Unit 4 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY CRASH SHEET

Social Cognition

The way you think about people, emphasizing that you react to your interpretation rather than reality.

Schema

A mental framework or shortcut for categorizing information.

Heuristics

Mental shortcuts used for quick decision making.

Availability Heuristic

The tendency to think something is common based on how easily it comes to mind, often influenced by recent experiences.

Representativeness Heuristic

The reliance on stereotypes or prototypes to determine categories.

Attribution

The process of explaining why people act as they do, either internal (dispositional) or external (situational).

Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)

The tendency to attribute others' behaviors to their personality while ignoring situational factors.

Actor-Observer Bias

The tendency to attribute one's own actions to circumstances while attributing others' actions to their personality.

Self-Serving Bias

The tendency to attribute success to oneself and failures to external factors, protecting self-esteem.

Cognitive Dissonance

The discomfort felt when actions and beliefs do not align, leading to psychological stress.

Central Route (Persuasion)

A process that involves logic and thoughtful consideration, leading to strong attitudes.

Peripheral Route (Persuasion)

A process relying on superficial cues and emotions, leading to weak attitudes.

Conformity

Changing behavior to match group norms, often for social approval.

Compliance

Agreeing to a request, often following an explicit ask.

Obedience

Following orders from an authority figure.

Social Facilitation

Improved performance on easy tasks in the presence of others, while harder tasks may see decreased performance.

Social Loafing

The phenomenon where individuals exert less effort in a group.

Group Polarization

The tendency for group discussions to strengthen existing opinions.

Groupthink

A situation where harmony within a group leads to poor decision-making.

Stereotype

Oversimplified belief about a group.

Prejudice

A negative feeling or attitude toward a group, often based on stereotypes.

Discrimination

Action taken against a group that reflects prejudice.

In-group Bias

The tendency to favor one's own group over others.

Out-group Homogeneity

The perception that members of other groups are more alike than they are.

Confirmation Bias

Filtering information to only see what supports existing beliefs.

Self-fulfilling Prophecy

A belief that leads to behaviors that cause the belief to become true.

Helping (Altruism)

The act of assisting others, often requiring several steps.

Bystander Effect

The phenomenon where people are less likely to help in emergencies when others are present.

Diffusion of Responsibility

The dilution of personal accountability in groups.

Pluralistic Ignorance

The belief that others do not feel the need to act in emergencies.

Attraction

The factors that lead to relationship formation including proximity, mere exposure, and similarity.

Self-concept

The collection of beliefs about oneself.

Self-esteem

The assessment of one's own worth and value.

Locus of Control

The degree to which individuals believe they have control over their life outcomes, either internal or external.

Spotlight Effect

The overestimation of how much others notice our actions and appearance.