psychology aos 4

Social cognition

how individuals perceive others , use information to judge others, explain behaviours of others and form attitudes towards others

Person perception

the mental processes used to evaluate others

Halo effect

a cognitive bias in which the impression formed on one quality of a person influences beliefs on a persons other qualities

Body language

non verbal communication that are used to express a message, allowing quick judgments to be made

Saliency detection

characteristics that are noticeable compared to surroundings, enabling initial judgments

Social categorisation

a mental shortcut used in perception to categorise people into groups based on shared characteristics

Attributions

inferences made about the causes of events and behaviours

Person attribution

due to the characteristics of a person

Situational attribution

due to factors external to a person

Fundamental attribution error

the tendency to overemphasise personal factors and ignore situational ones when judging someone

Actor observer bias

the tendency to attribute ones own behaviour to situation causes and others to personal characteristics

Self serving bias

the tendency to attribute ones success to internal factors and failures to external factors

Affective component of tri component model

the feelings about a certain topic

Behavioural component of tri component model

the actions about a certain topic

Cognitive component of tri component model

the thoughts about a certain topic

Cognitive dissonance

discomfort experienced due to conflicting believes and/or behaviours

Stereotypes

a collection of fixed ideas one has about certain groups

Stigma

negative attitudes about someone based on a distinguishing characteristic

Ingroup

a group that one belongs or identifies with

Outgroup

a group that one does not belong or identify with

Cognitive bias

errors in thinking that lead to misinterpretation of information perceived

Anchoring bias

the tendency to rely heavily on initial information learnt

Attentional bias

the tendency to pay attention to some things but ignore others

Confirmation bias

the tendency to seek or interpret information in a way that confirms existing beliefs while dismissing the contradictory

Dunning-Kurger effect

the tendency to overestimate ones knowledge or ability, particularly in areas in which they have little knowledge in

Prejudice

a negative attitude towards someone based on a group they are apart of

Discrimination

a negative behaviour directed towards someone due to prejudice

Intergroup contact

increasing direct contact between two groups who are prejudiced against each other

Mutual independence

when placed in a contact situation are are dependent on one another

Superordinate goal

a goal that cannot be achieved by one group alone

Equality of status

groups must have equal status in a situation

Status

the level of importance placed upon an individual by other group members

Power

a individuals ability to control or influence other members of the group

Corrective power

the ability to punish an individual

Expert power

a person with specialist knowledge and/or skills

Legitimate power

a person with a formally recognised position in an organisation to exert rights over others

Referent power

a person who has the quality of being idolised as a role model

Reward power

a person who has the ability to reward behaviour positively or by removing negative effects

Obedience

the act of changing behaviour in response to direct commands

Constructive obedience

compliance with orders of an authority that results in a positive outcome

Destructive obedience

compliance with orders of an authority that results in a negative outcome

Factors that affect obedience: social proximity

the closeness between people physically or the closeness of their relationship

Factors that affect obedience: group pressure

an occurrence in which other members reveal if they are obedient to the authority or not

Factors that affect obedience: legitimacy of authority

whether a person regards an authority as legitimate or credible

Conformity

the tendency to adjust thoughts/feelings/behaviours in ways that are in agreement with those of a particular group

Factors that affect conformity: group size

the amount of people in a group which increases conformity up to a certain point

Factors that affect conformity: unamity

the complete agreement amongst members of a group

Factors that affect conformity: culture

the cultural background of an individual or group (collective vs individualist)

Non conformity

any behaviour that is not conformity

Independence

a situation in which a person perceives group pressure but does not respond to it

Anti-conformity

motivation or behaviour to disagree, disrupt or oppose a person or group

Factors that affect non conformity: minority vs majority

in which conformists view a non conformist as an outsider

Factors that affect non conformity: task ambiguity

ambiguous tasks cause individuals to be more likely to behave independently

Factors that affect non conformity: personality factors

the typical differences between conformists and non conformists

Factors that affect non conformity: culture

in which individuals from an individualist culture are more likely to show non conformity behaviour

Psychological reactance theory

a reaction that emerges when experiencing a threat or loss to free behaviours

The need for uniqueness

a persons distinctiveness to other people

Social impact theory

the degree of influence a person experiences in group settings based on the groups strength, immediacy and number of people