MT
WEEK 1:
1. Describe the difference between a direct and a conceptual replication.
Direct Replications attempt to reproduce the same results using the same methods, materials, and processes.
Conceptual Replications use the same idea or hypothesis from the study but use different methods and measures.
2. Historically, many social psychology studies have been done with primarily White college students as participants, typically in a controlled lab environment. Why, specifically, is this an issue?
-The only characterize 10-15% of the world’s total population
-It lacks generalizability: Fail to reflect the behaviors of diverse populations
Sampling bias: These samples create biased results
Artificial Lab Settings: Lab environments don't capture real-world interactions
3. What are some of the ongoing improvements and solutions in psychology? How have the norms changed
Ongoing Improvements and Solutions
-Replication attempts are now more commonly valued and shared
4. A schema is a mental representation model that organizes information about a thing, person, or event. Describe how the representativeness heuristic and stereotypes are related to the schema.
Representativeness heuristic: When one can judge the likelihood of the object belonging to a category based on how similar it is to one’s mental representation of that category
Stereotypes: Our general beliefs about a group of people and, once activated, they may guide our judgments outside of conscious awareness
5. Name one positive characteristic of heuristics, as well as one negative consequence
Positive Characteristic: Heuristics allow for quick decision-making by simplifying complex problems, saving time and mental effort in everyday situations
Negative Consequence: Heuristics can lead to cognitive biases, such as stereotyping or overgeneralization, resulting in errors or flawed judgment
6. What are the IV and DV for the Leroy lottery study, and what did the researchers find? What heuristics is responsible for this pattern of results?
IV: 9 people with one lottery ticket each vs. one person with nine tickets
DV: % of people who choose to buy the lottery ticket
-When there are multiple people with tickets, a person is more likely to play
-When there one person with a bunch of tickets except one, most people are less likely to play
Availability heuristics: to evaluate the frequency or likelihood of an event based on how easily instances of it come to mind
7. Briefly describe the classic study used to show anchoring and adjustment (the one with the spinning number wheel).
-Participants spun a wheel that landed on 10 or 65
-Then, estimated the percentage of African countries in the UN
-Those exposed to the number 10 as an anchor are estimated to be nearly 25
-Those who got 65 estimated about 45
-Initial anchors influence judgments
8. Define accessibility and priming. Then, consider the two other reasons a schema might be accessible.
Accessibility is the extent to which schemas are at the forefront of people’s minds and are, therefore likely to be used when we are making judgments about the social world
Priming is the process by which recent experiences increase the accessibility of a schema or concept
Reasons why a schema might be accessible
1. Chronically accessible due to experience
2. Accessible because it is related to a current goal
9. Imagine you have a large research project for one of your classes. You decide that you can probably complete it in two full days. Why is this estimate likely wrong, and what is something you could do to get a more accurate estimate?
The planning fallacy is when you underestimate the amount of time a task is going to take
How to get a more accurate estimate:
Substitute more controlled decision-making to reach better outcomes
10. People tend to overestimate their feelings' intensity and duration. These two biases are called the impact bias and the duration bias.
Week 3
11. If you ask a 4-year-old and a 9-year-old to describe themselves (i.e., tell you about their self-concept), what differences might you expect? (I won’t test on all the specific information from the lecture but this basic point is important to know.)
4-YEAR-OLD:
-Understand they are separate and unique selves
-Self-image is mainly descriptive
-Based on physical characteristics or concrete details
9 YEAR OLD
-Begin to make social comparisons and consider how others perceive them
-Descriptions become abstract
-Describe themselves with abilities
-Characteristics exist on a continuum
12. Self-esteem hinges on comparisons between the Actual self and the Ideal self, as well as between yourself and others.
13. Think about Social Comparison Theory. When you compare yourself to someone better than you, what outcome is more likely if you (a) really like the person or (b) dislike the person?
If you like the person, you will experience motivation
If you dislike them, you will experience jealousy
14. List an activity or attribute you care about and an activity that you do not care about. Which are you more likely to compare yourself to others for?
The activity I enjoy is singing.
Activity I do not enjoy: Playing golf
I am likelier to compare myself to other singers since it’s relevant.
15. What are the two types of similarity that determine the likelihood that you will compare yourself to someone else?
RELEVANT:
-The performance dimension has to be relevant to the self
Example: If excelling in academics is more important to you than excelling in sports, then you will compare yourself based on academics
-Relevance is also essential when assessing opinions if it’s relevant to you, you will compare your opinion to others
-Relevance is a necessary precondition for social comparison
SIMILARITY
-People compare themselves to those who are similar, whether in characteristics or performance
Example: A casual tennis player comparing themselves to another casual tennis player
-People will cross-reference their own opinions on an issue with others who are similar to them rather than dissimilar
16. For whom is there the most significant gap between “actual ability” and “perceived ability”? What is the name of this effect?
The Dunning-Kruger Effect: The tendency for unskilled people to be overconfident in their ability an highly skilled people to underestimate their ability
17. Define self-handicapping. Give an example of both types of self-handicapping.
Self-handicapping describes how people avoid effort or create obstacles for themselves as a means of both:
•Preserving their own self-esteem
•Managing the impressions of others
1. Behavioral self-handicapping: Actively do things that harm your success (Partying)
2. Claimed self-handicapping :Things you claim about yourself to explain why you did bad (Eg. Bad mood)
Week #4: Attitudes, Behavior, and Persuasion
18. What is the mere exposure effect? What are a few “caveats” researchers have recently identified compared to the original description of this effect?
-People tend to develop a preference for something simply because they are exposed to it repeatedly
“Caveats”
-Was found in visual stimulus and none in auditory
-Children had a more prolonged mere exposure
-Patterns are curved liking does not continue to go up with any exposures
19. What are two routes to persuasion? Which one might work better if the target is distracted and not paying attention?
Central routes employ direct, relevant. Logical message requires controlled processing to be effective (able and motivated to engage)
Peripheral routes rely on superficial cues that have little to do with logic (does this remind you of something)
If a person is distracted, a peripheral would work.
20.Differentiate between the foot-in-the-door effect and the door-in-the-face effect.
Foot-in-the-door refers to a small initial commitment that is then escalated with larger requests.
•Door-in-the-face describes making a large request initially and then backing off to a smaller request, increasing the likelihood that the smaller request is granted
21. You spent $20 on a ticket to a live show, and it turns out the show sucks, with zero signs of improving. Why might you stay at the show anyway?
The Sunk Cost Fallacy: The tendency to continue investing time or money into something because we have already invested in it, whether or not the current costs outweigh the benefits
22. Casey nails the first exam in a class. However, they do less well on the second exam. What kinds of attributions should Casey give for her performance in each lecture?
-When judging ourselves, we outweigh the situation (External) and underweight the effect of our personality (internal)
-When judging others, we overweight the role of their personality and disposition (Internal) and underweight the effect of the situation (External)