PSYC 225 Exam 1

social psychology

the study of how the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, and implied presence of others

actual presence of others

actual person following/watching you

ex. fans distracting opposing team to influence a distraction

imagined presence of others

imaginal figures can guide/shape our actions as if they were really there

(in your head)

implied presence of others

something physical that can represent/imply that you are being watched

why is social psychology more than common sense?

it often confirms many common sense behaviors, but also challenges others

self-fulfilling prophecy

others’ expectations about a person, group, or situation can lead to the fulfillment of those expectations

can be positive or negative

three step process of the self-fulfilling prophecy

1) the perceiver forms and impression of the target person

2) the perceiver acts towards that person in a manner that is consistent with this first impression

3) target interprets perceiver’s actions + responds consistently with the perceiver’s expectations

more interactions = more likely to internalize perceiver’s impressions into their self-concept

negative side of the self-fulfilling prophecy

negative expectations of someone = treat someone in a negative manner

ex. possibly responsible for achievement gap

psychological social psychology*

focuses on individuals and how they respond to social stimuli

sociological social psychology

focus on the larger group/societal variables

father of psychology

created first psychology lab in germany

wilhelm wundt

who conducted the first social psychology experiment in 1895?

studied how performance changes in the presence of others

norman triplett

most influential person on modern social psychology

psychology is the science of the individual

floyd allport

how can social psychology become a more inclusive and self-critical subfield?

by following a more cognitive revolution; more diverse backgrounds amongst researchers, cross-cultural studies

the self

a social being with the ability to engage in symbolic communication and self-awareness (can be used to understand/think about oneself+ lead to a self-serving bias)

self-serving bias

attaching failures to external factors but taking credit for positive outcomes

ex. failing/passing a test while being tired

the behaviorist perspective

studying only observable actions; preventing the concept of the self from becoming a focus in research in social psychology

can explain why development of the self may have been adaptive for early humans

dual process theory (theory of social cognition)

ways we interpret, analyze, remember, and use information about our social world

the two parts of the dual process theory

hot/implicit cognition: automatic, fast, unconscious

cold/explicit cognition: deliberate, slow, conscious

culture

the total lifestyle of a people, including all the ideas, symbols, preferences, and material objects that they share

shapes our view of reality and ourselves, and therefore influencing social behavior

evolutionary psychology

approach to psychology based on the principle of natural selection and evolution

belief that social behaviors are inherited traits

ex. darwin’s survival of the fittest

social neuroscience

studying the relationship between neural processes in the brain and social processes

ex. fMRIs can allow us to see which parts of the brain are active during social tasks like talking and listening

positive psychology

studies ways to enrich human experience and maximize functioning

optimism, healthy interactions, morality, and success are common areas of study

scientific method

used to gather, analyze, and interpret information in a way that reduces error and leads to dependable generalizations

basic research

designed to increase knowledge about social behavior

applied research

designed to increase the understanding of—and solutions to–real-world problems by using current social psychological knowledge

the six steps of social psychological research

1) select a topic and review past research

2) develop a theory, generate hypothesis, select method

3) obtain IRB approval to conduct study

4) collect data

5) analyze the data and reevaluate the theory

6) report the results

how a researcher selects a topic to investigate

social psychologists frequently investigate topics that have relevance to their own lives and culture

theory

systems of ideas that seeks to explain how events are related

predicted accuracy + internal coherence + economy + fertility = good theory

hypothesis

educated guess/prediction based on a theory

operational definition

description of how a variable will be measure

guidelines for conducting research

providing informed consent

allowing participants the right to decline/discontinue

ensure information provided by participants remains confidential

debriefing

protecting patients from physical and/or psychological harm

oversampling of WEIRD groups

Western

Educated

Industrialized

Rich

Developed

three major techniques for data collection

1) self-report

2) direct observation

3) archival information (examining existing documents or archives)

descriptive statistics

summarizes and describes behavior/characteristics of a sample in a study

inferential statistics

makes generalizations about a larger population

observational research

naturalistic observation

investigates behavior in its natural environment

can occur over a prolonged period of time

researcher might not even be present at all

useful as an initial stage to generate ideas and gather descriptive data

observational research

participant observation

a group is studied from within by a researcher who records behavior in its natural environment

allows researcher to get closer

observational research

archival research

examining already-existing records pertaining to an individual, group, or culture

ex. diaries, novels, social media, etc.…

observational research

advantages

allows researchers to watch behavior in full context

opportunity to record rare events that might not happen in a controlled experiment

can observe events that would be too risky/dangerous/unethical to recreate in a lab

observational research

disadvantages

lack of control

observer bias - researchers can have a preconceived notion that effects their interpretation

presence of researchers can influence behavior

possible invasion of others privacy

correlational research

primary benefit = prediction

assessing nature of relationship between 2+ variables

social desirability bias

when people respond to survey questions to portray themselves in a favorable light

inaccurate responses to surveys can occur when:

participants are unwilling to admit their undesirable thoughts/feelings

being honestly unaware if the unconscious thoughts that shape their perceptions/actions

implicit association test (IAT)

speed and accuracy provide an estimate of strength of mental association (implicit attitudes)

primary measure of IAT = D score

experimental research

field experiments

conducted in a natural setting

realism/realistic setting increases external validity (accuracy of study generalized to outside world)

experimental research

field experiments pros

more likely to have diverse participants and focus on behaviors (less self-report), reducing suggestibility and bias from the participants' part

experimental research

field experiments cons

no experimental control or participant control, reducing the internal validity of the study

experimental research

laboratory experiments

allows for a high degree of control and focus on internal validity

involves experiences that are not naturally occurring; reduces realism (artifical)

random assignment involved

neuroscience studies can only be conducted in a lab setting

experimental research

virtual environment technology

highly controlled by experimenters but gives a "real- world" feel like a field experiment

data can be collected by in-the-moment interactions, such as nonverbal movements, time watching stimuli, and physiological responses

meta analysis

researchers estimate effect across closely related studies

the self

i vs me

a symbol-using social being who can reflect their own behavior

i: the aspect of your self that is actively thinking/perceiving (subject of awareness)

me: the aspect of your self that the “i” is sometimes perceiving and thinking about (object of awareness)

self concept

the sum total of a person's thoughts and feelings that define the self as an object

consists of numerous evaluations of the self, also known as self-esteem

the affective self (james)

drive by emotional identification to things that symbolize/affirm who/what you are

we are ever-changing, not separate entities from the world

potentially the basis for self esteem

ex. career aspirations to be a therapist

the cognitive self (mead)

the self emerges through social interaction; acquiring language and taking the role of other

often learned during play activities

ex. pretending to be a mom to a doll

the cognitive self

symbolic interactionism

children develop beliefs about themselves based on how they believe other people perceive them

perspective taking: internalizing beliefs and expectations from larger society – the generalized other – the person becomes their full mature self

self-awareness

the psychological state in which you focus attention on yourself

begins around 18+ months; rapid growth in spindle of neurons

not always self-aware; requires time for contemplation and thus not activate when cognitive resources are needed elsewhere

private self-awareness

awareness of person attitudes, beliefs, and current moods

easier to recognize discrepancies between personal desires and behavior, as well as intensifies one's current mood

public self-awareness

awareness of public self-aspects like the physical appearance

greater adherence to social standards of behavior

self-consciousness

habitual tendency to engage in self-awareness

people who have high private self-consciousness…

are more aware and behave in line with personal standards

have more complex self-concepts

can have increased depression and chronic unhappiness

“what do I think of me?”

people who have high public self-consciousness…

are more likely to judge others physical appearance and conform to group norms

are more concerned about how they are judged

“what do others think of me?”

self-regulation

the ability to control and direct one’s actions

better self-regulation = social skills

delayed gratification can sometimes not be enough

ex. substance use

why might self-regulating on one task makes it harder to immediately self-regulate on unrelated tasks?

strength model of self-regulation: we only have a limited capacity of self-regulation

process model of self-control: encouraged to switch attention and be motivated for behaviors that have gratification rewards

ex. “can’t wait to drink after work”

independent self

conceiving the self in terms of unique, personal attributes

american, canadian, and european self-concepts are composed of predominantly attributive self-descriptions

interdependent self

conceiving the self in terms of social roles; being embedded in and dependent on a group

people from china, japan, india, and kenya have more social self-descriptions

gender socialization

relational self-concept: girls are more likely to be raised to think, act, and define themselves in ways that emphasize their emotional connectedness

independent self-concept: boys are more likely to develop more competitive, and
less nurturing, social relationships

social identities

aspects of a person’s self-concept based on their group membership

stages of ethnic identity development

1) unexamined ethnic identity

• lack of exploration of identity due to personal or others’ beliefs

2) ethnic identity search

• exploring and seeking to understand the meaning of one’s ethnicity, often sparked by an incident focused on the attention of one’s marginalized status

3) achieved ethnic identity

• clear and confident of one’s ethnicity

strategic self-presentation

the process of constructing/presenting the self in order to shape other people’s impressions and achieve ulterior goals

self-presentation and relationships

when interacting with friends and loved ones, we are less anxious about being evaluated and activated and guided with less conscious monitoring (implicit)

when interacting with strangers and acquaintances, it requires increased conscious monitoring and evaluation concerns (explicit)

social media presentation for men vs. women

women: more focused on creating a positive image

men: more focused on creating a higher social status

self-presentation strategies

1) ingratiation - use of flattery

2) modesty - underrepresenting positive traits and accomplishments

3) self-promotion – conveying positive information about oneself
4) humblebragging – engage in self-promotion, but complain about
accomplishments
5) exemplification –display integrity and moral worthiness, induce guilt and
emulation
6) intimidation – arousing fear and gain power by displaying power and danger
7) supplication – advertise weakness and dependence on others
8) self-handicapping – creates obstacles to performance to excuse failure or
enhance successes

self-enhancement

the desire to interpret situations to attiain positive self-esteem

dark side of high self-esteem

unstable vs stable

reacting with aggression when self-assessment are challenged

unstable high self-esteem: lack confidence, narcissistic

stable self-esteem: can control emotions when self-esteem is challenged

explicit vs implicit self-esteem

explicit: conscious and deliberate evaluation of one’s self-concept

implicit: unintentional and perhaps unconscious evaluation of one’s self concept

a category

a mental grouping of objects, ideas, or events that share common properties

the building blocks of social cognition

implicit cognitive process

automatic tendency to perceive and understand the world in categorical terms

social categorization

the process of forming categories based on their common attributes

habitual, automatic, hard to not do

prototype

the most representative member of a category

can categorize prototypes more quickly

failure to correct categorize people due to not fitting the prototype often leads to errors in decision-making

other-race effect

idea that all members from an ethnic group “looks the same”

schema

an organized structure of knowledge about a stimulus that is built up from experience; contains casual relations

can be a person, object, social group, social role, or common event

self-schemas

schemas we hold about ourselves

can shape our self-perceptions

gender schema

a cognitive structure for processing information based on perceived male or female qualities

scripts

a schema that describes how a series of events is likely to occur in a well-known situation

used as a guide for behavior

children around 3 years old start getting familiar with scripts

priming

the process by which recent exposures to stimuli/events increases accessibility of certain memories, categories, or schemas

occurs spontaneously and unconsciously

goal priming

motivates us do something

ex. seeing images of a mountain hike might prime the goal of “staying active” or “exercising”

behavior priming

motivates us to do a certain behavior

ex. seeing someone hold the door makes you want to hold the door for the next person

emotion priming

motivating us to feel a certain emotion

ex. sad playlist to encourage sad emotions

heuristics

time-saving mental short-cuts that reduce complex judgements to simple rules

representativeness heurisitc

tendency to judge the category membership of things based on how closely they match the prototype

base rate fallacy

ignoring general statistical information (base rates) and focusing too heavily on specific, vivid details, leading to inaccurate probability judgments

availability heuristic

tendency to judge the frequency/probability of an event in terms of how easy it is to think of examples of that event

anchoring and adjustment heuristic

tendency to be more biased toward the starting value or anchor in making quantitative judgements

hindsight bias

the after-the-fact overestimation of our ability to have foreseen an outcome

fueled by our desire for accuracy

develops by age 3

tends to occur immediately after an event’s outcome is known, but gains strength over time

counterfactual thinking

the tendency to evaluate events by imagining alternative versions or outcomes

more likely to occur for events that we have some degree of ability to control

why do we engage in counterfactual thinking?

it can help us feel better following a negative outcome

it can better prepare us for the future

upward vs downward counterfactual thinking

upward – imagining better outcomes
downward – imagining worse outcomes

person perception

the process by which we try to detect other people’s temporary states and enduring dispositions

it’s integrative – every bit of information about a person is interpreted within the
context of all of the other information

first stage of person perception?

first impressions

based on non-verbal communication