Chapter 1 Flashcards
An Invitation to Social Psychology
define social psychology
the scientific study of feelings, thoughts, and behaviours of individuals in social situations
What does Philip Zimbardo believe about the balance of power in prisons
the balance of power in prisons is so unequal that they tend to be brutal places, unless the guards observe strict regulations, to curb their worst impulses. Thus, at both Abu Ghraib and Stanford, “It’s not that we put bad apples in a good barrel. We put good apples in a bad barrel. The barrel corrupts anything that it touches.”
How do social psychologists apply their knowledge in the real world
they apply their knowledge to important questions concerning individuals and society at large; studying how to reduce stereotyping and prejudice in the classroom and workplace; how to make eyewitness testimony more reliable; how physicians can best use diverse sources of information to make a correct diagnosis; what goes wrong in airplane cockpits when there is an accident or near accident; and how business, government and individuals can make better decisions
research by social psychologists regularly influence what large group
government and government policy (e.g. the law that struck down the segregation in schooling had the US draw heavily on social psychologist research which found that the segregated schools were inherently unequal in their effects (and thus unconstitutional)
What is the difference between SP and personality psychology
Personality psychology is a close cousin of social psychology, emphasizes individual differences and behavior rather than the social situation. Personality psychologists try to find a consistent pattern in the way person behaves cost situations, individuals position on a trait dimension
What is the difference between SP and cognitive psychology
They have very related this is the study of how people perceive, think about and remember the world. They really only differ on topics; cognitive psychologists would like just study memory processes or categorization processes
what is sociology
Study of behavior of people in the aggregate. Sociologists study institutions, subgroups, bureaucracies, mass movements and more groups…. SP do more individualized things
What did Kurt Lewin believe about the power of situation
He believes the behavior of people, like the behaviour objects, is always a function of the field of forces in which they find themselves
explain Kurt Lewin and his belief that the behavior of people, like the behaviour objects, is always a function of the field of forces in which they find themselves
The field of forces in the case of human behavior role of situation, especially the social situation, and guiding behavior. Essentially, we rely on other people’s clues about what emotions to feel in various situations even define who we are as individuals
what was the milligram experiment and what did it reveal
this experiment was where participants are told to shock an individual if they answered wrong, unceasing the voltage each time. This was to show if ordinary people were capable of doing awful things just because they were told to; and this proved to be true. The experimenter took responsibility for what was happening to the ‘victim’ so the participants kept going as the blame was then off of them
People are governed by what
Situational factors
What are situational factors
Whether people are pressured by someone etc. etc
What are internal factors
Kind of person someone is
do internal factors influence people or external factors
more external
Defined dispositions
Factors, such as beliefs and values personality traits and abilities that guide a persons behavior
Define the fundamental attribution error
Failure to recognize The importance of situational influences on behaviours, and the corresponding tendency to overemphasize the importance of dispositions on behaviour
Social psychology encourages us to look another’ssituation why
To try to understand complex field forces acting on the individual– in order to fully understand their behaviour
define channel factors
Situational circumstances that appear unimportant on the surface but can have great consequences for behavior– facilitating it, blocking it, or guiding it in a particular direction
what is the gestalt principles and perceptions
when the brain fills in missing gaps and we think we seen image in the blanks but we dont
Define gestalt psychology
based on the german word gestalts, Meaning form or figure, this approach stresses the fact that people perceive objects not by mean of some automatic registering device but by an active, usually nononcious interpretation of what the object represents as a whole
What is naïve realism
The belief that we see the world directly and without a complicated perceptual or cognitive machinery
Define construal
interpretations of our inferences about the stimuli or situations people confront
weather we see people as freedom fighters or terrorists, etc
What is the definition of schema
A knowledge structure consisting organize body of stored information
aka generalized knowledge about the physical world and social situations, how to act anthem and what to expect
What is the definition of stereotype
a belief that certain attributes are characteristic of members of a particular group
are stereotypes and schemas the same
stereotypes are schemas that we have for people of various kinds
what are the 2 types of processing
automatic and controlled
what is automatic processing
acting out of emotion before thought
what is controlled processing
acting based on controlled, carful thought
what is implicit and explicit attitudes
implicit– automatic processes give rise to the attitudes, they are beliefs that cannot be readily controlled by the conscious mind
explicit– controlled and conscious processing results an explicit attitudes and beliefs of which we are aware
however these may also become implicit or nonconcious over time
what is the donald story
the first story was written with the name donald and all subsequent ones are just referred to as the donald story
the have a fairly ambiguous story about a persona dn they have the participant read something before hand (have a stimuli that is either negative or positive) and then they read the story about donald and make a judgement about him based on the story they just read
Why does so much mental processing takes place outside our awareness
Impart is the matter of efficiency, concious processes are generally slow whereas automatic are fast
Why is the natural selection theory invaluable
It has proved invaluable in understanding why organisms of all kinds have to properties they do, and how come they have them
are human behaviors and institutional universal
Many of them are universal or nearly so
Define natural selection
The Evolutionary process that moves animals and plants so that traits that enhance the probability of survival and reproduction are passed on to subsequent generations
What are the main traits that humans share it with higher primates
Facial expressions, dominance and submission, food sharing, group living, greater aggressiveness on the part of males and preference for own can, wariness around snakes
Group living contributed to what in the past
Survival
There is strong evidence that infants are born with their brain prewired to acquire language why
Perhaps because of its importance to humans living together in groups
Explain what language is
At birth, all infants can produce the full range of possible sounds (phonemes) that exist in the totality of languages spoken anywhere on earth. Language acquisition consists of dropping all of the wrong phonemes that are not used by the child particular language
When do children recognize that the way to understand other peoples behavior is to understand their beliefs and desires
before the age of 2
By what age is the theory of mind sophisticated enough that children can recognize when other people’s beliefs are false
3-4
Define parental investment
The evolutionary principle that costs and benefits are associated with the reproduction and the nurturing of offspring. Because these costs and benefits are different for males and females, one gender will normally value and invest more in each child then will the other
Why do females have a higher investment in children
Largely because the number of offspring a female can have over the course of her lifetime limited
Why is the evolutionary theory when applied to human behavior controversial
The claim that their are biologically-based differences between men and women in behaviors related to a meat choice is particularly Objectionable to some people. Such notions are controversial in part because they follow a long history of mistaken claims about biological differences that’s have been used to legitimize and perpetuate male privilege
This theory has also been invoked as justification for reviewing the different human races as a different sub species
Darwin’s ideas were used to legitimize the struggle of some people to gain surpremacy– the idea that ‘might=right’
What is the naturalistic fallacy
The claim that the way things are is the way that they should be
is naturalistic fallacy Widely received
no, it has no logical foundation
What is one of the chief tools of social neuroscience
functional magnetic Resonance imaging (fMRI)
What does Nero science Telus
Which areas of the brain function most when certain kinds of activities are taking place, and it informs us about how the brain, the mind and behavior function as a unit and how social factors influence each of these components at the same time
The most important legacy of evolution for human beings is what
Human beings have great flexibility that allows for adaptation to different circumstances
Until fairly recently psychologists regarded cultural differences as being limited primarily to what
To differences in beliefs, preferences and values
What is cultural differences actually
Goes for deeper than beliefs and values, in fact they extend all the way to the level of the fundamental forms of self-deception and social existence and even to the perceptual and cognitive processes people use to develop new thoughts and beliefs
What are the two types of cultures
Independent and interdependant
Define independent culture
Also known as individualistic culture; a culture in which people tend to think of themselves as distinct social entities, tied to each other by voluntary bonds of affection and organizational memberships but essentially separate from other people and having attributes that exist in the absence of any connection to others
What is the primary difference between the teaching of the chinese children and the teaching of American children
The American child is taught to orient towards action and be prepared to live in a world where controlling individual choices are possible. The Chinese child is more likely to be taught to be a attuned to relationships
define interdependent culture
also known as a collectivistic culture; a culture in which people tend to define themselves as part of a collective, intricately tied to others in their groups and placing less importance on individual freedom for personal control over their lives
can a culture to be both interdependent and independent
Yes there are regional and subcultural differences within any larger society
Give an example of subcultural differences
gender socialization; while Dick is depicted in children’s books as running and playing a.k.a. being independent Jane is often shown as caring for her dolls and cooking for others a.k.a. being inter dependent
Are working class people in modern societies more interdependent or Independence than middle-class individuals
Working-class people in modern societies are more interdependent than middle-class individuals. Working class people have more interactions with there family and middle-class individuals do
Define hindsight bias
Peoples tendency to be overconfident about whether they could have predicted a given outcome
How do you avoid hindsight bias
When you have to predict the results of the studies and then find out what they were
What is a thought experiment
Thinking through how you would test a given idea can lead you to a new hypothesis that, on reflection, might seem preferable to your initial speculation
