Unit 4 Term Review Activity Notes

Self-Assessment

Understanding Levels
- Know it Well & Can Explain it: Confidence in knowledge and ability to explain concepts clearly.
- Heard or Seen it Before: Familiarity with the term but not fully comfortable explaining.
- No Clue: Lack of understanding or exposure to the term.

Key Terms and Definitions

Stereotype: A widely held but oversimplified idea of a particular type of person or thing.
- Scenario: Assuming all teenagers are rebellious based on a few observations.
Prejudiced Attitudes: Unjust or discriminatory attitudes towards a group based on preconceived notions.
- Scenario: Disliking a person solely based on their ethnicity.
Discriminatory Behaviors: Actions that treat people unfairly based on characteristics like race or gender.
- Scenario: Not hiring someone because of their accent.
Implicit Attitudes: Attitudes that are automatically activated despite conscious beliefs.
- Scenario: Preferencing individuals of your own ethnicity without realizing it.
Just-World Phenomenon: The belief that the world is fair and people get what they deserve.
- Scenario: Blaming victims of misfortune for not being careful enough.
Out-group Homogeneity Bias: Perception that out-group members are more similar to each other than they actually are.
- Scenario: Thinking all people from another culture act the same way.
In-group Bias: Favoring members of one’s own group over others.
- Scenario: Giving preference to a job application from a school alum.
Ethnocentrism: Evaluating other cultures based on the standards of one's own culture.
- Scenario: Considering your culture the best and judging others negatively.
Optimism vs. Pessimism: General tendency to expect good or bad outcomes.
- Scenario: Optimists believe in positive results while pessimists focus on negative consequences.
Locus of Control: The extent to which individuals believe they can control events affecting them.
- Scenario: Internal locus feels personal responsibility for outcomes; external feels effects are out of their control.

Social Influence and Group Behavior

Mere Exposure Effect: Increased liking for a stimulus due to repeated exposure.
- Scenario: Becoming fond of a song after hearing it multiple times.
Self-fulfilling Prophecy: A prediction that causes itself to become true by the very terms of the prophecy.
- Scenario: A teacher expecting certain students to do poorly might unconsciously treat them differently, leading to that outcome.
Belief Perseverance: Maintaining beliefs despite contradictory evidence.
- Scenario: Refusing to accept that a strongly held political belief is incorrect even when presented with facts.
Cognitive Dissonance: The mental discomfort from holding contradictory beliefs or values.
- Scenario: A smoker knowing smoking is harmful yet continuing to smoke.
Confirmation Bias: The tendency to search for, interpret, and remember information that confirms one’s preconceptions.
- Scenario: Someone who believes in a conspiracy theory only paying attention to information that supports it.

Social Norms and Influence Theories

Social Norms: Implicit or explicit rules that govern behavior in a society.
Social Influence Theory: Explains how individuals change their thoughts or behaviors in response to social pressures.
Elaboration Likelihood Model: Outlines two routes of persuasion—central and peripheral.
- Central Route: Involves deep processing of the information.
- Peripheral Route: Involves superficial cues (like attractiveness of the speaker).
Halo Effect: The tendency to let one positive trait influence the overall perception of a person.
Conformity and Obedience: Conformity is aligning behavior with group norms; obedience is following authority.

Motivation and Emotion

Drive-reduction Theory: Behavior motivated by biological needs to reduce discomfort.
Homeostasis: The body's attempt to maintain internal balance.
Arousal Theory: Suggests that we seek optimal levels of arousal for performance.
- Yerkes-Dodson Law: Performance increases with arousal but only up to a point.
Self-determination Theory: Emphasizes the role of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations in driving behavior.
Facial Feedback Hypothesis: States that facial expressions can influence emotional experience.

Personal Development

Humanistic Theory: Focuses on individual potential and stresses the importance of growth and self-actualization.
Social Cognitive Theory: Interaction of personal, behavioral, and environmental factors in determining behavior.
Trait Theories of Personality: Focuses on identifying and measuring individual personality characteristics.
- Big 5 Theory of Personality: Includes dimensions of agreeableness, openness, extraversion, conscientiousness, and emotional stability.