Cognitive Biases and Social Psychology Concepts

Motivated Reasoning

Interpreting information in a way that aligns with pre-existing beliefs or desires, often to reduce cognitive dissonance or maintain self-esteem.

The Above-Average Effect

A cognitive bias where individuals overestimate their abilities or qualities compared to others (e.g., "I'm a better driver than most people").

The "Holier Than Thou" Effect

A bias where people overestimate their own moral virtue compared to others.

The Dunning-Kruger Effect

A cognitive bias where unskilled individuals overestimate their competence, while highly skilled individuals may underestimate theirs.

The Two Universal Dimensions of Social Cognition

Warmth (trustworthiness, friendliness) and Competence (ability, intelligence), which are fundamental in person perception.

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to seek, interpret, and remember information that confirms pre-existing beliefs while ignoring contradictory evidence.

Pygmalion Effect / Behavioral Confirmation / Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

When expectations about a person lead to behaviors that cause the person to conform to those expectations (e.g., teachers' high expectations improve student performance).

Cognitive Dissonance

Psychological discomfort from holding conflicting beliefs or behaviors, leading to efforts to reduce the inconsistency.

Different Ways to Achieve Dissonance Reduction

Changing beliefs, changing behavior, adding justifying cognitions, or minimizing the importance of the conflict.

"When Prophecy Fails" Study

A study by Festinger where a cult's failed doomsday prediction led to increased proselytizing to reduce dissonance.

"Cognitive Consequences of Forced Compliance" Study (Festinger & Carlsmith, 1959)

The $1/$20 experiment: Participants paid $1 to lie about a boring task later rated it more positively (dissonance reduction) than those paid $20.

"The Effect of Severity of Initiation on Liking for a Group" Study (Aronson & Mills, 1959)

Harsh initiation increases group liking due to justification of effort (dissonance reduction).

Spreading of Alternatives

After making a decision, people enhance the attractiveness of the chosen option and devalue the rejected one to reduce dissonance.

Cognitive Biases

Systematic errors in thinking that influence judgments and decisions (e.g., confirmation bias, fundamental attribution error).

Social Cognition

How people process, store, and apply social information about others and themselves.

Attribution

The process of explaining the causes of behavior (e.g., dispositional vs. situational).

Dispositional and Situational Attributions

Dispositional: Attributing behavior to internal traits. Situational: Attributing behavior to external factors.

Heider's "Naïve Psychology"

The idea that people act as amateur scientists, trying to attribute causes to behavior.

Jones & Harris (1967) (Castro Essay Study)

Demonstrated the fundamental attribution error: People attributed essay writers' opinions to their beliefs even when told the position was assigned.

Ross et al. (1977) (Quiz Show Study)

Observers attributed quiz show contestants' performance to knowledge (dispositional) rather than the assigned role (situational).

Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)

Overemphasizing dispositional factors and underestimating situational factors when explaining others' behavior.

Actor-Observer Bias

Attributing one's own actions to situational factors but others' actions to dispositional factors.

Focalism

Overestimating the importance of a single factor while ignoring other influences.

Steps of the Scientific Method

Observation, hypothesis, experimentation, analysis, conclusion.

Experiment

A research method where variables are manipulated to observe effects.

Independent Variables

The variable manipulated by the researcher.

Dependent Variables

The outcome measured in response to changes in the independent variable.

Correlations

A statistical relationship between two variables (does not imply causation).

Random Assignment

Assigning participants to conditions randomly to eliminate bias.

Conditions

Different groups or settings in an experiment (e.g., control vs. experimental).

First Conformity Experiment (Allport, 1924)

Participants rated odors alone and in groups, showing influence from others' judgments.

Sherif 'Autokinetic Effect' Experiments (1936)

Demonstrated informational influence: Individuals' estimates of light movement converged in groups.

Asch Conformity Experiments (1955)

Participants conformed to obviously wrong group answers due to normative pressure.

Normative Influence

Conforming to gain social approval or avoid rejection.

Informational Influence

Conforming because others' behavior provides information about reality.

Obedience

Compliance with authority figures (e.g., Milgram's shock experiments).

Distortion of Judgement

Altering one's beliefs to align with group norms.

Distortion of Action

Publicly conforming while privately disagreeing.

Distortion of Perception

Genuinely perceiving the group's incorrect answer as correct.

Pluralistic Ignorance

A group misperceives its own norms because members privately reject them but assume others accept them.

Descriptive Norms

Perceptions of what most people actually do.

Injunctive Norms

Perceptions of what is socially approved or disapproved.

Norm Breaching

Intentionally violating social norms to study reactions.

Norm Internalization

Adopting societal norms as personal beliefs.

Threshold

The point at which an individual decides to act in a group situation.

Social Referent

Individuals or groups whose opinions influence behavior.

Wise Interventions & Wise Feedback

Brief, psychologically precise interventions that target specific processes (e.g., growth mindset feedback to reduce stereotype threat).

Intergroup Contact

Interaction between groups to reduce prejudice (Allport's Contact Hypothesis).

Forces Upholding Social Norms

Rewards, punishments, and internalization that maintain norms.

Other Race Effect

Difficulty distinguishing faces of other races due to less exposure.

Nonverbal Cues

Communication through body language, facial expressions, and tone.

Thin Slices

Quick judgments based on brief observations (e.g., first impressions).

Okonofua, Walton, & Eberhardt's 'Vicious Cycle'

Stereotypes lead teachers to discipline Black students more harshly, increasing disengagement.

Race-based Rejection Sensitivity

Anxiety about experiencing racial discrimination, affecting behavior.

Stereotype Threat

Fear of confirming negative stereotypes impairs performance.

Aversive Racism Theory

People who consciously endorse equality may still harbor unconscious racial biases.

Hierarchy-Maintenance Theories

Prejudice serves to justify and maintain social hierarchies.

Information Processing Theory of Prejudice

Stereotypes simplify social information processing.

Mode Model of Stereotyping

Stereotyping varies based on motivation (automatic vs. controlled processing).

Realistic Group Conflict Theory

Prejudice arises from competition over resources.

Social Identity Theory

People derive self-esteem from group memberships, leading to in-group favoritism.

Social Regulatory Theory

Norms regulate behavior to maintain social order.

Social Role Theory

Gender roles shape stereotypes (e.g., 'men are leaders').

Affiliative Social Tuning

Adjusting attitudes to align with a liked person's views.

Naturalistic Fallacy

Assuming 'what is' means 'what ought to be' (e.g., 'men lead more, so they should').