midterm 3 lecture terms Flashcards
group
2 or more people who interact and influence one another for longer than a few moments. perceive one another as “us”.
functional perspective
groups are useful to individuals and society.
fundamental interpersonal relations orientation theory
groups sought to fulfil and receive basic psychological needs:
- inclusion
- control
- affection
social facilitation
the impact of the presence of others.
arousal
state of being physiologically alert, awake, and attentive. primarily controlled by reticular activating system.
reticular activating system
network of neurons involved in arousal, attention, sleep, wakefulness, and control of reflexes. located in brain stem.
social loafing
tendency for people to exert less effort when they pool efforts toward common goal then when individually assessed.
free-riders
people who benefit from group but give little in return.
individuation
loss of self-awareness and evaluation apprehension. seen in group situations that foster anonymity and draw attention away from the individual, triggered by arousing, self-reinforcing, and large group circumstances.
self-reinforcement
watching others do something that expresses our own feelings.
group polarization
group produces enhancement of members pre-existing tendencies. strengthening of members average tendency, not a split within the group. explained by persuasive arguments, social comparison, and social categorization theory,
social categorization theory
process of grouping individuals based on social information.
groupthink
mode of thinking people engage in when concurrence-seeking becomes so dominant in cohesive in-groups that it tends to override appraisal of alternative courses of action. three characteristics:
1. highly cohesive groups.
2. group structure,
3. stressful situations.
altruism
motive to increase another’s welfare without conscious regard for one’s own self-interest.
empathy
vicarious experience of someone else’s feelings.
genuine altruism
altruism motivated by empathy.
social exchange theory
theory that human interactions are transactions that aim to maximise rewards and minimize costs.
egoism
idea that self-interest motivates all behaviour.
reciprocity norm
expectation that people will help those who have helped them.
social responsibility norm
expectation that people will help those who are dependent on them.
kin selection
idea that evolution has selected altruism toward one’s close relatives to enhance the survival of mutually shared genes.
bystander effect
when the presence of others inhibits helping in an emergency.
pluralistic ignorance
majority of group members privately reject a norm, but go along with it because they incorrectly assume that most of the group accepts it.
the helper effect
more likely to help when the victim is similar to us.
learning theory
application of animal learning theory to humans, classical and operant conditioning. mostly interested in operant.
piaget’s stages of cognitive development
- sensorimotor
- preoperational
- concrete operations
- formal operations
social learning theory
we learn through observation. modelled behaviour is often repeated. aggression generalizes. bandura and bobo dolls.
