PSYC 1002 Final Exam

social psychology

branch of psychology concerned with the way individuals’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are influenced by others

aaron beck’s cognitive therapy

through an open-ended dialogue with the therapist people learn to challenge the accuracy of their own automatic thoughts and emotional reactions

gestalt therapy (Fritz Perls)

active questioning to challenge clients to become aware of feelings and face problems

manic episode

at least a week of abnormally and persistently elevated, expansive, or irritable mood and increased goal-directed activity or energy

hypomanic episode

less severe form of another episode type; lasting at least 4 consecutive days; not severe enough to cause impairment in functioning or necessitate hospitalization

persistent depressive disorder (dysthymia)

chronically depressed mood that occurs for most of the day, more days than not, for at least 2 years

agoraphobia

anxiety about, or avoidance of, places or situations from which escape might be difficult

panic attack

an abrupt surge of intense fear or discomfort that reaches a peak within minutes and during which at least 4 out of 13 physical and cognitive symptoms occur

conformity

changing one’s behavior or beliefs in response to real or imagined social pressure

seeking social support for instrumental reasons

seeking advice, assistance, or information

seeking social support for emotional reasons

getting moral support, sympathy, or understanding

implicit attitudes

covert attitudes that are expressed in subtle automatic responses over which we have little conscious control

matching hypothesis

the idea that males and females of approximately equal physical attractiveness are likely to select each other as partners

external attributions

ascribing the causes of behavior to situational demands and environmental constraints

Jones & Harris

even when participants know the student was forced to write the speech from a certain position, they still used it to infer attitude

internal attributions

ascribing the causes of behavior to personal dispositions like traits, abilities, and feelings

attributions

inferences that people draw about the causes of events, others' behaviour, and their own behaviour

Milgram’s obedience studies

participants are told to administer shocks to learner for each incorrect response; they are not forced to continue but the authority figure instructs them to; many participants obey even when they hear sounds of pain

stereotypes

widely held beliefs that people have certain characteristics because of their membership in a particular group

social roles

widely shared expectations about how people in certain positions are supposed to behave

cognitive dissonance theory

psychological state that exists when related cognitions contradict each other; attitude change occurs to reduce the discomfort caused by the inconsistency; pre-existing attitude

explicit attitudes

attitudes that we hold consciously and can readily describe

attitudes

positive or negative evaluations of objects of thought; beliefs or opinions about people, objects, or ideas

commitment

an intent to maintain a relationship in spite of the difficulties and costs that may arise

intimacy

warmth, closeness, and sharing in a relationship

interpersonal attraction

positive feelings toward another

ingroup

the group that people belong to and identify with

self-schema

an integrated set of memories, beliefs, and generalizations about one's behaviour in a given domain

social schemas

organized clusters of ideas about categories of social events and people

person perception

the process of forming impressions of others

medium

the channel through which a message is sent

message

the information transmitted by a source

foot-in-the-door technique

getting people to agree to a small request to increase the chance that they will agree to a larger request later

ethnocentrism

the tendency to view one's own group as superior to others and as the standard for judging the worth of foreign ways

group cohesiveness

the strength of the liking relationships linking group members to each other and to the group itself

groupthink

a process in which members of a cohesive group emphasize concurrence at the expense of critical thinking in arriving at a decision

bystander effect

a paradoxical social phenomenon in which people are less likely to provide needed help when they are in groups than when they are alone

receiver

the person to whom a message is sent

source/communicator

the person who sends a communication

outgroup

people who are not part of the ingroup

lowball technique

getting someone to commit to an attractive proposition before revealing the hidden costs

reciprocity norm

the rule that people should pay back in kind what they receive from others

discrimination

behaving differently, usually unfairly, toward the members of a group

prejudice

a negative attitude held toward members of a group

family therapy techniques

validation, reframing, structural change, de-triangulation

advantages of group therapy

informational, universality, altruism, social skills development

group

two or more individuals who interact and are interdependent

social neuroscience

an approach to research and theory in social psychology that integrates models of neuroscience and social psychology to study the mechanism of social behaviour

group polarization

a phenomenon that occurs when group discussion strengthens a group's dominant point of view and produces a shift toward a more extreme decision in that direction

social loafing

a reduction in effort by individuals when they work in groups as compared to when they work by themselves

obedience

a form of compliance that occurs when people follow direct commands, usually from someone in a position of authority

informational influence

influence that operates when people look to others for guidance about how to behave in ambiguous situations

normative influence

influence that operates when people conform to social norms for fear of negative social consequences

mere exposure effect

the finding that repeated exposures to a stimulus promotes greater liking of the stimulus

illusory correlation

a misperception that occurs when people estimate that they have encountered more confirmation of an association between social traits than they have actually seen

fundamental attribution error

tendency to overestimate the role of personal causes and underestimate the role of situational causes when explaining behaviour

actor-observer bias

actors favor external attributions for their behavior, whereas observers are more likely to explain the same behavior with internal attributions

defensive attribution

the tendency to blame victims for their misfortune, so that one feels less likely to be victimized in a similar way

self-serving bias

the tendency to attribute one's successes to personal factors and one's failures to situational factors

passionate love

a complete absorption in another that includes tender sexual feelings and the agony and ecstasy of intense emotion

companionate love

warm, trusting, tolerant affection for another whose life is deeply intertwined with one's own

constructive coping

relatively healthful efforts that people make to deal with stressful events

optimism

a general tendency to expect good outcomes

burnout

physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion that is attributable to work-related stress

learned helplessness

passive behaviour produced by exposure to unavoidable aversive events; perceived lack of control

life changes

any noticeable alterations in one's living circumstances that require readjustment

avoidance-avoidance conflict

a conflict situation in which a choice must be made between two unattractive goals

approach-approach conflict

a conflict situation in which a choice must be made between two attractive goals

conflict

a state that occurs when 2 or more incompatible motivations or behavioral impulses compete for expression

frustration

the feeling that people experience in any situation in which their pursuit of some goal is thwarted

catharsis

the release of emotional tension

aggression

any behavior that is intended to hurt someone, either physically or verbally

coping

cognitive and behavioral efforts to manage specific external/internal demands that are appraised as taxing or exceeding the resources of the person

pressure

expectations or demands that one behave in a certain way

chronic stressors

threatening events that have a relatively long duration and no readily apparent time limit

acute stressors

threatening events that have a relatively short duration and a clear endpoint

secondary appraisal

evaluation of your coping resources and options for dealing with stress; person concludes they do not have resources to cope with demands of threatening event

primary appraisal

initial evaluation of whether an event is (1) irrelevant to you (2) relevant but not threatening or (3) stressful; person perceives an event as a threat to goals

stress

a subjective feeling produced by events perceived as uncontrollable and threatening; a response to the perceived demands of the situation

acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)

a disorder in which the immune system is gradually weakened and eventually disabled by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

catastrophic thinking

unrealistically pessimistic appraisals of stress that exaggerate the magnitude of one's problems

health psychology

the study of how psychosocial factors relate to the promotion and maintenance of health and the causation, prevention, and treatment of illness

hardiness

personality style characterized by a sense of commitment, control, and a perception of problems as challenges; correlated with better health

biopsychosocial model

a model of illness that holds that physical illness is caused by a complex interaction of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors

fight-or-flight response

a physiological reaction to threat in which the autonomic nervous system mobilizes the organism for attacking or fleeing an enemy

social support

various types of aid and emotional sustenance provided by members of one's social networks

immune response

the body's defensive reaction to invasion by bacteria, viral agents, or other foreign substances

Type B personality

personality characterized by relatively relaxed, patient, easygoing, amicable behaviour

Type A personality

personality characterized by (1) a strong competitive orientation (2) impatience and time urgency (3) anger and hostility

approach-avoidance conflict

a conflict situation in which a choice must be made about whether to pursue a single goal that has both attractive and unattractive aspects

post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

disturbed behavior that is attributed to a traumatic event; symptoms are avoidance of stimuli, negative alterations in mood and cognitions, marked alterations in arousal and activity

rational-emotive therapy

an approach to therapy that focuses on altering clients' patterns of irrational thinking to reduce maladaptive emotions and behaviour

delusions

false beliefs that are maintained even though they are clearly out of touch with reality

expressed emotion

the degree to which a relative of a schizophrenic patient displays highly critical or emotionally overinvolved attitudes toward the patient

hallucinations

sensory perceptions that occur in the absence of a real, external stimulus or are gross distortions of perceptual input

schizophrenia

a disorder marked by delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, negative symptoms, and deterioration of adaptive behavior

seasonal affective disorder (SAD)

a type of depression that follows a seasonal pattern

cyclothymic disorder

exhibiting chronic but relatively mild symptoms of bipolar disturbance

comorbidity

the coexistence of two or more disorders

prognosis

a forecast about the probable course of an illness