Exam 1 Flashcards
Behaviorism
Only need to consider reinforcing properties of the environment to understand human behavior
Gestalt psychology
Studying the subjective way an object appears in a person’s mind
- not the objective (physical attributes) of it
Hindsight bias
Exaggerate how much they could have predicted the outcome after the fact
- After the fact, we knew the outcome all along
Interjudge reliability
Level of agreement bt 2+ ppl who independently observe a data set
- ensures that observations aren’t subjective
Random assignment to condition
Ensuring that all participants have an equal chance of taking part in any condition of the experiment
P level
Probability that the results occured by chance and not bc of the IV
Psychological realism
Psychological processes triggered in an experiment are similar to those that occur in everyday life
Cover story
Description of the study’s purpose given to the participants that’s diff from the study’s true purpose to maintain psychological realism
Social psychologist delima
Difficult to do one experiment that is both high in internal validity and is generalizable to other situations and ppl
Cross-cultural research
Research that’s conducted with members of diff cultures to see if the psychological processes of interests were present in both cultures or if they’re specific to the individual’s own culture
Evolutionary theory
Explanation to the ways animals adapt to their environments
Natural selection
Hereditable traits that promote survival in a particular environment are passed down to future generations
- more likely to produce offspring
Evolutionary psychology
Explain social behavior in terms of of genetic factors that evolved over time acc to the principles of natural selection
Construal
The way in which ppl perceive, interpret, comprehend the social world situation
Social cognition
How people think about the social world
- select, interpret, remember and use social info to make judgements and decisions
Social influence
Effect that words, actions, others’ presence have on our own thoughts, feelings, attitudes, behaviors
Theory
Principle formed to explain the things shown in the data
- predicts outcomes
Hypothesis
Propsed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation
Ethnography
Observing people’s actions from afar (insider’s POV)
Archival analysis
Examining accumulated documents/ archives
Spurious
Variables are random (not related)
- no explanation for why one causes the other
Ex tangled in sheets and time spent playing video games
3rd variable
Doesn’t explain why both variables occur
Ex ice cream sales and crimes committed could both be due to the summer heat
IV
manipulated variable to see if it has a causal effect
DV
measured variable to see if it’s affected
IV manipulation types (4)
- Presence / Absence
- Type variable
- Amount variable (multivalent)
- Quasi IV
Presence/absence
Main variable is present or absent
Ex college logo vs no logo
Type variable
Diff types of same main variable
Ex Harvard vs JJ
Amount variable (multivalent)
3+ variables
Ex Harvard vs JJ vs no logo
Quasi IV
allows comparison of groups w/o manipulation
Ex male vs female VS Harvard vs JJ vs no logo
Bt subject design
Compares groups of participants to determine IV effect
- diff participants used in each group
Within subject design
All subjects are exposed to all IV levels
- participants’ performance is the basis of comparison
Internal validity
Making sure that nothing besides the IV can affect the DV
External validity
Extent to which the study’s results can be generalized to other situations
3 ways:
- replications
- meta-analysis
- field experiments
Replications
Repeating a study using different subject pop of in diff settings
Meta analysis
Statistical technique that averages 2+ study results to see if IV effect is reliable
Field experiments
Experiments are conducted in natural settings
Ex police officer completing a study in police office
Correlational method
Examines associations bt 2+ variables
3 types:
- spurious
- 3rd var
- reverse
Applied research
Answer questions related to solving real-world problems
Basic research
Studies that are designed to find the best answer to the question: why ppl behave the way they do
Exempt studies
Studies w the smallest amount of risk involved
Ex educational or cognitive testing
Expedited studies
Studies reviewed by only one IRB member
-small amount of physical or psychological risk
Ex students completing a stressful test
Full review studies
Each IRB member reviews study
- high risk or harm
Ex invasive medical procedures or emotional distress
Deception
Misleading participants about study’s true purpose or the events that will eventually transpire
Debriefing
Explaining to the participants at the end of the study the true purpose of it and what actually transpired
Schema
Mental structures that organize our knowledge of the social world
- interpret new info
Past experience
Extent to which schemas and concepts are at the forefront of ppl’s minds based on the past
- more likely to be used when making judgements about the social world
Priming
Process by which recent experiences increase the accessibility of a schema, trait, or concept
Self-fulfilling prophecy
Original expectations of others lead to its own confirmation
Self-fulfilling prophecy steps (3)
- Have expectation about what another person is like
- This expectation influences how you act towards them
- Your treatment towards them causes them to behave consistently w your original expectations- making them come true
Heuristics
Mental shortcuts to make quick and efficient judgments
3 types:
- availability
- representative
- base rate info
Availability
Basing a judgement by the ease in which they bring can example to mind
Ex is the letter R more common as the first or last letter of a word
Representative
Classifying something according to how similar it is to a typical case
Base-rate info
Info about the freq of members of diff categories in the pop
Dwelling on past (2)
- counter-factual reasoning
- rumination
Counter-factual reasoning
Mentally changing some aspect of the past by imagining what could’ve happened
- can have a big influence on our emotional reactions to events
Rumination
Maladaptive coping style of emotional regulation marked by repetitive, self-focused thoughts
- dwelling on the past about what could’ve gone differently
Analytic thinking style
Focus on objects w/o considering surrounding areas
Ex trees and not the Forrest
- western cultures
Holistic thinking style
Focus on overall context - relation bt objects
Ex Forrest as a whole
- eastern cultures
Social perception
how we form impressions about other ppl and make inferences about them
Nonverbal communication
How ppl communicate w/o words
Ex facial expressions, tone of voice, gestures, body position, movement
Encode
Express/emit nonverbal behavior
Decode
Interpret meaning of nonverbal behavior
Display rules
Dictate what kinds of emotional expressions ppl are supposed to show
- culture specific
Ex in America, men are discouraged from crying
Thin slicing
Drawing meaningful conclusions about another person’s personality or skills based on an extremely brief behavior sample
Primacy effect
The 1st traits we perceive in others influence how we view info that we learn about them later
Belief perseverance
Tendency to stick w an initial judgement, even when learning new info that should prompt us to reconsider
Attribution theory
The way ppl explain the causes of their own behavior or others
Internal: something about them
External: situational/environmental factors
FAE
Tend to make internal attributions for other ppl’s behavior and underestimate the role of situational factors
- focus on person, not surrounding situation
Perceptual salience
The seeming importance of info that’s the focus of ppl’s attention
- person is more obvious than their situation
Covariation model
- form an attribution about a person’s behavior
Systemically note the pattern bt the presence/absence of possible causal factors and whether or not the behavior occurred
3 pieces of info:
- consensus
- consistency
- distinctiveness
Consensus info
Ppl behave the same way toward the same stimulus
Ex whole class takes math test
one person fails test: internal
Everyone fails test: external
Consistency info
Person behaves in the same way to diff stimuli
Ex school classes
struggles in one class: external
Struggles in ALL classes: internal
Distinctiveness info
Behavior bt one person and one stimulus is the same all the time
Ex one person taking math test
Fails one test: external
Fails ALL test: internal
Internal attribution occurs
Consensus = low
Distinctiveness = low
Consistency = high
External attribution occurs
Consensus = high
Distinctiveness = high
Consistency = low
Self-serving attributes
(Success and failures)
Success: internal, dispositional factors
Failures: external, situational factors
We make self-serving attributes to:
(3 reasons)
- Maintain self-esteem
- Want others to think well of us and admire us
- We know more about our own situational factors that affect our behaviors than we do about others
Belief in a just world
Assumption that ppl get what they deserve and deserve what they get
BJW advantage
Allows ppl to deal w feelings of vulnerability and mortality
BJW disadvantage
Blames the victim
Bias blind spot
Belief that others are more susceptible to attributional biases compared to self
