Exam 2 Flashcards
Natural Selection
the evolutionary process by which heritable traits that best enable organisms to survive and reproduce in particular environments are passed to ensuing environments
Evolutionary psychology
the study of the
evolution of cognition and behavior using
principles of natural selection.
Sex
the two biological categories of male and female.
Gender
in psychology, the characteristics, whether biological or socially
influenced, that we associate with males and females.
Transgender
someone whose psychological sense of being male or
female differs from their birth sex.
what is one way that biology influences sex differences?
hormones
Testosterone
a hormone more prevalent in males than females that is linked to dominance and aggression.
androgynous
the possession of both masculine and feminine characteristics.
Culture
the enduring behaviors,
ideas, attitudes, and traditions
shared by a large group of people
and transmitted from one
generation to the next.
Norms
standards for accepted and expected behavior.
Persuasion
the process by which a message induces
change in beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors.
Central route to persuasion
occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts.
-system 2
Peripheral route to persuasion
occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker’s attractiveness.
- system 1
Sleeper effect
a delayed impact of a message that occurs
when an initially discounted message becomes effective, such as we remember the message but forget the reason for
discounting it.
- While Yara tells Sophie that she intends to buy the product, Sophie, who is a
dermatologist, warns her that the shampoo has harsh chemicals that could be harmful
to the scalp and hair. After hearing this, Yara decides not to buy the shampoo. Over
the next few months, the advertisement is often played on TV. Yara forgets Sophie’s
warning and buys the shampoo.
Foot-in-the-door phenomenon
the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request.
-get your friend to drive you to the store today before asking them to help you move
Lowball technique
people who agree to an initial request will
often still comply when the requester ups the ante. People who receive only the costly request are less likely to comply.
-for only 200 dollars… sorry that excludes taxes
Door-in-the-face technique
after someone first turns down a
large request (the door-in-the-face), the same requester counteroffers with a more reasonable request.
Primacy effect
other things being equal, information
presented first usually has the most influence.
Recency effect
information presented last sometimes has the most influence.
Channel
the way the message is delivered—whether
face-to-face, in writing, on film, or in some other way.
Two-step flow of communication
from the media to certain individuals (i.e., the opinion leaders) and from them to the public.
What are two audience characteristics
age and thoughtfulness.
Need for cognition
the motivation to think and analyze
Conformity
a change in behavior or belief as the result
of real or imagined group pressure.
-ordering dessert because everyone else had
Three varieties of conformity
Acceptance
Compliance
Obedience
Acceptance
involving both acting and believing in accord with
social pressure.
-occurs when you genuinely believe in what the group has persuaded you to do
-you might exercise because you accept that exercise is healthy
Compliance
involving publicly acting in accord with an implied or explicit request while privately disagreeing.
-She actually thinks the new girl seems nice, but she is afraid that if she says so, her friends might pick on her, too, so she also makes fun of the new girl.
Obedience
involving acting in accord with a direct
order or command.
-He would rather stay outside and play with his friends, but he is worried about the consequences if he disobeys his mom, so he goes inside.
Solomon Asch’s studies of conformity
Asch offered a series of comparisons for which six confederates gave incorrect answers to see if a participant would agree even when he knew they were not correct.
-conformity
Stanley Milgram’s obedience studies.
One experiment required one participant to teach a list of word pairs to another participant and punish errors by delivering shocks of increasing intensity.
-obdience
Group
two or more people who, for longer than a
few moments, interact with and influence one
another and perceive one another as “us.”
Different groups help us meet different human needs.
- To affiliate.
- To achieve.
- To gain a social identity.
Social facilitation: original meaning
the tendency of people to perform
simple or well-learned tasks better when others are present.
Social facilitation: current meaning
the strengthening of dominant
(prevalent, likely) responses in the presence of others.
In many cases, others’ presence boosts
performance on easy tasks but impairs
performance on difficult tasks.
In many cases, others’ presence boosts
performance on easy tasks but impairs
performance on difficult tasks.
Evaluation apprehension
concern for how others are
evaluating us
Life cycle explanation
attitudes change as people grow older.
