Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM


Top Flashcards (Certified)
All Flashcards

Introduction to Psychology > Chapter 12 - Social psychology > Flashcards

Chapter 12 - Social psychology Flashcards

1
Q

Social brain hypothesis

A

Humans belong to the order primates, which includes great apes and monkeys

According to the social brain hypothesis, brain hypothesis, primates have large brains in particular, large prefrontal cortices because they live in complex social groups that change over time

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

People are especially likely to organise themselves into groups when two conditions are met. What are they?

A

Reciprocity

Transitivity

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Reciprocity

A

Meaning that people treat others as others treat them

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Transitivity

A

Pople generally share their friends’ opinions of other people

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Outgroup homogeneity effect

A

The tendency to view outgroup members as less varied than in-group members

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Social identity theory

A

The idea that in-groups consists of individuals who perceive themselves to be members of the same social category and experience pride through their groups membership

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

In-group favouritism

A

The tendency for people to evaluate favourably and privilege members of the in-group more than members of the outgroup

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Minimal group paradigm example

A

Turner (1979) randomly assigned volunteers to two groups using meaningless criteria such as flipping a coin

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Why do people favour members of their own groups?

A

One possibility is that people who work together to keep resources within a group and deny resources to outgroup members have a selective advantage over these two are willing to share with outgroup

Another possibility is that group membership is as important to us that we are willing to hurt people in outgroups as a way of signalling how much we value the people in our in-group

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Brain activity associated with thinking about other people

A

The middle region of the prefrontal cortex, called the medial prefrontal cortex, is important for thinking about other people

Thinking about them generally or specifically, whether they are in in-groups or outgroups

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

When is the medial prefrontal cortex less active?

A

When people consider members of out-groups, at least members of extreme out-groups such as people who are homeless or drug addicts

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Explanation for differences in the medial prefrontal cortex brain activity

A

One explanation for these differences in brain activity is that people see in-group members as more human than outgroup members

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Risky shift effect

A

Group often make riskier decisions than individuals do

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Group polarisation

A

The process by which initial attitudes of groups become more extreme over time

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Groupthink

A

The tendency of a group to make a bad decision as a result of preserving the group and maintaining its cohesiveness

Especially likely when the group is under intense pressure, is facing external threats, and is biased in a particular direction

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

How to prevent groupthink

A

Leaders must refrain from expressing their opinions too strongly at the beginning of discussions

The group should be encouraged to consider alternative ideas, either by having someone play devil’s advocate or by purposefully examining outside opinions

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What does Zajonc’s model predict?

A

That social facilitation can either improve or impact performance. The change depends on whether the response that is required in a situation is the individual’s dominant response.

If the required response is easy or well learned, so that the dominant reponse is good performance, the presence of others will enhance performance. If the required response is novel or less well learned, so that the dominant response is poor performance, the presence of others will further impair performance

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Social facilitation

A

The idea that the presence of others generally enhances performance

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

Social loafing

A

The tendency for people to work less hard in a group than when working alone

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

Deindividuation

A

A state of reduced individuality, reduced self awareness, and reduced attention to personal standards

This phenomenon may occur when people are part of a group

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Individuated

A

We walk around with a sense of ourselves as individuals who are responsible for our own actions

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

Conformity

A

The altering of one’s behaviours and opinions to match those of other people or to match other poles expectations

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

Normative influence

A

The tendency for people to conform in order to fit in with the group

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

Informational influence

A

The tendency for people to conform when they assume that the behaviour of others presents the correct way to respond

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Social norms
Expected standards of conduct that influence behaviour
26
What are the factors that reduce conformity according to Asch and other researchers?
When there are only one or two confederates, a naive participant usually does not conform Asch found that lack of consensus is another factor that diminishes conformity The social and cultural context also plays a role in conformity
27
What situations did Milgram find that produced less obedience?
If a teacher could see or had to touch the learner, obedience decreased The the experimenter gave the orders on the telephone and thus was not physically present and visible, obedience dropped dramatically
28
What situations produced maximum obedience?
The the shock level increase slowly and sequentially When the victim starts protesting later in the study When the orders help justify continuing with the study When the study is conducted at a high status school When experimenters might be viewed as being more authoritative
29
Aggression
Any behaviour that involves the intuition to harm another
30
When is aggression likely?
By observational learning and exposure to media violence When people feel socially rejected Heat
31
Biological factor to aggression
One biological factor is the hormone testosterone, which has a modest correlation with aggression
32
Why might testosterone potentially increase aggression?
Because it reduces the activity of brain circuits that control impulses
33
What have studies found on the role of testosterone on aggression?
Testosterone might not play a direct role in aggression but rather might be related to social dominance, the result of having greater power and status
34
What has evidence shown about serotonin and aggression?
That serotonin is especially important in the regulation of aggressive behaviour
35
What does serotonin do to increase aggression?
Alterations in serotonin activity increase the amygdala response to threat and interfere with the prefrontal cortex's control over aggressive impulses
36
What has genetic research found affects aggression?
MAOA gene
37
What does the MAOA gene do?
Control the amount of MAO, an enzyme that regulates the activity of neurotransmitters including serotonin and norepinephrine
38
It is important to know that MAOA does not cause violence. What does it do instead?
The long running effect of having one form of the gene versus another increases a person's susceptibility to environmental risk factors associated with impulsive or antisocial behaviours
39
How can societal and cultural changes affect aggression?
By a collective shift in expectations and beliefs about aggression and its consequences
40
Why might some cultures be violent
They have a culture of honour
41
Phase 1 of sherif's study of competition and cooperation
During Phase 1 of Sherif's study, boys from the two summer camps were pitted against each other and become hostile
42
Phase 2 of Sherif's study
During phase 2, the two groups had to work together to achieve common goals. The shared goals led to cooperation and a reduction of hostility between the groups
43
What contact between groups can reduce hostility?
Superodinate goals Goals that require people to cooperate and reduce hostility between groups
44
Prosocial behaviours
Actions that benefit others, such as doing favours or helping
45
Why are humans prosocial?
One suggestion is that prosocial behaviours are motivated by empathy, in which people share other people's emotions Another suggestion is that most prodigal behaviours have selfish motives such as wanting to manage one's public image or relieve one's negative mood
46
Altruism
Providing help when it is needed, without any apparent reward for doing so
47
Inclusive fitness
An explanation for altruism that focuses on the adaptive benefit of transmitting genes, such as through kin selection, rather than focusing on individual survival
48
Kin selection
When your family members thrive, at least some of our genes survive
49
Reciprocal helping
One animal helps another because the other may return the favour in the future
50
Bystander intervention effect
The failure to offer help by those who observe someone in need when other people are present
51
Reason for bystander intervention effect
Diffusion of responsibility Social blunders Anonymous People weigh two factors: how much harm do they risk to themselves by helping? What benefits might they have to forgo if they help?
52
Attitudes
People's evaluations of other people, objects, events, or ideas
53
Mere exposure effect
The idea that greater exposure to a stimulus leads to greater liking for it
54
Advertisers often use classical conditioning. What is it?
When people see a celebrity paired with a product they tend to develop more positive attitudes about the product
55
What leads to more predictive behaviour?
The stronger and more personally relevant the attitude The more specific the attitude, the more predictive it is of behaviour How quickly your attitude come to mind. Attitude accessibility.
56
Attitude accessibility
Refers to the ease or difficulty that a person has in retrieving an attitude from memory
57
Explicit attitudes
Those you know about and can report to someone else
58
Implicit attitudes
Attitudes that influence a person's feelings and behaviour at an unconscious level
59
How do people access implicit attitudes?
With little conscious effort or control
60
What is a method to assess implicit attitudes
A reaction time task called the Implicit Association Test (IAT)
61
What does the IAT measure?
How quickly a person associates concepts or objects with positive or negative words
62
Why is IAT controversial?
Question of reliability and stability of IAT scores
63
How do people reduce dissonance?
By changing their attitudes or behaviours Another option is to rationalise or trivialise the discrepancies
64
Findings of dissonance study
One way to get people to change their attitudes is to change their behaviours first, using as few incentives as people
65
What happened when participants were paid only 1$ in dissonance study?
Participants who were paid only one dollar to mislead a fellow participant experienced cognitive dissonance. This dissonance led to them to alter their attitudes about how pleasurable the task had been
66
Effect of hazing on dissonance
People experience a great deal of dissonance when they put themselves through pain, embarrassment, or discomfort to join a group
67
According to the cognitive dissonance theory, dissonance can arise when
A person holds positive attitudes about different options but chooses one of the options anyway
68
Postdecisional dissonance causes what, example?
Influences a person to focus on the chosen school's positive aspects and the other schools' negative aspects
69
Persuasion
The active and conscious effort to change an attitude through the transmission of a message
70
What are the various factors that affect persuasiveness of a message?
The source The content The receiver Receivers also find people who are similar to themselves to be more credible and persuasive sources
71
What do advertisers also use for persuasiveness?
Use the mere exposure effect Repeating the message over and over in the hope that multiple exposures will lead to increased persuasiveness
72
Elaboration likelihood model
The idea that persuasive messages lead to attitude changes in either of two ways: Via the central route Via the peripheral route
73
Central route
When people are motivated and able to process information People are paying attention to the arguments, considering all the information, and using rational cognitive processes
74
Peripheral route
When people are tired not motivated to process information or unable to process it People minimally process the message
75
Compliance
The tendency to agree to do things requested by others
76
What are the factors that increase compliance?
A person in a good mood Receiving a request Comply with a request that is justified by a reason
77
Foot in the door
If you agree to a small request, you are more likely to comply with a large request
78
Door in the face
If you refuse a large request, you are more likely to comply with a smaller request
79
Low balling
When you agree to buy a product for a certain price, you are likely to comply with a request to pay more for the product
80
What is key for us to do as social animals on judging others?
Identifying people who are and are not trustworthy is key to our survival as social animals
81
Nonverbal behaviour
The facial expressions, gestures, mannerisms, and movements by which one communicates with others
82
Attributions
People's explanations for why events or actions occur
83
Personal attributions
Explanations of people's behaviour that refer to their internal characteristics, such as abilities traits, moods, or efforts.
84
Situational attributions
Explanations of people's behaviour that refer to external events
85
Examples of situational attributions
Weather Luck Accidents
86
Fundamental attribution error
In explaining other people's behaviour, the tendency to overemphasise personality traits and underestimate situational factors
87
Correspondence bias
Focusing on the beliefs and dispositions that correspond with a behaviour while neglecting other factors
88
Actor/observer discrepancy
The tendency to focus on situations to explain one's own behaviour but to focus on dispositions to explain other people's behaviour
89
Difference between Easterners and Westerners
Easterners are more likely than Westerners to take situational forces into account, they do still tend to favour personal information over situational information when making attributions about others
90
Subtyping
When people encounter someone who does not fit a stereotype, they put that person in a special category rather than changing the stereotype
91
Illusory correlations
Example of the psychological reasoning error of seeing relationships that do not exist
92
Prejudice
Negative feelings, opinions, and beliefs associated with a stereotype
93
Discrimination
The differential treatment of people as a result of prejudice against their group
94
Why do stereotypes so often lead to prejudice and discrimination?
Together, social identity theory and the idea that individuals' survival is depends on their group obtaining scarce resources lead to the prediction that people might feel threatened by anything that favours the outgroup at the expense of the ingroup
95
Modern racism
Subtle forms of prejudice that coexist with the rejection of racist beliefs
96
When do people discriminate less towards the out group
When they have common goals Explicit training about stereotypes can also reduce prejudice
97
Stereotype threat
Fear or concern about confirming negative stereotypes related to one's own group, which in turn impairs performance on a task
98
Study on stereotype threat findings
Demonstrate the power of social and cultural stereotypes to create or alleviate the effects of stereotype threat on individual performance
99
Students are protected from stereotype threat when
They engage in self affirmation by writing about important personal values or read about a black role model who is successful in the stereotyped domain
100
What mental strategies can reduce the effect of prejudice
Reframing Self labeling Can reduce the effects of prejudice by helping the target think about the situation in a different way
101
Reframing
Involves taking a negative stereotype and transforming it from a weakness into a strength
102
Self labeling
Involves embracing the very slurs used against you. Taking ownership of the slur can provide a sense of power to those who are stigmatised
103
Perspective taking
Means activity contemplating the psychological experiences of other people Such contemplation can reduce racial bias and stereotyping and help smooth potentially awkward interracial interactions
104
Proximity
Simply means how often people come into contact with each other because they are physically nearby
105
Neophobia
Because of the mere exposure effect, people tend to like things they are exposed to repeatedly In fact, humans generally fear anything novel
106
Matching principle
The most successful romantic couples also tend to be the most physically similar
107
What are the least desirable characteristics in relationships?
Dishonesty Insincerity Lack of personal warmth
108
What are the most desirable characteristics in relationships?
Kind Dependable Trustworthy
109
What are the two fundamental dimensions that characteristics fall along into?
Warmth Competence
110
What might be attractive in trading partners?
Trustworthiness
111
What might be attractive in friends?
Culturally determined causes of social status or likability
112
What did a study find on the effect of testosterone on a men's faces?
Found that men with the highest levels of testosterone had faces with a higher width to height ratio
113
Why do people find symmetrical faces more attractive than asymmetrical ones?
This preference is thought to be adaptive because people use symmetry to evaluate health
114
'What is beautiful is good' stereotype
The belief that attractive people are superior in most ways
115
Passionate love
A state of intense longing and desire
116
Companionate love
A strong commitment based on friendship, trust, respect, and intimacy
117
Attachment theory
Romantic relationship are likely to vary depending on attachment
118
What are the four interpersonal styles that typically lead couples to discord and dissolution
Being overly critical Holding the partner in contempt (eg: lacking respect) Being defensive Mentally withdrawing from the relationship
119
Capitalisation
Couples that deliver criticism lightly and with compassion when things go wrong, whereas they revel in each other's successes when things go right
120
Attributional style
How one partner explained the other's behaviour
121
How do happy couples differ from unhappy couples in attributional styles?
They overlook bad behaviour or respond constructively This is known as accommodation
122
Study on attributional style and accommodation
The people with the most positively biased views of their partners were more likely to still be in relationships with their partners several months later than were those people with unbiased views of their partners
123
Social blunders
Some degree of ambiguity, and people may be worried that they would look foolish if they sought help that was not needed

Introduction to Psychology (10 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions