Perceiving others - (week 3) Flashcards
Define Social perception & the four aspects explored in the chapter.
Social perception is the process by which we come to understand one another. How people come to know other people:
1) people, situations, behaviours
2) how people explain & analyse behaviour
3) Integrating observations into impressions
4) impressions create distorted perception of reality; often self-fulfilling prophecy
What did the Thin Slice Accuracy Experiment find?
The Thin Slice Accuracy Experiment (Todorov 2006), found that students formed quick and highly correlated ratings of unfamiliar faces with judgements that other observers made without time limits. Students were exposed to one of three conditions: 1/10th of a second, 1/2 a second or a full second. Consensus in judgement across perceivers in different traits:
- Trustworthy
- Competent
- Likeable
- Aggressive
- Attractive
What can you say about humans detecting lies?
An experiment was conducted where uni students were only 50% accurate in detecting lies. This is because we focus too much on faces which can be misleading, and a lot of available cues aren’t actually good indicators.
Instead, high pitched/ sped up voices and hesitation provides a good indicator. Lying takes cognitive efforts. Therefore, it is easier to detect if you create a cognitive challenge, such as asking someone to tell a story backwards.
They did a follow up study for clinical psychs where they were interested in deception. Results found they were much better at detecting lies.
What are the two Attribution Theories?
1) Correspondent inference Theory
2) Covariation model
Define Correspondent Inference Theory, and provide an example of a study.
Is when we attribute a behaviour to enduring personality trait or personal disposition. Behaviour is defined predictive and stable. For example, a person likes their job because they are a positive person. Or a person has carried out an aggressive action, due to their aggressive personality. Correspondent inference theory seeks to describe a persons personality based on thin slice of behavioural evidence.
Jones & Harris (1967) Correspondent Inference Study: Students had to provide speech on a communist leader (pro-Castro/ anti-Castro). It was predicted that dispositions would reveal themselves more when students had a choice as to which speech they would tell. Students made more correspondent inferences regarding the speeches that were freely chosen, vs assigned to them. I.e., (as the textbook says) participants who read the students’ speech (behaviour), were more likely to assume that it reflected the student’s true attitude (disposition) when the position taken was freely chosen, rather than assigned.
However, there was evidence of the fundamental attribution error: participants who thought the student had been assigned a position, inferred the student’s attitude from the speech.
Define the Fundamental Attribution Theory
It is a biasing factor. Also known as Correspondence Bias, is the tendency for people to under-estimate situational and environmental explanations/ influences on behaviour, and over-emphasise dispositional/ personality traits. In simple terms: we overlook situational factors, & make internal attributions for behaviours.
What 3 factors do people make inferences on?
Choice, Expectedness, Effects.
Choice: behaviour that is freely chosen is more informative about a person.
Expectedness: an action tells us more about a person when it departs from the norm (and is unexpected)
Effects: acts that produce many desirable outcomes, do not reveal a person’s motives as clearly as acts that produce one single outcome. For example: you may feel more certain about why a person stays in a job that is tedious, low paying but in an attractive location.
What is the Covariation Model/ Theory?
In order for something to be the cause of a behaviour, it must be present when the behaviour occurs and absent when it does not. Consider whether one’s behaviour is the same or different, with different stimuli and occasions. In the Covariation Model, we test different conditions to see if we get an effect.
Model: behaviour based on:
1) Consensus = do others react similarly/
2) Distinctiveness = is this distinct to the person or stimuli?
3) Consistency = does this person react similarly on other occasions?
Rachel & Bart example: Rachel is nice to Bart. Is it something about Rachel, or Bart?
What study supports the Fundamental Attribution Theory?
Jones & Harris study of the students’ speeches. Participants thought the essays reflected the student (author’s) beliefs, even when the situation could completely explain the behaviour.
Quiz master test: it looks like the quiz master knows more, but this is just due to the role assigned to them.
What is the two-step process to Attribution? (Gilbert & Malone)
Step 1) We identify a behaviour, and make personal attribution (fast & automatic)
Step 2) We amend attribution to account for situational factors (requires thought & effort)
We adjust for the situation less when there is a cognitive load, or we are unmotivated.
Why are dispositional inferences Primary?
Because more often than not, the person is more salient than the situation.
When person is salient –> internal attribution
When situation is salient –> external attribution
Describe Asch’s model of impression formation.
Asch’s model of impression formation is when we put together/ collate dispositions, integrate them, and form an impression of someone. The two central traits we focus on are WARMTH & COMPETENCE. Certain information can carry lots of weight. That’s why PRIMACY & VALENCE also matters.
Primacy = traits described at the start of a sentence (good or bad?). The order traits are described.
Valence = negative information stands out more, and carries more weight than positive experiences.
Central traits (i.e. warm vs cold) VS peripheral traits (polite vs blunt) more important.
What are the 3 confirmation biases?
- Perseverance of belief
- Confirmatory hypothesis testing
- Self-fulfilling prophecy
What was the study involved with Perseverance of Beliefs? (Darley & Gross)
Perseverance of beliefs is when we let prior information influence our views. Subsequently, we selectively focus our attention on information that confirms our view.
Study: Participants were shown a video of a girl completing a test and were told she was either a high or low socioeconomic background. After the video, ratings were effected by the background information provided based on SES –> expectancies influence perceptions of behaviour.
What is Confirmatory Hypothesis testing and describe the study that was involved? (Synder & Swann 1978)
Confirmatory Hypothesis Testing is when we actively seek out information to confirm our hypothesis or prediction about someone. Within this study, participants were told they would interview and introvert, or an extrovert. They asked questions according to what they expected, which subsequently would confirm their hypothesis. For example: what would you do to liven up a party, vs what events make you feel like being alone?
