AP psych pwhs unit 1

Social Psychology

Social Psychology

The scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another

Attribution Theory

The theory that we explain someone's behavior by crediting either the situation (external) or the person's disposition (internal).

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency for observers, when analyzing another's behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition.

Attitude

Feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events. (ABC)

Central Route Persuasion

Attitude change path in which interested people focus on the arguments, facts and respond with favorable thoughts.

Peripheral Route Persuasion

Attitude change path in which people are influenced by incidental cues, emotional responses such as a speaker's attractiveness.

Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon

The tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

The theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognition) are inconsistent. For example, when our awareness of our attitudes and of our actions clash, we can reduce the resulting discomfort by changing our attitudes (won’t face hard truth)

Conformity

Adjusting one's behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard

Social Influence

Influence (conforming) resulting from a person's desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval.

Social Facilitation

Stronger responses on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others.

Social Loafing

The tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable.

Deindividuation

The loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity. (Mob Mentality)

Group Polarization

The enhancement of a group's prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group. (Extremes)

Groupthink

The mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives.

Prejudice

An unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members. It generally involves stereotyped beliefs, negative feelings, and a predisposition to discriminatory action.

Stereotype

A generalized (sometimes accurate, but often overgeneralized) belief about a group of people.

Discrimination

(Social) unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group and its members.

Ingroup

"Us"—people with whom we share a common identity.

Outgroup

"Them"—those perceived as different or apart from our ingroup.

Ingroup Bias

The tendency to favor our own group.

Scapegoat Theory

The theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame.

Just-World Phenomenon

The tendency for people to believe the world is just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get. (Blame the Victim)

Frustration-Aggression Principle

The principle that frustration—the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal—creates anger, which can generate aggression.

Companionate Love

The deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined.

Passionate Love

An aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually present at the beginning of a love relationship.

Bystander Effect

The tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present.

Reciprocity Norm

An expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them.

Social-Responsibility Norm

An expectation that people will help those dependent upon them.

Social Trap

A situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their self-interest, become caught in mutually destructive behavior.

Superordinate Goals

Shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation.

Ethnocentricism

Evaluation of other cultures according to the standards and customs of one's own culture.

False Consensus Effect

overestimating the number of people who share our belief or action.

Dispositional Attribution Theory

Explaining behaviors based on a person's characteristics; traits, maturity, etc.

Situational Attribution Theory

Explaining behaviors based on outside factors influencing and individual.

Phillip Zimbardo

Examined the impact of social roles and authority on behavior with his famous Stanford Prison experiment.

Solomon Asch

Examined the impact of conformity with his famous Line Perception experiment, how beliefs affect the beliefs of others

Obedience

A change in behavior following a demand from an authority figure.

Stanley Milgram

Examined the impact of obedience to authority with his controversial Shock experiment.

Wiilhelm Wundt

est. psych as separate field of study & tested theories by collecting data scientifically (structuralist, “father of psych”)

structuralist

studied basic elements that make up conscious experiences

Edward Titchner

used introspection to search for the mind’s structural elements (structuralist)

William James

Taught 1st psych class at Harvard, known for James-Lange Theory of Emotion

Mary Calkins

mentored by James, pioneering memory researcher, 1st woman president of APA (American Psych Association)

Margaret Washburn

1st woman to get psych PhD, synthesized animal research in “The Animal Mind” (1908)

Charles Darwin

book: “The Origin of Species”, argued natural selection shapes behaviors and bodies

• key to evolutionary psych and the Nature v Nuture debate

Perspectives of psych

Biological, Humanist, Behavioralist, Cognitive, Psychoanalyst, Sociocultural

Biological perspective

(pinky) small, but mighty

• focuses on heredity, bio traits, phys./chem. changes in body

• NATURE not nurture

Humanist perspective

(ring finger) freedom to love/marry

• ppl have the capacity for choice/growth

• positive outlook & self-actualization

Behavioralist perspective

(middle finger) reaction

• learned behavior

• look at observable

• how events in environment modify behavior

Cognitive perspective

(pointer finger) IMPORTANT

• thinking mental processes

• EX: memory, thinking, problem solving, language, decision making

Psychoanalyst perspective

(thumb) sucking your thumb is childish

• how unconsciousness determines behavior

sociocultural perspective

(palm) connects everything

• how thoughts/behaviors vary across cultures

• rules of social groups

evolutionary perspective

(fist) natural selection

• how evolution explains psychological process

biopsychosocial perspective

(hand triangle)

• biological, psychological, & social factors determine human thinking and behavior

operational definition

statement of procedures researcher is going to use to measure a specific variable

replication (verifiability)

experiment must be replicable by another researcher

basic research

increase scientific knowledge base

applied research

finds solutions to specific problems

Case study

observation technique where 1/a few ppl are carefully studied in depth

• Strengths: lots of info gathered, unusual cases are shed light on

• Limitations: unrepresentative, potential to apply to larger population is very limited

Naturalistic observation

careful observation of animals/ppl in natural/native environment, no attempts at intervention by researcher

• Strengths: allows investigators to directly observe subject in natural setting, often useful in initial stages of research program

• Limitations: allows researcher little/no control of situation, observations may be biased, doesn’t allow firm conclusions

Hawthorne effect

increase in performance of individuals who are noticed, watched, and paid attention to by researchers or supervisors

Feel Good, Do Good Phenomenon

people's tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood

Observer/Researcher bias

a phenomenon that occurs when a researcher's expectations or preferences about the outcome of a study influence the results obtained

Actor Observer Effect

people are more likely to make internal attributions for other people's behavior and more likely to make external (situational) attributions for their own

Single blind study

participants don’t know which group (experimental/control) they are in, no bias in thinking/actions

Double blind study

researchers/participants don’t know which group (experimental/control) they are in, no bias in thinking/actions, eliminates researcher bias

survey method

self-report data, relies on individual’s own report of their symptoms/behaviors/beliefs/attitudes

• Strengths: ability to get private info and big amt of data on very large group of ppl

• Limitations: ppl don’t always give accurate responses (in their own self-interest)

correlation coefficient

direction of relationship btw variable and its strength, helps us figure out how closely 2 things vary together and how one predicts the other

• # = strength of relationship

illusory correlation

perceived but non-existent correlation

• no relationship btw variables

• correlation coefficient of 0 means no correlation

confounding variable “lurking”

differences btw experimental and control group other than those resulting from independent variable

• limit confidence in research conclusions

• comes from imperfect experimental control

statistical significance (P value)

degree to which a research outcome cannot be reasonably attributed to the operations of chance or random factors and is shown as P-factor

• the lower the P value, the greater the statistical significance

null hypothesis

hypothesis that says there is no statistical significance btw the 2 variables

chameleon effect

unconsciously mimicking others automatically w/o thought or effort

spotlight effect

ppl tend to believe they are being noticed more than they rly are

social exchange theory

altruism only exists when benefits out-way the costs, helps you more than the other person

schadenfreude

pleasure derived by someone from another person’s misfortune

hostile aggression

behavior is purposefully performed w/ the primary goal of injury/destruction

instrumental aggression

involves an action carried out principally to achieve another goal, such as acquiring a desired resource

affective aggression

emotional response that tends to be targeted towards the perceived source of the distress but may be displaced onto other ppl

intergroup contact theory

the greater the interaction btw in-group and out-group members, the less prejudice exhibited by the in-group

social dilemma

problem that occurs when an individual benefits from selfishness at the expense of the group

halo effect

the tendency to draw a general impression about an individual on the basis of a single characteristic (such as beauty or attractiveness)

“prisoners dilemma”

game used by researcher to model/investigate how ppl decide to cooperate or not

• prisoner A and B are charged with a crime and each has the chance to give a confession, neither prisoner knows what the other will do

sternberg’s components of love

Intimacy, passion, commitment, consummate love