PSCY 221 Exam 1

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards generated from lecture notes covering Social Psychology, Research Methods, Social Self, Social Cognition, and Social Influence.

Social Psychology

The scientific study of how people influence each other's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

Empiricism

The philosophical and scientific approach asserting that knowledge is derived from sensory experience and empirical research using the scientific method.

Psychology vs Philosophy

-Philosophy:

• Interested in big questions

• Won’t engage in same level of empirical research

-Psychology:

• Empiricism: knowledge is derived from sensory experience (seeing, hearing, etc)

• More aligned with empirical → employing the scientific method to understand -some sort of phenomenon

Situationism

The perspective that social situations explain more of human behavior than internal traits.

Dispositionism

The perspective that internal traits matter more than social context in dictating behavior.

Strong Situation

A social environment where strict expectations dictate that everyone acts similarly regardless of individual personality, such as a funeral.

Weak Situation

A social environment with flexible expectations that allows individual personality traits to dictate behavior, such as hanging out with friends.

Null Hypothesis

A statistical hypothesis asserting that there is NO EFFECT or NO DIFFERENCE between conditions.

Alternative Hypothesis

A statistical hypothesis asserting that there is a true effect or relationship between variables.

Statistically Significant p-value

A probability threshold where $p < 0.05$, meaning that if the null hypothesis were true, results this extreme would occur less than $5\%$ of the time.

Convenience Sampling

A non-probability sampling method based on participant availability rather than random selection, which can limit generalizability.

Sampling based on participants who are able too

Random Sample

A sampling method where every individual in the population has an equal chance of being selected for a study.

Ex: population - UMD undergrad students → every single student would have an equal chance of being selected for the study

-Eliminates selection bias and creates a representative sample

Margin of Error

-A calculated value accounting for potential variance between a sample statistic and the true population value.

-Making room for the fact that the sample may not be represented of the population

-a statistical number that shows how much a survey or poll result might differ from the actual truth of the entire population

Random Assignment

An experimental procedure giving selected participants an equal chance of being placed in any condition, reducing bias and confounding variables.

Allows us to asses cause and effect between independent and dependent variable

Observational Method

A research design involving systematic watching and recording of behavior to describe the nature of a phenomenon.

Least empirical, quantitative

Strengths:

About natural behaviors: your just describing the behaviors

Limitations:

Certain behaviors may be difficult to observe: may occur rarely or may occur only in private

Not able to make predications or explain cause and effect

Correlational Method

A research design where two or more variables are systematically measured to evaluate how well one predicts another using correlation coefficient $r$.

Tells you the strength of the relationship and the direction of the relationship

Ranges from -1 to +1:

• Negative = negative direction (as one variable goes up the other goes down)

  • Ex: negative correlation between vaccination and disease rate

• Positive = positive direction (as one variable goes up the other goes up)

  • Ex: Positive correlation between height and weight (taller people tend to weigh more)

0.5 or higher = strong correlation

LIMITS: want to be careful with assuming too much (doesn’t mean it is casual)

Third Variable Problem

A limitation in correlational research where an unmeasured variable causes the observed association between two variables.

So many other svariables that could have an effect

Pre-experiment

-One group of people that is tested

-Sometimes they are used prior to an actual experiment

-Weakness: There is no group to compare it too (not a lot of conclusions)

-Strengths: avoids disadvantaging a group (ex: a clinical trial - if we are studying some sort of treatment or illness, we don’t want to disadvantage a group)

Quasi-Experimental Design

-A study design comparing groups across variables that cannot be randomly assigned, such as identity or religious status.

• Assigned to groups based on pre-existing beliefs/expectations

-Strength: are able to determine differences between groups

-Weakness: possibility of confounding variables

• Confounding variables due with different factors (traits, personality, anything that could have an unwanting effect)

  • Ex: if someone chooses to play violent video games, they may be violent

True Experiment

A research design utilizing random assignment and manipulation of an independent variable to establish cause-and-effect relationships.

-Random Assignment alows the groups to be equal in terms of disposition

-Independent Variable: what are you changing/manipulating

• Ex: whether participants drink coffee or not

-Dependent Variable: what are you measuring in your study

• Ex: test performance

Operational Definition

The explicit, specific specification of how a variable is manipulated or measured in a study.

Internal Validity

Validity = accuracy

The confidence that an experimental methodology accurately demonstrates a cause-and-effect relationship without confounding variables.

External Validity

Validity = accuracy

The extent to which study findings can be generalized to broader populations and real-world settings.

Reliability

Consistency of measurement

Self-Concept

The personal mental representation and overall summary of everything an individual believes defines them.

Schema

-framework for the world (mental framework that helps us organize information)

-Ex: you have a mental framework for going to the diner

Self - Schema

A mental framework that summarizes perceptions and organizes information relevant to oneself.

Ex: identify as athletic so you might pay more attention to your workouts or other people that are working out

Social Comparison Theory

The theory that individuals evaluate their own traits and abilities by comparing themselves to others.

We compare ourselves to others in order to evaluate our own traits and abilities

Upward Social Comparison

Comparing oneself to someone who appears superior in skills or traits, which can motivate improvement but threaten self-esteem.

Can threaten our self esteem

Ex: watching guitar videos to help us learn

Downward Social Comparison

-Comparing oneself to someone who is worse off

-Elevate one's own self-esteem.

-Ex: You get a 75 on a test, but the average was 50

Social Comparison W.I.D.E factors:

-Who: Who are you comparing yourself with?

-Interpretation: What meaning do you give to the comparison?

• See the influencer and think that's inspiring or think that you will never be as good as that

-Direction: Upward or Downward Social Comparison

-Esteem: What is our existing level of self esteem?

• Trait Self Esteem:

  • High: secure - see and successful peer and think thats great

  • Low: see a successful peer and feel threatened

Culture

Different norms, traditions, and ways of interacting shared by a group of people

Can have a great influence on how we think about and understand the self

Social Identity Theory

-Part of our identity comes from our group membership

-How a person's sense of self and self-esteem come from the social groups they belong to

-Social identity theory explains so much about our passion and how we see ourselves (explains in group favoritism outgroup hostility)

-Helps us understand the nature of prejudice

Motivational Theory

We are motivated to think highly of the groups that we belong to. We are motivated to think less highly of the groups that we are not belonging to.

Independent Self-Construal

Defining identity based on autonomous, internal qualities, unique traits, and personal preferences.

“I am statements”

Interdependent Self-Construal

Defining identity through social relationships, roles, community belonging, and connectedness to others.

Self-Expansion Theory

The basic motivation to grow and enhance self-concept through social relationships by incorporating aspects of close others.

-We are motivated to grow and to increase our capabilities

-As we become close to someone, aspects of that person come to us

Inclusion of Other in the Self Scale

A measurement tool consisting of 7 pairs of increasingly overlapping circles used to evaluate closeness and relationship integration:

• one circle represent you, the other represents a person

• the more the overlap, the more you are connected to them

Self-Presentation Theory

The tendency to adjust behavior and perform in specific ways to influence social perceptions across contexts.

Ex: Job interviews - wear a suit and a tie but when you are with your friends - wear more casual clothes

Erving Goffman's Dramaturgical Theory

The proposal that social interactions are performed 'on stage,' with individuals acting to project specific self-images to an audience.

Self-Discrepancy Theory

-The model positing that emotional distress stems from misalignments between actual self, ideal self, and ought self.

-Actual: Who am I right now - What are my current strengths and weakness

-Ideal: What are our goals and aspirations (What do we want to be in the future)

-Ought: Who one believes others expect them to be

-When ourselves do not align generates negative emotions (Self Discrepancy Theory)

• Dejection related emotions between our actual and ideal self

• Guilty when our actual self doesn’t alight with our ought self

• If it’s not aligning you start asking if its something you actually want

High Self-Monitors

Individuals who actively observe situational cues and shift their self-presentation and behavior to fit social contexts.

Low Self-Monitors

Individuals who act consistently according to internal traits and preferences regardless of social surroundings.

Self-Efficacy

An individual's belief in their ability to perform a specific task successfully.

Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale

Evaluation of one’s own self-worth

Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale:

• “I take a positive view of myself”

• “I feel that I have a number of good qualities”

• “All in all, I am inclined to feel that I am a failure”

GIVES IN A LIQUERT SCALE

REVERSE SCORING (still confused)

Self Enhancement

We are motivated to view ourselves positively

Cognition

a branch of psychology that involves mental process in inquiring, processing, storing, and utilizing knowledge and information

Social Cognition

how people, select, interpret, remember, and utilize social information in order to make judgements and decisions

Select meaning we can’t pay attention to everything so we SELECT certain things

System 1 vs System 2 Thinking

A dual-processing model:

System 1 Thinking:

• quick thinking, intuitive, used when making quick decisions

• Ex: when you are driving and a deer comes randomly (don’t have time to think through it - just make a quick decision)

• Intuition: ability to know something quickly and automatically

• May lead to error

System 2 thinking:

• analytical, rule directed, controlled, effortful

• Logic: ability to use reason, think systematically, and consider evidence

Stereotype

A simplified, generalized cognitive structure assuming that all members of a particular group share identical characteristics.

Schema

-a memory structure for organizing and interpret the world around us

-These are expectations that help us immediately understand the situation. It helps us to not start from scratch in a social situation

-Can be complex and our flexible

Self Schema

-we all have identity of the self → how we interpret the social world

• Ex: someone who likes watches, and now you notice more watches that people wear

Person Schema

-Organized beliefs about individual people (particular people)

-You generally know how your best friend behaves in a given situation: what do they find funny, what kind of food do they like to it → allows you to predict behavior

Social Schemas

-concern social situations, roles, and expectations

• A wedding: you know a tremendous amount about what is likely to happen (have an idea about what to expect: what is likely to happen before I come - ceremony, reception, etc.)

• Are more general

• Involve the social roles that people play as well as the norms

• Norms for how someone is supposed to behave at a wedding

Event schema

-a social schema that is more specific. A specific sequence of events that you follow

-Ex: at a restaurant: you wait to be seated, you sit down, you order off the menu, pay, and then go home

Priming

An implicit effect where exposure to specific information or stimuli influences responses to subsequent stimuli.

Loftus and Palmer Study

A memory study showing that changing verb phrasing ('smashed' vs 'hit') shifted estimated vehicle speeds from $34\,\text{mph}$ to $40.5\,\text{mph}$ and increased smashed glass recall from $14\%$ to $32\%$.

-IV: which word they were utilizing

• “Smashed” vs “hit”

  • 40.5 mph vs 34 mph

• “Did you see any glass?” or “Did you see any glass”

  • Yes: 32% vs Yes: 14%

-Schemas influence our control

-Using these words have different association

Donald Study: Higgens, Rholes, Jones

Part 1 (The Prime): Participants were told they were in a "perception study" and were asked to memorize a list of trait words flashed in different colors. They were split into two groups:

• Positive/Adventurous Group: Memorized words like adventurous, self-confident, independent, and persistent.

• Negative/Reckless Group: Memorized words like reckless, conceited, aloof, and stubborn

Part 2 (The Target): Participants moved to a supposed "second, unrelated experiment" where they read a brief paragraph about a fictional man named Donald

Result: Participants rated Donald's personality and likability based on the ambiguous text. Those primed with positive, achievement-oriented words viewed Donald as adventurous and favorable, while those primed with negative words viewed him as reckless and unfavorable.

Core Takeaway: Recently activated concepts (priming) act as a lens that shapes how we interpret ambiguous social behaviors

IV: Type of trait words that the participants were primed with

DV: The DV is the participants' overall impression and trait ratings of Donald after reading the ambiguous paragraph about him.

Study: 1996: Bargh, Chen, and Burrows

• The Prime: A "scrambled-sentence task" (or word scramble task) used to surreptitiously prime participants with specific trait concepts.

• Independent Variable (IV): The type of words the participant unscrambled (Rude words like bother or intrude; Polite words like respect or considerate; or Neutral words).

• Dependent Variable (DV): Whether or not the participant interrupted a staged conversation between the experimenter and a confederate who was pretending to be confused.

• The Results: Participants primed with rude words were significantly more likely to interrupt (around 60–63%), while those primed with polite words were the least likely to interrupt (around 17–20%). The neutral was in the middle with 38-40%

Availability Heuristic

A cognitive shortcut where frequency or probability is estimated based on how easily vivid examples come to mind.

Ex: After watching news coverage of a rare plane crash, you might feel terrified to fly and assume plane crashes are common, even though driving a car is statistically much more dangerous

Anchoring Heuristic

A decision-making shortcut where an initial value serves as a reference point that heavily biases subsequent estimates.

Ex: A store lists an original price of $200 next to a sale price of $80. The high first number acts as an anchor that skews your perception of value.

Gandhi’s Age Study

-Randomly assigned two conditions: Did Ghandi live beyond age 140? Or Did Gandhi live beyond age 9?

-Then asked how old was Gandhi when he died?

-67 vs 50 (Higher number because the question had a higher number)

Endowment Effect

The tendency to ascribe higher value to objects simply because one owns them.

Sunk-Cost Effect

The tendency to continue investing in a situation due to previously invested resources, driven by loss aversion.

Cognitive Misers

The human tendency to conserve mental energy by using shortcuts and heuristics rather than deep analytical thinking.

Representativeness Heuristic:

Prototype about someone

Ex: Imagine you are told about a man named Steve who is very shy, quiet, organized, and helpful, but doesn't care much for others.

• When asked if Steve is a librarian or a farmer, you likely guess librarian.

Counterfactual Thinking

The cognitive tendency to imagine alternative outcomes that might have occurred instead of actual events.

Downward: imagined outcomes that are worse than reality

Upward: imagined outcomes that are better than reality

Framing

The presentation of information in specific terms (such as a $90\%$ success rate versus a $10\%$ failure rate) to influence decision-making.

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to seek out and interpret information in ways that align with preexisting beliefs.

Ex: for elections, voters read articles or watch channels that praise their favorite political candidate

Hindsight Bias

The tendency to believe, after an event has occurred, that one knew the outcome all along.

Ex: A football fan watches their team lose a close game. Afterward, they insist they knew the coach's playcalling was terrible and that a loss was inevitable, even though they felt uncertain before kickoff.

Conformity

A change in behavior or beliefs due to real or imagined influence from other people.

Examples of norms at UMD:

-Putting a water bottle down claiming ur seat at dining hall

-Wearing red

-Touching testudo’s noise

Compliance

A change in behavior in response to an explicit direct or indirect request.

Obedience

Explicit social influence resulting in behavioral change in response to a direct order from an authority figure.

Informational Social Influence

Conforming because others are viewed as a source of accurate information in ambiguous situations, leading to private acceptance.

Ex: You visit a new city and see a long line of people outside one restaurant. You join the line because you assume the crowd knows it serves the best food

Sherif's Autokinetic Illusion Experiment

A study demonstrating informational social influence, where individual estimates of stationary light movement converged into a shared group estimate across trials.

Normative Social Influence

Conforming to group expectations to gain acceptance or avoid rejection, often resulting in public compliance without private acceptance.

Asch Line Experiment

A study demonstrating normative social influence, where participants conformed to unanimous wrong answers given by confederates when matching line lengths.

Door-in-the-Face Technique

A compliance strategy where an extreme request is made first and refused, followed by a smaller target request based on reciprocal concessions.

Foot-in-the-Door Technique

A compliance strategy where agreement to a small initial favor increases likelihood of agreeing to a larger subsequent request based on consistency.

Descriptive Norms

Perceptions regarding what behaviors people typically perform in a given situation.

Ex: Seeing a sign in a hotel room that says, "Most guests in this room reuse their towels," which encourages you to do the same.

Prescriptive Norms

Perceptions regarding what behaviors are officially approved or disapproved by a group.

Ex: The prescriptive norm says executives should wear professional clothing to represent their company.

Milgram's Obedience Study

An experiment demonstrating authority influence, where $65\%$ of participants administered maximum voltage electric shocks (up to XXX / deadly levels) when ordered by an experimenter.

Personality

trait that we carry from one situation to the next

Self Esteem

Both defined as a trait and a state

Conjunction Fallacy

????

Sunk Cost Effect

We continue to invest in something simply because we already invested into it

• Ex: in a relationship for 5 years, but you are not happy. But still stay

Driven by loss aversion: losses hurt more than equivalent gains

Gerg Gigerenzer

-Stated not all heuristics are bad

-Ecological Rationality: Heuristics work because they are adapted to environments

-Bounded Rationality: We don't have infinite information. We are not computers

Bounded Rationality

We don't have infinite information. We are not computers

Recognition Heuristic

If you are faced with a decision, you might rely on which thing you recognize better

• Use it when you don’t know the answer to something. Recognition relates to importance

• Ex: The Question: Which city has a larger population: San Diego or San Antonio? —> Saying San Diego because you have heard of it

Take the best Heuristic:

When trying to make a simple decisions to choose between two alternatives by looking only at the SINGLE most important reason and ignoring all other information

• Ex: when choosing a college, it has good research opportunities

Social Norms

unwritten rules that govern social behavior

Social Influence

The process through which real or imagined presence, opinions, or actions of others alter an individual's thoughts, feelings, or behaviors (happening all around us and heavily governed by social norms, such as everyone facing the front in a lecture hall or inside an elevator).

Implicit Expectations

Unwritten, unspoken rules and social agreements about how individuals ought to behave without anyone directly instructing them to change (covers conformity, social trends, and social roles; named implicit because nobody directly tells you to change your behavior, such as wearing certain trending shoes or clothes).

Social Role

A set of shared expectations and appropriate behaviors associated with a specific social position (e.g., expecting a professor to show up to class or a bus driver to stay attentive to the road).

CONFORMITY

Conformity

A change in one's behavior or beliefs due to real or imagined influence from other people (driven by powerful social situations and group mechanisms; can be driven by imagined influence when nobody is physically present, such as deleting a social media post because you anticipated a negative reaction from others).

Social Norms

Implicit or explicit unwritten rules and shared expectations that govern the behaviors of group members (helps maintain order like waiting in line, but can discourage positive behaviors like a group quietly teaching members that asking for help is bad; UMD examples include putting a water bottle down to claim a seat at the dining hall, wearing red, and touching Testudo's nose).

Informational Social Influence

Conforming because we see other people as a credible source of information to guide our behavior in ambiguous situations, motivated by the desire to be accurate and leading to private acceptance (e.g., following a crowd that seems to know where it is going, which can be a shortcut or go badly; involves descriptive norms).

Private Acceptance

A genuine, internal change in values and beliefs where an individual genuinely accepts and adopts the opinion or behavior of the group.