AP Psych Vocabulary

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 or the person's disposition

Explanatory style

interpreting good and bad events in ways that are pessimistic or optimistic

Fundamental attribution error

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

Actor-observer bias

the tendency to blame our actions on the situation and blame the actions of others on their personalities

Social Comparison

evaluating one's abilities and opinions by comparing oneself with others

Prejudice

A negative attitude toward an entire category of people, often an ethnic or racial minority.

Stereotypes

A generalized belief about a group of people

Cognitive load

effort it takes to make decisions

Implicit prejudice

unconsciously held prejudicial attitudes

Discrimination

unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group and its members

Just-world phenomenon

the tendency for people to believe the world is 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

Ingroup bias

the tendency to favor our own group

Scapegoat theory

prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame

Ethnocentrism

tendency to view our own ethnic/racial group as superior

outgroup homogeneity bias

uniformity of attitudes, personality, and appearance in an outgroup

other-race effect

the tendency to recall faces of one's own race more accurately than faces of other races

attitudes

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

foot-in-the-door phenomenon

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

door-in-the-face effect

the tendency for a person who has refused a major request to subsequently be more likely to comply with a minor request

role

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

Leon Festinger's Cognitive Dissonance Theory

the theory that we act to reduce the discomfort we feel when two of our thoughts are inconsistent

Persuasion

changing people's attitudes, potentially influencing their actions

Peripheral route persuasion

occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker's attractiveness

central route persuasion

occurs when interested people's thinking is influenced by considering evidence and arguments

the halo effect

belief that beautiful or famous people are especially smart or trustworthy

norms

a society's understood rules for accepted and expected behavior

conformity

Adjusting one's behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard.

Solomon Asch

Conducted famous conformity experiment that required subjects to match lines.

Normative Social Influence

influence resulting from a person's desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval

informational social influence

influence resulting from one's willingness to accept others' opinions about reality

obedience

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

Stanley Milgram

obedience to authority; had participants administer what they believed were dangerous electrical shocks to other participants

Minority influence

the power of one or two individuals to sway majorities

Social facilitation

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 their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable

Deindividuation

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

Group polarization

the enhancement of a group's prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group

Groupthink

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

Culture

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

Collectivism

the practice or principle of giving a group priority over each individual in it.

Individualism

giving priority to one's own goals over group goals and defining one's identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications

Multiculturalism

places value on cultural & ethnic groups' maintenance of their unique, identities, beliefs, & practices

Tight cultures

places with clearly defined and reliably imposed norms

Loose cultures

places with flexible and informal norms

Altruism

unselfish regard for the welfare of others

John Darley and Bibb Latane

Conducted the smokey room experiment; discovered the bystander effect; diffusion of responsibility

Diffusion of responsibility

the tendency for individuals to feel diminished responsibility for their actions when they are surrounded by others who are acting the same way

Bystander effect

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

Feel-good, do-good phenomenon

people's tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood

Social exchange theory

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

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 the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their self-interest, become caught in mutually destructive behavior

Mirror-image perceptions

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

Self-fulfilling prophecies

a belief that leads to its own fulfillment

Superordinate goals

shared goals that override difference among people and require their cooperation

Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension Reduction (GRIT)

a strategy designed to decrease international tensions

Critical thinking

thinking that does not automatically accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, appraises the source, discerns hidden biases, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions.

Hindsight bias

the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it

overconfidence

the tendency to be more confident than correct—to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments.

peer reviewers

scientific experts who evaluate a research article's theory, originality, and accuracy

theory

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

hypothesis

A testable prediction, often implied by a theory

falsifiability

a feature of a scientific theory, in which it is possible to collect data that will prove the theory wrong

operational definition

a statement of the procedures used to define research variables

replication

repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances

case study

a non-experimental technique in which one individual or group is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles

naturalistic observation

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

survey

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

social desirability bias

bias from people's 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

randomly selected sample of subjects from a larger population of subjects

convenience sampling

choosing individuals who are easiest to reach

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

non-experimental methodology

A research method that involves observing and measuring variables without manipulating them, focusing on relationships and correlations between variables.

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 (from -1 to +1)

variables

factors that can change in an experiment

scatterplots

a graphed cluster of dots which represents the values of two variables

positive correlation

A correlation where as one variable increases, the other also increases, or as one decreases so does the other. Both variables move in the same direction.

negative correlation

as one variable increases, the other decreases

directionality problem

cannot tell which variable is the cause and which, the effect

illusory correlation

the perception of a relationship where none exists

regression toward the mean

the tendency for extreme or unusual scores to fall back (regress) toward their average.

experiment

A research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process

experimental group

In an experiment, the group that is exposed to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable.

control group

In an experiment, the group that is not exposed to the treatment; contrasts with the experimental group and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment.

random assignment

assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups

single-blind procedure

research design in which participants don't know whether they are in the experimental or control group

double-blind procedure

an experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant (blind) about whether the research participants have received the treatment or a placebo. Commonly used in drug-evaluation studies.

confounding variable

a factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect in an experiment

independent variable

The experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied.

placebo

something which has a positive mental effect, but no physical effect

placebo effect

experimental results caused by expectations alone

experimental bias

bias caused when researchers may unintentionally influence results to confirm their own beliefs