Social Psychology Lecture Review Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the core concepts, theories, and studies of social psychology as presented in the lecture notes.

Social Psychology

The scientific study of the causes and consequences of people's thoughts, feelings and behaviours regarding themselves or others.

Social Cognition

How people perceive, remember and interpret social information.

Instinct-based view

An early perspective suggesting behaviour is driven by instincts, such as survival or maternal instincts, though it fails to explain complex social behaviours.

Psychoanalytic view

Freud's perspective that behaviour is influenced by unconscious motives and conflicts.

Behaviourism

A perspective that behaviour is shaped by rewards and punishments.

Socially Constructed Reality

The idea that people do not react to reality itself, but to how they interpret reality, often influenced by others.

Introspection

The process of looking inside yourself to explain your own behaviour.

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to notice evidence that supports what we already believe while ignoring evidence that challenges those beliefs.

Theory

An explanation of why something happens, such as the Stereotype threat theory.

Hypothesis

A specific prediction based on a theory.

Stereotype Threat

A phenomenon where being reminded of a negative stereotype about one's group can hurt performance due to anxiety and pressure.

Correlational Research

A research method where variables are measured to see if they are related without manipulation; it does not prove causation.

Positive Correlation

A relationship where as one variable goes up, the other also goes up.

Negative Correlation

A relationship where as one variable goes up, the other goes down.

Experimental Research

Research used to determine cause and effect by manipulating one variable and measuring the result.

Independent Variable (IV)

The variable that the researcher changes or manipulates in an experiment.

Dependent Variable (DV)

The variable that the researcher measures in an experiment.

Internal Validity

Confidence that the Independent Variable (IV) actually caused the change in the Dependent Variable (DV).

Informed Consent

An ethical requirement ensuring participants know the procedures, risks, and rights of a study.

Right to Withdraw

The ethical right of participants to leave a study at any time.

Deception

A research practice where participants are not told the true purpose of a study to prevent changes in behaviour.

Debriefing

The process where researchers explain the full purpose and details of the study to participants after it is completed.

Theory of Lay Epistemology

A theory describing why people decide they have enough information to reach a conclusion, involving needs for accuracy, closure, and confirmation.

Need for Accuracy

The motivation to find the correct answer, typically occurring when stakes and consequences are high.

Need for Closure

The desire to avoid uncertainty, often occurring when people are tired, stressed, or under time pressure.

Need for Confirmation

The desire for information that supports what one already believes.

Dual Process Theory

The theory that humans have two thinking systems: one automatic and experiential, and one conscious and cognitive.

Implicit Attitudes

Automatic attitudes that operate outside of awareness in the experiential system.

Explicit Attitudes

Conscious attitudes that operate within the cognitive system.

IAT (Implicit Attitude Test)

A test used to measure automatic associations.

Automaticity

Doing things without conscious thought, such as walking or driving a familiar route.

Controlled Processing

The act of deliberately thinking, usually required for new situations or problem solving.

Somatic Marker Hypothesis

The idea that emotions help guide decisions via "warning signals" felt in the body.

Schemas

Mental frameworks based on previous experience that help organize information.

Scripts

Schemas specifically about events, such as a restaurant script.

Impressions

Schemas about people.

Stereotypes

Schemas about groups.

Self Concept

A schema about yourself, including knowledge and beliefs about your traits and social identities.

Accessibility

How easily a schema comes to mind.

Salience

How much something currently stands out in your mind.

Priming

Exposure to a stimulus that makes a specific schema more active.

Associative Networks

The organization of memory like a web where concepts are connected; activating one activates related ones.

Interpretation Bias

A form of confirmation bias where ambiguous information is interpreted in a way that confirms existing beliefs.

Information Gathering Bias

A form of confirmation bias where people ask questions or seek information that supports their beliefs.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

A process where your expectations influence your behaviour, which influences others, eventually making the expectation come true.

Mood

An emotional state that lasts longer than a single emotion and affects judgement, decisions, and attention.

Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner)

The theory that people define themselves partly through the groups they belong to, which influences self-esteem and identity.

Social Role Theory

The idea that gender differences are often learned through social roles assigned by society rather than biology.

Self Schema

Beliefs and memories about a specific part of yourself, such as being athletic.

Working Self Concept

The part of your self-concept that is active and accessible at any given moment.

Solo Status

Feeling unique or highly noticeable because you are the only person with a specific characteristic in a group.

Reflected Appraisals

Learning about ourselves through what we think others think of us, also known as the looking glass self.

Social Comparison Theory (Festinger 1954)

The theory that people learn about themselves by comparing themselves to others because many qualities are hard to evaluate alone.

Upward Comparison

Comparing yourself to someone better off, which can motivate improvement but also lower self-esteem.

Downward Comparison

Comparing yourself to someone worse off to increase self-esteem.

Better-Than-Average Effect

The bias where most people believe they are better than average on positive traits like intelligence or driving ability.

Self-Perception Theory

The idea that people learn about their own attitudes and traits by observing their own behaviour.

Facial Feedback Hypothesis

The suggestion that facial expressions can influence the emotions one feels, such as smiling increasing positive emotions.

Two Factor Theory of Emotion

The theory that emotion is the result of physical arousal plus the cognitive interpretation of that arousal.

Misattribution of Arousal

A process where people incorrectly identify the source of their physical arousal, such as mistaking fear for attraction.

Excitation Transfer Theory

The idea that leftover arousal from one event can carry over and intensify the emotional response to a second event.

Social Learning Theory

Bandura's theory that we learn behaviours by observing others, as demonstrated in the Bobo Doll study.

Chameleon Effect

Unconsciously imitating the postures, gestures, or slang of others to help social bonding.

Injunctive Norms

Perceptions of what people generally approve or disapprove of.

Descriptive Norms

Perceptions of what most people actually do in a given situation.

Social Contagion

The spread of ideas, emotions, and behaviours between people, such as yawning or laughter.

Conformity

Changing one's beliefs or behaviour to match those of a group.

Informational Influence

Conforming because of a desire to be correct, especially in ambiguous situations.

Normative Influence

Conforming because of a desire to fit in or be liked.

Public Compliance

Acting in accord with a group while privately disagreeing.

Private Acceptance

Actually changing one's internal beliefs to match the group.

Minority Influence

When a minority changes the majority opinion, which is strongest when the minority is consistent and confident.

Foot-in-the-door

A compliance technique involving a small request followed by a larger request.

Lowballing

Gaining agreement to a request and then revealing hidden costs.

Reciprocity

The obligation to return a favour, often used in the door-in-the-face technique.

Social Proof

The tendency to copy others' actions, such as following ratings or reviews.

Scarcity

The tendency to want things more when they are perceived as rare or limited.

Obedience

Following direct orders from an authority figure, as seen in Milgram's study.

Persuasion

An intentional attempt to change attitudes in order to change behaviour.

Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)

A model describing two routes to persuasion: the central route (careful thinking) and the peripheral route.

Central Route (ELM)

Persuasion through careful thinking and focus on argument quality; requires motivation and ability.

Mere exposure effect

The phenomenon where repeated exposure to a stimulus increases liking for it.

Balance Theory

The idea that people prefer consistency among their beliefs, such as liking a product because a liked celebrity likes it.

Need for Cognition

A personality trait involving the enjoyment of thinking deeply; those high in this are more persuaded via the central route.

Self-Monitoring

The degree to which people care about their image; high self-monitors are more influenced by peripheral cues.

Promotion Focus

A regulatory focus on seeking positive outcomes and gaining energy or health.

Prevention Focus

A regulatory focus on avoiding negative outcomes and preventing disease or illness.

Psychological Reactance

The resistance that occurs when people feel their freedom of choice is threatened.

Attitude Inoculation

Exposing people to weak arguments to help them build resistance against stronger arguments later.

Theory of Planned Behaviour

The theory that behaviour is predicted by intentions, which are influenced by attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control.

Entitativity

The degree to which a collection of people feels like a real, cohesive group.

Social Facilitation Theory

The phenomenon where the presence of others improves performance on easy tasks but worsens it on difficult tasks due to increased arousal.

Social Loafing

The tendency to put in less effort when working in a group due to low accountability.

Deindividuation

The loss of a sense of individuality and self-awareness in a crowd, often leading to behaviors like rioting or looting.

Group Polarization

When group discussion pushes the average opinion of members to a more extreme position.

Groupthink

A state where the desire for group agreement becomes more important than making a good decision, leading to poor outcomes.