Exam 2 Study Guide Flashcards
Asch’s conformity study
Solomon Asch gathered participants in a room and asked them to choose the longest line. When most of the room gave the wrong answer, an individual who knew the correct answer still went with the majority to avoid alienation.
Conformity
Adjusting our behavior or thinking to reflect a group standard
When are we most likely to conform
- When we feel insecure or incompetent
- Are in a group with at least three other people
- Are in a group in which everyone else agrees
- Admire the group’s status or attractiveness
- Have not made a prior commitment to any response
- Know that others will observe our behavior
- Are from a culture that strongly encourages respect for social standards
When are we least likely to conform?
When another person dissents
Attitudes
Feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events
Attitudes affect our behavior
Attribution Theory
We can attribute an individual’s behavior to their stable, enduring traits (dispositional attribution) or we can attribute it to the situation (situational attribution)
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
The theory that we behave to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent.
When we become aware that our attitudes and actions clash we can reduce the dissonance by changing our attitude.
Deindividuation
The loss of self awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity
The loss of self awareness and restraint in a group setting that is intense and you have anonymity.
Foot-in-the-door phenomenon
You can’t always get someone to act drastically against what they believe, but by using small actions you can gradually get them to move in the direction of what they would generally oppose.
When are we more/less likely to make the fundamental attribution error?
More likely: When a stranger behaves badly.
When judging the actions of an officer through body cam and not dash cam.
Less likely: When we are explaining the behavior of people we’ve seen in different context.
When explaining our own behavior
Fundamental Attribution Error
The tendency we have to observe people’s behavior and underestimate the situation while overestimating the impact of their personal disposition
Group polarization
When a group’s pre-existing thoughts/opinions are amplified because they are in a group that supports their perspective.
Social loafing
Diminished effort when a task is assigned to a group instead of an individual.
When people act as a part of a group and feel less accountable, view their individual contributions as dispensable, overestimate their own contributions, and free rife on other’s efforts
Social Facilitation
When performing a task we know well in front of people we perform better. When performing a task we find difficult we tend to do worse.
Milgram’s Obedience Study
A study where a person posed as a teacher and asked participants to send a “slight shock” to an individual strapped to a chair. The majority of participants continued to the end even if it was deadly voltage.
Informational social influence
example: reading a review
when we allow someone’s opinion about reality to influence us.
Social norms
the understood rules for accepted and expected behaviors
When were people most likely to obey Milgram’s instructions?
When the person giving the orders was close at hand and considered an legitimate authority figure
A powerful or prestigious institutions supported the authority figure
the victim was depersonalized or at a distance
There were no role models for defiance
Mood linkage
The sharing of moods.
Happy when around happy people.
Depressed when around depressed people
Normative social influence
Influence resulting from a person’s desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval
Peripheral Route Persuasion
When people are persuaded/influenced by attention getting images or cues.
example: advertisement for vaccines that uses photos of sick children instead of facts
Central route persuasion
A more thoughtful and less superficial means to persuade that relies on evidence and arguments not imagery
Absolute threshold
The minimum energy required to detect a particular stimulus 50% of a time.
example: in a hearing test, whatever decimal is heard 50% of the time is the absolute threshold.
Difference threshold/just noticeable difference
The minimum stimulus difference a person can detect 50% of the time.
“Loud is loud, what’s the difference”
example: volume from 40 we may be able to tell a slight difference but if it’s on 110 we won’t be able to tell a difference at all.
Accomodation (Vision)
the eye’s lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina
Afterimage Effect
If a person with color vision stares at a green shape for a while and then looks at a white sheet of paper they will see green’s opposite color which is red.
Binocular Cue
The ability for people with two eyes to perceive depth.
A depth cue that depends on the use of two eyes
Retinal disparity
the difference in the images seen by each eye when looking at an object
The greater the difference between the two images, the closer the object is .
Convergence
the way your eyes move together and point inward when you look at nearby objects
Brightness Constancy
If we have typical vision, we perceive an object as having a constant brightness even as its illumination varies
Feature detectors
nerve cells in the occipital lobe’s visual cortex that respond to a scene’s specific visual features -
Color constancy
A consistent perception of color produces color constancy, but as perception changes the color may change as well.
Figure-ground
The organization of the visual field into objects that stand out from their surroundings.
Gestalt
The way we integrate pieces of information into a meaningful whole
Behavior Genetics
The study of the relative power and limits of genetics and the influence of environment on behavior
Positive Psychology
Studies the building of a “good life” that engages our skills
Critical Thinking
Evaluates the source of information, looks for biases, examines assumptions, reviews evidence and assesses conclusions
Gender Psychology
studies the differences between genders
Clinical Psychology
focuses on assessing and treating people with mental, behavioral, and emotional disorders
Cross-Cultural Psychology
studying people from different cultures around the world and determining where we have differences and similarities
Epigenetic Marks
The molecules that trigger or block gene expression
Heritability
the extent to which the difference between individuals can be contributed to differing genes.
Peer influence
Children receive their beliefs from their parents, but their culture from their peers.
Temperament
Our genetically influenced intensity and reactivity to emotions
Hindsight Bias
The tendency to believe that we could have predicted an event after we’ve already experienced it.
Independent Variable
In an experiment, the “independent variable” is the factor that the researcher actively manipulates or changes to observe its effect on another variable
The variable whose effect is being studied.
Evolutionary Psychology
The study of the evolution of the mind and behavior seen through the lens of natural selection.
The dependent variable
is the variable that may change when the independent variable is manipulated
Developmental Psychology
studies our changing abilities from the womb to the tomb
Social psychology
studies how we view and effect one another socially
Cognitive Psychology
examines how we perceive
Scientific Attitude
Curiosity, skepticism, and humility. We must be aware of our vulnerability to error and be open to new perspectives
Attachment Theory
An emotional tie with others. In parenting, a child who is securely attached experiences anxiety when their parent isn’t present, but can be soothed upon return. Avoidant and anxious are considered insecure attachment.
Four Stages of Piaget’s Development Theory
Sensorimotor, Preoperational, concrete Operational, and Formal Operational
Imprinting
Animals who create strong bonds with the first person they receive contact and connection with regardless of species
Infantile Amensia
Forgetting our early life before the age of 4.
Authoritarian Parenting
Coercive - do what I say
Permissive Parenting
unrestraining - do what you want
Neglectful Parenting
uninvolved -
Authoritative
confrontive - sets rules, but promotes conversation
Sensimotor
1st stage of Piaget’s theory that has object permanence as key element
Concrete Operation Stage
3rd stage of Piaget’s developmental theory. Here children are grasping conservation
Preoperational Stage
2nd stage of Piaget’s developmental theory. Here children are egocentric and indulge in pretend play
Formal Operation
4th stage of Piaget’s Developmental theory where abstract thinking and logic is possible
Canon Byrd Theory of Emotion
Our bodily responses and emotions happen separately but simultaneously
Mere Exposure Effect
The more we are exposed to a person or thing the more we like them
Spillover Effect
Emotional rousal spills over from one event to the next
Two Factor Theory of Emotion
Emotions have two ingredients (physical arousal and cognitive appraisal)
Companionate Love (7 Types of Love)
Commitment & Intimacy
Accommodation
Expanding our schemas to incorporate new information
Assimilation
Organizing new experiences into existing schemas
Attachment
An emotional tie with others
Industrial/Organizational Psychology
the use of psychology in the workplace to understand the best way to train and motivate people, culture, designs, and systems
Biological Psychology
Exploring the links between body and mind
Counseling Psychology
help people cope with challenges and crises. Helps people with disorders improve their personal and social functioning.
Personality Psychology
investigating our consistent traits
Psychology
a science that seeks to answer questions about how and why we think, feel, and act the way that we do
Grouping
Identified by gestalt psychologists. It’s the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups
Grouping Principle: Proximity
We group nearby figures together
Grouping Principle: Continuity
We perceive smooth, continuous patterns rather than discontinuous ones.
Grouping Principle: Closure
We fill in gaps to create a complete whole object.
Monocular Cues
A depth cue, such as interposition or linear perspective, is available to either eye alone.
The Eye’s Blind SPot
the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye creating a “blind” spot because no receptor cells are located there
