Final Flashcards
Altruism
helping others in need without receiving or expecting reward for doing so
attitude inoculation
a strategy for strengthening attitudes and making them more resistant to change by first exposing people to a weak counter-argument and then refuting that argument
bystander effect
the observation that an individual is less likely to help when they perceive that others are not helping
central route to persuasion
focuses on facts, logic, and the content of a message in order to persuade
cognitive dissonance theory
when we hold inconsistent beliefs, it creates a kind of aversive inner tension, or “dissonance”; we are then motivated to reduce this tension in whatever way we can
construal-level theory
describes how information affects us differently depending on our psychological distance from the information
contact hypothesis
predicts that social contact between members of different groups is extremely important to overcoming prejudice
diffusion of responsibility
the reduced personal responsibility that a person feels when more people are present in a situation
door-in-the-face technique
involves asking for something relatively big, then following with a request for something relatively small
dual-process models
models of behaviour that account for both implicit and explicit processes
elaboration likelihood model
(ELM) a dual-process model of persuasion that predicts whether factual information or other types of information will be most influential
explicit processes
correspond roughly to “conscious” thought: deliberative, effortful, relatively slow, and generally under our intentional control
external attribution
the observer explains the actor’s behaviour as the result of the situation
false consensus effect
tendency to project the self-concept onto the social world
foot-in-the-door technique
involves making a simple request followed by a more substantial request
fundamental attribution error
(FAE) the tendency to over-emphasize internal (dispositional) attributions and under-emphasize external (situational) factors when explaining other people’s behaviour
groupthink
a decision-making problem in which group members avoid arguments and strive for agreement
identifiable victim effect
people are more powerfully moved to action by the story of a single suffering person than by information about a whole group of people
implicit associations test
(IAT) measures how fast people can respond to images or words flashed on a computer screen
implicit processes
correspond to “unconscious” thought: intuitive, automatic, effortless, very fast, and operate largely outside of our intentional control
informational influence
occurs when people feel the group is giving them useful information
in-group bias
positive biases toward the self get extended to include one’s ingroups and people become motivated to see their ingroups as superior to their outgroups
in-groups
groups we feel positively toward and identify with
internal attribution
the observer explains the behaviour of an actor in terms of some innate quality of that person
mimicry
taking on for ourselves the behaviours, emotional displays, and facial expressions of others
naïve realism
the assumption that our perceptions of reality are accurate, that we see things the way that they are
normative influence
the result of a social pressure to adopt a group’s perspective in order to be accepted, rather than rejected, by a group
ostracism
being ignored or excluded from social contact
outgroups
those “other” groups that we don’t identify with
peripheral route to persuasion
focuses on features of the issue or presentation that are not factual
person perception
the processes by which individuals categorize and form judgments about other people
prejudice
affective, emotionally laden responses to members of outgroups, including holding negative attitudes and making critical judgments of other groups
self-fulfilling prophecies
a first impression (or an expectation) affects one’s behaviour, and then that affects other people’s behaviour, leading one to “confirm” the initial impression or expectation
self-serving biases
biased ways of processing self-relevant information to enhance our positive self-evaluation
social facilitation
occurs when one’s performance is affected by the presence of others
social loafing
occurs when an individual puts less effort into working on a task with others
social norms
the (usually unwritten) guidelines for how to behave in social contexts
social roles
guidelines that apply to specific positions within the group
stereotype
a cognitive structure, a set of beliefs about the characteristics that are held by members of a specific social group; these beliefs function as schemas, serving to guide how we process information about our social world
thin slices of behaviour
very small samples of a person’s behaviour
appraisal
the cognitive act of assessing and evaluating the potential threat and demands of an event
body mass index
(BMI) a statistic commonly used for estimating a healthy body weight given an individual’s height
brain-derived neurotrophic factor
(BDNF) a protein in the nervous system that promotes survival, growth, and formation of new synapses
compensatory control
psychological strategies people use to preserve a sense of non-random order when personal control is compromised
coping
the processes used to manage demands, stress, and conflict
coronary heart disease
a condition in which plaques form in the blood vessels that supply the heart with blood and oxygen, resulting in restricted blood flow
