ch 1

Question 1

Tight societies

Answer 1

people are very inclined to follow norms, norms are explicit and powerful

Question 2

Loose societies

Answer 2

norms are weaker, compliance is less certain

Question 3

The power of the situation

Answer 3

-Kurt Lewin:believed behavior of people is always a function of the field of forces surrounding them
-Main situational influences on our behavior are the actions,words and emotions of other people

Question 4

Milgram experiment

Answer 4

What was it about this situation that let participants to continue applying shocks to a person in pain and causing harm?
-The situation was effective in leading them to do something that would normally be horrific

Question 5

Fundamental Attribution Error

Answer 5

Failure to recognize the importance of situational influences on behavior, together with the tendency to overemphasize disposition is the fundamental attribution error

Question 6

channel factors

Answer 6

Kurt lewin introduced concept of Channel factors to help explain why certain circumstances that seem unimportant can have great consequences for behavior either facilitating it or blocking it

Question 7

construal

Answer 7

Construal refers to how we interpret situations and behavior and how we make inferences, often nonconscious, about the contexts and the people we are encountering

Question 8

Basic idea of gestalt psychology

Answer 8

people perceive objects not by means of passive and unbiased perception of objective reality but by active nonconscious interpretation of what the object represents

Question 9

Schemas

Answer 9

generalized knowledge about the physical and social world, such as what kind of behavior to expect when dealing with certain situations

Question 10

Stereotypes

Answer 10

schemas that we have for people of various kinds

Question 11

The mind process information in 2 ways when we encounter social situation

Answer 11

1) One is automatic and nonconscious often based on emotional factors
2)The other is conscious, systematic, and more likely to be controlled by deliberative thought

Question 12

Automatic process

Answer 12

give rise to implicit attitudes and beliefs that cant be readily controlled by the conscious mind

Question 13

Controlled conscious processing

Answer 13

results in explicit attitudes and beliefs that we’re aware of, those that can become conscious over time

Question 14

Subtle situational influence

Answer 14

words,sights,sounds and other stimuli can influence how we act,for good or for ill, even when we’re not consciously aware of them

Question 15

Natural selection

Answer 15

Darwin believed natural selections operates on behavioral inclinations just as it does on physical characteristics

Question 16

evolution provides humans with a theory of mind

Answer 16

prewired-ability to recognize that other people have beliefs and desires and that understanding their beliefs predcits their behavior

Question 17

why does group living contribute to survival

Answer 17

Ability to produce and understand language facilitates living in groups because it allows people to convey not only emotions and intentions but also beliefs, attitudes, and complex thoughts to others

Question 18

Naturalistic fallacy

Answer 18

what we are biologically predisposed to do is what we inevitably will do and perhaps even should do (the way things are is the way things should be) (we should avoid this)

Question 19

neocortex of the brain

Answer 19

Significant areas of the neocortex are involved in reasoning, abstract thought, and memory
-There is also an empathy network of the neocortex that enable us to experience the feelings of others and a mentalizing networks that enables us to understand other peoples mental states,intentions,desires, and beliefs

Question 20

Older regions of brain

Answer 20

appear to be involved in nonconscious automatic reactions to our social environment

Question 21

social safety and social alarm networks

Answer 21

Acceptance and rejection activate much different regions of the brain

Question 22

Societies that are highly independent(individualistics) cultures

Answer 22

western europe, america,canada, australia

Question 23

interdependent(collectivist) cultures

Answer 23

east asia(japan,korea,china), south asian(india), middle east, latin america, and eastern europe
-Interdependent people tend not to expect or even value mutuality and quality in relationships, theyre likely to expect hierarchical relations to be the rule

Question 24

Culture shapes the human brain

Answer 24

particpants who were more independent showed denser grey matter in a region of cortex that supports thought about the self and self-agency

Question 25

how does social class affect inter/independent framework

Answer 25

Middle class people value uniqueness more than working class

Question 26

Why should cultures and individuals within a given culture differ in their degree of independent vs. interdependent social orientation?

Answer 26

1)economics(how income is earned, in cultures where many people earn a living in solitary ventures such as trading tend to be more independent) and

2)degree to which complex social relations are based on associations with kin

Question 27

Both evolution and culture affect how people see the world and behave within it

Question 28

older regions in the brain that we share with other mammals tend to be involved in nonconscious, automatic reaction to social environment

Question 29

amygdala

Answer 29

involved with gut feelings

Question 30

nucleus accumbens

Answer 30

reward circuit of brain

Question 31

empathy network

Answer 31

in neocortex

Question 32

mentalizing network

Answer 32

region in neocortex that enables us to experience feelings of others