psych- obedience and conformity Flashcards
information that determines our person perception can be provided in two ways:
- directly
- indirectly
what is through directly?
information that is provided from the person we are judging, for example through observing them or interacting with them.
what is through indirectly?
through hearing about the person we are judging from another person or source, for example through a friend or reading about someone online.
what is an attribution?
An attribution is an evaluation made about the causes of behaviour and the process of making this evaluation. We can say we have made an attribution once we have decided on a potential cause for our own or someone else’s actions.
what are the 2 types of attribution
- internal (personal)
- external
how is interval attributions caused? give an example
occurs when we judge behaviour as being caused by something personal within an individual.
- age
- gender
- motivation
how is external attributions caused? give an example
Occurs when we determine the cause of a behaviour as resulting from situational factors occurring outside the individual. (out of their control)
- The environment a person is in when they produce a behaviour (e.g at home or at a concert)
- Events that the individual has experienced beyond their control (ranging from things like emergencies to the actions of another person).
what is fundamental attribution error
Refers to our tendency to explain other people’s behaviour in terms of internal factors, while ignoring possible external factors. This can lead to cognitive bias and influence how we perceive that individual overall.
what is actor observer bias
Refers to our tendency to attribute our own behaviour to external or situational factors, yet attribute others behaviour to internal factors.
what is self- serving bias
When judging ourselves we tend to take the credit for our success and deny responsibility for failure, which is blamed on external, situational factors.
what is the criteria for attitude formation
- evaluation
- being settled and stable
- learnt through experience
what are attitudes
what is an example of an attitude
feeling strongly about pinapple on pizza, whereas someone else amy care less about their pizza topping.
what is the tri-component model of attidues
Affective- refers to our emotions and intuitive feelings towards something, reflected in our attitude.
‘I like school.’
Behavioural- describes our outward and observable actions that reflect our point of view about something.
‘I try my best at school.’
Cognitive- involves our thoughts and beliefs towards something.
‘I know working hard at school will help me get the results that I need for the future.
what is cognitive dissonance
This occurs when out thoughts, feeling and/or behaviours do not align with one another. cognitive dissonance often occurs when we act in a way that contradicts our beliefs.
how do you reduce cognitive dissonance
- changing your thought to align with your behaviours
- changing your behaviours to align with your thoughts.
what is a cognitive bias
cognitive biases are used to reduce dissonance. Instead of following logic individuals distort information to think about it in a way that is preferable to them, thereby avoiding or reducing cognitive dissonance.
what are the cognitive biases
- conformation bias
- halo effect
- false- consensus bias
what is confirmation bias and give example
the tendency to search for and accept information that supports our prior beliefs.
Example:
* Aida may refuse to receive a vaccine as she holds the belief that they are dangerous to her health. She is likely to seek out more information that supports her initial beliefs, such as rate cases of negative vaccine side effects.
what is the halo effect and give example
Halo effect- the tendency for the impression we form about one quality of a person to influence our overall beliefs about the person in other respects.
Example
* Beth starts dating a guy named harry who was really funny when they first met because harry was funny, Beth believes that is also adventurous, outgoing and kind. She will ignore all areas of him showing negative characteristics, because she has an impression of him showing positive characteristics.
what is false-consensus bias and give example
False consensus bias- the tendency to overestimate the degree to which other people share the same ideas and attitudes as we do.
Example
* when someone who loves jogging assumes that most of their friends and colleagues also enjoy jogging. They might be surprised to learn that many people in their social circle actually dislike jogging or prefer other forms of exercise
what is self-serving bias and give example
Self- serving bias- the tendency to attribute positive success to our internal character and actions and attribute out failures to external factors.
Fail- blame on external environment
Success- blame on internal factors.
Example
* when a student receives a high grade on a test and attributes it to their hard work and intelligence (internal attribution). However, if the same student gets a low grade on another test, they might blame the difficulty of the test or the teacher’s unfair grading (external attribution).
what is actor- observer bias and give example
Actor observer bias- the tendency to attribute our own actions to external factors and situational causes while attributing other people’s actions to internal factors.
Our behaviour- due to external environment
Other people- due to internal factors.
Example
* when a person arrives late to a meeting and blames it on external factors, like heavy traffic or a delayed train (external attribution). However, when someone else arrives late to the same meeting, they might think that person is irresponsible or disorganized (internal attribution).
what is heuristics
Heuristics are information processing strategies or ‘mental shortcuts’ that enable individuals to form judgements, make decisions and solve problems quickly and efficiently.
Considered to be intuitive rapid and automatic processes that develop over time as a result
