way of thinking
* can override system 2

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system 1 influences more of our actions than we realize

priming

activating particular associations in memory; how events or actions influence the activation of stored knowledge

* much of our social information processing is automatic
* can influence our memory and how we behave

embodied cognition

mutual influence of bodily sensations on cognitive preferences and social judgements

* do something physically to affect / influence ourselves mentally

automatic processing

“implicit” thinking that is effortless, habitual, and without awareness

* roughly corresponds to System 1
* often involves schemas, emotional reactions, effects of expertise, and snap judgements

controlled processing

“explicit” thinking that is deliberate, reflective, and conscious

* roughly corresponds to system 2

limits of intuition

automatic thinking can seem to “make us smart” but unconscious is not always accurate

* error-prone hindsight judgements
* capacity for illusion

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although people create false beliefs but not all beliefs are false

overconfidence phenomenon

the tendency to be more confident than correct -- to overestimate the accuracy of one’s beliefs

* incompetence feeds overconfidence
* feeling easy ≠ being easy

confirmation bias

a tendency to search for information that confirms one’s perceptions

* diversity prevents from engaging in confirmation bias (feels uncomfortable)
* system 1 snap judgement

heuristic

a thinking strategy that enables quick, efficient judgements

representativeness heuristic

the tendency to presume, sometimes despite contrary odds, that someone or something belongs to a particular group if resembling (representing) a typical member

* stereotypes

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

* ex. see documentary on plane crashes, think it happens much more often, when in reality planes are usually safer than cars

counterfactual thinking

imagining alternative scenarios and outcomes that might have happened, but didn’t

illusory correlation

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

regression toward the average

the statistical tendency for extreme scores or extreme behavior to return toward their average

belief perserverance

persistence of one’s initial conceptions

* really difficult to demolish

misinformation effect

incorporating “misinformation” into one’s memory of an event and receiving misleading information about it

* “rosy retrospection”
* underreport bad behavior and overreport good behavior

misattribution

mistakenly attributing a behavior to the wrong source

attribution theory

the theory of how people explain others’' behavior

* dispositional vs. situational

dispositional attribution

attributing behavior to the person’s dispositions and traits

* comes more quickly to mind than situational

situational attribution

attributing behavior to the environment

spontaneous trait inference

an effortless, automatic inference of a trait after exposure to someone’s behavior

the discounting principle

the role of a given cause in producing a given effect is discounted (decreased) to the extent that other facilitating causes are present

* johnny stops to help bill, originally thought johnny is simply kind, but we learn that bill is johnny’s professor -- we now discount the belief that johnny is kind with the belief that johnny is simply “sucking up” to bill

augmentation principle

the role of a given cause in producing a given effect is augmented (increased) to the extent that inhibiting causes are present

* two students got a 100 on the test, instead of saying the test was easy, we praise the two students for being really smart

fundamental attribution error

the tendency for observers to underestimate situational influences and overestimate dispositional influences upon others’ behavior

* ex. assuming the questioning hosts on game shows are more intelligent than the contestants
* we observe others from a different perspective than we observe ourselves
* feels safer to come up with dispositional attributions for bad things (smoking → cancer)

self-fulfilling prophecy

a belief that leads to its own fulfillment

* experimenter bias: research participants sometimes live up to what they believe experimenters expect of them → inaccurate findings
* ex. teachers have higher expectations for some students than others, which students become aware of

behavioral confirmation

a type of self-fulfilling prophecy whereby people’s social expectations lead them to behave in ways that cause others to confirm their expectation

* ex. priming of racial stereotypes before tests → perform in a way that “accurately reflects” stereotype
* ex. think you’ll perform badly → don’t practice → perform badly, confirm beliefs of failing

attitude

feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond favorably or unfavorably to objects, people, and events

* do not predict varying behaviors

when attitudes predict behavior

* other influences on what we say and do are minimal
* attitude is specific to the behavior
* attitude is potent (if we think about them)
* situation matters too

implicit associations test (IAT)

a computer-driven assessment that uses reaction time to measure how quickly people associate concepts

* implicit biases are pervasive
* people differ in implicit bias
* people are often unaware of their implicit biases

role

a set of norms that defines how people in a given social position ought to behave

* what you’re expected to do
* ex. stanford prison study

self-presentation theory

assumes that for strategic reasons we express attitudes that make us appear consistent

* automatically pretend we hold attitudes consistent with our behaviors
* adjust/control impressions

cognitive dissonance

tension that arises when one is simultaneously aware of two inconsistent cognitions

* often adjust our thinking to reduce tension
* reduced by adding cognitions (failed exam bc prof hates me)…
* altering importance of cognitions (exam isn’t even worth much of grade)…
* changing cognitions (i’m not a good student)
* selective exposure: the tendency to seek information and media that agree with one’s views and to avoid dissonnant information
* we justify our behavior to reduce internal discomfort
* produces arousal

insufficient justification

reduction of dissonance by internally justifying one’s behavior when external justification is “insufficient”

self-perception theory

the theory that when we are unsure of our attitudes, we infer them much as we would someone observing us -- by looking at our behavior and the circumstances under which it occurs

* facial feedback effect: the tendency of facial expressions to trigger corresponding feelings such as fear, anger, or happiness
* overjustification effect: the result of bribing people to do what they already like doing; they may then see their actions as externally controlled rather than intrinsically appealing
* we observe our behavior and make reasonable inferences about our attitudes; as we act and reflect, we develop more readily accessible attitudes to guide future behavior

self-affirmation theory

people often experience a self image threat after engaging in an undesirable behavior; and they can compensate by affirming another aspect of the self

explicit attitudes

what you think and can say you think about something (aware)

implict attitudes

attitudes that you do not immediately think you have

what does culture solve

coordination problems -- create rules

* occurs when individualistic decision-making would lead to disaster for everybody
* provides rules that bring in order to social life, in part through the institution of values

natural selection

the evolutionary process by which heritable traits that best enable organisms to survive and reproduce in particular environments are passed to ensuing generations

evolutionary psychology

the study of the evolution of cognition and behavior using principles of natural selection

* cultures provide the specific rules for working out elements of social life

sex

the two biological categories of male and female

gender

in psychology, the characteristics, whether biological or socially influenced, that we associate with males and females

transgender

someone whose psychological sense of being male or female differs from their birth sex

testosterone

a hormone, more prevalent in males than females, that is linked to dominance and aggression

androgynous

capable of both assertiveness and nurturance

epigenetics

the study of environmental influences on gene expression that occur without DNA change