PSYC 140: Research Methods, the Self, and Social Cognition

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the core research methods, self-theories, and social cognitive phenomena from the PSYC 140 lecture study guide.

Theory

A big-picture explanation of why something happens.

Hypothesis

One specific, testable prediction that comes from a theory.

Operational Definition (Operationalization)

The exact specification of how a researcher measures or creates each variable in a hypothesis.

Hindsight Bias

The tendency, after learning how something turned out, for people to believe they could have predicted it ("I knew it all along").

Memory Distortion (Hindsight Bias)

A level of hindsight bias where a person misremembers their earlier prediction ("I said that would happen").

Inevitability (Hindsight Bias)

A level of hindsight bias where an outcome feels unavoidable in retrospect ("It had to happen").

Foreseeability (Hindsight Bias)

A level of hindsight bias where an individual believes they personally could have seen the outcome coming ("I knew that would happen").

Archival Research

A descriptive research method that uses existing data such as records, news, social media, or census reports.

Naturalistic Observation

A descriptive research method that involves watching behavior in its normal setting without interfering.

Survey Research

A descriptive research method that asks a sample of people questions to represent a larger group.

Case Study

A descriptive research method involving an in-depth investigation of one person or a small group.

Correlational Research

Research measuring whether two variables move together, expressed as a number from $-1$ to $+1$.

Positive Correlation

A relationship between two variables where both values increase together.

Negative Correlation

A relationship between two variables where one increases while the other decreases.

Independent Variable (IV)

The variable in an experiment that the researcher deliberately changes or manipulates.

Dependent Variable (DV)

The outcome variable in an experiment that is measured to assess the effect of the manipulated independent variable.

Random Assignment

The process of placing participants into experimental groups purely by chance to ensure groups are equal on average in all other characteristics.

Random Sampling

The procedure of choosing participants from a population to ensure everyone has an equal chance of being selected, aiding in generalizability.

Reliability

The consistency of a measure, indicated by obtaining the same result upon repeated testing.

Validity

The accuracy of a measure, indicating whether it genuinely measures the concept it intends to measure.

Internal Validity

The degree of confidence that the independent variable, and nothing else, caused the observed change in the dependent variable.

Confound

Any factor other than the independent variable that differs systematically between experimental groups, undermining internal validity.

External Validity

The extent to which research findings can be generalized to other people, places, and situations.

Construct Validity

How effectively an operational definition captures the underlying theoretical concept it is intended to represent.

Tuskegee Syphilis Study

A study conducted by the U.S. Public Health Service from 1932 to 1972 on 600 Black men in Alabama that tracked untreated syphilis without informed consent and withheld penicillin.

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

A committee at an institution or university that reviews and approves research protocols before studies begin by weighing risks against benefits.

Informed Consent

An ethical safeguard where participants are informed about a study's procedures, risks, and benefits, and agree freely to participate with the right to withdraw at any time.

Debriefing

The post-experimental process where researchers disclose the true purpose of a study, explain any deception employed, and answer participants' questions.

Replication

The process of repeating a study to determine whether the original results can be consistently reproduced.

Self-awareness

The realization that one is a distinct individual, separate from others.

Rouge Test

A mirror self-recognition test where a red mark is placed on a subject's nose; touching one's own nose (typically around 18 to 24 months in humans) demonstrates self-awareness.

Self-concept

The comprehensive set of beliefs an individual holds about themselves, including roles, traits, abilities, and experiences.

Working Self-concept

The subset of self-knowledge and identity that is actively accessible in working memory at any given moment.

Self-concept Clarity

The extent to which an individual's sense of self is clearly defined, internally consistent, and temporally stable.

Self-verification

The drive to seek out feedback and social experiences that confirm one's preexisting self-views, even when those views are negative.

Self-complexity

The degree to which an individual's identity consists of many distinct, independent roles and facets, which buffers against stress.

Direct Feedback

A source of self-knowledge derived from explicit verbal statements made by others about oneself.

Reflected Appraisals

Inferences about oneself based on what one believes other people think of them.

Social Comparison

The process of evaluating one's own abilities, traits, and opinions by comparing oneself to other individuals.

Upward Social Comparison

Comparing oneself to someone perceived as superior, which can either inspire self-improvement or cause discouragement.

Downward Social Comparison

Comparing oneself to someone perceived as worse off, which typically enhances subjective well-being.

Better-Than-Average Effect

The cognitive tendency for most people to evaluate themselves as superior to the average person across positive traits and abilities.

Self-perception Theory

The theory that individuals infer their internal attitudes, preferences, and traits by observing their own overt behavior.

Facial Feedback Hypothesis

The premise that subjective emotional experience can be induced or amplified by the configuration of facial muscles.

Overjustification Effect

The reduction in intrinsic motivation to perform an activity once external rewards are introduced and subsequently removed.

Redemptive Story

A self-narrative life story where negative events or hardships lead directly to positive personal outcomes or growth.

Contaminated Story

A self-narrative life story where positive beginnings or situations end up ruined by subsequent negative events.

Social Role Theory

A theory proposing that psychological gender differences in self-concept originate primarily from cultural roles and social division of labor rather than biology.

Self-esteem

An individual's overall subjective evaluation and appraisal of their own worth and value.

Contingencies of Self-worth

The specific domains or areas of life upon which an individual's self-esteem is conditionally dependent.

Sociometer Theory

The theory proposing that self-esteem operates as an internal psychological gauge monitoring interpersonal acceptance and inclusion.

Basking in Reflected Glory (BIRGing)

Enhancing one's self-esteem by associating with the successful accomplishments of close others in domains that are not personally relevant.

Self-conscious Emotions

Emotions that require self-awareness and an assessment of how one's actions appear in the eyes of others, including embarrassment, pride, guilt, and shame.

Embarrassment

A mild, brief self-conscious emotion experienced after a minor social blunder, communicated by nonverbal appeasement cues like blushing.

Pride

A self-conscious emotion of satisfaction stemming from personal achievement, associated with universal posturing (raised arms, expanded chest).

Guilt

A self-conscious emotion focused on a specific problematic behavior ("I did a bad thing") that triggers approach and reparative actions.

Shame

A self-conscious emotion focused on perceived core personal defects ("I am a bad person") that prompts withdrawal, hiding, and avoidance.

Self-regulation

The cognitive and behavioral processes through which people initiate, adjust, and sustain actions to attain chosen goals.

Delay of Gratification

Foregoing an immediate, smaller reward to obtain a more valuable outcome in the future.

Ego Depletion

The hypothesis that self-control draws upon a finite mental resource that fatigues with repeated exertion.

Implementation Intentions

Explicit "if-then" plans linking an environmental cue directly to an intended goal-directed behavior to automate execution.

Action Identification Theory

A theory describing how goals can be framed either abstractly in terms of broad purpose ("why") or concretely in terms of operational steps ("how").

Goal Disengagement

The deliberate abandonment of an unreachable goal and the reallocation of psychological resources toward an alternative objective.

Self-presentation

The deliberate control and management of information presented to others to curate a specific social impression.

Multiple Audience Problem

The social dilemma that occurs when an individual must present themselves simultaneously to two groups that hold divergent identity expectations.

Self-handicapping

Creating obstacles or excuses before a performance to provide an external attribution for potential failure while enhancing perceived ability if successful.

Social Cognition

The study of how people make sense of their social environment, including judgments of other individuals, events, and themselves.

Intuitive System

A mode of thinking that operates fast, automatically, and effortlessly, relying on cognitive heuristics.

Rational System

A mode of thinking that is slow, deliberate, controlled, and effortful, ideal for unfamiliar tasks and analytic problems.

Heuristics

Mental shortcuts or rules of thumb used to make judgments and decisions quickly.

Negativity Bias

The psychological tendency to allocate greater attention and cognitive weight to negative information than to positive information.

Primacy Effect

An order effect wherein information presented first exerts a dominant influence on overall perception and recall.

Recency Effect

An order effect wherein information presented last is remembered best.

Framing Effects

The cognitive bias where decisions are influenced by whether options are presented as potential gains or losses, even when facts are identical.

Construal Level Theory

A theory positing that psychologically distant events are represented abstractly ("why"), whereas psychologically proximal events are represented concretely ("how").

Assimilation (Cognitive)

The process of interpreting incoming ambiguous information to fit neatly within preexisting beliefs, categories, or schemas.

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to selectively seek, attend to, and favor information that supports preexisting hypotheses while ignoring contradictory evidence.

Availability Heuristic

A cognitive heuristic where people estimate the frequency or probability of an event by how readily instances come to mind.

Ease of Retrieval Effect

A phenomenon where judgments are shaped by the subjective difficulty or ease experienced when generating examples rather than the sheer number of examples generated.

Self-fulfilling Prophecy

A cycle in which an observer's false expectation alters their behavior toward a target, eliciting target behavior that confirms the initial belief.

Belief Perseverance

The tendency to maintain one's initial beliefs even after the empirical evidence that established them has been thoroughly debunked.

Unrealistic Optimism

The persistent expectation that favorable events are more likely, and negative events less likely, to happen to oneself than to others.

Bracing for the Worst

A sharp shift toward pessimism as the moment of performance feedback approaches to manage anxiety and prevent disappointment.

Misinformation Effect

The phenomenon where post-event misleading information alters or contaminates a person's recall of the original event.

Upward Counterfactuals

Imagining how a past event could have turned out better ("if only…"), which increases negative emotions but motivates behavioral modification.

Downward Counterfactuals

Imagining how a past event could have turned out worse ("at least…"), which elevates mood and induces relief.

Mirror Neurons

Brain cells that fire both when performing an action and when observing another individual perform that same action, aiding empathy and understanding.

Thin Slices

Forming remarkably accurate interpersonal impressions based on brief behavioral observations, often under 30 seconds.

False Consensus Effect

The tendency to overestimate the extent to which other people share one's own opinions, values, and behaviors.

Halo Effect

A cognitive bias where a salient positive characteristic (such as physical attractiveness) causes an observer to assume positive traits across unrelated areas.

Representativeness Heuristic

Categorizing an individual or object based on how well they match a mental prototype while ignoring relevant base-rate statistical odds.

Internal (Dispositional) Attribution

Explaining an action or outcome as being caused by the individual's enduring personality traits, internal character, or effort.

External (Situational) Attribution

Explaining an action or outcome as being caused by environmental circumstances, situational forces, or context outside the actor's control.

Entity Theorists

Individuals who adhere to a fixed mindset, viewing psychological attributes such as intelligence and character as unalterable traits.

Incremental Theorists

Individuals who adhere to a growth mindset, viewing abilities and traits as dynamic qualities capable of expanding with practice and effort.

Covariation Principle

A model of causal attribution proposing that people attribute behavior to factors that are consistently present when the behavior occurs and absent when it does not.

Fundamental Attribution Error (Correspondence Bias)

The pervasive tendency to overestimate internal dispositional factors and underestimate external situational influences when explaining the behavior of others.

Actor-Observer Bias

The tendency to attribute other people's behaviors to their internal dispositions while attributing one's own identical behaviors to situational forces.