PSY3510 Social Psychology Midterm Exam #1 Study Guide (Chapters 1-5)

Vocabulary flashcards covering core terminology, biases, research methods, dual-system processing, and social perception concepts from PSY3510 Chapters 1 through 5.

Social Psychology

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

Social Thinking

How we perceive ourselves and others, encompassing attributions, beliefs shaping reality, intuitions, and hindsight bias.

Social Influence

How culture, norms, and situations shape behavior, such as cultural differences in dress/punctuality, framing effects, and default options.

Social Relations

How people connect with others, including love, prejudice, aggression, and helping.

Hindsight Bias

Believing you "knew it all along" after learning an outcome; makes us overconfident and less likely to learn from mistakes.

Framing

The way information is presented (e.g., $70\%$ lean vs. $30\%$ fat or positive vs. negative presentation), which changes choices and decisions without changing facts.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

A false belief that leads to behavior making it come true, demonstrating how expectations shape reality.

Behavioral Confirmation

Acting toward others in ways that make them confirm expectations.

Intuition

Fast, automatic thinking that is efficient but error-prone.

Correlational Research

Research that measures relationships between variables; its strength is predicting real-world behavior, but its weakness is that it cannot prove cause and effect. Correlation does not equal causation

Experimental Research

Research that manipulates an independent variable, measures a dependent variable, and uses random assignment; its strength is determining cause and effect, though it may lack realism.

Theory

An organized explanation that predicts behavior.

Hypothesis

A testable prediction.

Independent Variable

What the researcher manipulates in an experiment.

Dependent Variable

What is measured in an experiment.

Random Sampling

A selection method where everyone in the population has an equal chance to be chosen.

Random Assignment

An experimental technique where participants have an equal chance to be placed in any condition.

Meta-Analysis

Combining results of many studies to find an overall effect.

Replication

Repeating a study to see if results hold up.

Mundane Realism

How much an experiment looks like real life.

Experimental Realism

How much an experiment absorbs and involves its participants emotionally and cognitively.

Unrepresentative Sample

A survey research pitfall where sample results do not reflect the population.

Wording Effects

A survey research pitfall where small wording changes alter answers.

Response Options

A survey research pitfall where limited choices shape answers.

Order of Questions

A survey research pitfall where earlier questions influence later answers.

Social Neuroscience

An interdisciplinary field focused on brain processes involved in social behavior.

Evolutionary Psychology

A psychological approach focusing on how natural selection shaped social behavior.

Informed Consent

An ethical principle where participants know enough to choose to participate in a study.

Deception

An ethical research procedure allowed only when necessary and justified, where participants are misinformed about a study.

Debriefing

Explaining the full nature and purpose of a study to participants afterward.

Protection from Harm

An ethical standard ensuring participants experience no significant physical or emotional distress.

Spotlight Effect

Overestimating how much others notice our appearance or mistakes (e.g., wearing an embarrassing shirt and thinking everyone is staring).

Illusion of Transparency

The tendency to think our emotions are obvious to others.

Impact bias

We think our emotions are obvious to others. Ex, believe it everyone can see your nervous

Planning Fallacy

Underestimating how long tasks will take. Ex, thinking a paper will take 2 hours instead it takes 6

Transparency

Examples of how our sense of self distorts social perception

Self concept

All our thoughts and feelings about ourselves

Self schema

Beliefs about ourselves that guide how we process information

Looking glass self

We see ourselves through how we think others see us

Social comparison

Evaluating ourselves by comparing to others

Individualism

All about self, U.S and Western Europe

Collectivism

Interdependent and relational, common in Asia, Africa, and Latin america

Self Esteem

Overall sense of self worth

Self efficacy

Belief in ones ability to succeed at specific tasks

Explicit attitude

Concious, easily reported, can change quickly

Implicit Attitudes

Unconscious, automatic reactions, change slowly with experience

System 1

A mode of thinking (Kahneman) that is fast, automatic, effortless, and intuitive; accounts for most social judgments.

System 2

A mode of thinking (Kahneman) that is slow, deliberate, effortful, and analytical.

Automatic Processing

Unconscious, fast, habitual, and emotion-based mental processing (e.g., jumping at a scary movie).

Controlled Processing

Conscious, slow, deliberate, and logic-based mental processing (e.g., solving a math problem).

Schemas

Mental templates that help us interpret the world quickly and make sense of situations, but can lead to stereotypes and bias.

Priming

Activating certain thoughts or associations in memory (e.g., watching a scary movie makes normal sounds seem threatening).

Belief Perseverance

Holding onto beliefs even after evidence disproves them.

Confirmation Bias

Seeking information that confirms existing beliefs.

Misinformation Effect

Incorporating misleading information into memory.

Rosy Retrospection

Remembering the past more positively than it was.

Overconfidence Phenomenon

The tendency to be more confident than correct in our beliefs and estimates.

Planning Fallacy

An example of overconfidence involving underestimating the time needed to complete a task.

Representativeness Heuristic

A mental shortcut judging likelihood by similarity to a stereotype (e.g., assuming a quiet person is a librarian).

Availability Heuristic

A mental shortcut judging likelihood by how easily examples come to mind (e.g., thinking shark attacks are common after news stories).

Counterfactual Thinking

Imagining "what might have been" (e.g., "If only I had studied more…"), which can cause regret or relief.

Illusory Correlation

Seeing a relationship where none exists.

Illusion of Control

Believing you control chance events.

Regression Toward the Average

The statistical phenomenon where extreme performances return to normal.

Misattribution

Assigning feelings or behaviors to the wrong cause (e.g., mistaking friendliness for romantic interest).

Attribution Theory

The theory of how we explain behavior.

Dispositional Attribution

Explaining behavior as caused by internal personality or traits.