Chapter 9: Quiz Flashcards
the scientific study of how we influence one another’s behavior and thinking.
social psychology
is usually defined as a change in behavior, belief, or both to conform to a group norm as a result of real or imagined group pressure.
Conformity
Participants in completely dark rooms were exposed to a stationary point of light and asked to estimate the distance the light moved. Thanks to an illusion called auto kinetic effect, a stationary point of light appears to move in a dark room because there is no frame of reference and eyes move spontaneously. During the first session each participant was alone in the ark room when making his judgement. then during the next three sessions he was in the room with 2 other participants and could hear the others’ estimates of the illusory light movement. The answers varied when participants were by themselves. Over the next three sessions the individual estimates converged on a common group norm.
Sherif’s Study
To understand why conformity was observed in Sherif’s study, we need to consider __________. This effect stems from our desire to be right in situations in which the correct action or judgement is not obvious and we need information.
informational social influence
sat at a table and looked at 3 lines then were showed a 4th line and asked which one of the other 3 lines the 4th line was most similar too. Each times judgements were made orally. There were many participants but only one was a real participant that didn’t know of the others connection to the study.
Asch’s Study
The reason for the conformity is Asch’s study is ________, an effect stemming from our desire to gain the approval and to avoid the disapproval of others. We change our behavior to meet the expectations of others. We go along with the crowd.
normative social influence
What are the factors impacting conformity?
Situational, Cultural, & Gender
______ factors that affect whether we conform.
1) Unanimity (more likely to conform)
Example: Asch found that the amount of conformity drops if just one of the confederate participants gives an answer-right or wrong- that differs from the rest of the group.
2) Anonymity (less likely to conform)
Example: If being able to write down answer rather than answering aloud the amount of conformity dropped dramatically.
3) Status Level (more likely to conform if you have a lower status level)
Example: A freshman is more likely to conform to what a senior does than the other way around.
Situational
_______ factors also seem to impact the amount of conformity that is observed.
1) Individualism emphasizes individual needs and achievement.
2) Collectivism, in contrast, emphasizes group needs, thereby encouraging conformity and discouraging dissent with the group.
Cultural
Evidence for _____ differences in conformity. They observed a high level of conformity for ______ participants, which is consistent with earlier reviews of conformity studies.
Gender; female
is acting in accordance to a direct request from another person or group.
Compliance
compliance to a large request is gained by preceding it with a very small request. The tendency is for people who have complied with the small request to comply with the next larger request. This principle is simply to start small and work your way up. One classical experimental demonstration of this technique involves a ugly sign. People are asked directly if this sign could be put in their front yards and the vast majority refused. However a majority of the people who had complied with a much smaller request two weeks earlier agreed to have the large ugly sign put up.
foot in the door technique
Why does the foot in the door technique work?
Once we have made a commitment we feel pressured to remain consistent.
compliance is gained by starting with a large request that is turned down and following it with a more reasonable smaller request.
Example: Friend asks you to watch their dog for a month and you refuse and they say well just for the weekend then and you agree but they just needed you for the weekend all along.
door in the face technique
compliance to a costly request is achieved by first getting compliance to an attractive less costly request and then reneging on it. This is similar to the foot in the door technique in that a second larger request is the one desired. However, the first request is one that is very attractive to you. You are not making a concession but rather getting a good deal. However, the “good” part of the deal is then taken away. Car sells men use this.
low ball technique
Why does the low ball technique work?
many of us feel obligated to go through with the deal after we have agreed to the earlier deal even if the deal has changed for the worse.
compliane that throws in something at the end that makes you think its a good deal but it was planned all along.
thats not all technique
thats not all technique works because of what?
reciprocity
Why does door in the face technique work?
reciprocity
Is following the commands of a person in authority. Sometimes constructive and beneficial to us. Can also be destructive.
Obedience
Found that 2/3 people kept shocking the student till the end because of the authority figure (experimenter) told them to continue.
Milgram’s Study
Nurses got order to give patient overdose from doctor. 21/22 nurses went to give the overdose of their authority figure.
The “Astroten” Study
900+ followed Jim Jones and killed themselves because of their authority figure. Because few obeyed, everyone started to.
The Jonestown Massacre
People who are very skilled at what they do will usually do better in front of an audience than by themselves and those who are novices will tend to do worse. This is why it is more accurate to define _______ as facilitation of the dominant response on a task due to social arousal, leading to improvement on simple or well learned tasks and worse performance on complex or unlearned tasks when other people are present. Doing a simple task (like running) we do better with people around (in a positive way). Increased arousal.
Social Facilitation
the tendency for people to exert less effort when working toward a common goal in a group than when individually accountable. Doing as little as you can get away with.
Social Loafing
the responsibility for the task is diffused across all members of the group; therefore individual accountability is lessened.
diffusion of responsibility
Women in 1964 in New York that was stabbed, raped, stabbed and she died. 30+ people heard, no one called the police because they thought that someone else would.
Kitty Genovese
the probability of an individual helping in an emergency i greater when there is only on bystander than hen there are many bystanders.
bystander effect
the loss of self awareness and self restraint in a group situation that fosters arousal and anonymity. Can be though of as combining the increased arousal in social facilitation with the diminished sense of responsibility in social loafing. People fell less restrained, and therefore may forget their moral values and act spontaneously without thinking.
deindividuation
Is the strengthening of a group’s prevailing opinion about a topic following group discussion of the topic. The group members already share the same opinion on an issue, and when they discuss it among themselves, this opinion is further strengthened as members gain additional information from other members in support of the opinion.
group polarization
is a mode of group thinking that impairs decision making; the desire for group harmony overrides a realistic appraisal the possible decisions. The primary concern is to maintain group consensus.
Groupthink
the process by which we explain our own behavior and that of others.
attribution
the tendency as an observer to overestimate dispositional influences and underestimate situational influences on others’ behavior.
fundamental attribution error
the assumption that the world is just and that people get what they deserve. Get what you deserve and deserve what you get.
just world hypothesis
information gathered early is weighted more heavily than information gathered later in forming an impression of another person. Once we believe or know something it’s hard to change our mind or idea.
primacy effect
when one thinks one way and others agree because they don’t want to be the one to say no.
“yes men”
What 2 ways to explain behavior?
disposition (constant) and situation (differs)
our behavior leads a person to act in accordance with our expectations for that person. telling someone about themselves more than likely will come true.
self fulfilling prophecy
evaluation reactions (positive or negative) toward objects, events, and other people.
attitudes
A theory developed by Leon Festinger that assumes people have a tendency to change their attitudes to reduce the cognitive discomfort created by inconsistencies between their attitudes and their behavior. we change our attitude because of our behavior.
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
A theory developed by Daryl Bem that assumes that when we are unsure of our attitudes, we infer them by examining our behavior and the context in which it occurs. Use our behavior to infer our attitude.
self perception theory
acted to the role they played
prison guards are mean? they started to harass the prisoners. They were told to be a prison guards or a prisoner. There were no rules. This was Zimbardo’s study.
Stanford Prison Study
