IB psych sociocultural (the individual and the group)

reciprocal determinism

The bidirectional relationship between the individual and the group: the group’s behaviour is effected by the individual and the individual is effected by being in a group.

social comparison (individual)

Looking at others in the group to determine how one should act.

informative social influence

A type of social comparison: observing other members of a group to understand what is expected in order to act in the same way.

normative social influence

A type of social comparison: observing other members of the group in order to act in the same way and be accepted, driven by a desire to fit in

conformity

changing behaviour in order to be in line with others

Asch paradigm

A series of experiments on conformity run by Solomon Asch 1950, tested the way individuals responded to group-think and to what extent social pressure could cause a person to conform.

naturalistic research

Research that is done in environments where the behaviour being studied is most likely to take place.

participant observation

Where researchers immerse themselves in a social setting for an extended amount of time to observe behaviour.

overt observation

Researchers inform participants that they are being observed.

covert observation

researchers do not inform participants that they are being observed.

Characteristics of covert observation:

• Sometimes used with group that would be hostile to an outsider observing their behavior.

• and/or groups that would not be honest

• this could potentially be due to the illegal nature of their activities

  Concerns:

• The researcher must gain participants’ trust but this must be done through deceit

• researcher must not disclose intentions to members of the group

• researcher must record participants’ behaviour without obtaining informed consent

• researchers will have difficulty with taken notes during

• researchers may have to recall information via memory, opening the possibility of distortion

Social Identity Theory

Argument proposed by Tajfel (1979): along with a ‘personal self’ every individual has several social selves that correspond to group membership. it is very important that we understand who we are and know our value in social contexts.

salience

Our awareness to our identity in a particular group.

social categorization

The process of classifying people into groups based on similar characteristics, whether is be nationality, age, occupation, or some other trait.

in-group favoritism

The tendency to favor members of one’s own group over out-group members.

social comparison (group)

The process of evaluating one’s own group (the in-group) by comparing it to other groups (the out-groups) in order to enhance feelings of self-worth, uniqueness, and superiority.

positive distinctiveness

A bias in intergroup comparisons, where we are more positive toward anything our own group represents, caused by a need for a positive self-concept.

(In simpler terms): we try to highlight the strengths and positives of our own group to feel better about ourselves.

minimum group paradigm

Tajfel’s demonstration that the minimal condition needed for group favouritism is simply categorization into a group, no matter how arbitrary the criteria for categorization are.

Social Cognitive Learning Theory

Argument developed by Albert Bandura: humans can acquire new behaviours by observing and imitating others.

Two situations where observational learning occurs:

1. Direct effect: model directly demonstrating, eg. a teacher instructing how to solve a problem.

2. Indirect effect (often): the models are not trying to influence behaviour.

vicarious reinforcement

A learning process where an individual imitates a behaviour because they have observed someone else being rewarder for that behaviour .

Factors involved in social cognitive learning according to Bandura:

• Attention: paying attention to a model in order to learn a behaviour. this may depend on the model’s attractiveness, authority, or the desirability of the behaviour.

• Retention: the observer must be able to remember the behaviour that has been observed in order to produce that behaviour after some time.

• Motivation: learners must want to replicate the behaviour that they have observed. They must understand the potential outcome in order to be motivated to perform the behaviour (outcome expectancies).

• Potential: observers must physically and/or mentally be able to carry out the behaviour, there needs to be a certain level of self-efficacy.

Outcome Expectancy Theory

Argument: individuals are driven to act or behave in a certain way based on anticipation or prediction of the outcomes of their actions.

Factors that may influence whether or not the observer decided to imitate and learn:

• Consistency: If the model behaves in a way that is consistent across situations then the observer will be more likely to imitate them.

• Identification with the model: There is a tendency to imitate models who are like us (eg. in age or gender)

• Liking the model: Warm and friendly is more likely to be imitated than cold, uncaring models.

Self-efficacy

One’s belief in one’s ability to successfully carry out a task.

stereotype

a social perception of an individual in terms of group membership or physical attributes.

a generalization made about a group and then attributed to members of the group.

out-group homogeneity

The perception that members of an outgroup are identical to one another.

Tajfel’s gain of truth hypothesis

Argument: an experience with an individual from a group will then be generalized to the group

illusory correlation

Seeing a relationship between two variables when there isn’t one.

confirmation bias

When people have developed a perception of something (due to illusory correlation) and so they seek out or remember information that supports it.

can cause people to overlook information that they already beleive.

cross sectional study

A type of observational study that measures the prevalence of an outcome of interest in a defined population at a specific point in time.

stereotype threat

Occurs when one is in a situation where there is a threat of being judged or treated stereotypically or fear of doing something that inadvertently confirms that stereotype.

Some effects of stereotyping threat:

1. spotlight anxiety

2. memory distortion