Del 1 Flashcards
Social psychology
The scientific study of how people’s thoughts, feelings and behaviours are influenced by the real or imagined presence of others
tankar, känslor och beteende beroende av social kontext
Social psychology theories - social behaviour is driven by
4x
Sociocultural - culture norms in large social groups
Focus: differences between cultures/subcultures
Evolutionary - inherited tendencies to respond to the environment in ways that helped ancestors survive and reproduce.
Focus: similarities in social behaviour across cultures, periods and species (+individual strategies)
Social learning - anything we (or we see or hear that others are) rewarded or punished for.
Focus: environmental causes of social behaviour
Social cognitive (neuroscience) - what we pay attention to, how we interpret it and connect it to related experiences in memory
Focus: individual’s experience and cognitive (and neuroanatomical) structures
Social Cognitive Neuroscience leads to
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- Unification - there are important things that are not visible through behaviour. Things can vary on a behavioural level but may have similar underlying processes (mPFC for thinking about oneself and others)
- Dissection - things that are previously thought to be the same can depend on very different systems and need to be subdivided (ex. explicit and implicit memory systems).
Social perception - visual stimulus processing routes (emotional stimuli)
x3
Early response of highly salient stimuli in amygdala
Superior temporal sulcus (where-stream) - processes dynamic facial and bodily features (emotional expressions, gaze shifts, biological movement).
FFA (what-stream) - processes invariant facial and bodily features allowing faces to be discriminated and classified (person recognition)
Social perception - m/vm/dmPFC and TPJ
The temporal parietal junction (TPJ) has been highlighted by some researchers as uniquely involved for keeping track of other people’s mental beliefs, particularly transient inferences based on current context.
mPFC may be more involved in inferences based on more enduring traits or qualities of that person.
- vmPFC - more active when forming an impression of another individual that is similar to yourself (as well as when you think about yourself)
- dmPFC - more active when forming impressions of another individual who is less similar to yourself
Reflexive vs reflective response mode
Reflexive - automatic, basic response to an emotional stimulus (ex. freezing response)
Reflective - slower, appraisal of the situation, more cortical (ex. downregulation)
STUDIES - Social perception
5x
WACKT
- *Whalen** - amygdala responds to eye whites
- *Adolphs** - SM face recognition + attention to facial features
- *Kim** - greater amygdala activation for negative context
- *Chapman** - Oral = moral disgust - levator labii
- *Todorov** - quick attributions of competence -> election
Social kognition - processer och mål
Processen genom vilken personer tänker på och bildar förståelse för sig själva och andra.
Ingående processer: Uppmärksamhet, Tolkning, Bedömning, Minne
- *Mål**
- Att hushålla med mentala resurser för att fatta beslut som är tillräckligt bra och inte krävande
- Att skydda och förbättra ens självbild
- Att bilda en korrekt förståelse för att undvika kostsamma fel
Cognitive shortcuts and affecting factors
- Expectations - representativeness
- Dispositional inferences - ex. FAE
- Availability
- Anchoring and adjustment
Affecting factors:
- Arousal - more likely in high arousal situations
- Time of day - more likely in off-peak times
- Time pressure - more likely if we have little time/divided attention
- State of mind - negative feelings lead to less shortcuts
- Unexpected events - make us think deeper
- Need for structure - the higher it is the more shortcuts are used
- Need for cognition - the higher it is the more deep thinking is used
Metoder som stärker självbilden
- Social jämförelse - vi jämför oss med andra, ofta med de som är sämre/har det sämre ställt än oss.
- Self-serving bias - vi attribuerar det vi lyckas bra med till interna faktorer och det vi misslyckas med till externa krafter.
- Överskattar våra styrkor - vi tenderar att värdera sådant vi är bra på högre än sådant vi är dåliga på.
- Skapa en känsla av kontroll - på så sätt känner vi oss mer delaktiga i vårat liv och vad som händer oss.
Discounting and augmenting principle
Discounting principle - as the number of possible causes for an event increase, our confidence that any particular cause is the true one should decrease
Augmenting principle - if an event occurs despite the presence of strong opposing forces, we should give more weight to those that lead toward the event.
Classical attribution theories
Jones and Davis - correspondent inferences:
Actions give more information about the actors disposition if they are
- Voluntary compared with forced
- Socially inappropriate compared with appropriate
- Chosen out of many alternatives
Kelley - covariation model:
Factors that affect the attributions of an actor’s behaviour
- Consistency - does the actor usually behave like this?
- Distinctiveness - does the actor behave like this only in this kind of situation?
- Consensus - do others behave similarly?
Correspondence bias (FAE) and Actor-Observer Effect
FAE - The tendency to exaggerate the importance of internal factors, and underestimate the importance of external factors, when explaining others’ behaviour
AOE - Actors tend to explain their own behaviour with external factors while observers tend to explain actors’ behaviour with internal factors
Possible reasons:
- We have less information about the variation in others behaviour.
- Perceptual effect - the actor perceives the situation while the observer perceives the actor (Storms - actors and observers)
- Cultural differences - FAE mainly observed in adults in individualistic cultures, reversed in collectivist cultures (Miller - India and US comparison)
OBS! Malle meta-analysis disproves AOE: compared other factors than internal/external
False consensus effect
The tendency to exaggerate the commonness of one’s own opinions and choices.
Possible explanations:
- In lack of other data we use ourselves as an anchor and adjust from the 100%
- People we tend to observe (friends etc.) tend to be more similar to us than the average person
- We do not want to perceive ourselves as deviant
Self-serving bias
The tendency to explain own successes with internal factors and failures with external factors.
SSB increases confidence by minimizing personal failures - Low SSB linked to depression
mPFC - more activation is seen in the mPFC when people make an unbiased answer than a SSB answer. This indicates that self-serving biased is the automated response and needs to be inhibited.
STUDIES - Attribution
5x
JSSGG
- *Giner-Sorolla** - pro-palestinian/israel view same footage in favour of oponent
- *Smith et al** - self fulfilling prophecies + control
- *Jones and Harris** - FAE, Castro essays
- *Greenberg et al.** - thoughts of death -> more in-group bias
- *Sedikides** - better than average effect varies over cultures (external/internal)
Spotlight effect
The phenomenon in which people tend to believe they are being noticed more than they really are.
This translates into the transparency effect - We think that others know what we are thinking to a higher degree than what they do
This could be due to anchoring and adjustment since we always think about ourselves.
Self-monitoring
Tendensen att vara kroniskt upptagen med hur man uppfattas utifrån och anpassa sina handlingar för att matcha det situationen kräver.
Strategier för att bli omtyckt av andra.
4x
- Komplimanger - ge komplimanger, gärna genom andra personer
- Var attraktiv - se snygg ut, snygga människor tycker folk om
- Projicera ödmjukhet - försök att inte skryta, var ödmjuk med dina prestationer
- Framhäv dina likheter med de du vill ska tycka om dig - man gillar folk som liknar en själv både i vad man gillar och hur man kommunicerar kroppsligt.
Competence motivation
The desire to perform effectively, either because attempting to achieve is challenging and interesting (achievement motivation), or because success leads to favorable self- and public images (extrinsic motivation)
Strategier för att övertala andra om sin kompetens (self-promotion)
x5
- Iscensätta händelser där man får visa sin kompetens och undvika situationer som man suger på
- Prata om sin kompetens - i rätt sammanhang och när man har blivit inbjuden till att göra det.
- Omge sig med saker som kompetenta människor antas ha (typ en full kalender).
- Kom på ursäkter och hävda hinder som går att skylla på om du verkar inkompetent (self-handicapping, questioning)
- Diss(association)
Strategier för att ge sken av status och makt.
- Skylta med objekt som associeras med status och makt
- Iögonfallande konsumtion
- Associera dig själv med personer med status och makt
- Kommunicera dominans med kroppsspråk - avslappnad och utspridd när ohotad och aggressiv när hotad.
Gender differences in self-presentational goals
Women - higher tendency to perform ingratiating behaviours (smiling, attractiveness, opinion adjustment) particularly after adolescence. Focus eyes on individuals while listening, shift while talking
Men - higher tendency to perform power-behaviours (claim more personal space, gain control over conversations, present status conspicuously). High dominance visual behaviour
Why?
- Rewarded or punished for certain behaviours
- Testostorone - higher levels - more confrontational, less friendly, lower levels - friendlier, more polite in achieving goals
Better than Average Effect
Our tendency to believe that we are better than most others (less selfish or biased, happier etc.)
People displayed less self-enhancement when mPFC is blocked (TMS) indicating that the effect stems from higher cognitive function.
More positive self-esteem is linked to better social life and health, lower cortisol levels and larger hippocampus.
Self-Regulation
The regulation of our emotions and responses.
Emotion regulation - requires high degrees of initial cognitive effort (PFC) but there is an ability to regulate emotional response (amygdala and insula) through attempting to reappraise the situation.
All regulation - Becomes harder under pressure and the incentive to perform it seems to diminish if we are socially excluded since we mainly do it to remain in good social graces (Baumeister Cookies)
STUDIES - Self-presentation
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Holtgraves and Dulin - bragging african-american vs white groups
Berglas and Jones - self-handicapping - rigged test + pills
Conformity - definition and reasons
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The matching of attitudes, beliefs and behaviours to what individuals perceive is normal of their society or social group
Reasons:
- Informative reasons - you behave like others do because you think they know more than you do, and you want to do the right thing. (ex. new at work)
- Normative reasons - you behave like others do in order to be accepted and liked by them. (ex. dress code)
Imitation
- Imitation leads to liking Chartrand and Bargh (1999)
- Mirror neurons - similar activation patterns when performing and perceiving behaviours
- Patients with PFC damage show compulsive imitation and utilisation behaviour
Factors that affect conformity
x3
- *Task factors:**
- Difficulty and importance - difficult tasks (high insecurity) increase conformity and easy tasks decrease conformity if the task is considered important (lineup experiment)
- *Actor factors**
- Mood - Positive mood increases the degree of conformity while negative mood decreases the degree of conformity. May be due to lower PFC activation when we are in a positive mood.
- Brain activity - Social conflict leads to increased activity in the Rostral Cingulate Zone (indicating unexpected outcome) and decreased activity in Nucleus Accumbens (lack of reward). Non conformists have less decreased activity in nucleus accumbens.
- *Model factors**
- Similarity - More conformity if the models are similar to the actors. May be due to group factors and brain activity (RCZ and N.Acc.)
- Status and authority - More conformity with the expectations of high-status and authoritative individuals (potential partners, interview leaders)
Groupthink
Decision-making characterised by conflict avoidance and coherence rather than by critical analysis
Possible affecting factors:
- Coherent group
- Isolation of the group
- Authoritative leaders
- Non-formalized decision process
Counter-measures
- The authoritative figure does not state their preference
- Co-workers have possibilities to state their opinions
- Devil’s advocate
Causes of obedience
- Informative reasons - you do as you are told because you trust the person who gives the orders
- Normative reasons - you do as you are told in order to receive rewards and to avoid punishment
Taktiker för att öka konformitet
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LLB
DDT
FN
Labeling - När man ger en person en “etikett” som stämmer överens med det beteende man vill uppmana till.
Bait-and-switch - Att få någon att fatta ett beslut, sedan göra alternativet oattraktivt eller ta bort det när personen väl är i valsituationen.
Low-ball - Att få någon att gå med på en deal, för att sedan öka kostnaden/göra det mindre attraktivt efter att personen redan identifierat sig med konceptet.
Disrupt-then-reframe - Man försöker störa en persons motstånd genom att förvirra och sedan omformulera sitt erbjudande i mer gynnsamma termer.
That’s-not-all - Man ger först ett erbjudande och innan personen hinner tacka nej eller ja så lägger man till något som förbättrar dealen.
Door-in-the-face - Man ger först ett orimligt erbjudande och sedan sitt verkliga, mer rimliga erbjudande
Foot in the door - Man ber någon om något litet först och något större sedan.
Normen om reciprocitet - om man fått något av någon är man mer benägen att gå med på något i gengjäld
Tre anledningar till konformitet/ändring av åsikt
- Att välja rätt - viljan att välja rätt ökar konformitet, i synnerhet när folk är osäkra på sina egna omdömen, det finns konsensus och de som informerar liknar en själv eller är auktoriteter.
- Att erhålla socialt godkännande - speciellt om man identifierar sig starkt med/vill tillhöra gruppen, det är publikt och man ej känner sig kapabel att motstå trycket
- Att vara konsekvent med sina åtaganden och inom sig själv - har man tidigare gjort aktiva och publika åtaganden kommer man försöka hålla sig i linje med dem.
Cognitive response model
a theory that locates the most direct cause of persuasion in the self-talk of the persuasion target
Dual-process model
- *Central processing** - focus on arguments and theirquality (effortful)
- Used when we have high motivation (ex. personally relevant) and ability (ex. experience, time)
- If persuaded the change in attitude or behaviour is lasting
- *Peripheral processing** - focus on superficial factors such as no. of arguments and the sender’s appearance
- Used when we have low motivation and ability (default)
- If persuaded the change in attitude or behaviour is very temporary
Persuasion Tactics
x4
- *Argue for you alternative**
- Give (good) reasons - Copier cue study
- Pile up arguments - Final exam study
- Repeat - Statement truth probability study
- Refer to others (social validation) - Many people do it, you should too!
- Let people compare - Beer/calculator comparison study (compromise effect)
- *Be a good sender**
- Be good looking - Charity collector study
- Be an authority/expert - Security guard vs. civilian study
- Resemble the receiver - Hippies and straights study
- *Work up the receiver:**
- Instigate emotions - Phone seller study (anger)
- Do favours - Door-in-the face/that’s not all
- Change the receivers behaviour - Foot-in-the-door
- *Obstruct counterarguments:**
- Low-ball - Commitment -> overexaggerating value of choice (postdecisional dissonance)
- Inoculation procedure - presenting weakened potential counterarguments -> thinking about them/protecting your argument
Theory of Planned Behavior
The theory that attitudes toward a specific behavior combine with subjective norms and perceived control to influence a person’s actions
Balance Theory and Cognitive Dissonance
Balance theory - People prefer harmony and consistency in their views of the world. (If someone upsets this you must change your views of them or your own attitudes)
Cognitive dissonance - The unpleasant state of psychological arousal resulting from an inconsistency within one’s important attitudes and behaviour
(must change attitudes or find an external justification)
- Increases with increased consequences, desire for consistency and salience of inconsistency
STUDIES - Conformity
Asch - line experiment
Berns - line experiment + computers + amygdala activation
Milgram - 65% total obedience
Morris, Poldony and Ariel - China (relation), Spain (friend), Germany (rules), US (favour)
Chartrand and Bargh - Chameleon effect
Exp 1 - Accomplice performs behaviour, TP imitates
Exp 2 - Accomplice imitates behaviour, TP likes
Ditto and Lopez - pancreatic enzyme test + possible false positive reasons
Festinger and Carlsmith - money + boring task + lie -> cognitive dissonance -> rating adjustment
Elliot Aronsson - ask people about recycling then how often they have done it -> change in behaviour
Petty and Caccioppo - arguments of varying quality and number affect differently depending on involvement
Three component model of empathy
Affective component - a shared emotional experience
Cognitive component - taking others perspective
Self-Other monitoring - tracking the origin of the experienced feeling as coming from the self or others
Brain regions typically involved in empathy
Brain regions typically involved in empathy
- Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)
- Anterior insula (AI)
- Hippocampus
- Medial pre-frontal cortex (mPFC)
- Mirror neuron system (MNS)
Measures of empathy
Self-report scales - examples:
- Interpersonal reactivity index (IRI)
- Balanced emotional empathy scale
- Sally-Anne task (for kids)
Behavioural measures - Emotional reading the mind in the eyes test
Baron Cohen’s approach - rating on empathising and systemising
- Systemising - the drive to analyse a (non-living) system in terms of the rules that govern the system, in order to predict the behaviour of the system
- Empathising - the drive to identify another’s mental states and to respond to these with an appropriate emotion in order to predict and to respond to the behaviour of another person
Empathic accuracy - perceiver vs. target ratings of emotional responses and comparisons of SCR
Physiology (EMG) and neural activity (fMRI)
Empathy in animals and humans
In all animals empathy increases as a factor of familiarity, similarity, cue salience and past experience of the aversive treatment
In humans empathy is not only bottom up in response to salient emotional cues
Top-down and learning effects can be seen in humans:
- Less empathic responses (neural and behavioural) and mimicry to pain in other expected to be a competitor vs. cooperator (skadeglädje)
- Instruction to take a target’s emotional perspective enhances prosocial behaviour and engages empathy-related regions (ex. Batson et al.)
Pros and cons of social learning
- *Pros**
- We live in a changing environment so there is a need for flexibility.
- Faster emotional learning and acquisition of skills (ex. building a bathroom)
- More economic (free riding on others’ experiences)
- Safer (don’t have to die to know what is deadly)
- *Cons**
- We might be learning from the wrong individuals
- We might benefit from repeated exposure which ensures a better sampling of underlying reality
- Emergence and maintenance of maladaptive habits/cultural traditions
- Development and intergenerational transmission of anxiety disorders
- Self-reported origin of phobias (vicarious experiences and verbal information)
- Exposure to disaster and violence via social and other media followed by psychological problems in other parts of the world
Factors that modulate social threat learning
Brain activity
- Observers have more activity in the AI, ACC, dmPFC than classically conditioned individual. The activity in these regions during observation are positively correlated to the response (SCR, amygdala) during the test.
Empathy appraisals
- Increasing empathy appraisals (in ways similar to Batson paradigm imagin-other) increases response in testing phase
Model
- If the model is considered genuine and expresses a stronger fear reaction this increases fear learning. It also increases if the model is similar or familiar to the individual
Underliggande skäl - våldsamma videospel -> aggressivt beteende
kort- och långsiktiga
Kortsiktiga: förhöjd arousal, imitation av beteende eller priming ökar risken för våldsamt beteende då det ligger närmre till hands vid provokation.
Långsiktiga:“desensitazation” (en minskning av empati och reaktivitet) hos individen samt “model learning” där ett hanteringsmönster för vissa situationer lärts in.
Neural model - threat learning
In both self-experienced and social threat learning - CS information comes from the thalamus and cortex to the LA and merges with the information about the US (social or self-experienced) from thalamus and the cortex and potentiates a response
Important regions that are involved in social threat:
- Basic emotional learning - Amygdala
- Empathy - ACC + AI (affective empathy) vmPFC (arousal responce)
- Social cognition - dmPFC (cognitive empathy), STS (biological movement), FFA, MNS, TPJ (regulates attention)
- Instrumental (learning consequences from others behaviour) - Striatum (NA)
STUDIES - Empathy and Social learning
Bandura - Bobo (more or less agression depending on model behaviour, gender interactions)
Singer - ACC and AI for both self and partner (pos. corr. with IRI result)
Batson:
1. imagine-other -> more altruistic behaviour (fun task assignment) than imagine-self/control
2. imagine-self -> redistribution in assymetrical conditions
Self-fulfilling prophecy in racial discrimination
- Attitudes towards an individual are linked with nonverbal behaviour
- Positive attitudes lead to more immediate non-verbal behaviour (pro-social: close distance, eye contact, shoulder orientation)
- People imitate each-other non-consciously and thereby “reciprocate” behaviour
This leads to a vicious cycle:
Nonimmediate behaviour toward stereotyped individual -> Mimicing of nonimmediate behaviour by stereotyped individual -> Confirmation of nonimmediacy by viewing individual + amplification of nonimmediate behaviour
Stereotype threat
The fear that one might confirm the negative stereotypes held by others about one’s group
Ex: Underperformance by black individuals on test when race was made salient but not when non-salient
Reducing stereotype threat
- Humour reduces anxiety associated with threat
- Reminding of role models who contradict the stereotype
- Simply learning about stereotype threat
OBS! There has been a replication issue with stereotype threat, probably due to publication bias because it would be a “quick fix” of racial issues.
