psych 1001 social psychology

social psychology

what is social psychology?

the study or how others influence our thoughts, feelings and behaviours

what are the four main topics in social psychology?

social cognition, social forces, social relations and social functioning

what is social cognition?

how people perceive and interpret themselves and others

what is an attitude?

a relatively stable evaluation of a person or thing

what does ABC stand for in the ABC model of attitudes?

afective, behavioural and cognitive components

what is the affective component of an attitude?

how you feel about something

what is the behavioural component of an attitude?

how you act toward something

what is the cognitive component of an attitude?

what you believe about something

how do external factors shape attitude?

parents, peers, schools, media, rewards and social acceptance

what is vicarious learning?

learning by observing the rewards and punishments others receive

what is the mere thought effect?

thinking about something increases its importance and strengths your attitude

how can behaviour change attitude?

people often develop attitudes that match their previous actions

what did Festinger and Carlsmith’s 1959 study find?

participants paid $1 rated a boring task as more enjoyable then those paid $20

what is cognitive dissonance theory?

inconsistency between actions and attitudes creates psychological discomfort

how do people reduce cognitive dissonance?

they may change their attitudes to match their actions

why did the $1 group experience more dissonance?

they had little external justification for lying about enjoying the task

what is self-perception theory?

people infer their attitudes by observing their own behaviour

when is self-perception theory especially useful?

when people are uncertain about their attitudes

what is persuasion?

an attempt to cause people to believe or do something

what are the two routes to persuasion?

central route and peripheral route

what is central route persuasion?

changing attitudes through facts, evidence, content and logic

what is peripheral route persuasion?

changing attitudes through superficial cues, such as speakers appearance

what is the foot-in-the-door technique?

get agreement to a small request before making a larger request

what is the door-in-the-face technique?

make a large request likely to be rejected then offer a smaller request

what did LaPiere’s 1934 study demonstrate?

stated attitudes may not accurately predict actual behaviour

what two factors help attitudes predict behaviour?

attitude specificity and attitude strength

what is attitude specificity?

how closely an attitude relates to a particular behaviour

what is attitude strength?

how firmly held and personally important an attitude is

what is social desirability bias?

giving answers that seem socially acceptable rather than fully honest

what is the bogus pipeline procedure?

a technique that makes people believe researchers can detect dishonest answers

what are implicit attitudes?

unconscious attitudes that may influence behaviour

what is the implicit association test used ti access?

automatic associations that can reveal implicit attitudes

what is a stereotype?

a generalized impression of people based on social categories

what is prejudice?

a negative attitude toward members of a group

what is realistic conflict theory?

competition over limited resources can increase prejudice between groups

what did the Robbers Cave experiment examine?

how competition between groups can produce conflict and prejudice

what is social categorization?

organizing people into social groups or categories

what is social identity?

the part of your self-concept based on group membership

what is social comparison in social identity theory?

comparing your group with others, often to view your own group more favourably

what is attribution theory?

how people explain the causes of behaviour

what is dispositional attribution?

explaining behaviour through personal traits or characteristics

what is situational attribution?

explaining behaviour through external circumstances

what is the fundamental attribution error?

overemphasizing person traits and underestimating situations when explaining others

what did Jones and Harris’s 1967 study demonstrate?

people made dispositional judgements even when speechwriters were randomly assigned positions

what is the actor-observer effect?

we explain our own behaviour through situations and others’ behaviour through traits

what is the self-serving bias?

attributing successes to personal qualities and failures to external circumstances

how can attributions affect relationships?

happy couples often explain negative behaviour situationally, while unhappy couples blame traits

what is the chameleon effect?

unconsciously copying another person’s expressions, gestures pr posture

what are social norms?

rules about how members of society are expected to behave

what is the difference between explicit and implicit norms?

explicit norms are stated openly. implicit norms are understood without being stated

what is conformity?

changing behaviour or judgements in response to social pressure

what did Solomon Asch’s conformity study examine?

whether people would agree with a groups incorrect line judgements

what percentage conformed at least once in Asch’s study?

about 75% of participants conformed at least once

how does group unanimity affect conformity?

conformity decreases when even one person disagrees with the group

how does soup size affect conformity?

the effect rises with group size and levels off after roughly four or five people

what is a normative social influence?

conforming to gain acceptance or avoid rejection

what is informational social influence?

following others because you believe they know what is correct

what is a social role?

expected behaviours associated with a persons social position

what is one benefit and one drawback of social roles?

they help society function smoothly but can restrict individual behaviour

what did the Stanford Prison experiment examine?

how assigned roles and situations may influence behaviour

who conducted the Stanford prison experiment and when?

Phillip Zimbardo 1971

what is obedience?

following direct commands, usually from an authority figure

what did Milgram’s obedience experiment investigate?

whether ordinary people would obey authority and administer apparent electric shocks

how was the learner in Milgram’s experiment treated?

the learner was a confederate, and the shocks were simulated

what percentage reached 450 volts in Milgram’s original study?

65%, or 26 of the 40 participants

what happened when the learner was in the same room?

obedience fell to about 40%

what happened when two other teachers refused to continue?

obedience fell to about 10%

what happened when experimenters gave conflicting instructions?

obedience fell to 0% in that study condition

what lesson did Milgram draw from his experiment?

ordinary people may obey authority in ways that cause serious harm

what is a group?

a stable collection of people sharing an identity who influence one another

what is group dynamics?

how group membership influences thoughts and behaviour

what is social facilitation?

improved performance on a task because others are present

what is social loafing?

exerting less effort in a group than when working alone

how can social loafing be reduced?

make individual contributions identifiable and visible

what is group polarization?

group discussion strengthens the groups initial attitudes

what is groupthink?

poor group decisions caused by pressure to maintain agreement

what conditions encourage groupthink?

cohesion, threat, isolation, a directive leader and pressure for unanimity

what is one way to reduce groupthink?

encourage dissent and consider opposing viewpoints

what are examples of groupthink discussed in the chapter?

the Bay of Pigs invasion, the 2003 Iraq invasion and NASA’s Columbia disaster

what is deindividuation?

loss of self-awareness or restraint in a group often with reduced personal responsibility

what is altruism?

self-sacrificing behaviour intended to benefit other

what factors increase altruistic behaviour?

similarity to the person, close relationships and greater trust in others

what is the bystander effect?

people become less likely to help when other witnesses are present

what is diffusion of responsibility?

feeling less personally responsible because other people are present

what did Latané and Darley investigate?

how the presence and number of bystanders affect helping behaviour

what four steps can lead a bystander to help?

notice the event, interpret an emergency, accept responsibility and act

how can you increase the chance a bystander will help?

directly identify someone and ask them for specific help

what factors contribute to interpersonal attraction?

physical appearance, similarity, proximity, self-disclosure and situational factors

what is liking?

fondness and affection for another person

what is self-disclosure?

sharing personal information with another person

what does social neuroscience study?

brain systems involved in social thinking and behaviour

what role does the prefrontal cortex play in social functioning?

evaluating intentions, emotions, facial expressions, empathy and moral judgements

what role does the insula play?

it becomes active when observing others in pain and is linked to empathy

what role does the amygdala play?

assessing potential threats and identifying harmful stimuli