AP Psych Unit 4 (L)

social psychology

the scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another

attribution theory

the theory that we explain someone's behavior by crediting either the situation (a situational attribution) or the person's stable, enduring traits (a dispositional attribution)

fundamental attribution error

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

actor-observer bias

the tendency for those acting in a situation to attribute their behavior to external causes, but for observers to attribute others' behavior to internal causes; this contributes to the fundamental attribution error (which focuses on our explanations for others' behavior)

explanatory style

a psychological attribute that indicates how people explain to themselves why they experience a particular event, either positive or negative

outlook

what one expects from the world; considered to be an important method of coping with stress and challenging situations

pessimist

a person who tends to see or expect the worst in situations, often focusing on negative outcomes and anticipating failure or hardship

optimist

a person who tends to focus on the positive aspects of situations and expects favorable outcomes

internal locus of control (Julien Rotter's Locus of Control Scale)

the belief that one controls what happens to himself/herself through his/her own individual effort and behavior

external locus of control (Julien Rotter's Locus of Control Scale)

the belief that what happens to oneself is due to fate, luck or other individuals

social comparison

a type of personal perception that occurs when people evaluate themselves based on comparisons to other members of society or social circles

adaptation-level phenomenon

individuals' tendency to form judgments (of visual, auditory or concept-level stimuli) relative to a neutral level defined by one's prior experience

relative deprivation

the impression that one is doing worse (i.e., has worse living circumstances) compared to those with whom one contrasts oneself

mere exposure effect

the phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them

prejudice

(easy understanding: "prejudgment") an unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members

stereotype

a generalized (sometimes accurate but often overgeneralized) belief about a group of people

discrimination

unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group and its members

ethnocentrism

assuming the superiority of one's ethnic group

explicit prejudice

a conscious demonstration of bias against a member of a particular social group

implicit prejudice

an unconscious demonstration of bias against a member of a particular social group

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

ingroup

"us"—people with whom we share a common identity

outgroup

"them"—those perceived as different or apart from our ingroup

ingroup bias

the tendency to favor our own group

outgroup homogeneity

having uniformity (i.e., sameness) in attitudes, personality (i.e., behaviors) and appearances

other-race effect (aka the cross-race effect, the own-race bias)

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

belief perseverance

the tendency for people to cling to a particular belief even after information that led to the creation of that belief (i.e., its evidence) has been proven false

confirmation bias

a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence

Leon Festinger's (1957) cognitive dissonance theory

to relieve tension (resulting from awareness of a difference between our attitudes and behaviors, i.e., cognitive dissonance), individuals often change their attitudes to match the behaviors they are performing

conformity

adjusting our behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard

social influence theory

a psychological theory that explains how people's attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors can be influenced by the people and situations around them

informational social influence

influence resulting from one's willingness to accept others' opinions about reality; typically done to make one's own decisions more accurate

normative social influence

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

obedience

complying with (following) an order or command, often given by an authority

attitude

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

peripheral route persuasion (elaboration likelihood model)

occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker's attractiveness (i.e., uses attention-getting cues to trigger emotion-based snap judgments)

central route persuasion (elaboration likelihood model)

offers evidence and arguments that trigger careful thinking (i.e., occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts)

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 technique

the persuader attempts to convince someone to help them by initially making a very large request that the other person will most likely turn down (very similar to a metaphorical door being slammed in a person's face); after this step, the other person is more likely to agree to a second, more reasonable request (note: more likely to agree to this second request than if the second request had been made without the first extreme one)

the halo effect

the tendency for a person's high evaluation of one aspect of another (e.g., feeling that another person is attractive) to generalize to another aspect of that person (e.g., thinking that that person is smart, kind, compassionate, etc.)

role

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

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

collectivism

giving priority to the goals of one's group (often one's extended family or work group) and defining one's identity accordingly

social facilitation (Triplett, 1898)

improved performance on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others

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 (i.e., beliefs) through discussion within the group (essentially creating an "echo chamber")

groupthink

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

the false consensus effect

the tendency to overestimate the degree to which others share one's beliefs and behaviors

conflict (according to social psychologists)

a perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas

social trap

a situation in which the conflicting parties, by each pursuing their self-interest rather than the good of the group, become caught in mutually destructive behavior

industrial-organizational (I/O) psychology

the application of psychological concepts and methods to optimizing human behavior in workplaces

burnout

physical, emotional, or mental exhaustion, brought on by an overburdening workload, which may negatively impact motivation, performance, and attitude

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 prophecy

a belief that leads to its own fulfillment (i.e., beliefs that confirm themselves by influencing the other country to react in ways that seem to justify them)

superordinate goals

shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation

altruism

unselfish regard for the welfare of others

bystander effect (related to diffusion of responsibility)

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

diffusion of responsibility

a tendency for individuals to be less likely to take action or feel responsible for helping in an emergency or situation when others are present

social exchange theory

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

reciprocity norm (aka social-reciprocity norm)

an expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them (i.e., the expectation that we should return help, not harm, to those who have helped us)

social-responsibility norm

the expectation that we should help those who need our help — young children and others who cannot give as much as they receive — even if the costs outweigh the benefits

personality

a unique pattern of consistent feelings, thoughts, and behaviors that originate within the individual

psychoanalytic/psychodynamic theories of personality (Freud and others)

theories that view personality with a focus on the unconscious mind and place considerable value on the childhood experiences of individuals

humanistic theories of personality

individuals' inner capacities for growth and self-fulfillment shape personality

trait theories of personality

typical patterns of behavior (traits) inform perceptions of one's personality

social-cognitive theories of personality

focus the complex relationship between people's traits (e.g., their cognitive patterns) and their social environment

psychoanalysis

Freud's theory of personality that believed the root cause of thoughts and actions was unconscious motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by sought to uncover and give perspective to unconscious tensions; this form of therapy includes exercises in free association, dream analysis, resistance, and transference

free association

a psychoanalytic procedure in which the client is encouraged to say whatever is on his or her mind without censoring possibly embarrassing or socially unacceptable thoughts or ideas

repression

unconscious forgetting; pushing threatening (i.e., anxiety-arousing) thoughts, feelings, and memories into the unconscious mind; repression was thought to underlie (i.e., enable) all the other defense mechanisms; in psychoanalytic theory, this basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories; without our awareness, repressed troublesome feelings and ideas powerfully influence us

unconscious (according to Freud's theories)

a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories not directly available to conscious awareness; contains the memories, knowledge, beliefs, feelings, urges, drives, and instincts of which the individual is not aware

preconscious (according to Freud's theories)

contains material that is not threatening and is easily brought to mind (i.e., can be brought into conscious mind); Ex: the knowledge that 2 plus 2 equals 4

id (concept in Freudian theory)

a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives; operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification; the id unrelentingly pushes to satisfy basic drives to survive, reproduce, and dominate (for the id, these drives can only be resolved through immediate gratification)

pleasure principle

the instinctual drive to seek immediate gratification of desires (e.g., needs for food, sex, and comfort) and avoid pain or discomfort; it is primarily associated with the id,

ego (concept in Freudian theory)

Freud's personality structure that is largely conscious and plays an "executive" function (i.e., the decision-maker for the personality); today we can consider the ego to be a kind of "self"; mediates the demands of the id, the superego and reality; operates on the reality principle

reality principle

instinctual energy is restrained to maintain the individual's safety and to help integrate the person into society

superego (concept in Freudian theory)

the part of the personality makes individuals feel proud when they obey its strict morality and feel guilt when they give in to the id's more pleasure-seeking urges (represents the rights and wrongs of society); the superego's demands often oppose the id's (i.e., the individual feels conflict between their social demands and their instinctive impulses); the ego struggles to reconcile the difference between the id and the superego (performing the executive function)

conscience

the part of the mind that acts as a moral compass, guiding an individual's sense of right and wrong

Oedipus [ED-uh-puss] complex (concept in Freudian theory)

a boy's sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father

identification (concept in Freudian theory)

a process where children incorporate their parents' values into their developing superegos

fixation (concept in Freudian theory)

a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved

defense mechanisms (concept in Freudian theory)

the ego's protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

regression

retreating to an earlier psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated; Ex: a 16-year-old defends against anxiety after being cut from the soccer team by wanting to go to his grandma's house to play cards and eat her chocolate chip cookies

reaction formation

switching unacceptable impulses into their opposites; Ex: a 16-year-old defends against anxiety after being cut from the soccer team by making a big show of expressing indifference about being on "the stupid soccer team

projection

disguising one's own threatening impulses by attributing them to others; Ex: a 16-year-old defends against anxiety after being cut from the soccer team by talking a lot about how mad his parent is at the coach

rationalization

offering self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening unconscious reasons for one's actions; Ex: a 16-year-old defends against anxiety after being cut from the soccer team by explaining that he wasn't working very hard in the tryouts and could have made the team if he really wanted to

displacement

shifting sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person; Ex: a 16-year-old defends against anxiety after being cut from the soccer team by yelling at his little brother for no real reason

sublimation

transferring of unacceptable impulses into socially valued motives; decides to take negative energy and apply it to a positive goal; Ex: a 16-year-old defends against anxiety after being cut from the soccer team by deciding instead to join the cross-country running team, where all are accepted

denial

refusing to believe or even perceive painful realities; Ex: a 16-year-old defends against anxiety after being cut from the soccer team by insisting that there was an error on the team list and he's going to set things right with the coach

inferiority complexes

feelings of inferiority (often rooted in childhood experiences)

collective unconscious (according to Carl Jung)

a common set/reservoir of ideas, feelings, images, and symbols that we inherit from our ancestors, the whole human race, and even animal ancestors from the distant past (essentially derived from our species' universal experiences)

archetypes (according to Carl Jung)

universal symbolic representations of a particular person, object, or experience (such as good and evil); Ex: the archetypical mother figure, the archetypical hero, the archetypical teacher figure, etc.

projective test (according to psychoanalytic approach)

present ambiguous ‪stimuli such as pictures (TAT) or inkblots (Rorschach); these tests assume that test takers will project their unconscious thoughts or feelings (i.e., hopes, desires, fears) onto the stimuli, potentially revealing inner conflicts

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

a projective test composed of ambiguous pictures about which a person is asked to write a complete story; theoretically, with adequate training, psychoanalysts can listen to the individual's descriptions of the stories made up about these ambiguous pictures and reach a more complete understanding of the individuals hopes, fears, interests, etc.

Rorschach inkblot test

a projective test in which a person is shown a series of symmetrical inkblots and asked to describe what he or she thinks they represent; seeks to identify people's inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots; some clinical psychologists (particularly those working in the psychoanalytic tradition) see the Rorschach inkblot test as a useful tool for measuring criminals' violence potential

fugue state

walking around, yet not being conscious of who one is, where one is and why one is there

hierarchy of needs

Abraham Maslow's humanistic theory of priorities from the lower levels of (1) basic biological needs, (2) safety and security needs, (3) belongingness and love, (4) self-esteem needs to (5) self-actualization needs; a lower need must be fulfilled before we can fulfill the next higher need

self-actualization

the realization of our true intellectual and emotional potential (according to Maslow); Ex: pursuing passions, setting meaningful goals, fostering authentic relationships contribute to personal fulfillment, embracing one's true values, etc.

self-transcendence

according to Maslow, the individual's efforts to endeavor for a sense of identity, meaning, and purpose beyond the self

unconditional positive regard

a needs-attentive, nonjudgmental attitude (typically used by many psychological counselors), which Carl Rogers believed would help people develop a sense of self-worth, become more self-aware, and become more "congruent" (i.e., have/experience more overlap between their actual self and their ideal self)