13.2 obedience to authority and social cognition

Question 1

the power of authority figures

Answer 1

from an early age, we are taught to obey people in positions of authority. our bias to obey authority figures tends to make for a more stable and organized society but this bias has also allowed govs to commit incomprehensibly vicious crimes against humanity

Question 2

stanley milgram

Answer 2

participants signed up for a study about the effect of punishment on memory
when they arrived to take part, the experimenter introduced them to another participant who was actually a paid actor

Question 3

the courage to oppose atrocities is rare,

Answer 3

but even in the worst cases ppl have stepped foreword

Question 4

racism

Answer 4

us vs them thinking

essentializing

Question 5

social cognition

Answer 5

how ppl mentally process, perceive and think about other people

Question 6

Ta nehisi coates

Answer 6

racism is not merely a simplistic hatred it is more often broad sympathy toward some and a broader skepticism toward others

Question 7

predjudice

Answer 7

an assumption ppl make about another individual bc of the social group that they belong to

Question 8

stereotypes

Answer 8

a persons beliefs about the characteristics possessed by members of some social group

Question 9

discrimination

Answer 9

behaviours that place members of a social group at a disadvantage over members of another social group

Question 10

explicit processes of discriminiation

Answer 10

hatred and discrimination arising from conscious beliefs about the superiority of on group over another
but discrimination can also be polite and subtle arising from unconscious assumptions and biases
bc we have always relied on working within groups, we have a natural tendency to favour members of our own groups over members of other groups

Question 11

implicit processes of discriminiation

Answer 11

biases against members of groups that we dont belong to that are unconscious, but can influence our behaviour quickly and with out our awareness

Question 12

Implicit association test

Answer 12

white ppl respond mor quickly to negative words black faces and positive words white faces

Question 13

implicit negative attitudes

Answer 13

have real consequences

Question 14

dual process models of social cognition

Answer 14

deliberate conscious (or explicit) and unconscious automatic (or imiplicit) mental processes combine to control our thoughts and behaviour

Question 15

person perception

Answer 15

attitudes and judgement we form about other ppl

superficial characteristics are used to develop attitudes and beliefs about ppl

Question 16

thin slices of behaviour

Answer 16

making long term judgments when only getting a short brief interview or picture
often quite accurate

Question 17

self fulfilling prophesies

Answer 17

in a study involving elementary school children, teachers were told that some of their students were exceptionally bright, even though the researchers selected those children at random
at the end of the year, that actual IQ of those children were significantly higher

Question 18

false consensus effect

Answer 18

another source of bias for an against others derives from all of the time we spend thinking about ourselves
the bias to think that more ppl are similar to us than actually are

Question 19

naive realism

Answer 19

the bias to think that our interpretation of events is the accurate one and that those who disagree are out of touch with reality

Question 20

self serving biases

Answer 20

biases that support confidence in our own beliefs and natural abilities

Question 21

better than average effect

Answer 21

no matter what you ask ppl , most ppl think they are above average

Question 22

self vs other attributions

Answer 22

we tend to take personal credit for our successes but generate excuses based on external factors for our failures
we do well-this is an internal (or dispositional) attribution
blaming others when bad external (situational) attribution

Question 23

fundamental attribution error

Answer 23

attributing other ppls positive or negative actions as reflecting their stable personality traits
reflects mechanisms for supporting our own confidence and mojo, sometimes at the expense of others

Question 24

in groups

Answer 24

groups that we favour and perceive ourselves as members

Question 25

out groups

Answer 25

groups for which we don’t consider ourselves to be members

Question 26

in groups bias

Answer 26

the tendency to view out groups as inferior

Question 27

minimal group paradigm

Answer 27

researchers divide ppl into groups based on an irrelevant feature, such as whether ppl preferred one or another painting or based on a coin flip
when given the opportunity to distribute money between members of the two groups, participants gave more money to in group that to out group members

Question 28

in group biases emerge from important psychological needs

Answer 28

like self esteem
and our need to maintain close social relationships
also the origin of group conflict and discrimination

Question 29

contact hypothesis

Answer 29

the idea that deliberately exposing members of different social groups to one another can reduce prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination

broadening our concept of in group would be another solution