PSYC 2012 Michelle Stock – Exam 1

social psychology

study of how human thoughts, feelings, & behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people

psychological realism

the extent to which the psychological processes triggered in an experiment are similar to psychological process that occur in everyday life

field experiments

researchers study behavior outside the laboratory in a natural setting

accessibility

the extent to which schemas and concepts are at the fore-front of the mind and are therefore likely to be used when making judgments about the social world

how does social psychology differ from personality psychology?

personality psychologists focus on individual differences and aspects of people's personalities that make them different from others

whereas social psychologists focus on social influence

basic research

studies that are designed to find the best answer to the question of why people behave as they do, purely for reasons of intellectual curiosity

applied research

studies geared toward solving a particular social problem

informed consent

when the researcher explains the nature of the experiment to the participants before it begins and asks for their permission to participate

deception

misleading participants about the true purpose of the study or the events that transpire

debriefing

process of explaining to the participants, at the end of the experiment, the true purpose of the study and what transpired

classical conditioning

A stimulus that elicits an emotional response is accompanied by a neutral, nonemotional stimulus until eventually the neutral stimulus elicits the emotional response by itself

explicit vs. implicit attitudes

explicit: ones we consciously endorse and can easily report

implicit: ones that exist outside of our conscious awareness

subliminal advertising

subliminal messages: words or pictures that are not consciously perceived but may influence people's judgments, attitudes, and behaviors

attitude inoculation

Making people immune to attempts to change their attitudes by initially exposing them to small doses of the arguments against their position

internal validity

making sure the IV, and ONLY the IV, influences the DV

external validity

the extent to which the results of a study can be generalized to other situations and other people

social influence

the effect that the words, actions, or mere presence of the people have on our thoughts, feelings, attitudes, or behavior

construal

the way in which people perceive, comprehend, and interpret the social world

goal of social psychologists

identify universal laws that make everyone susceptible to social influence regardless of personality, social class, culture, etc.

hindsight bias

once you know the outcome, it's easy to predict

empirical questions

answers derived from experimentation or measurement rather than personal opinion

theory

a set of related assumptions or explanations about a phenomena from which a testable hypothesis can be drawn

observational research

observe & record behavior occurring naturally in a natural setting

- used to describe social behavior

strengths & limitations of observational research

strength: study behavior in natural context

limitations: uncontrolled settings, subjectivity of researcher, participant reactivity

to fix: multiple observers

correlational research

identifying the relationship between variables and measuring them as they naturally occur

ex: survey methods

strengths & limitations of survey methods

strengths: many participants, collect info on many variables

limitations: samples not representative of population, responses not always truthful, question effects

correlation coefficient

a statistical measure that indicates the extent to which 2 factors vary together

positive correlation coefficient

both variables move in the SAME direction (as X increases, Y increases)

r = .01 to 1

negative correlation coefficient

variables move in the OPPOSITE direction (as X increases, Y decreases)

r= -.01 to -1

3rd variable cause for correlations

perhaps a 3rd variable "Z" is causing both X and Y

experimental research

used to determine cause & effect relationships

independent variable

manipulated variable whose effect is being studied

dependent variable

variable the researchers measure, outcome the researcher is interested in studying

operational definitions

specific procedures for manipulating or measuring a conceptual variable

what is random assignment

ensures that differences in participants; personalities or backgrounds are distributed evenly across conditions

confounding variables

pre-existing variables that might affect the results (ex: intelligence, hunger)

between-subject design

participants only experience one condition of the study, compares different groups of people

within-subjects design

participant experiences all conditions of the study, compares the same group across different situations

strengths & limitations of experimental method

strengths: researcher control, can study causal relationships

limitations: some variables cannot be manipulated, unethical to manipulate some variables, controlled procedures lack realism

random sampling

used when choosing people to be in a study, purpose of generalizing the population, important for external validity

random assignment

used when assigning participants to conditions, purpose to avoid confounds by averaging out extraneous variables, important for internal validity

observational approach

to describe behavior, can observe behavior in natural settings, but little control/can't make causal claims

correlational approach

to examine associations, works with variables that cannot be manipulated, can collect large amount of data, but cannot determine causality

social cognition

study of how people think/feel about themselves and the social world

low-effort

automatic thinking, unintentional, effortless, non conscious

high-effort

controlled, intentional, voluntary, effortful

schemas

mental structures that help organize knowledge about the social world and guide the selection, interpretation, and recall of information

scripts

step-by-step order of events for a particular situation, helps us know what to expect -- we may fill in things that didn't actually happen

priming

the process by which recent experiences increase the accessibility of schemas, traits, or concepts

priming impressions

if primed with positive/negative words or moods, can have a more positive/negative impression of a person

describe schemas

help us make sense of the world, increase our efficiency and speed, often operate automatically w/o conscious awareness, can sometimes lead to errors in judgment

self-fulfilling prophecies

a false belief that leads to its own fulfillment

confirmation bias

tendencies to interpret seek, and create information that verified our preexisting beliefs or schemas

heuristics

shortcuts that people use to make judgments about the frequencies of past events and the likelihood of future events

availability heuristics

basing judgment on how easily you can bring something to mind

representativeness heuristic

the tendency to assume that someone or something belongs to a particular group if similar to a typical member

anchoring and adjustment

a process in which people make an estimate of some value by starting from an initial value (an anchor) and adjusting)

counterfactual thinking

mentally changing an aspect if the past and imagining what might have been

(more common after failures and when closer to achieving a goal)

upward counterfactual thinking

imagining better outcomes

ex: silver medalist who imagines winning gold

downward counterfactual thinking

imaging worse outcomes

ex: bronze medalist who imagines winning no medal at all

attitude

evaluation of a person, object, place, or idea

ambivalent attitude

both positive and negative

ABC's of attitudes (Tripartite model)

affective, behavioral, cognitive

affective component

a positive or negative feeling about the attitude (emotional)

behavioral component

behavioral reaction (how one acts) to an attitude object (approach vs. avoid)

cognitive component

a cognitive representation that summarizes one's evaluation of the attitude object (thoughts & beliefs)

operant conditioning

behaviors or attitudes become more or less frequent, depending on whether they are followed by reward or punishment

reinforcement

INCREASES the likelihood of emitting a behavior

punishment

DECREASES the likelihood of emitting a behavior

when do attitudes predict?

when situational pressures are weak, and when the attitude is important, strongly supported, formed with controlled/effortful processing

persuasion

an attitude change as a result of information processing, often in response to messages about the attitude object

reciprocity

social expectation that people respond in kind, compliance more likely if you've been given a "gift"

door-in-the-face technique

following up an extravagant request with a reasonably one such that the (guilty) subject complies

that's not all technique

start large, add details to seem smaller, offer extra gifts or discounts

foot in the door technique

presenting small request first, followed by larger request

social proof

We can view a behavior as more correct in a given situation to the degree that we see others performing it

liking

if you like me, then you'll do what i ask, compliant more likely

psychological reactance

we want what we cannot have or may not be able to have in the future, scarcity techniques

reactance theory

messages aimed at changing behavior may be perceived as a threat to freedom to engage in that behavior

central route processing

person fully engaged with message content, more controlled processing

peripheral route processing