psychology chapter 6/7

sac

social cognition

how we perceive, think about and use information to understand and make judgements about ourselves and others in social situation

snap judgements

quick impressions based on a ‘snapshot’ of information often formed from limited information influencing our perceptions

person perception

refers to mental processes we use to think about other people and make a judgement about others, influencing our understanding of their characteristics

physical cues

the way people look and act which influence our first impressions of others e.g appearance/ behavior ( more accurate impression of someone reflects personality traits

attractive people perceived as …

more popular and less anxious

halo effect

the cognitive bias where a positive impression of a person influences how we perceive their other traits as positive

reverse halo effect

incorrect assumption that a positive characteristic indicates the presence of negative characteristics

horn effect

incorrect assumption that negative characteristics indicates the presence of more negative characteristics

paul ekman

salience

refers to any personal characteristic that is distinctive, therefore attracts attention

social categorization

continuely place each other into different groups based on common characteristics

attribution

is the process of how we explain the cause of our own or other’s behavior

internal attribution

is an explanation of behaviour due to the characteristics of the person involved( personality attitude)

external attribution

explanation of behavior due to factors associated with the situation the person is in

fundamental attribution error

tendency to overestimate the influence of personal factors and underestimate the impact of situational factors on other people’s behavior

saliency bias

person is standing out in your visual scene because of behavior that is salient whilst the situation is barely noticeable in the background

just-world theory

if a person believes bad things happen to bad people and good things happen to good people

actor-observer bias-

refers to our tendency to blame our behavior on external factors and blame other’s behavior on internal factors

self-serving bias

tendency to take credit for our successes and deny responsibility for failure

attitude

an evaluation ( positive, negative, neutral) a person makes about an object, person, group or issue and must be consistent to be called attitudes

tri-component model of attitudes

proposes that any attitude has 3 related components- affective, behavioral and cognitive components ( ABC attitudes)

affective component ( tri)

attitude that refers to emotional reactions based on a judgement, positive response(liking) negative response (disliking) or neutral response (lack of interest)

behavioural component( tri)

an attitude that refers to the way an attitude is expressed through our actions

cognitive component (tri)

attitude that refers to the beliefs we have about an object, person, group or issue. Our beliefs are linked to what we know about the world

stereotype

generalization about the personal characteristics of the members of a social group

stereotyping

fitting people into a category based on what we know about them

primary effect

whereby the initial impression we form of a person is more influential than any later information obtained

social stigma

refers to the disapproval of an individual/ group based on characteristics that society perceives as unacceptable or different

prejudice

unfair negative attitudes towards a group

in-group

the group you belong to (us)

out-group

people outside of your group ( them)

dissonance

lack of agreement

cognitive dissonance

an unpleasant psychological feeling that occurs when a person’s behavior conflicts with their beliefs, attitudes or other cognitions

rationalization

making excuses to justify behavior and reduce dissonance

cognitive bias

an error in judgement and decision-making caused by a distorted way of thinking happens naturally, occurs without awareness

anchoring bias

tendency to rely heavily on the first piece of information received ( the anchor) when making decisions

attentional bias

tendency to focus on certain information while ignoring other relevant information

conformation bias

tendency to seek, interpret and remember information that supports existing beliefs while ignoring contradictory evidence

false consensus bias

tendency to overestimate how much people are like them in terms of personal characteristics and behaviors

hindsight bias

tendency to believe, after an event was happened, that you knew the outcome all along

misinformation bias

when information learned after an event change’s a person’s memory of the original event

optimism bias

tendency to overestimate positive outcomes and underestimate negative outcomes for your self

dunning-Kruger effect

people with low knowledge or skill in an area tend to overestimate their ability

heuristics-

a strategy for solving a problem or making a decision that is based on experience with similar types of problems but can’t guarantee a “correct outcome.”

availability heuristic

making a judgement based on how easy examples come to mind

represantiveness heuristic

judging something based on how much it matches your stereotype or mental image

affect heuristic

making decisions based on your emotions at the time

prejudice ( attitude)

negative attitude towards another person or social group, formed in advance before having experience with that person or group

characteristics of prejudice

-believe their group is superior

-believe the other group is different and doesn’t belong

-believe their group is more powerful

-fear the other group may gain power(insecure)

old- fashioned predjuice

open and obvious, direct prejudice

modern prejudice

more stable and hidden prejudice

explicit prejudice

conscious prejudice that person is aware of

implicit prejudice

unconscious prejudice that happens automatically

discrimination ( behaviour)

when a person or social group is treated differently than others

negative discrimination

negative unfavorable treatment of a person or group

positive discrimination

favorable treatment aimed at helping people who have experienced discrimination gain equal opportunities

direct discrimination

when someone is treated unfavorably because of a personal characteristic but is protected by the law ( age,sex,race,religon,disability)

indircet discrimination

occurs when treating everyone the same way disadvantages someone because of a personal characteristic

intergroup contact ( way to reduce prejudice)

increasing direct contact between groups that are prejudiced against each other to reduce prejudice

contact hypothesis ( allport 1954, ways to reduce prejudice)

• theory that close, ongoing, direct contact between groups can reduce prejudice by breaking down stereotypes

extended contact (ways to reduce prejudice)

reducing prejudice through indirect contact with members of another group overtime

mutual interdependence ( ways to reduce prejudice)

when groups must work together and depend on each other to achieve a goal

superordinate goal (ways to reduce prejudice)

a goal that cannot be achieved by achieved by one group alone and requires status and importance

cognitive intervention(ways to reduce prejudice)

strategy, that changes how people think about a prejudiced group by challenging stereotypes

anti-discrimination laws

-make discrimination illegal

-reduce observable discrimination

-help protect minority groups

-laws alone do not completely eliminate prejudice

education and media

-increase awareness of prejudice and discrimination

-challenge stereotypes

stigma

a strong negative feeling or unfair judgment that a society places on a person or group because of a particular trait, condition, or behavior

paul ekman ( facial expressions)

used cross- cultural studies - says all people understand facial expressions