AP Psych. - Chapter 4: Social Psychology (First Half)

Myer's Psychology for AP Second Edition

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 or the person’s disposition

Fundamental Attribution Error

the tendency for observers, when analyzing other’s behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of person disposition

Attitude

feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, peoples, and events.

Peripheral Route Persuasion

occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker’s attractiveness

Central Route Persuasion

occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts.

Foot-in-the-Door Phenonmenon

the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a large request

role

a set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

the theory that we act to reduct the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconstant. For example, when we become aware that our attitudes and our actions clash, we can reduce the resulting dissonance by changing our attitudes

Conformity

adjusting our behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard

Normative Social Influence

influence resulting from a person’s desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval

Informational Social Influence

influence resulting from one’s willingness to accept others’ opinions about reality

Social Facilitation

improved performance 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

Deindividualization

the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in a group situations that foster arousal and anonymity

Group Polarization

the enhancement of a group’s prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group.

Groupthink

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

Culture

the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next.

Norm

an understood rule for accepted and expect behavior.

Prejudice

an unjustifiable and usually negative attitude toward a group and its members

Sterotype

a generalized belief about a group of people

Discrimination

unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group of people and its members

Just-World Phenonmenon

the tendency for people to believe the world is just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get.

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

Otherrace Effect

the tendency to recall faces of one’s own race more accurately than faces of other races