chapter 13 study guide

chapter 13 psychology

Social cognition

how people perceive, interpret, and categorize their own and others’ social behaviour

Attitudes

relatively stable and enduring evaluations of things and people ABC model of attitudes:

The self-perception theory

when uncertain, we infer what our attitudes are by observing our own behaviour

Attitude specificity

the more specific an attitude, the more likely it is to predict behaviour

Attitude strength

stronger attitudes predict behaviour more accurately than weak or vague attitudes

Stereotypes

- generalized impressions based on social categories May be positive or negative  Examples: age, race, beliefs

Prejudice

- negative stereotypical attitudes toward all members of a group Examples: racism, sexism, homophobia, ageism

Evolutionary perspective

Stereotypes and prejudice may have had some adaptive value Early humans needed to quickly identify other figures as friends or foes

Realistic conflict theory

Amount of actual conflict between groups determines the amount of prejudice between groups

Social identity theory

Emphasizes social cognitive factors in the onset of prejudice Social categorization, social identity, social comparison

Central route

focuses on content, factual information, and logic to change attitudes

Peripheral route

focuses on superficial information to change attitudes

Foot-in-the-door

- get them to agree to something small so they will agree to something larger later

Door-in-the-face

ask for something very big knowing you will get turned down, but then ask for the smaller item you really wanted

Appeals to fear

ads make it seem like something bad will happen if you do not comply

Attributions

- causal explanations of behaviour

Dispositional (internal) attribution

the behaviour was caused because of the person

Situational (external) attribution

the behaviour was caused by the situation

Fundamental attribution error

the tendency to use dispositional attributions to explain the behaviour of other people

Self-serving bias

tendency to attribute successes to dispositional causes and failures to situational causes

Norms

social rules about how members of a society are expected to act; provide order and predictability

Descriptive norms

agreed-on expectations about what members of a group do

Injunctive norms

agreed-on expectations about what members of a group ought to do

Social role

a set of norms ascribed to a person’s social position

Conformity

- the tendency to yield to social pressure

Obedience

- the act of following direct commands, usually given by an authority figure

Group

- an organized, stable collection of individuals in which the members are aware of and influence one another and share a common identity

Group dynamics

how membership or participation in a group influences our thoughts and behaviours

Additive Task

productivity increases with group size

Conjunctive Task

group as productive as its weakest member

Disjunctive Task

A single solution is required, the strongest group member is likely to provide solution

Divisible Task

– simultaneous performance of several tasks. Larger group with a leader to coordinate tasks is optimal.

Social facilitation

- improvement in performance because others are present. Operates for both physical and mental tasks

Social loafing

exert less effort in a group task than one would in an individual task

Group polarization

initial attitudes become more intense with group interaction

Groupthink

faulty group decision making as a result of trying too hard to agree Conditions setting the stage for groupthink:

Altruism

self-sacrificing behaviour carried out for the benefit of others Egoistic helping behaviours—engage in self-sacrificing behaviours to avoid feeling guilty.

Bystander effect (or bystander apathy) -

the more people present, the less likely any one person will attempt to help People are more likely to intervene to help when they are alone than in a group

Diffusion of responsibility

we are less likely to assist in a large group because responsibility to help is shared Researchers have observed group apathy under a wide variety of conditions:

Aggression

- broad category of behaviours intended to harm others, including physical and verbal attacks  Genetic component  Associated with high levels of testosterone and low levels of serotonin

Frustration-aggression hypothesis

states that we become aggressive in response to frustration

Aggression by time of year:

Studies of data in North America and Europe over the last hundred years show that aggression is highest in the hottest months of the year (Anderson, 1989).

Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love

- Sternberg’s theory (1987) talks about the various possible combinations of intimacy, passion, and commitment and produces eight distinct types of relationship.

Exploration stage

the partners try out the possible rewards and costs of a relationship

Bargaining stage

they implicitly negotiate the terms of the relationship

Institutionalization stage

shared expectations emerge and the relationship is exclusive

Secure attachment

- are comfortable, do not fear becoming too close or being abandoned; 53% of adults

Avoidant

uncomfortable, have difficulty trusting others; 26% of adults

Anxious-ambivalent

- insecure and worry that their partners do not really love them and will leave; 20% of adults

Orbitofrontal cortex

social reasoning,  reward evaluation,  reading other people,  eliciting emotional states

Ventromedial prefrontal cortex

processing of rewards and punishments,  interpreting non-verbal social information,  making social and moral assessments and decisions,  feeling empathy

Insula

empathy and in reading others

Amygdala

identify emotional facial expressions of other people,  pay attention to stimuli that may be unpredictable, potentially rewarding, or potentially punishing