Textbook Detailed - Flashcards

What is social cognition?

Social cognition refers to the cognitive processes and structures that influence and are influenced by social behavior.

Why did Wilhelm Wundt's introspective approach fall out of favor?

His self-observation methods were unscientific, idiosyncratic, and not generalisable.

What is behaviorism in psychology?

Behaviorism emphasizes explaining observable behavior through reinforcement schedules, ignoring internal mental states.

What is Gestalt psychology’s view of cognition?

It emphasizes that the whole influences the parts, meaning our perception is shaped by overall context.

What is the cognitive consistency model?

It suggests people strive to reduce inconsistencies among their thoughts because inconsistency is psychologically uncomfortable.

What is the naïve scientist model?

It views people as rational analyzers who seek cause-effect relationships in social understanding.

What is attribution in social cognition?

Attribution is the process of assigning causes to behavior—our own and others’.

What is the cognitive miser model?

It suggests people use the least effortful cognition possible, relying on mental shortcuts to conserve energy.

What is the motivated tactician model?

It proposes that people flexibly choose cognitive strategies depending on their goals, motives, and needs.

What is social neuroscience?

It explores brain activity related to social cognition and psychological processes.

What is Asch’s configural model of impression formation?

It emphasizes that central traits disproportionately shape our overall impression of others.

What are central and peripheral traits?

Central traits heavily influence overall impressions; peripheral traits have minimal impact.

What is the primacy effect in impression formation?

Earlier information has more influence than later information in forming impressions.

What is the recency effect?

More recently presented information can disproportionately influence social judgments.

Why is negative information often more impactful?

It is unusual/distinctive and signals potential danger.

What are implicit personality theories?

Personal, often unspoken beliefs about how certain traits co-occur in people.

How does physical appearance influence impressions?

Attractive people are often assumed to be good, sociable, and morally better.

What is social judgeability?

It refers to whether it is socially acceptable to judge someone, influenced by societal norms.

What is cognitive algebra in impression formation?

It’s the method by which people combine trait information to form overall impressions.

Describe summation in cognitive algebra.

Adding the valence of each trait to form a total impression.

What is weighted averaging?

Averaging trait valences with weights based on their importance.

What is a schema?

A mental structure representing knowledge about a concept, its attributes, and relationships.

What is a script?

A schema for events, e.g., what typically happens in a restaurant.

Name the common types of schemas.

Person, role, content-free, event/scripts, and self-schemas.

What is a prototype?

A fuzzy, typical representation of category members.

What is family resemblance in categorization?

Shared attributes that define category membership despite variation.

What is perceptual accentuation?

Categorization enhances perceived differences between groups and similarities within them.

What is social identity theory?

It explains intergroup behavior through self-categorization and group comparison.

What is self-categorization theory?

It describes how identifying as a group member shapes behavior and identity.

What is accessibility in schema use?

The ease with which a schema or category comes to mind.

What are three ways schemas change?

1) Bookkeeping, 2) Conversion, 3) Subtyping.

What influences schema acquisition?

Experience, complexity of information, organization of knowledge.

What are the four stages of social encoding?

1) Pre-attentive analysis, 2) Focal attention, 3) Comprehension, 4) Elaborative meaning.

What makes a stimulus salient?

Novelty, violation of expectations, goal relevance, or visual prominence.

How does vividness differ from salience?

Vividness is a stimulus's intrinsic attention-grabbing quality.

What is priming in social cognition?

Activation of a schema or category that influences the interpretation of new information.

When is inconsistent information not well remembered?

When impressions are well-established or tasks are complex.

How are traits stored in memory?

Based on causal inferences and organized along dimensions of social desirability and competence.

What are normative models of inference?

Idealized methods for making accurate judgments.

What is regression in social inference?

The tendency for early extreme impressions to average out with more information.

What is base-rate neglect?

Ignoring statistical information in favor of vivid or specific instances.

What is an illusory correlation?

Perceiving a relationship where none exists due to prior expectations.

What is the representativeness heuristic?

Judging likelihood based on resemblance to a typical case.

What is the availability heuristic?

Estimating likelihood based on how easily examples come to mind.

What is anchoring and adjustment?

Starting from an initial reference point and making insufficient adjustments.

What is attribution in psychology?

The process of assigning a cause to our behaviour and that of others.

What are the two main types of attributions?

Internal (dispositional) and external (situational).

What is Heider's view of people as 'naïve psychologists'?

People use rational cause-effect reasoning to understand behaviour.

What is the 'correspondent inference theory' by Jones and Davis?

A theory where people infer that behaviour reflects a person's disposition.

What are the 5 cues used in correspondent inference theory?

1) Freely chosen behaviour, 2) Non-common effects, 3) Social desirability, 4) Hedonic relevance, 5) Personalism.

What is Kelley’s covariation model of attribution?

A model where people use consistency, distinctiveness, and consensus information to infer cause of behaviour.

What is the 'discounting principle'?

If a behaviour doesn’t consistently co-occur with a potential cause, that cause is discounted.

What is a 'causal schema'?

Experience-based beliefs about how certain causes interact to produce effects.

What is Bem’s self-perception theory?

The idea that we infer our attitudes and internal states by observing our own behaviour.

What three dimensions are used in achievement attribution?

Locus, Stability, Controllability.

What are 'attributional styles'?

Individual differences in the habitual ways people explain behaviour.

What is the 'correspondence bias'?

The tendency to infer that behaviour reflects a person's disposition more than the situation.

What is the 'fundamental attribution error'?

The bias of overestimating internal causes for others’ behaviour.

What is the actor-observer effect?

The tendency to attribute our own actions to situations but others’ actions to dispositions.

What is the false consensus effect?

The belief that our behaviour and opinions are more common than they really are.

What is self-serving bias?

Attributing successes to internal factors and failures to external ones.

What is 'self-handicapping'?

Making external excuses in advance to protect the self from anticipated failure.

What is 'illusion of control'?

Believing we have more control over events than we actually do.

What is the 'belief in a just world'?

The belief that people get what they deserve.

What is intergroup attribution?

Assigning causes of behaviour based on group membership.

What is the 'ultimate attribution error'?

Attributing negative outgroup behaviour internally and positive behaviour externally.

What are social representations?

Shared group beliefs that simplify complex phenomena.

What are the three processes in rumour transmission?

Levelling, sharpening, and assimilation.

What is a conspiracy theory in social psychology?

An explanation of events through secret plots by powerful groups.

What is a construct in psychology?

An abstract or theoretical concept used to explain phenomena.

What effect did secularisation have on views of the self?

It shifted focus from fulfilment in the afterlife to personal fulfilment in this life.

How did industrialisation influence identity?

It encouraged portable personal identities not tied to static social structures.

What did the Enlightenment contribute to ideas of the self?

It fostered belief in constructing better identities by challenging orthodox systems.

What role did psychoanalysis play in the understanding of self?

Freud suggested the self is partly unconscious and hidden from awareness.

According to Freud, how is the self controlled?

The id is repressed by the superego, enforcing internalised societal norms.

What is the symbolic interactionist view of the self?

The self emerges from social interactions using shared symbols.

What is the 'looking-glass self'?

Seeing oneself based on how one thinks others perceive them.

What happens when people publicly act out a trait?

Their private self-perception shifts to match that public behaviour.

What are the two types of self-awareness?

Private self (thoughts, feelings) and public self (how others see us).

What can reduced self-awareness lead to?

Deindividuation – loss of personal identity, linked to antisocial behaviour.

What is a self-schema?

A cognitive structure representing knowledge about oneself in specific contexts.

What are the three types of self in self-discrepancy theory?

Actual self, ideal self, and ought self.

What emotional outcome results from an actual-ideal discrepancy?

Dejection (e.g., disappointment or sadness).

What is regulatory focus theory?

A theory describing promotion focus (striving for ideals) vs. prevention focus.

What is self-perception theory?

We infer our attitudes by observing our behaviour.

What is the overjustification effect?

External rewards reduce intrinsic motivation.

What is social comparison theory?

We compare ourselves with others to evaluate our opinions and abilities.

What is BIRGing?

Basking in reflected glory—associating with successful others to boost self-image.

What are the three types of self according to Brewer and Gardner?

Individual, relational, and collective self.

What are person-based, relational, and group-based identities?

Forms of social identity differing in focus on individual, interpersonal, or group level.

What helps people maintain a coherent sense of self?

Strategies like limiting contexts, revising autobiographies.

What is Social Identity Theory (SIT)?

A theory explaining group membership through categorisation, comparison, and self-definition.

What is depersonalisation in SIT?

Viewing oneself and others as prototypes of a group.

What is the meta-contrast principle?

A prototype is the position in a group that best contrasts with outgroup positions.

What are the three key self-motives?

Self-assessment, self-verification, and self-enhancement.

What is self-affirmation theory?

The idea that people protect their self-concept by focusing on strengths in other areas.

What is the self-enhancing triad?

Overestimating good points, control over events, and unrealistic optimism.

What is self-handicapping?

Making excuses in advance to protect self-esteem from failure.

What is the sociometer theory of self-esteem?

Self-esteem reflects perceived social acceptance.

What does terror management theory propose?

Self-esteem helps buffer against fear of death.