unit 4

Attribution Theory - the theory that we explain people's behavior by crediting either the situation or the person's disposition "That man is yelling because he's a bad person

Dispositional Attributions -  Internal Characteristics (Personal Traits) such as personality and intelligence

Situational Attributions - Environmental Factors

Explanatory Style - is a psychological attribute that describes how people explain the causes and impact of events in their lives, whether positive or negative

Actor-Observer Bias - Tendency to attribute one's own actions to external causes while attributing other people's behaviors to internal causes.

Fundamental Attribution Error - The tendency for observers, for analyzing others' behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of a person's disposition "Because of the Fundamental Attribution Error I believe that the man is yelling because he is a bad person, not because he's under a lot of stress."

Self-Serving Bias - We attribute causes of behavior to external causes if we fail & internal causes if we succeed. (I passed my test because I am smart or I failed my test, because my teacher doesn’t teach me well).

Internal locus of control -  Think they control and are responsible for what happens to them 

External locus of control -  Believe what happens is due to fate, luck, or others

Mere Exposure Effect - the phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them 

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy - a belief that leads to its own fulfillment

Social Comparison Theory -  is the idea that people compare themselves to others to evaluate their abilities, opinions, and attitudes, and to gain a better understanding of themselves

Relative Deprivation - is the idea that someone feels deprived or entitled to something based on a comparison to others

Stereotype - a generalized (sometimes accurate but often overgeneralized) belief about a group of people

Prejudice - unjustifiable and usually negative attitude toward a group and its members. Generally involves stereotyped beliefs, negative feelings, and a predisposition to discriminatory action

Discrimination - the ability to differentiate between stimuli, or the act of acting on prejudice

Cognitive Load - refers to the amount of information our working memory can process at any given time

Implicit attitudes - are evaluations that occur without conscious awareness towards an attitude object or the self

Just-World Phenomenon - the tendency for people to believe the world is just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get "Homeless people are lazy and don't work so they deserve to be poor."

Out-group homogeneity effect -  is the perception of out-group members as more similar to one another than are in-group members

Ingroup bias - is our tendency to favor our own group as opposed to the outgroup.

Ethnocentrism -  is the prejudicial belief that one’s culture is superior to all other cultures. People tend to justify their culture’s social systems while judging others’ as "bad" or "wrong."

Belief Perseverance - clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited

Confirmation bias - is the tendency to search for or put more value on information that confirms your beliefs, while disregarding opposing information.

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

Social Norms - rules for accepted and expected behavior 

Social Influence Theory -proposes that social pressure to behave or think in certain ways can be normative or informational.

Normative Social Influence - influence resulting from a person's desire to gain approval to avoid disapproval. Example: You wear army pants and flip flops to fit in with the popular kids

Informative Social Influence - influence resulting from one's willingness to accept others' opinions about reality. Example: you go to a football game for the first time and stand up, because everyone is standing up.

Persuasion - the process of influencing someone to change their beliefs or actions

Peripheral Route Persuasion - occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speakers' attractiveness "Ads for makeup often uses peripheral route persuasion to get people to buy the product."

Central Route to Persuasion - occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts "Doctors often use central route persuasion when talking about medical treatments."

Halo effect - believe someone is good, you will interpret all of their actions as good, and fail to notice their bad traits. 

Foot-In-The-Door Phenomenon - Tendency for people who have first agreed  to a small request to comply later with a larger request  

Door in the face phenomenon -  when someone starts with a large request that the other person would turn down, and then asking a more reasonable request that the person would accept. 

Conformity - adjusting our behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard 

Obedience - Changing one’s behavior at the direct command of an authority figure 

Conditions that strengthen obedience - Presence of an Authority Figure, Distance from the Victim, Legitimacy of the Authority, Group Influence, Lack of Personal Responsibility

Individualists – more emphasis on independent self. Self defined by personal values, personal goals, and personal attitudes

Collectivists – more emphasis on collective self. Self defined by connections with family and friends with the goals of the group having higher priority than individual goals

Multiculturalism - the quality or condition of a society in which different ethnic and cultural groups have equal status and access to power but each maintains its own identity, characteristics, and mores

Group Polarization - the enhancement of a group's prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group "Political rallies tend to strengthen people's views because of group polarization."

Group Think - the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives "During debates, many people will agree to disagree to avoid conflict."

Diffusion of responsibility -  a phenomenon whereby a person is less likely to take responsibility for action or inaction when other bystanders or witnesses are present.

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 "A lot of kids in group projects will take part in social loafing if the group receives one big grade."

Deindividuation - the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity "deindividuation is very common during sporting events."

Social Facilitation - improved performance on simple or well learned tasks in the presence of others "Because of social facilitation, I'm even better at doing this activity around others."

False Consensus Effect — the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors

Superordinate Goals - shared goals that can only be achieved through cooperation

Social Trap - a situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their self-interest rather than the good of the group, become caught in mutually destructive behavior

Industrial-organizational - help organizations and companies select and train employees, boost morale productively design products, and implement systems

Prosocial behavior -  refers to any action that benefits other people

Altruism - unselfish concern for the welfare of others "Saving someone's life despite having to risk your own."

Social Responsibility Norm - Largely learned, it is a norm that tells us to help others when they need us even though they may not repay us.

Bystander effect -  is the idea that people are less likely to help if others are around, because we assume that someone else will help instead

Personality - an individual's characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting

Psychodynamic theories view of personality - view human behavior as a dynamic interaction between the conscious mind and the unconscious mind, including associated motives and conflicts. 

Unconscious - a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories

Ego - The largely conscious, “executive” part of personality that, mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality

Defense mechanisms  - are unconscious strategies that people use to protect themselves from anxiety or threats to their self-esteem

• Repression – banishing anxiety arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness. Example: Witness a murder and when the police ask you what happened, you forget

• Regression – an individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated. Example: Anxious on a first day of school, a child may result to a “thumb sucking” phase to help him/her get through

• Reaction Formation – the ego unconsciously switches unacceptable impulses to their opposite. People may express feelings that are opposite of their unconscious feelings. Example: “I hate him” may really mean, “I love him”

• Projection – People disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others. Example: “He doesn’t trust me,” may mean “I don’t trust him.”

• Rationalization – offers self-justification explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for one’s actions. Example: Students who don’t study may think, “All work and no play makes me a boring person” or someone who is an alcoholic say, “I only drink in social settings.”

• Displacement – Shifts sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person; redirecting anger toward a safer outlet. Example: Bullying

• Denial – People refuse to believe or even perceive painful realities. Example: See your boyfriend cheating, but still don’t believe it

• Projection -  someone attributes unacceptable traits or impulses in themselves to another person

• Sublimation - is a type of defense mechanism where socially unacceptable impulses are transformed into socially acceptable actions or behavior

Projective Test -  Personality test that provides ambiguous stimuli and test-takers tell a story about it 

Preconscious - Includes stored information about yourself or your environment that you are not currently aware or thinking of but can easily call to mind when asked

False Consensus Effect — the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors

Humanistic Psychology - emphasized human potential, focused on the ways “healthy” people strive for self determination and self-realization

Unconditional Positive Regard - We are all born with a need for acceptance and love from others independent of how we behave, and positive self-regard from ourselves

Self-Actualization - motivation to fulfill potential and to become a fully functioning person

Social-Cognitive Theory of Personality - states that our traits and social environments interact with one another, and those traits are learned through observation or imitation.

Reciprocal determinism - is a social-cognitive theory that states that a person's behavior, environment, and cognition all influence and interact with each other

Self-Concept - all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves “Who and I”

Self-esteem -  a person's subjective evaluation of their own worth, including their beliefs about themselves and their emotional states.

Self Efficacy - The belief that you can do a particular task greatly increases the chances that you actually can do it

Trait - a characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports

Personality Inventory - a questionnaire on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits

Factor analysis -  is a statistical method used to describe variability among observed variables in terms of fewer unobserved variables called factors. It helps identify clusters or groups of related items on psychological tests.

The Big Five Personality Factors: Model of personality traits that describes five basic trait dimensions (OCEAN)

• Openness—Do you like change? Can you adapt to it? - Low score: practical, prefers routine, comforting- High score: imaginative, prefers variety, independent

• Consciousness—Are you organized and careful? - Low score: disorganized, careless, impulsive- High score: organized, careful, disciplined

• Agreeableness—How well do you get along with others? - Low score: ruthless, suspicious, uncooperative- High score: soft-hearted, trusting, helpful

• Extroversion—Are you shy or outgoing? - Low score: retiring, sober, reserved- High score: sociable, affectionate, fun-loving

• Neuroticism—Are you anxious often? - Low score: calm, secure, self-satisfied- High score: anxious, insecure, self-pitying

Drive Reduction Theory -  The idea that a physiological need creates an aroused tension state (a drive) that motivate an organism to satisfy the need

Arousal Theory -  Human motivation aims to increase arousal  - We feel driven to experience stimulation

Optimal Level of Arousal - individuals are motivated to reach an optimal level of arousal, where they feel alert and engaged but not stressed

Yerkes-Dodson Law -  people perform best at a moderate level of arousal.

Self-Determination Theory - the theory that we feel motivated to satisfy our needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness.

Intrinsic Motivation: Motivation that stems from internal factors, benefits associated with the process of pursuing a goal (autonomy, mastery, purpose)

Extrinsic Motivation: Motivation that stems from external factors, benefits associated with achieving a goal or avoiding punishment (compensation, punishment, reward)  

Instinct -  complex, inherited behavior patterns characteristic of a species that is unlearned.

• Instinct Theory -People are motivated to behave in certain ways because they are evolutionarily/genetically programmed to do so with survival instincts 

Lewin’s Motivational Conflicts Theory 

Approach-approach -  the least stressful social conflict that involves 2 options, only one of which you can choose. Ex. You are accepted to both Harvard and Dartmouth.  Which do you choose? 

Avoidance-avoidance -  involves 2 negative options, one of which you must choose.  Ex. mow the lawn or wash the dishes.

Approach-avoidance - involves whether or not to choose an option that has both a positive and negative consequence or consequences.  You are both attracted and repelled by the same goal.  Ex. you like to eat spicy food but it gives you heartburn.  

Multiple approach-avoidance - most complex of the social conflicts that involves several alternative courses of action that have both positive and negative aspects.  Ex. you only have a certain amount of money to spend on prom.  Take a limo: spend most of your budget on the limo and have very little money left for a nice dinner; borrow your parent’s car: it can only fit one other couple and they can’t give it to you when you want it, but you save money; get a party bus: cheaper than a limo, but you don’t know all of the couples going. 

Sensation-seeking theory -  proposes that one's level of need for varied or novel experiences is the basis of motivation.

Hunger Motivation: Understanding why we eat, hunger is something that makes us do things (motivator) and is a drive state

Hunger is generally triggered by low glucose levels in the blood, and behaviors resulting from hunger aim to restore homeostasis regarding those glucose levels

• Leptin – Protein hormone secreted by fat cells; when abundant, causes the brain to increase metabolism and decrease hunger.

• Ghrelin – Hormone secreted by empty stomach; sends “I’m hungry” signals to the brain.

Lateral hypothalamus (LH): the “on” button for eating.  *Remember: If it is lesioned, people will not feel hungry and they will become little (LH).

Ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH): the “off” button for eating.  *Remember: If it is lesioned, people will not feel full and they will become very hug

Emotion - response of the whole organism, involving (1) physiological arousal, (2) expressive behaviors, and (3) conscious experience.

Facial Feedback Hypothesis -  Facial movement and expressions can influence attitude and emotional experience

Broaden-and-Build Theory -  is a model in positive psychology that suggests that positive emotions can help people build useful skills and psychological resources over time.

Universal Emotions theory - is a concept in psychology that suggests there are six basic emotions (happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, and disgust) that are universally expressed and recognized across different cultures.

Display Rule: A social group or culture's informal norms about how to appropriately express emotions