psych ap test

all psych terms

personality psychologist

study the personal traits and genetics that explain why, in a given situation, different people act differently

social psychologist

study the social influences that explain why the same person acts differently in different situations

person perception

how we form impressions of ourselves and others, including attributions of behavior

attribution theory

the theory that we explain someone's behavior by crediting either the situation (situational attribution) or the persons traits (dispositional attribution)

FAE (fundamental attribution error)

the tendency for observers, when analyzing other's behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition

actor-observer bias

the tendency for those acting in a situation to attribute their behavior to external causes, but for observers to attribute other's behavior to internal causes. (contributes to fae)

prejudice

an unjustifiable and usually negative attitude towards a group and its members. generally involves negative emotions, stereotyped beliefs, and a predisposition to discriminating action

stereotype

a generalized (sometimes accurate but often over generalized) belief about a group of people

discrimination

unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group or its members

just-world phenomenon

the tendency for people to believe tje works ka just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get

social identity

the “we“ aspect of our self-concept, the part of our answer to “who am i?“ that comes from our group memberships

ingroups

“us“ the people with whom we share a common identity

outgroups

“them“ the people that are different or out of our ingroup

scapegoat theory

when things go wrong, finding someone to blame can provide a target for negative emotions. the theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame

other race effect

the tendency to recall the faves of ones own race more accurately than the faces of other races. also called the cross-race effect and race bias

explanatory style

a predictable pattern of attributes

social comparison

by comparing ourselves to others, we judge wether we are succeeding or failing

cognitive load

what it takes to make decisions or judgments

ethnocentrism

the tendency to view our own ethnic or racial group as superior

outgroup homogeneity

uniformity of attitudes, personality, and appearance

dispositional attributions

attributing behavior to personal disposition even when told behavior is situational

self serving bias

people with high self esteem and self confidence typically credit their good deeds and accomplishments to their own traits and blame the mistakes and failures on the situation

implicit attitudes

an unthinking knee jerk reaction operating below the radar, leaving us unaware of how our attitudes are influencing our behavior

ingroup bias

favoring your own group

attitudes

feelings, often influenced by our beliefs that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events

door in the face

approach someone with an unreasonable request followed by a more moderate request

foot in the door

tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to later comply with a larger request

role

a set of expectations (norms) abt a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave

leon fesiger

made the cognative dissonance theory

cognative dissonance theory

we may adjust our actions to match our attitudes. but, we might also adjust out attitudes making them mlre in line with our past actions. we dont want our actions and attitudes to have dissonance

persuasion

changing peoples attitudes, potentially influencing their actions

peripheral route persuasion

occurs when people are influenced bu incidental cues, such as a speakers attractiveness

halo effect

when celebrity endorsements influence us, as we may believe beautiful or famous people are especially smart or trustworthy

central route of persuasion

occurs when interested peoples thinking is influenced by considering evidence and arguments

norms

a societies understood rules for accepted and expected behavior. Norms prescribe “proper“ behavior in individual and social situations

soloman asch

created the conformity test: one is surrounded by 5 others, the experimenter asks group members to state which of the three lines is identical to the standard line. Others say the wrong answer, do you say the correct answer or theirs?

conformity

adjusting our behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard.

normative social influence

influence resulting from a persons willingness to accept others opinions about reality

obedience

complying with an order or command

stanley milgram

conducted the experiment with a “teacher“ and “student“. Teacher had to shock the student with each wrong answer. When would the teacher stop?

minority influence

the power of 1 or 2 individuals to sway majorities

social factilitation

in the presence of others, improved performance on simple or well-learned tasks, and worsened performance on difficult tasks

social loafing

the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling efforts together toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable

diendividuation

the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity

group polarization

the enhancement of a groups prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group

culture

the enduring behaviors, ideas, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next

group think

the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision within the group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives

collectivism

situations focus on “we“ on meeting group standards and accommodating others

individualism

focus on “me“ as an independent, separate self

tight culture

people more often obey social norms

loose culture

people expect variability

crowding

a room full of people triggers arousal

yerkes Dodson law

performance improves with arousal up to an optimal point

bystander effect

the tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present

social exchange theory

the theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize cost

reciprocity norm

an expectation that people will help, not hurt those who have helped them

social-responsibility norm

an expectation that people will help those needing their help

conflict

a perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas

social trap

a situation in which 2 parties, each pursuing their self-interest, rather than the good of the group, become caught in mutually destructive behavior

mirror-image perceptions

mutual views often held by conflicting parties as when each side sees itself as ethical and peaceful and views the other side as evil and aggressive

self fulfilling prophecy

a belief that leads to its own fulfillment

super ordinate goals

shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation

GRIT

Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension-Reduction. a strategy designed to decrease international tensions

Altruism

unselfish regard for the welfare of others

John Darley and Bibb Latane

we are all guilty of the good we do not do

diffusion of responsibility

when more people share responsibility for helping-listeners were less likely to help

feel good do good phenomenon

happiness breeds helpfulness and helpfulness breeds happiness

obedience conditions:

person giving orders is an authority figure, authority figure is backed by a prestigious institute, victim was depersonalized at a distance, and no role model for authority

Conformity factors

are made to feel incompetent and insecure, in a group (at least three people), in a group where everyone agrees, admire the group, have not made a prior commitment to any response, know that other in the group are observing, are from a culture that strongly encourages respect for social standards

scientifically derived

evidence based on proof (no guessing)

James Randi

used an evidence based approach that drew on observation and experimentation when testing those claiming to see glowing auras around peoples bodies (also a magician)

3 elements of scientific attitude

curiosity, skepticism, humility

critical thinking

thinking that does not automatically accept arguments and conclusions, rather it examines assumptions, appraises, the source, discern hidden biases, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusion

three roadblocks to critical thinking

hindsight bias, overconfidence, perceiving patterns on random events

Hindsight Bias

the tendency to believe, after learning the outcome, that one would have foreseen it. “I knew it all along phenomenon“

overconfidence

humans tend to think we know more than we do

perceiving patterns of random events

a random, unpredictable world is unsettling, so to make some sense of our world we create patterns to release the stress

scientific inquiry

helps us to sift reality from illusion, hindsight bias, overconfidence, perceiving order

scientific method

a self correcting process for evaluating ideas with observation and analysis

peer review

scientific experts who evaluate a researchers articles theory, originality, and accuracy

theory

an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organised observations and predicts behaviors or events

hypothesis

a testable prediction, often implied by a theory

falsibility 

the possibility that an idea, hypothesis, or theory can be disproven by an observation or experiment 

operational definitions

a carefully worded statement of the exact procedures used in a research study. Human intelligence may be operationally deferred as what an intelligence test measured (also known as operationalizationist)

replification

repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding can be reproduced

non-experimental methology

case studies, naturalistic observation, and surveys, others compete correlations that asses associations among different factors

case studies

one individual or group is studied in depth in hope of revealing universal principles (brain damage, children’s minds, animal intelligence)

naturalistic observation

technique of observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation.

surveys

obtaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of the group

wording effects

even small change in the order or phrasing of questions can make a big difference

social desirability bias

bias from peoples responding in ways they presume a researcher expects or wishes

self-report bias

bias when people report their behavior inaccurately

sampling bias

a flawed sampling process that produces an unrepresentative sample

representative sample

a sample that represents all

convenience sample

collecting research that is readily available

random sample

a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion

population

all those in a group being studied, from which samples may be drawn. (except for national studies, not referred to a countries whole )

correlation

a measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other

correlation coefficient

a statistical index of the relationship between two things (-1.00 to +1.00)

variables

anything that can vary and is feasible and ethical to measure