AOS 1 Flashcards
Social Cognition
Involves how we perceive, think about and use the information to understand and make judgements about ourselves and others in different social situations
Person Perception
Refers to the mental processes we use to form impressions and draw conclusions about the personal characteristics of other people.
Attribution
Is the process by which people explain the causes of their own and other people’s behaviours
Personal Attribution
Is when we judge behaviour as being caused by something personal within an individual.
Situational Attribution
Is when we determine the cause of behaviour as resulting from situational factors occurring outside the individual
Fundamental Attribution Error
Is the tendency to overestimate the influence of personal factors and underestimate the impact of situational factors or other people’s behaviour.
Actor-Observer Bias
Tendency to attribute our own behaviour to situational causes, yet attribute other’s behaviour to internal factors.
Self-Serving Bias
When judging ourselves we tend to take credit for our successes and attribute failures to situational factors.
Attitude
is an evaluation a person makes about an object, person, group, event or issue.
Requirements for an Established Attitude
- Stability
- An evaluation of something, settled or stable
- Learnt through experience
Tricomponent Model
- Affective Component
- Behavioural Component
- Cognitive Component
Affective Component
Emotional reactions or feelings an individual has towards an object, person, group, event or issue.
Behavioural Component
The way in which an attitude is expressed through our actions
Cognitive Component
Beliefs we have about an object, person, group, event or issue.
Stereotype
A collection of beliefs that we have about the people who belong to a certain group, regardless of individual differences among members of that group.
Cognitive Dissonance
The discomfort felt when there is an inconsistency between what people believe and how they behave
Ways to Reduce Cognitive Dissonance
- Change our dissonant cognition
- Change the behaviour to suit the dissonant cognition
- Add new cognitions or supportive elements to outweigh the dissonant cognition or to rationalise or justify the behaviour.
Cognitive Biases
A subconscious error in thinking that leads you to systematically misinterpret information from the world around you.
Attentional Bias
The tendency to prioritise attention to certain information (or other stimuli) and other information.
Getting a new car, and suddenly noticing this car on the road.
Attributional Error / Bias
The tendency to overestimate the influence of personal factors and underestimate the impact of situational factors on other people’s behaviour.
Teacher thinks student’s lazy, student works and couldn’t complete task.
Confirmation Bias
The tendency to seek, recall or interpret information in a way that confirms existing beliefs or expectations, while dismissing or failing to seek contradictory evidence.
Only looking for supporting evidence rather than disproving evidence.
Dunning-Kruger Effect
People overestimate their knowledge or ability, particularly in areas in which they have little to no knowledge or experience.
First-time drivers are confident but become more nervous as time goes on
False-Consensus Bias
The tendency to overestimate the extent to which other people are like them in terms of sharing beliefs, personal characteristics or behaviours.
Children believe everyone’s favourite food is the same as theirs.
Functional Fixedness
Describes the difficulty we experience when we attempt to be creative in our problem-solving.
Brick = Building
Halo Effect
The impression we form about one quality of a person influences our beliefs and expectations about the person in other quantities.
If someone’s really pretty then that means they are really nice.
Hindsight Bias
The tendency, only after an event has occurred, to overestimate the extent to which the outcome could have been foreseen.
After a game, insisting you knew that the winning team was going to win.
Negativity Effect
Adverse events have a more significant impact on our psychological state than positive events.
Noticing a wrong equation once rather than the other correct equations
Spotlight Effect
People tend to believe they are being noticed more than they really are.
I think everyone will notice and/or care in an embarrassing event
Heuristic
Is a strategy for solving a problem or making a decision that is based on experience with similar types of problems but cannot guarantee a correct outcome.
Anchoring Heuristic
The tendency to rely heavily on the very first piece of information received when making a decision and to not modify this anchor sufficiently in light of later information.
Availability Heuristic
The tendency to rely on information that comes readily to mind when evaluating situations or making decisions. Because of this, people believe that the readily available information is more representative of fact than is the case.
Availability Heuristic - Influences
Positive
It saves time and effort in terms of recalling similar situations and analysing them.
Negative
It tends to overestimate the likelihood of recent events reoccurring.
Representativeness Heuristic
Involves categorising a person, object, event or anything else by judging how closely it matches our idea of a typical member of the category
Representativeness Heuristic - Influences
Positive
It allows us to understand a new object or event by comparing its characteristics to those we have already established for other objects and events
Negative
We often overestimate the similarity between the two things we are comparing, leading to mistakes in our decision-making.
Affect Heuristic
Involves making a judgement that is influenced by the emotion being experienced at the time.
Affect Heuristic - Influences
Positive
It might encourage us to take bigger risks than we usually would if we are in a positive mood.
Negative
If we are in a negative mood, then the heuristic tends to keep us there because we won’t risk doing new things, which limits our ability to learn from new and challenging situations.
Prejudice
Involves a judgement, it is usually considered to be an attitude, but specifically, one for which the focus is people.
Characteristics of Prejudice
- They tend to believe that they are superior to the minority group to whom the prejudice is directed.
- The majority group tend to believe the minority group is different from them and that they ‘don’t belong’
- The majority group tend to believe that they are more powerful and important than the minority group
- A majority group that displays prejudiced attitudes is insecure, fearing the minority group may become more powerful and important than itself.
2 Types of Prejudice
- Old Fashioned Prejudice
- Modern Prejudice
Old Fashioned Prejudice
A form of prejudice in which members of the majority group openly reject minority group members, and their views towards the minority groups are obvious and recognisable to others.
Modern Prejudice
A form of prejudice that is more subtle, hidden and expressed in ways more likely to be accepted within the majority group.
Explicit Prejudice
Prejudice that is consciously held and usually deliberately thought about. It is typically openly expressed by the person holding it and is within their control.
Implicit Prejudice
Prejudice that is typically unconsciously held; that is, the person holding such prejudice is not usually aware that they do so.
Discrimination
Refers to positive or negative behaviour that is directed towards a social group and its members.
Discrimination = Prejudice expressed through behaviour.
Types of Discrimination
- Direct Discrimination
- Indirect Discrimination
Direct Discrimination
Happens when someone is treated unfavourably because of a personal characteristic protected by the law.
Indirect Discrimination
Happens when there is an unreasonable requirement, condition or practice that disadvantages a person, or a group of people, because of a personal characteristic.
Difference Between Stereotypes, Prejudice and Discrimination
Stereotype = Belief or idea about others
Prejudice = Affective / Emotional reaction
Discrimination = Actual Behaviour
Stigma
A feeling of shame or disgrace felt by someone based on a distinguishing characteristic of theirs, such as mental illness, disability, gender, sexuality, race, religion or culture.
Ways to Reduce Prejudice
- Legislation and Education
- Intergroup Contact
- The Contact Hypothesis
- Cognitive Intervention
Intergroup Contact
Involves increasing direct contact between two groups who are prejudiced against each other.
Intergroup Contact - Conditions
- Close and ongoing contact between two groups
- The two groups have to rely on each other for some reason
- Each group has equal status in the contact situation
Contact Hypothesis
Proposes that certain types of direct contact between members of different groups can reduce prejudice.
Contact Hypothesis - Conditions
- Mutual Interdependence
- Superordinate Goals
- Equality of Status
Mutual Interdependence
For contact to be effective 2 different groups must have contact that makes them dependent on each other.
Superordinate Goals
Are goals that cannot be achieved by any one group alone and overrides other existing goals that each group might have.
Equality of Status
- For contact between two groups to reduce prejudice between the groups, then the groups must have equal status in the contact situation.
- When the status between two groups isn’t equal, the group members tend to view the other group members differently and may also treat them differently
Cognitive Interventions
Involves changing the way in which someone thinks about prejudice
Group - Conditions
- There must be 2 or more members.
- The members must interact with each other
- The members need to influence each other
- There needs to be a common goal or purpose shared by the group members
Collective
A collection of people who exert minimal influence on each other and don’t interact with one another
Social Influence
Refers to how people change their beliefs or attitudes due to the direct or indirect influence of other people whom they encounter
Group Norms
- A norm is a standard, value, or rule that outlines an appropriate behaviour or experience
- These can be formal or informal, spoken or unspoken.
Social Identity Theory
Outlines the tendency for people to favour their in-group over an out-group in order to enhance their sense of self-esteem.
Social Loafing
When someone puts in less effort when they’re judged as part of a group than working individually.
Culture
Refers to the customs, behaviours, and values of a particular group in society
Collectivist Cultures
Prioritise the needs and goals of groups
Individualist Cultures
Prioritise the needs and goals of individuals and value independence
Effects of Collectivist and Individualist Cultures
- Self-image (Good person v Good student / worker / partner)
- Using social support (Handling things yourself (Ind), Important to contribute to the group (col)
- Making decisions (make decisions by ourselves for ourselves, make decisions in a group for the group)
Obedience
Complying with demands that are given by an authority figure or the rules or laws of our society
What Influences Obedience?
- Social Proximity
- Legitimacy of the Authority Figure
- Group Pressure
- Setting
- Culture
- Punishment
Conformity
Adjusting one’s thoughts, feelings, or behaviours to match those of others, a social group, or a social situation.
What Influences Conformity?
- Social Norms
- Group Think
- Group Shift
- Deindividualism
Group Think
When people’s desire to maintain group loyalty becomes more important than making the best choices.
Group Think - Conditions
- A strong group identity
- A powerful and charismatic leader
- People feel that the other group members are more qualified / informed on a topic.
- The group is under extreme stress
Group Shift
A phenomenon in which discussion leads a group to adopt attitudes or actions that are more extreme than the initial attitudes or actions of the individual group members.
Deindividualism
The notion that people act a certain way because they can hide in the safety of numbers that a group provides.
Media Sources
Social Connections
The network of people available to someone for support and engagement.
Without social connections, we may not have the ability to:
- Reach out to the people who we know for support when we need it.
- Share meaningful experiences with each other
- Engage in activities with someone who shares similar interests.
Social Comparisons
A proposal is that humans measure their self-worth in relation to the people around them, which plays a significant role in mental well-being.
How Media Effects Social Connections
https://www.notion.so/7C-Media-and-Behaviour-17878e483a9f41de908d5a5e7b0acd56?pvs=4#3d4c25f4e2044b498fb157f89f6ebe75
https://www.notion.so/7C-Media-and-Behaviour-17878e483a9f41de908d5a5e7b0acd56?pvs=4#f44828962b404bb3b8d54d6cd27b1900
How Media Effects Social Comparisons?
https://www.notion.so/7C-Media-and-Behaviour-17878e483a9f41de908d5a5e7b0acd56?pvs=4#bb04197c0d7549588b2c1562aaf7f089
https://www.notion.so/7C-Media-and-Behaviour-17878e483a9f41de908d5a5e7b0acd56?pvs=4#73d96c04bfdb4a2b8ca9a0839e892993
Addictive Behaviours
Behaviours that are associated with a dependence upon a particular stimulus, despite negative consequences.
Addictive Behaviours - Characteristics
- Unable to stop consuming a substance or end a specific behaviour
- Display a lack of control concerning the substance, thing or behaviours
- Experience increased desires for a specific substance, thing, or behaviour
- Denying that their addictive behaviour may be causing negative consequences
Media and Addictive Behaviours
The use of media can lead to physical and psychological addiction as it can trigger the brain’s reward system to release dopamine
https://www.notion.so/7C-Media-and-Behaviour-17878e483a9f41de908d5a5e7b0acd56?pvs=4#c02fd4b9ed78475595a9263b9d0ff531
How Media Influences Addictive Behaviour
https://www.notion.so/7C-Media-and-Behaviour-17878e483a9f41de908d5a5e7b0acd56?pvs=4#bc1bdac295a84490bf4a8e487aac7608
Information Access
Refers to how easily information can be accessed by different people. It helps with decision-making and empowers you to become an informed citizen.
Social media has made access to information easier than ever as it allows users to:
- Share information and content
- Promote brands and causes they may support
- Stay connected with family and friends
Media and Information Access
Social media algorithms can:
- Put you at risk of missing information or content
- Create disparity between the content people see
- Increase the spread of misinformation
https://www.notion.so/7C-Media-and-Behaviour-17878e483a9f41de908d5a5e7b0acd56?pvs=4#bfa90685963849748240f943aecdedb3
Non-Conformity
Any behaviour that is not conforming with social norms
Types of Non-Conformity
- Independence
- Anti-Conformity
Independence
A situation in which a person perceives group pressure but doesn’t respond to it at either the public or private level.
Anti-Conformity
Deliberate behaviour that acts against the position of one or more people.
What Influences Conformity and Anti-Conformity?
- Task ambiguity
- culture - Individualist v collectivist
- Personality factors
Self-Determination Theory
The concept is that people achieve self-determination when three basic psychological needs are met:
- Autonomy
- Competence
- Relatedness
https://www.notion.so/7D-Empowering-Individual-Decision-Making-3e3e87fb79044a5f83b5b3eb3099ee73?pvs=4#1a6135dcbf264d6bb01b5f701c83f3ca
Autonomy
The need to be able to act authentically. Based on individual choice and intrinsic motivation
Competence
The need to feel as though you have the skills required to meaningfully carry out behaviours that affect your environment
Relatedness
The need to feel a sense of attachment, connection to, and belonging with other people
Anti-Conformity - Examples
Can involve large-scale, significant actions, such as those of famous civil rights activists, or it can involve smaller-scale refusal to comply with norms in everyday situations, such as standing up to a school bully.
Anti-Conformity May Be in Response to
- A desire to promote change
- Psychological Resistance - An unpleasant motivational arousal that emerges when people experience a threat or loss of their freedom.
Anti-Conformity May Be Enhanced By
- Individuation
- Social Support
