GET READY FOR QUIZ 01

Question 1

actor-observer difference

Answer 1

A difference in attribution based on who is making the causal assessment: the actor (who is relatively inclined to make situational attributions) or the observer (who is relatively inclined to make dispositional attributions).

Question 2

actual self

Answer 2

The self that people believe they are.

Question 3

attitudes

Answer 3

the evaluative tendency toward an object and are automatic

Question 4

attribution theory

Answer 4

A set of concepts explaining how people assign causes to the events around them and the effects of these kinds of causal assessments.

Question 5

augmentation principle

Answer 5

The idea that people will assign greater weight to a particular cause of behavior if other causes are present that normally would produce a different outcome.

Question 6

availability heuristic

Answer 6

It is a mental shortcut that enables us to make a judgment based on the ease with which we can recall something. In other words, when making a decision or judgment, we frequently rely on our ability to think of examples.

Question 7

base-rate information

Answer 7

Information about the relative frequency of events or of members of different categories in a population.

Question 8

better-than-average effect

Answer 8

The finding that most people think they are above average on various personality trait and ability dimensions.

Question 9

bottom-up processing

Answer 9

“Data-driven” mental processing, in which an individual forms conclusions based on the stimuli encountered in the environment.

Question 10

causal attribution

Answer 10

Linking an event to a cause, such as inferring that a personality trait is responsible for a behavior.

Question 11

cognitive dissonance

Answer 11

It is when we act in a way that contradicts our beliefs. To deal with the uncomfortable feeling, we will either change our actions to align with our beliefs or change our beliefs to match our actions.

An example would be somebody who believes that our society should abolish the death penalty, but they are okay to murder a pedophile. They might justify their beliefs by saying that it is different when someone attacks a child. Or they may change their views on the death penalty.

Question 12

confirmation bias

Answer 12

The tendency to test a proposition by searching for evidence that would support it.

Question 13

consensus

Answer 13

A type of covariation information: whether most people would behave the same way or differently in a given situation.

Question 14

consistency

Answer 14

A type of covariation information: whether an individual behaves the same way or differently in a given situation on different occasions.

Question 15

construal level theory

Answer 15

A theory about the relationship between temporal distance (and other kinds of distance) and abstract or concrete thinking: psychologically distant actions and events are thought about in abstract terms; actions and events that are close at hand are thought about in concrete terms.

Question 16

contingencies of self-worth

Answer 16

A perspective maintaining that people’s self-esteem is contingent on the successes and failures in domains on which they have based their self-worth.

Question 17

counterfactual thinking

Answer 17

Thoughts of what might have, could have, or should have happened “if only” something had occurred differently.

Question 18

covariation principle

Answer 18

The idea that behavior should be attributed to potential causes that occur along with the observed behavior.

Question 19

discounting principle

Answer 19

The idea that people will assign reduced weight to a particular cause of behavior if other plausible causes might have produced it.

Question 20

distinctiveness

Answer 20

A type of covariation information: whether a behavior is unique to a particular situation or occurs in many or all situations.

Question 21

emotional amplification

Answer 21

An increase in an emotional reaction to an event that is proportional to how easy it is to imagine the event not happening.

Question 22

explanatory style

Answer 22

A person’s habitual way of explaining events, typically assessed along three dimensions:

• internal/external,
• stable/unstable,
• and global/specific.

Question 23

face

Answer 23

The public image of ourself that we want others to believe.

Question 24

fluency

Answer 24

The feeling of ease (or difficulty) associated with processing information.

Question 25

framing effect

Answer 25

The influence on judgment resulting from the way information is presented, such as the order of presentation or the wording.

Question 26

fundamental attribution error

Answer 26

The failure to recognize the importance of situational influences on behavior, along with the corresponding tendency to overemphasize the importance of dispositions on behavior.

An example would be a man calling a coworker about a project they are supposed to work on for a meeting. The coworker did not respond texts or emails. The man might think that his coworker is a flake or lazy. On Monday, the man learned that actually, his coworker’s kid broke her arm and the coworker was stuck at the hospital all evening.

Question 27

heuristics

Answer 27

Intuitive mental operations, performed quickly and automatically, that provide efficient answers to common problems of judgment.

Question 28

How does Social Self develop?

Question 29

ideal self

Answer 29

The self that embodies people’s wishes and aspirations.

Question 30

illusory correlation

Answer 30

The belief that two variables are correlated when in fact they are not.

Question 31

implementation intention

Answer 31

An “if-then” plan to engage in a goal-directed behavior (“then”) whenever a particular cue (“if”) is encountered.

Question 32

just world hypothesis

Answer 32

The belief that people get what they deserve in life and deserve what they get.

Question 33

ought self

Answer 33

The self that is concerned with the duties, obligations, and external demands people feel they are compelled to honor.

Question 34

pluralistic ignorance

Answer 34

Misperception of a group norm that results from observing people who are acting at variance with their private beliefs out of a concern for the social consequences; those actions reinforce the erroneous group norm.

Question 35

prevention focus

Answer 35

Self-regulation of behavior with respect to ought self standards; a focus on avoiding negative outcomes through avoidance-related behaviors.

Question 36

primacy effect

Answer 36

A type of order effect: the disproportionate influence on judgment by information presented first in a body of evidence.

Question 37

priming

Answer 37

The presentation of information designed to activate a concept and hence make it accessible. A prime is the stimulus presented to activate the concept in question.

Question 38

subliminal

Answer 38

Below the threshold of conscious awareness.

Question 39

promotion focus

Answer 39

Self-regulation of behavior with respect to ideal self standards; a focus on attaining positive outcomes through approach-related behaviors.

Question 40

recency effect

Answer 40

A type of order effect: the disproportionate influence on judgment by information presented last in a body of evidence.

Question 41

reflected self-appraisal

Answer 41

A belief about what others think of one’s self.

Question 42

regression effect

Answer 42

The statistical tendency, when two variables are imperfectly correlated, for extreme values of one of them to be associated with less extreme values of the other.

Question 43

regression fallacy

Answer 43

The failure to recognize the influence of the regression effect and to offer a causal theory for what is really a simple statistical regularity.

Question 44

representativeness heuristic

Answer 44

ìt is a mental shortcut that aids in decision-making by comparing data to mental templates. For instance, if an older lady is described as warm and kind, with a strong affinity for children, the majority of us will believe she is a grandmother. She conforms to our mental image of a grandma, and so falls into that group immediately.

Question 45

self-affirmation theory

Answer 45

The idea that people can maintain an overall sense of self-worth following psychologically threatening information by affirming a valued aspect of themselves unrelated to the threat.

Question 46

self-discrepancy theory

Answer 46

A theory that behavior is motivated by standards reflecting ideal and ought selves. Falling short of these standards produces specific emotions: dejection-related emotions in the case of actual-ideal discrepancies and agitation-related emotions in the case of actual-ought discrepancies.

Question 47

self-enhancement

Answer 47

The desire to maintain, increase, or protect one’s positive self-views.

Question 48

self-esteem

Answer 48

The overall positive or negative evaluation people have of themselves.

Question 49

self-fulfilling prophecy

Answer 49

The tendency for people to act in ways that bring about the very thing they expect to happen.

Question 50

self-handicapping

Answer 50

The tendency to engage in self-defeating behavior in order to have an excuse ready should one perform poorly or fail.

Question 51

self-monitoring

Answer 51

The tendency to monitor one’s behavior to fit the current situation.

Question 52

self-presentation

Answer 52

Presenting the person we would like others to believe we are.

Question 53

self-regulation

Answer 53

Processes by which people initiate, alter, and control their behavior in the pursuit of goals, including the ability to resist short-term rewards that thwart the attainment of long-term goals.

Question 54

self-serving attributional bias

Answer 54

The tendency to attribute failure and other bad events to external circumstances and to attribute success and other good events to oneself.

Question 55

self-schema

Answer 55

A cognitive structure, derived from past experience, that represents a person’s beliefs and feelings about the self, both in general and in specific situations.

Question 56

self-verification theory

Answer 56

According to the self-verification theory of psychology people strongly want others to see them in the same way as they see themselves. This is true whether their self-concept is positive or negative

Question 57

situationism

Answer 57

The notion that our social self changes across different contexts.

Question 58

social class

Answer 58

The amount of wealth, education, and occupational prestige individuals and their families have.

Question 59

social cognition

Answer 59

The study of how people make sense of other people, themselves, social situations, and social relationships.

Question 60

social comparison theory

Answer 60

The idea that people compare themselves to other people to obtain an accurate assessment of their own opinions, abilities, and internal states.

Question 61

sociometer hypothesis

Answer 61

The idea that self-esteem is an internal, subjective index or marker of the extent to which a person is included or looked on favorably by others.

Question 62

top-down processing

Answer 62

“Theory-driven” mental processing, in which an individual filters and interprets new information in light of preexisting knowledge and expectations.

Question 63

What are Social Psychology’s Big Ideas?

Answer 63

• *1. We construct our social reality**
• *2. Social intuitions are driving forces…for better or for worse**
• *3. Social influences shape behavior**
• *4. We all have attitudes and dispositions**
• *5. Biology influences social behavior**

Question 64

What are the 5 types of judgments errors?

Answer 64

1. Our judgments are only as accurate as of the information we have at hand, and that information is not necessarily representative or comprehensive.
2. The sequence and framing of information can influence our judgments.
3. We don’t merely passively absorb data. We deliberately seek it out, and a widespread bias can skew our judgments.
4. Our prior knowledge and mental habits can significantly impact how we interpret new information.
5. Social cognition is based on the intricate interplay of two mental systems: reason and intuition.

Question 65

What is personal identity?

Answer 65

The aspect of self that is composed of psychological traits and dispositions that gives an individual personal uniqueness.

Question 66

What is social identity?

Answer 66

Aspects of an individual’s self-identity that derive from his or her knowledge of being a member of categories and groups of people, along with thevalue and emotional significanceattached to those memberships.

Question 67

What Is Social Psychology?

Answer 67

It is the scientific study of how people think about, influence, and relate to one another:

• Social thinking: perception, beliefs, judgments, attitudes.
• Social influence: culture, conformity, persuasion, groups.
• Social relations: prejudice, aggression, attraction, intimacy

Question 68

What is the Self?

Question 69

working self-concept

Answer 69

A subset of self-knowledge that is brought to mind in a particular context.

Question 70

implicit attitude

Answer 70

Attitudes that are at the unconscious level, are involuntarily formed and are typically unknown to us.

Question 71

explicit attitude

Question 72

What are the 3 Ds of cognitive dissonance theory?

Answer 72

To avoid or reduce the aversive feeling, we engage in the 3 D’s:

• Deny = Irrational behavior
• Distort = Cognitive distortions
• Defend = Rationalization