3.Social Psychology Flashcards
social cognition
social cognition involves how we interpret, analyse, remember and use informations to make judgements about others in different social situations.
person perception
person perception refers to the mental processes that we use to from impressions and draw conclusions about the personal characteristics of other people.
what influences person perception
-impressions from physical appearance
-impressions from non verbal communication
two types of non verbal communication
eye contact
facial expressions
halo effect
the halo effect-a cognitive bias in which the impression that we form about one quality of a person (eg physical appearance/attractiveness) influences our beliefs and expectations about the person in other qualities.
research on physical appearance
- people are more likely to assist attractive people
- attractive people often have higher salaries
-attractive people more likely to get the ‘benefit of the doubt’
-judges are more lenient with attractive people for minor offences
body language
body language- communicating inner aspects of ourselves through facial expressions, eye gaze, posture, gestures and other bodily movements.
eye contact
-eye contact is considered the most significant form of non verbal communication
-if eye contact is maintained it is perceived as a sign of interest, honesty and friendliness.
-too much eye contact can be perceived as threatening and uncomfortable
-eye contact may be viewed as offensive in particular cultures (eg some asian cultures)
attribution
the process by which people explain the causes of their own and other peoples behaviour.
types of attribution
personal attribution
situational attribution
other name for personal attribution
dispositional attribution
Personal attribution
+eg
An explanation (of a behaviour) due to internal characteristics/factors of the individual involved, such as their personality, ability, attitude, motivation, mood or effort
eg he didn’t do his homework because he is lazy
Situational attribution
+eg
an explanation (of a behaviour) due to factors external to the individual involved, such as the actions of others, luck, fate or some aspect of the environment
eg he didn’t do his homework because he has been having issues with his family at home
biases that influence attribution
Fundamental attribution error
Actor observer bias
Self serving bias
Culture
Fundamental attribution error
+eg
Fundamental attribution error: the tendency to overestimate the influence of personal factors and underestimate the impact of situational factors on OTHER peoples behaviours.
eg he was late because he’s disorganised
Explanations of the fundamental attribution error
saliency bias- the person stands out (is salient/noticeable) whereas the situation is barely noticeable in the background.
Just words belief- “bad things happen to bad people, and good things happen to good people”. Enables us to feel safe in an uncertain world.
Actor-observer bias
+eg
Actor-observer bias: refers to our tendency to attribute our own behaviours to external or situational factors yet attribute others’ behaviours to personal factors.
eg he did bad on the test because he’s dumb, but I did bad because I didn’t t have time to study
Self-serving bias
+eg
Self-serving bias: when judging ourselves, we tend to take credit for our successes, and attribute our failures to situational factors
eg.I did well on the test because I’m smart
Culture influence attribution
Collectivist cultures are often more understanding, hence are more likely to attribute behaviour to situational factors.
Individualist vs. Collectivist cultures
Individualist cultures- achieving personal goals is considered to be more important than achieving group goals. Being independent is valued
Collectivist cultures- achieving group goals is considered to be more important that achieving individual goals.
attitude
an attitude is a learned, relatively enduring favourable/unfavourable evaluation of a person, object or idea that can affect an individual’s behaviour.
describe parts of the tri component model of attitudes
+eg
Affective:the emotions/feelings towards an attitude object
-I love pavlova
Behavioural:The actions towards an attitude object
-I will order pavlova
Cognitive:the beliefs, thoughts, understandings about an attitude object
-I know the ingredients in a pavlova
limitations of the tri component model of attitudes using examples
- Can be inconsistent
(A) I feel good when I swim (C) swimming is good for me (B) can’t swim because don’t have the time
2.Can be non existent
(C) evaluate policies of political party (B) vote (A) no pos or neg feelings towards the party
cognitive dissonance
Cognitive dissonance is the discomfort or tension that is felt when our behaviour is not consistent with our attitudes
Factors that influence whether our attitudes and behaviour match
(PASS)
-Perceived control over the behaviour:people are more likely to ‘act’ on their attitude if they believe they’re free to perform
-Accessibility of the attitude: attitudes and behaviour are more likely to be consistent if the attitude is well known and effectively stored in memory
-Strength of attitude:Stronger attitudes are more likely to influence behaviour
-Social context of the attitude: whether it is appropriate to express the behaviour in a particular social context
Factors that influence attitude formation
Classical conditioning
Operant conditioning
Observational learning/social leraning
Repeated exposure
classical conditioning
Classical conditioning: a simple form of learning that occurs through repeated Association of two or more different stimuli or events
UCS
any stimulus that produces a UCR
UCR
the response that occurs automatically as a result of the UCS
NS
the stimulus that is to be associated with the UCS so that it produces the response, NS presented before UCS
CS
stimulus that is neutral to begin with, and does not produce the UCR but is eventually associated with the UCS
CR
the learned or acquired response to the CS , after CS associated with the UCS
List the key processes In classical conditioning
acquisition
extinction
spontaneous recovery
stimulus generalisation
stimulus discrimination
acquisition
the overall process during which an organism learns to associate two events (the CS and the UCS)
extinction
the gradual decrease in the strength or rate of a response, which occurs over time when the UCS is not presented.
Spontaneous recovery
the re-appearance of a CR after its apparent extinction
stimulus generalisation
the tendency for similar stimuli to produce the same, but not necessarily identical response
stimulus disrimination
the ability to distinguish between two (or more) different stimuli, even if the stimuli are similar
operant conditioning
a kind of learning for which the consequence of an action (eg reward or punishment) determines the likelihood that it will be performed again in the future.
types of consequences
reinforcement and punishment
reinforcement
Reinforcement: an environmental event that increases the probability that a response will occur
Positive reinforcement
a response is followed by the addition of a pleasant stimulus, increasing likelihood of behaviour
negative reinforcement
a response is followed by the removal of an unpleasant stimulus, increasing likelihood of behaviour
Punishment
an environmental event that decreases the probability that a response will occur
positive punishment
the delivery of an unpleasant stimulus following a response, decreases the probability a response will occur.
response cost (negative punishment)
when a pleasant stimulus is taken away following a response, decreases the likelihood that a response will occur.
three phase model of operant conditioning
Antecedent- (discriminative stimulus) - what precedes/prompts a particular response
Behaviour- response that occurs
Consequence-what happens as a result of the response
mere exposure effect
we can develop a positive attitude towards people, objects,events or issues if we are exposed to the repeatedly (NO REWARD NECESSARY)
observational learning
observational learning is a learning process where an individual learns to reproduce a behaviour exhibited by another individual (the model)
the model
who or what is being observed
identify + describe types of models (observational learning)
live model-real life person
symbolic model-real or fictional character
identify + describe the parts of the observational learning process
attention-person must actively watch model
retention-person must hold mental representation of behaviour and how to imitate it
reproduction-person must have the motor skills + cognitive ability to reproduce behaviour
motivation-person must be motivated to demonstrate what they have learned
reinforcement- (consequences)
(ARRMR)
stereotyping
the process of assigning individuals into a particular social or cultural group-assuming all members display similar characteristics
stereotype
a collection of beliefs or ideas that we have about the people who belong to a particular social group, without taking into account the individual differences of its members