Psych Midterm 3

Social Psychology

The study of the causes and consequences of sociality

Group

a collection of people who have something in common that distinguishes them from other
- we're all members of various groups (families, teams, religions)
- most people in groups tend to be especially nice to each other

Prejudice

a positive or negative evaluation towards another person based on their group membership

Discrimination

a positive or negative behavior towards another person based on their group membership

______ and ______ arise even when groups are arbitrary

prejudice and discrimination

T/F: Being positively prejudiced toward fellow members and the tendency to discriminate in ones favor is evolutionary

True

T/F: When group members make decisions together they do better than if they made decisions alone

False; When groups try to make decisions, they rarely do better than the best member would have done alone
- This is because they don’t fully capitalize on the expertise of their members

Common knowledge effect

the tendency for group discussions to focus on information that all members share

Group polarization

the tendency for groups to make decisions that are more extreme than any member would have made alone
– Group members who come in with a moderate position can leave with an extreme position
– This is because they hear many other moderate arguments in favor of that position

Why is common knowledge effect problematic?

because the information that all members share isn’t as important to discuss as the information that only a few have

Groupthink

the tendency for groups to reach consensus in order to facilitate interpersonal harmony
- don't want to "rock the boat"

Deindividuation

when immersion in a group causes people to become less concerned with their personal values

T/F: People in groups often to terrible things that they would never do along

True. Why? Deindividuation

Kitty Genovese

come back

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

Social loafing

the tendency for people to expend less effort
when in a group than alone

Bystander intervention

the act of helping strangers in an emergency situation

T/F: One would be more likely to help someone in distress if many other people are watching

False – People are less likely to help an innocent person in distress when there are many other bystanders present

Costs of being in a group:

Groupthink
Common knowledge effect
Group polarization
Deindividuation
Diffusion of Responsibility
Bystander Effect

Norms

customary standards for behavior that are widely shared by members of a culture

Are norms taught?

No, these are the unwritten and untaught rules that govern social behavior

Norm of reciprocity

the unwritten rule that people should benefit those who have benefited them

Normative influence

a phenomenon that occurs when another person’s behavior provides information about what is appropriate
- ex: if someone close to you becomes obese you are likely to become obese

Door-in-the-face technique

an influence strategy that involves getting someone to deny an initial request

Asch (1951; 1956)

Come back

Obedience

the tendency to do what powerful people tell us to do

Stanley Milgram

come back

Attitude

an enduring positive or negative evaluation of an object or event

Belief

an enduring piece of knowledge about an object or event

Our ______ tell us what we should eat (the burger) and our ______ tell us how to eat it (go to the restaurant)

attitudes; beliefs

Informational Influence

a phenomenon that occurs when another person’s behavior provides information about what is true
- ex: If you just stop on the street and stare at a tall building, others will too

Systematic persuasion

the process by which attitudes or beliefs are changed by appeals to reason

Heuristic persuasion

the process by which attitudes or beliefs are changed by appeals to habit or emotion

Foot-in-the-door

a technique that involves making a small request and following it with a larger request

Freedman and Frasier (1996)

Cognitive dissonance

an unpleasant state that arises when a person recognizes the inconsistency of his or her actions, attitudes, or beliefs
- coined by Leon Festinger

T/F: When people feel cognitive dissonance, they naturally
try to relieve it by restoring consistency

True

Social cognition ('Theory of Mind')

the processes by which people come to understand others

We base our inferences about other people based on what?

– The categories to which people belong
– The things people say and do

Stereotyping

the process by which people draw inferences about others based on their knowledge of the categories to which others belong

Hamilton and Gifford (1976)

come back

Self-fulfilling prophecy

the tendency for people to behave as they are expected to behave

Stereotype threat

the fear of confirming the negative beliefs that others may hold

Perceptual confirmation

the tendency for people to see what they expect to see

Subtyping

the tendency for people who receive disconfirming evidence to modify their stereotypes rather than abandon them

Stereotyping happens ______ and _________

unconsciously and automatically

Correll et al., 2002

come back

Developmental Psychology

The study of continuity and change across the life span

Prenatal Development

1. Zygote
2. Germinal Stage
3. Embryonic Stage
4. Fetal Stage

Zygote

A fertilized egg that contains chromosomes from a sperm and an egg

Each human sperm and egg contains....

23 chromosomes

Which chromosome determines sex?

The 23rd -- can be X or Y
- Egg always has an X
- Sperm always has an X or Y

Male chromsome

XY

Female chromsome

XX

Germinal Stage

the 2-week period of prenatal development that begins at conception

T/F: In the germinal stage, the zygote divides itself into 4 cells

False, it divides itself into 2-cells, then 4, then 16, then 256, and so on

Zygote migrates down ____ and to ____

the fallopian tube and to the wall of the uterus

Embryonic Stage

The period of prenatal development that lasts from the 2nd week until the 8th week.

In what stage do cells begin to differentiate?

In the embryonic stage

Fetal Stage

the period of prenatal development that lasts from the 9th week until birth

Fetal Stage Characteristics

- has skeletal muscles making it capable of movement
- develops a layer of insulating fat beneath its skin
- Myelination

Myelination

the formation of a fatty sheath around the axons of a neuron

Placenta

organ that physically links the bloodstream of the mother and the embryo or fetus
• Permits the exchange of certain chemicals
• Why the foods the mother eats can affect the unborn child

Insufficient nutrition during pregnancy can increase the risk of what psychological problems?

Increased risk for schizophrenia and antisocial personality disorder

Teratogens

agents that damage the process of development, such as drugs and viruses
- This includes envt poisons, such as lead in water or paint dust in the air
- Ex: Alcohol, Tobacco

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)

a developmental disorder that stems from heavy alcohol use by the mother during pregnancy

Infancy

the stage of development that begins at birth and lasts between 18 and 24 months

Motor development

the emergence of the ability to execute physical action

Reflexes

specific patterns of motor response that are triggered by specific patterns of sensory stimulation

Moro

Startle response/reaction

Walking/Stepping

If the soles of their feet touch a flat surface, they will attempt to "walk"

Rooting

Assists the act of breastfeeding

Palmar grasp

When an object is placed in the infant's hand and strokes the palm, it is grasped

Babinski

When the bottom of the foot is touched, the toes move away and the shin curls them down

Sophisticated behaviors follow what two general rules?

– Cephalocaudal rule
– Proximodistal rule

– Cephalocaudal rule

the “top-to-bottom” rule that describes the tendency for motor skills to emerge in sequence from the head to feet

- Infants can control their heads before their feet

– Proximodistal rule

The “inside-to-outside” rule that describes the tendency for motor skills to emerge in sequence from the center to the periphery

- Infants can control their trunks before hands and feet

Jean Piaget

Saw that children of the same age made the same mistakes. He suggested that children move through discrete states of cognitive development

Cognitive development

The emergence of the ability to think and understand

Piaget's Four Stages of Cognitive Development

1. Sensorimotor (0-2yrs)
2. Preoperational (2-6yrs)
3. Concrete Operational (6-11yrs)
4. Formal Operational (11yrs+)

Sensorimotor stage

a stage of development that begins at birth and lasts through infancy in which infants acquire information about the world by sensing it and moving around within it

Schemas

theories about the way the world
works

Assimilation

the process by which infants apply their schemas in novel situations

Accommodation

the process by which infants revise their schemas in light of new information

Object permanence

the belief that objects continue to exist even when they are not visible
- in the first few months of life, infants aren't aware of this

Childhood

the period that begins at about 18 to 24 months and lasts until about 11 to 14 years

Preoperational stage

the stage of cognitive development that begins at about 2 years and ends at about 6 years, during which children develop a preliminary understanding of the physical world

Concrete operational stage

the stage of cognitive development that begins at about 6 years and ends at about 11 years, during which children learn how various actions or “operation” can affect or transform “concrete” objects

What's the difference between children in the preoperational stage and the conrete operational stage?

Children in the preoperational stage do not grasp the concept of conservation while children in the concrete operational stage do

Harlow

Socially isolated rhesus monkeys for 6 months and put them in a cage with one of two artificial mothers -- a wired mother who dispensed food and a terrycloth mother. He found that the monkeys spent most of their time with the terrycloth mother and only went to the wired mother for food.

Konrad Lorenz

Discovered that new hatchlings will faithfully follow the first moving object they are exposed to. Nature designed birds in such a way they the first moving object they see is imprinted in their minds as the thing they must stay near.

John Bowlby

Postulated the infants are designed to emit signals -- crying, cooing, smiling, making eye contact, gurgling -- because adults reflexively diverge their attention to them.

Altruistic Behavior

showing a disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others; unselfish.

- hurts self to help others

Selfish Behaviors

What two mechanisms does evolutionary theory state accounts for altruism? (situations we'd EXPECT altruism)

- Kin selection
- Reciprocal altruism

Kin selection

mode of selection in which genes spread because of their fitness effects on other bodies likely to be carrying the identical gene
-- ex: helping ur sister survive

Reciprocal altruism

a situation in which altruism is extended only to other altruists
- "you scratch my back, i'll scratch yours"

Hamilton (1964)

States there are two routes to the next generation: Direct and indirect

Direct route

a gene that somehow makes its surrounding body
more fit is more likely to be copied than one that does not
– The fundamental problem with altruism is that it makes the body less fit

Indirect route

a gene that induces altruism in one individual and aims the benefits of that altruism at another individual who (by common ancestry) carries the same gene.