PSYCH CHAP 13

Question 1

altruism

Answer 1

Helping behavior that does not benefit the helper.

Question 2

attitude

Answer 2

A fairly stable evaluation of something as good or bad that makes a person think, feel, or behave positively or negatively about some person, group, or social issue.

Question 3

bystander effect

Answer 3

One reason people fail to help strangers in distress: The larger the group a person is in, the less likely he is to help, partly because no one in the group thinks it is up to him to act.

Question 4

causal attribution

Answer 4

An inference about what caused a person’s behavior.

Question 5

central route to persuasion

Answer 5

The process involved in attitude change when someone carefully evaluates the evidence and the arguments.

Question 6

cognitive dissonance

Answer 6

An uncomfortable inconsistency among one’s actions, beliefs, attitudes, or feelings. People attempt to reduce it by making their actions, beliefs, attitudes or feelings more consistent with one another.

Question 7

collectivistic cultures

Answer 7

Cultures in which people are considered fundamentally interdependent and which emphasize obligations within one’s family and immediate community. See also individualistic cultures.

Question 8

companionate love

Answer 8

An emotional state characterized by affection for those whose lives are deeply intertwined with one’s own. See also romantic love.

Question 9

compliance

Answer 9

A change in behavior in response to a request.

Question 10

conformity

Answer 10

A change in behavior due to explicit or implicit social pressure.

Question 11

dehumanization of the victim

Answer 11

Thinking about a potential victim in ways that make him seem inhuman (as vermin, for example, or as a mere number); this view makes aggression toward the victim more likely and less troubling to the aggressor.

Question 12

deindividuation

Answer 12

A state in which an individual in a group experiences a weakened sense of personal identity and diminished self-awareness.

Question 13

dispositional attributions

Answer 13

Explanations of someone’s behavior in terms of factors internal to the person, such as traits or preferences.

Question 14

fundamental attribution error

Answer 14

The tendency to attribute behaviors to a person’s internal qualities while underestimating situational influences.

Question 15

group polarization

Answer 15

A pattern in group discussions in which each member’s attitudes become more extreme, even though the discussion draws attention to arguments that could have moderated their views.

Question 16

groupthink

Answer 16

A pattern of thinking that occurs when a cohesive group minimizes or ignores members’ differences of opinion.

Question 17

halo effect

Answer 17

The tendency to assume that people who have one good trait also have other good traits.

Question 18

homogamy

Answer 18

The tendency of like to mate with like.

Question 19

implicit theories of personality

Answer 19

Beliefs about what kinds of behaviors are associated with particular traits and which traits usually go together; used to develop expectations about people’s behavior.

Question 20

individualistic cultures

Answer 20

Cultures in which people are considered fundamentally independent and which value standing out by achieving private goals. See also collectivistic cultures.

Question 21

informational influence

Answer 21

A reason for conformity based on people’s desire to be correct.

Question 22

mere presence effect

Answer 22

Changes in a person’s behavior due to another person’s presence.

Question 23

motivated social cognition

Answer 23

Thinking about the social world in ways that serve an emotional need, such as when people hold beliefs that help them feel less anxious.

Question 24

norm of reciprocity

Answer 24

The social standard that suggests that a favor must be repaid.

Question 25

normative influence

Answer 25

A reason for conformity based on people’s desire to be liked (or not appear foolish).

Question 26

obedience

Answer 26

A change in behavior in response to an instruction or command from another person.

Question 27

out-group homogeneity effect

Answer 27

The tendency for a member of a group (the in-group) to view members of another group (the out-group) as “all alike” or less varied than members of his or her own group.

Question 28

peripheral route to persuasion

Answer 28

The process involved in attitude change when someone relies on superficial factors, such as the appearance or charisma of the person presenting the argument.

Question 29

pluralistic ignorance

Answer 29

A type of misunderstanding that occurs when members of a group don’t realize that the other members share their perception (often, their uncertainty about how to react to a situation). As a result, each member wrongly interprets the others’ inaction as reflecting their better understanding of the situation.

Question 30

prejudice

Answer 30

A negative attitude toward another person based on that person’s group membership.

Question 31

risky shift

Answer 31

A pattern in which a group appears more willing to take chances or to take an extreme stance than any individual members would have been on their own.

Question 32

romantic love

Answer 32

An emotional state characterized by idealization of the beloved, obsessive thoughts of this person, and turbulent feelings. See also companionate love.

Question 33

Romeo-and-Juliet effect

Answer 33

The intensification of romantic love that can occur when the couple’s parents oppose relationship.

Question 34

self-fulfilling prophecies

Answer 34

Beliefs about how a person will behave that actually make the expected behavior more likely.

Question 35

self-perception theory

Answer 35

The theory that we know our own attitudes and feelings only by observing our own behaviors and deciding what probably caused them, just as we do when trying to understand others.

Question 36

situational attributions

Answer 36

Explanations of someone’s behavior in terms of the circumstances rather than aspects of the person.

Question 37

social facilitation

Answer 37

The tendency to perform simple or well-practiced tasks better in the presence of others than alone.

Question 38

social inhibition

Answer 38

The tendency to perform complex or difficult tasks more poorly in the presence of others.

Question 39

social loafing

Answer 39

A pattern in which people working together on a task generate less total effort than they would have if they had each worked alone.

Question 40

Stanford Prison Experiment

Answer 40

Philip Zimbardo’s study of the effect of roles on behavior. Participants were randomly assigned to play either prisoners or guards in a mock prison. The study was ended early because of the “guards’” role-induced cruelty.

Question 41

stereotypes

Answer 41

Schemas that are often negative and are used to categorize complex groups of people.

Question 42

that’s-not-all technique

Answer 42

A sales method that starts with a modest offer, then improves on it. The improvement seems to require reciprocation, which often takes the form of purchasing the item.