Social Psych Final

What do social psychologists study?

social cognition, impression formation, attitude change, self, conformity,helping, prejudice, attraction, aggression

What is the difference between what social psychologists and other types of social scientists (personality psychologists, sociologists, etc.) are most interested in?

sociologists are most interested in understanding the behavior of groups of people.

informed consent

inform of risks and benefits and the right to leave at any time

debriefing

steps taken to ensure no lasting negative effects from participation

deception

ethical only if it does not obscure or otherwise affect parameters of informed consent

coercion

designed to suppress individual's ability to reason, think critically, and make choices in his/her own best interest.
Examples: "cults"

institutional review board

approves studies in advance and is in charge of evaluating benefits and risks, confidentiality, informed consent, timely debriefing

archival analysis

Archival research is research involving primary sources held in an archives, a Special Collections library, or other repository. Archival sources can be manuscripts, documents, records (including electronic records), objects, sound and audiovisual materials, or other materials

participant observation data collection

the researcher joins in and becomes part of the group they are studying to get a deeper insight into their lives

non-participant observation data collection

naturalistic, archival analysis, unobtrusive/ indirect measures: goal is to make as few changes as possible to the environment

self report

survey, questionnaire, interview

correlational research design

measure of the extent to which two variables are related. prediction (can range from -1 to 1) - close to 0 \= weak, from knowing x, can we predict y? what causes what?

experimental research design

causality- is variable x the cause of variable y? experimental control: manipulation of IV while other variables are constant. random assignment to condition

observational research design

description- what is the nature of the phenomenon?

true experiment

laboratory or field

natural experiment

natural experiment: experiment does not manipulate IV (groups are otherwise similar)

quasi-experiment

impact of same treatment on naturally occurring (different) groups. EX: psychics & non psychic abilities to solve crimes

test-retest

a measure of the consistency of a psychological test or assessment. This kind of reliability is used to determine the consistency of a test across time. Test-retest reliability is best used for things that are stable over time, such as intelligence.

inter-rater

assesses the external consistency of a test. This refers to the degree to which different raters give consistent estimates of the same behavior. Inter-rater reliability can be used for interviews.

internal validity

addresses the relationship between two variables. It refers to the extent that a study can rule out or make unlikely alternate explanations of the results.

external validity

the extent to which the conclusions from your research study can be generalized to the people outside of your study. There are three types of generalization: population, environmental, and temporal.

anchoring and adjustment heuristic

mental shortcut where a person uses a specific target number or value as a starting point, known as an anchor, and subsequently adjusts that information until an acceptable value is reached over time.

controlled processing

Performance/thought concentration
o -ex. First learning to drive (gas vs. break, mirrors)- takes more effort and we are hyper aware
o perform more slowly, more effort
o concentrated behavior
o single task oriented
o put into controlled when:
• difficult or novel task (new)
• high motivation
• Individual Difference: Need for cognition

automatic processing

performance/thought with little awareness
o Ex. Dirve car and talk on cell, sing with radio
o Perform more quickly, less effort
o Often inflexible (automatic) behavior
o Multi-task
o Put into automatic when:
• Routine task
• Easy task
• Tired
• Distracted
• Low motivation

availability heuristic

how easily does something come to mind

belief perseverance

the tendency for people to hold their beliefs as true, even when there is ample evidence to discredit the belief. When faced with evidence that contradicts their beliefs, people may choose to discredit, dismiss, misinterpret, or place little significance on the contradictory information.

confirmation bias

look to confirm schemas. illusion of control is superstition

upward counterfactual reasoning

tendency to create possible alternatives to life events that have already occurred- how the situation could have been better

downward counterfactual thinking

tendency to create possible alternatives to life events that have already occurred- how the situation could have been worse

illusory correlations

create connections between things that don't actually exist.

priming

exposure to one stimulus influences a response to a subsequent stimulus, without conscious guidance or intention

representativeness heuristic

how similar is it to a typical case- often ignore or under-use base rate info when something is very similar to our schema for a typical case
EX: gambling

schemas

mental structures people use to organize their knowledge about the social world around themes or subjects

self fulfillilng-prophecy

you have a belief/schema and you create that outcome

self-reference effect

tendency for individuals to have better memory for information that relates to oneself in comparison to material that has less personal relevance.

internal attribution

an event or a person's behavior is due to personal factors such as traits, abilities, or feelings

external attribution

people infer that a person's behavior is due to situational factors

stable attribution

event or behavior is due to unchanging, permanent factors

unstable attribution

an event or behavior is due to unstable, temporary factors

global attribution

will impact your life consistently/ on different levels

specific attribution

will only impact specific situation

actor-observer bias

a tendency to attribute one's own actions to external causes while attributing other people's behaviors to internal causes

belief in a just world

bad things happen to bad people, good things happen to good people (common w/ large income differences)

defensive attributions

explanations for situations/outcomes that defend us from feelings of vulnerability of morality and protect self-esteem

fundamental attribution error

tendency to overestimate the extent to which other peoples behavior is due to internal dispositional factors and to underestimate the role of situational factors

perceptual salience

the seeming importance of information that is the focus of attention

self-serving bias

tendency to attribute positive events to their own character but attribute negative events to external factors

independent view of self

individualistic- typical of those in western cultures

interdependent view of self

collectivist- typical of those in eastern cultures

self concept

The individual's belief about himself or herself, including the person's attributes and who and what the self is

self schema

long lasting and stable set of memories that summarize a person's beliefs, experiences and generalizations about the self, in specific behavioral domains

self awareness

thinking about the self-

self perception theory

people determine their attitudes and preferences by interpreting the meaning of their own behavior

overjustification effect

in seeking to explain ones own behavior, overemphasizing the role of extrinsic reasons over intrinsic reasons. ex: activities where interest is high

two factor theory of emotion

experiencing physiological arousal first then seek out an explanation, finding the right label for our emotions

misattribution of arousal

people make a mistake in assuming what is causing them to feel aroused. For example, when actually experiencing physiological responses related to fear, people mislabel those responses as romantic arousal

social comparison theory

we learn about our own abilities and attitudes by comparing to others

false consensus/ uniqueness

an exaggeration to make us feel better about something we do/ we underestimate how common something is

self-handicapping

strategy by which people avoid effort in the hopes of keeping potential failure from hurting self-esteem

self-monitoring

tendency to engage in self presentation strategies

cognitive dissonance

a drive or feeling of discomfort caused by performing an action that is discrepant from one's customary/ typical self concept

counterattitudinal advocacy

a process where publicly communicating a belief which runs counter to a belief that the individual holds, can result in the individual a changing his or her original belief, in order for it to be in accordance with his or her statement

insufficient justification effect

when we can't come up with sufficient external justification for our actions we attempt to internally justify our behavior by changing or modifying our attitudes

insufficient punishment

utilizes internal motivation to justify a behavior.

justification of effort

an increase of liking something because you worked hard to get it

lowballing

an item or service that is offered at a lower price than is actually intended to be charged after it is raised to increase profits

post decision dissonance

happens after we make an irrevocable choice, such as making a large purchase

ben franklin effect

a person who has already performed a favor for another is more likely to do another favor for the other than if they had received a favor from that person

The hypocrisy paradigm

when a person preaches one thing but does another the person experiences feelings of dissonance

Affectively-based attitude

based on values about the properties of an object (social identity products)

Behaviorally-based attitude

based on observations of how one behaves (self perception theory)

cognitively based attitude

based primarily on peoples objective beliefs about the properties of an object

fear appeal

persuasive message that attempts to arouse fear in order to divert behavior through the threat of impending danger or harm

who is persuasive? (communicator)

expert, trustworthy, speak rapidly w/ confidence, have someone else convey expertise, attractive, similar

what is persuasive? (message)

not perceived as influential, little delay between message and decision, appeals to reason and emotion

who is easily persuaded? (audience)

18-25 y/o, attentive, good mood

Central route to persuasion

occurs when people are motivated and have the ability to pay attention to arguments, attitudes formed via central route are most long lasting and resistant to counter persuasion

peripheral route to persuasion

occurs when people do not pay attention to the arguments but are instead swayed by surface characteristics (peripheral cues)

when is fear appeal most effective?

when fear is substantial but not excessive, offers specific recommendation for overcoming threat, recommendation is effective, believe they can perform the recommendation.

sleeper effect

you hear a message, don't trust the source, forget the source, convey the message, the message gains strength

implicit attitudes

evaluations that occur without conscious awareness towards an attitude object or the self. These evaluations are generally either favorable or unfavorable. They come about from various influences in the individual experience

explicit attitudes

A person's conscious views toward people, objects, or concepts. That is, the person is aware of the feelings he or she holds in a certain context

one-sided vs. two-sided appeals

One-sided messages: A message that presents only those arguments in favor of a particular position. Two-sided messages: A message that that presents the arguments in favor of a proposition but also considers the opposing arguments.

primacy effect

tendency for the first items presented in a series to be remembered better or more easily, or for them to be more influential than those presented later in the series

recency effect

the most recently presented items or experiences will most likely be remembered best

acceptance

a person's assent to the reality of a situation, recognizing a process or condition (often a negative or uncomfortable situation) without attempting to change it or protest it

compliance

a response—specifically, a submission—made in reaction to a request. The request may be explicit (e.g., foot-in-the-door technique) or implicit (e.g., advertising)

conformity

the tendency to align your attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors with those around you. It's a powerful force that can take the form of overt social pressure or subtler, unconscious influence

door in the face

starting off with a big request then reducing down to a smaller request (your real request) in order to make people think it is easier/ better- better at eliciting short-term (one time) compliance

foot in the door

aims at getting a person to agree to a large request by having them agree to a modest request first- better for eliciting long term compliance

informational social influence

where people assume the actions of others in an attempt to reflect correct behavior in a given situation

normative social influence

wherein a person conforms to be liked or accepted by others

milgrams obedience

an experiment focusing on the conflict between obedience to authority and personal conscience- shocks

obedience to authority

people are likely to be obedient when authority figures are legitimate

private acceptance

when you dont know what to do so you do what others do

public response

going by what others are doing even if you disagree

reactance theory

When people feel that their freedom to choose an action is threatened, they get an unpleasant feeling called 'reactance'. This also motivates them to perform the threatened behavior, thus proving that their free will has not been compromised

social impact theory

-strength: how important is the group to us? what is the status of the group? how cohesive? -immediacy: closeness in time and space -number: group of 3+ (5 max)

true partner

someone who has the same stance as you and breaks the pattern

deindividuation

loss of self awareness and evaluation apprehension that leads to loosening of normal constraints on behavior wen people arein a crowd or anonymous