Social Psych Final Exam!

Social Psychology

Study of individual responses to social situations; influence of social situations on behavior

Social Situation

immediate environment surrounding circumstances involving other people that influences affect (feelings), behavior, cognition (thoughts)

Culture

behaviors, ideas, attitudes, traditions of large groups of people (passed down/ generational)

Norms

rules groups have for acceptable behavior of its members (explicit/ implicit)

Social Roles

expected behaviors, responsibilities, norms, associated with a certain position in a group/ society

Impact of culture on shaping self- concept

provides framework of values, norms, and social roles; individualism vs collectivism

Effect of culture on thinking styles

analytic (western/ individual cultures) vs holistic (western/ collectivist cultures)

Priming

preconceptions/ judgements affect how we perceive and interpret information

Schemas

mental templates/ framework that we use to organize information about the world; guide expectations and and influences how we notice, store, and recall social information

The power of the situation in activating memories

 through retrieval cues and activation of priming

Conformity

changing one’s behavior as a result of group pressure

Informational vs. Normative Social Influence

Informative (conforming because you believe others have the correct information, to be correct, ambiguous/ crisis situations). Normative (conforming to fit in/ gain social acceptance, for social approval and avoid rejection)

How informational social influence leads people to conform

 when people look to others in ambiguous situations for accurate information, it leads to a genuine belief change because of the need to be correct

How normative social influence leads people to conform

Makes people change their behavior to fit in and avoid rejection and to be accepted, public compliance

Objective vs Subjective reality

objective (facts outside our minds; gravity). Subjective (personal interpretation, feelings/ beliefs about facts)

Effect of schemas on evaluations

filters schema consistent information, guides judgements, biases memory - has negative and positive impacts and biases

Internal vs External Attribution

 Internal (explanations based on a person's individual characteristics, traits). External (explanations based on external/ environmental factors)

FAE

attributing someone’s internal attributions instead of their external attributions; increase self-awareness, consciously change initial judgements to not commit error/ can impact human interaction, self-perception, and decision-making

Negative consequences of stereotypes

stereotype threat, prejudice, discrimination

How stereotypes matter for the self-fulfilling prophecy

expectations from a stereotype cause individuals to act in ways that fit that stereotype

Effect of stereotypes on judgements

snap judgement, biases, prejudice, discrimination, stereotype threats

Automatic vs. Controlled Processing

Automatic (unconscious, effortless, schemas/ habits). Controlled (conscious, effortful, controlled processing)

Accuracy of snap judgements

• thin-slicing; accurate because of previous experience and traits. Can fail due to lack of information, biases, and stereotypes

The power of implicit prejudice in high stake situations

influences judgments and behaviors without conscious awareness

Explicit vs implicit bias

Explicit (conscious, deliberate prejudice). Implicit (unconscious, automatic stereotypes)

Where implicit bias comes from

 early experiences, cultural learning, cognitive shortcuts, memory

How self knowledge can shift and be inaccurate

• unconscious cognitive biases and social influences that protect self-esteem and help us function in the world

Introspection

process of looking inward to reflect on one's thoughts, feelings, motives, and beliefs

Failures of introspection

can be biased and subjective; mental processes or unconscious

Planning fallacy

common tendency to underestimate time, costs, and risks of future tasks

How introspection can lead us astray

introspection illusion; makes us over confident in self-knowledge, biases

Overconfidence phenomenon

cognitive bias; excessive confidence in one's answers and judgements

Confirmation bias

• tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information to confirm/ support one’s preexisting beliefs/ hypotheses

Ways a positive self-view is maintained

self-serving biases, downward social comparisons

Self-serving attribution

attributing success to internal factors but blame failures on external factors

False consensus and uniqueness

Overestimating how much other people share your views/ behaviors; Underestimating how much other people share your views/ behaviors

When cognitive dissonance happens, what factors strengthen it

beliefs, attitudes, behaviors

Motivational sources of prejudice

social identity theory, justifying inequalities

How/ why is psychology a science

applies scientific method to study of human social behavior

Hindsight bias

“knew it all along”

How hindsight bias leads to misguided criticism of social psychology

seems like common sense, distorts value of research

Theory

scientific framework of principles used to describe, explain, and predict how the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others

Hypothesis

specific, testable prediction about the relationship between two or more variables

3 types of correlations

positive, negative, zero correlations

Weaknesses of correlational research

can’t establish causation, can be misinterpreted

Main components of experimental research

independent/ dependent variables, cause and effect

Significance of informed consent and debriefing

 respects autonomy, ethics, trust. understanding

Empirical articles

original, data-driven research; quantitative/ qualitative data

who

source of communication; features of source attractiveness, credibility

what

nature of communication; features of message, feelings, reason, context, argument

whom

nature of audience; audience factors, age, involvement, distraction, thoughtfulness

channel

how message is delivered

Strategies for resisting efforts at persuasion

Inoculation hypothesis, and active defense of attitudes

Groups

2+ people who interact and influence one another/ “us” (affiliate, achieve, gain social identity)

Social facilitation

presence of others increase likelihood dominated responses will occur

Task type

expert/ task easy will do good. Not expert/ task too hard will perform poorly

Social loafing (ways to prevent, factors that trigger)

reduction of individual effort when working with others on additive group tasks

Underlying mechanisms that differentiate Social loafing and facilitation

Hurts or helps performance; can individual efforts be identified and evaluated, is the task easy or difficult

Deindividuation

loss of self-awareness and evaluation apprehension that leads individuals to behave in accordance with group norms

Conditions that lead to deindividuation

being in a group, anonymity, arousal

How decision-making can be harmed in groups

obey group and situational norms (negative norms -negative behavior)

Process loss

any aspect of group interaction that inhibits good problem solving

Groupthink

way people are thinking in a group context (pattern) to prioritize the group (all agree, not rocking the boat), group of friends/ coworkers, leads to limited scope of possibilities [many heads, one mind]

Conditions that lead to groupthink

 insulated/ cohesive group, no appraisal procedures, high stress/ low hope, autocratic leadership

solutions of groupthink

preventing group think be impartial, encouraging critical evaluation, subdivide group, encouraging outside perspectives, and giving a “second chance” before deciding

Symptoms of groupthink

feeling invulnerable, belief in the group’s morality, shared rationalization, stereotyping outgroup, self-censorship, pressuring dissenters, unanimity illusion, mindguards

Minority influences

minority influences majority through consistency, defection, and self-confidence. Minorities obtain private acceptance through informational social influence

When minority influence will happen

when minority defends view, and is very confident while majority is in doubt

Leadership

the process by which certain group members motivate and guide the group

Types of leaders

Task (organizes, sets standards, focuses on skills) vs Social (teamwork, mediates conflict, offers support) 

Effectiveness of leadership styles

depends on situation task/ social

Prosocial behavior

any act performed with the goal of benefiting another person

Basic motives for why people help others

social exchange theory, social norms, evolutionary psychology, empathy-altruism hypothesis

Social exchange theory

helps to maximize rewards and minimize costs; rewards and emotions, do good feel good

Social norms

social-responsibility; expectation that we will help others if they need help (depends on why person needs help)

Evolutionary psychology

instincts/ survival; kin selection, reciprocity, group selection

Empathy-altruism theory

putting yourself in someone else's shoes, helps you to be altruistic; selfless

Situational factors that influence if someone will help

external (situation) vs internal (controllable by person)  attributions

5 steps of the helping decision tree

notice the event, interpret it as an emergency, assume responsibility, know the appropriate form of assistance, implement the decision

How to increase helping

teach moral inclusion, model altruism, learn by doing, attribute helping behavior to altruism, learn about altruism

Fear-Arousing Communications (Leventhal, Watts, & Pagano, 1967)

smokers watched a graphic film about lung cancer 

(or not), or read pamphlet (or not) on how to quit smoking, DV: number of cigarettes smoked later; expert and task easy will 

perform well

Attitude Inoculation (McGuire, 1964)

tested whether people could resist persuasion by first exposing them to weak arguments against beliefs everyone accepts, like “brushing your teeth is good.” He found that people who received these weak challenges—and practiced refuting them—were much better at resisting stronger persuasive attacks later.

Cockroach Study (Zajonc, et al., 1969)

Cockroaches placed in a maze; IV alone/ with audience DV speed to escape

Social Facilitation (Michaels et al., 1982)

performance of pool player DV number of shots made

Social Loafing (Latané, Williams, & Harkins (1979)

 shouting study; DV sound pressure produced per person

Deindividuation (Diener et al., 1976)

Trick-or-Treating research, Dv: stealing candy or not; when deindividuated children stole more candy

Deindividuation Online (Jaidka et al., 2021)

25 min online discussion about gun rights in the US, identifiable socially or personally, or not, measured rationality and incivility

Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis (Batson et al., 1989)

Peers from class (Katie) asked to put themselves in her shoes after Katie lost her parents in a car crash, IV- perspective taking = high empathy, keep objective = low empathy, asked to be willing to help Katie

Good Samaritan Experiment (Darley & Batson, 1973)

If we are in a hurry, we might not notice the event; seminary students encounter a victim, a good Samaritan, or a career, on time/ late/ ahead of schedule

Smoke-Filled Room Study (Latané & Darley)

helping decision tree; number of steps/ decisions we go through before we will help someone, Smoke coming into room while alone/ two others participants/ two other confederates (didn’t say anything for confederates)

Diffusion of Responsibility in Cyberspace (Markey, 2000)

participants get online and look to see how long it takes participants in an online chat room to help someone (how to look at someone’s profile); specific name or not, number of bystanders, No name specified people responded faster

Jones Beach Study (Moriarty, 1975)

reduce ambiguity and increase responsibility; confederate steals a radio, "watch my stuff” or no request