Unit 2 Psychology: Social Psychology and Behaviour

These vocabulary flashcards cover key concepts from Unit 2 Social Psychology, including the tri-component model of attitudes, attitude formation, social cognition, stereotyping, prejudice, and methods for reducing discrimination.

Attitude

An evaluation a person makes about an object, person, group, event or issue.

Affective component

A component of the tri-component model describing the emotional reaction or feelings a person has towards an issue.

Behavioural component

A component of the tri-component model referring to the way an attitude is expressed through our actions.

Cognitive component

A component of the tri-component model referring to the beliefs or thoughts we have about an issue.

Strength of the attitude

A factor influencing attitude-behaviour consistency where stronger attitudes are more likely to be stable, resistant to change, and influence behaviour.

Social context

A factor that influences whether attitudes and behaviour will be consistent because specific situations may influence behaviour.

Perceived control

A factor that influences attitude-behaviour consistency based on whether a person feels free to demonstrate their attitude through their behaviour.

Richard LaPiere (1934) study

A study conducted in the early 1930s involving a Chinese couple traveling the US which found a discrepancy between the negative attitudes reported by establishments in questionnaires and their actual behaviour of providing service.

Likert Scale

A tool used to measure attitudes where people respond to a series of statements about a topic in terms of the extent to which they agree or disagree.

Implicit Association Test (IAT)

A test that measures attitudes and beliefs people may be unwilling or unable to report by measuring reaction times when pairing concepts and attributes.

Classical conditioning

A form of passive learning where a previously neutral stimulus (NS) is repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) until the NS becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) that elicits a learned response.

Observational learning

A process also known as modelling where attitudes are learnt and reinforced vicariously by observing another person's actions and their consequences.

Primacy effect

The phenomenon where the initial impression we form of a person is more influential than any later information obtained.

Stereotyping

A process involving having a belief about a certain group and assuming every member of that group is the same, regardless of individual differences.

Stigma

A negative label associated with disapproval or rejection by others who are not labelled in that way.

Darley & Gross (1983)

A study on stereotyping which concluded that once a person is categorized as belonging to a stereotype, others tend to remember characteristics that match the stereotype and ignore individual characteristics.

Prejudice

An unfavourable or negative attitude towards an individual or group based on their membership to a group.

Discrimination

The unequal treatment of individuals because of characteristics such as race, sex, ethnicity, or cultural background; it is the behavioural expression of prejudice.

Direct discrimination

When someone is treated less favourably than someone of a different social group in the same or similar circumstances.

Indirect discrimination

When a requirement, condition, or practice that appears to be fair actually discriminates against people of a particular social group.

In-group

Any group that an individual belongs to or identifies with, often viewed more positively.

Out-group

A group with which an individual does not identify, often viewed more negatively.

Jane Elliott's 'Blue-eyed, Brown-eyed' experiment

An exercise where children were divided by eye colour to learn about discrimination; it showed how brown-eyed children became arrogant while blue-eyed children became timid and performed poorly.

Intergroup conflict

Hostility that arises when people compete for sought-after resources they do not have.

Fundamental attribution error

The tendency to overestimate the influence of personal characteristics and underestimate situational factors when explaining a person's behaviour.

Just-world hypothesis

The tendency for individuals to believe they live in a world where people generally get what they deserve.

Robber's Cave Experiment

A study where boys were split into two groups (Eagles and Rattlers) to demonstrate how intergroup conflict develops through competition and is reduced through superordinate goals.

Superordinate goal

A goal that two groups desire but cannot be achieved without cooperation and mutual interdependence.

Cognitive intervention

A method to reduce prejudice by changing the way someone thinks, such as requiring them to consider the victim's perspective or challenging negative stereotypes.