VCE Psychology Unit 2 Exam Practise- Biases, attributions, obedience

Old-fashioned prejudice

a form of prejudice in which members of the majority group openly reject minority group members their views towards the minority group are obvious and recognisable to others

Modern prejudice

A form of prejudice which is more subtle, hidden and expressed in ways more likely to be accepted within the majority group

Group polarisation

Tendency of a group member, following group discussion, to strengthen their initially held views to a more extreme position (in the same general direction)

• Way to remember- Polar bears like cold but due to climate change they need it to be colder (extreme to further extreme)

Attribution

The process by which we explain the cause of our own or another persons behaviour in order to make sense of our social world

Bias: Fundamental attribution error

Tendency to overestimate the influence of personal factors and underestimate the impact of situational factors

Bias: Actor-observer bias

Tendency to attribute our own behaviour to external or situational factors, yet attribute others behaviour to internal factors

e.g I failed because my teacher didn’t give help us revise but Katie failed because she’s slow

Bias: Self-serving bias

When judging ourselves we tend to take credit for our succsses and deny responsibilites for failure, which is blamed on external situational factors

Attitude

An evaluation (judgement) a person makes about someone else, object, group, event, or issue, learned through experience and enivornment.
They are longlasting and cannot be easily changed

Tri-component model of attitudes

a model which illustrates the relationship between the affective, behavioural and cognitive components of our attitudes

Cognitive dissonance

unpleasant mental experience of tension resulting from two conflicting thoughts, feelings and actions.

Stereotype

A generalized belief about the personal characteristcs of members of the same social group. They are generally negative and oversimplified.

Prejudice

A negative attitude toward another person or social group, formed in advance of any experience with that person/group
Individual characteristics/behaviours are often overlooked.

Discrimination

When a person or social group is treated differently than others
This treatment could include either positive or negative behaviour

Social learning

Suggests that social behaviour is learned by observing and imitating the behaviour of others
A way of learning through observing another person's actions
Closely related to modelling

Modelling

A type of social learning where the learner closely observes someone else's behaviour and uses this as a guide for their own behaviours.
Especially if the 'model' is re-inforced for their actions

Deindividuation

When we have reduced self-consciousness, inhibition, feelings of personal responsibility, and inner restraint that can occur in a group/crows
E.g mosh pits, protests, riots etc.

What is the relationship between status and power according to the Stanford Prison Experiment?

Status and power are linked but can function regardless of each other.

What influences behaviour more according to the Stanford Prison Experiment?

Situational factors influence behavior more than individual personality traits.

What effect did deindividuation have on prisoners and officers in the Stanford Prison Experiment?

Deindividuation reduced the self-esteem of prisoners and increased aggression in officers.

What was, overall, the most important part of the Stanford Prison Experiment?

The individual roles allocated aka the IV
Prisoner vs officer/guard

Obedience

When we follow the commands of soemone with authority or the rules/laws of our society

Constructive obedience

When there is compliance with the orders of an authority that results in a positive outcome
E.g: Teacher tells lonely student to socialise with younger year levels and the student eventually makes more friends

Destructive obedience

When there is complience with the orders of an authority figure that results in a negative outcome
E.g: Miller's shock experiment, WW2

Social loafing

Phenomenon where individuals exert less effort in a group task than when working alone, often due to percieved reduced accountability and shared responsibility

Confederate

Commonly employed in psychology experiments to secretly participate along with actual subjects, often to create a more realistic scenario- a ‘fake’ participant