AP Psychology Unit 7 Flashcards

Person Perception

The process by which individuals form impressions, judgments, and evaluations of other people based on their characteristics, behavior, and social cues.

Attribution Theory

A psychological framework that focuses on how individuals explain the causes of behavior, events, and outcomes.

Dispositional Attribution

Explaining behavior in terms of personal characteristics or dispositions such as personality traits, abilities, or intentions.

Situational Attribution

Attributing behavior to situational or environmental factors such as luck, task difficulty, or situational constraints.

Explanatory Style

An individual's habitual way of explaining the causes of events, outcomes, and experiences in their life.

Actor/Observer Bias

Differences in attributions made by actors (individuals engaging in behavior) versus observers (individuals observing the behavior of others).

Fundamental Attribution Error

When individuals overemphasize the role of personal factors (internal attributions) and underestimate the impact of situational factors (external attributions) when explaining the behavior of others.

Self-Serving Bias

A cognitive tendency where individuals attribute their successes to internal factors (such as their own abilities) and failures to external factors (such as luck).

Internal Locus of Control

Believing you have control over your own life and the outcomes you experience.

External Locus of Control

Believing that external factors, such as luck or fate, have the most influence over the events and outcomes in your life.

Mere Exposure Effect

The phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases favorable feelings toward the stimuli.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

When a person's expectations unconsciously affect their actions and therefore the outcome of a situation.

Social Comparison

The process by which individuals evaluate their own abilities and characteristics by comparing themselves to others.

Upward Social Comparison

When individuals compare themselves to others who are perceived to be better off or more competent.

Downward Social Comparison

When individuals compare themselves to others who are perceived to be worse off or less competent.

Relative Deprivation

The feeling of dissatisfaction that arises when individuals perceive they are worse off compared to others.

Attitude

A way of thinking or feeling about someone or something that is reflected in a person's behavior.

Stereotype

A widely held, fixed, and oversimplified belief or idea about a particular type of person or group.

Prejudice

A negative attitude toward individuals or groups based on their membership in a particular social category.

Discrimination

The unjust or prejudicial treatment of individuals or groups based on their membership in a particular social category.

Implicit Attitudes

Automatic and unconscious evaluations or preferences that individuals hold toward certain people, groups, or concepts.

Just-World Phenomenon

The belief that the world is fundamentally fair and that people generally get what they deserve.

Out-of-Group Homogeneity Bias

The tendency for individuals to perceive members of out-groups as more similar to each other than members of their own group.

In-Group Bias

When individuals tend to favor members of their own group over members of other groups.

Ethnocentrism

The practice of regarding one’s own ethnic, racial, or social group as the center of all things.

Belief Perseverance

The tendency for individuals to cling to their initial beliefs even in the face of contradictory evidence.

Cognitive Dissonance

A discrepancy between actions and attitudes.