Psych330 Exam 2 Flashcards
social cognition
the study of how people combine intuition and logic to process social information
Dual Processing
the ability to process information using both intuition and logic
Planning Fallacy
the unjustified confidence that one’s own project will proceed as planned (unlike similar projects)
What are the characteristics of intuitive and logical thinking?
Intuition: emotional, automatic, effortless, quick, associative
Logical: analytical, rule-directed, explicit, reasoned, slow
Describe the differences between individualistic and collectivistic cultures. How do these cultural values shape social cognition?
Individualistic prioritizes personal. Collectivistic emphasize group harmony/interdependence. Social cognition is affected by how individuals perceive and the importance they place on relationships/social norms.
What are schemas? What do they do?
Mental frameworks that organize knowledge. Info from our environment (since birth) is stored as memories. These memories are used to interpret the world and make decision.
What are scripts? How can scripts play out in dating relationships?
schemas about typical sequence of events. Scripts may cause an individual to think that the events of a relationship/date will need to play out in a certain order
Explain the differences between (and consequences of) satisficing and maximizing.
Satisficing: taking shortcuts, using “good-enough” solutions
greater happiness with more error
Maximizing: more thorough
over examining
What is counterfactual thinking? What is the difference between upward and downward counterfactuals?
Imagining what might have been.
Upward: imagined outcomes that are better than reality
Downward: imagined outcomes that are even worse than reality
Optimistic Bias
an unrealistic belief that one’s future will be great. It’s associated with better mental health
How does priming relate to mental accessibility?
Priming is immediate exposure to information activates a concept
Describe the 3 types of heuristics discussed in the text. Give examples.
Anchoring-and-adjustment
decisions made by starting with an arbitrary number. A grab for any answer, regardless of source
Availability
frequency and importance is influenced by those viewed as famous
Representativeness
trade-off between efficiency and errors. Looking for a worker dressed in a specific outfit
3 Types of Mental Biases discussed at the end of Chapter 4? Give examples.
Confirmation Bias: searching for info confirming our beliefs and ignoring contradicting info
A Pisces is supposed to moody - looking for their mood changes more often
Hindsight Bias: believing we “knew it all along”
Now we “connect the dots” of 9/11
Negativity Bias: notice and remember negative info more that positive
“better safe than sorry”
Halo Effect
When a central trait colors other aspects of our impression of a person
Nonverbal Communication
Communicating through body language, tone of voice, facial expressions
Duchenne Smile
a genuine felt smile
Explain primacy effect and how it can impact person perception
Info received at beginning. affects how we perceive someone at a later stage
What is the “What is beautiful is good” effect?
physical attractiveness creates a halo effect that beautiful individuals will have other positive characteristics
How do self-fulfilling prophecies work?
when we make our initial impressions come true
What is the universality hypothesis? What evidence in the book supports?
nonverbal facial expressions are universal, regardless of culture. Test Ekman and Friesen (1971) of sic basic emotions. Conveyed same meaning across cultures
What are Micro-expressions? What are Affect blends? How do both make it difficult to interpret facial expressions?
Micro-expression: involuntary flash of emotional honesty
Affect Blends: two or more contradictory emotions shown on different parts of the face
They happen quickly, involuntarily, and can be interpreted differently by individuals
How does nonverbal communication differ based on culture?
Different cultures have different display rules. Emblems: body movements for specific meanings. Culturemes: objects, language, behavior that carries meaning
What are defensive attribution? How is our tendency to make defensive attribution related to the belief in a just world?
Attributions made by individuals to avoid feeling fear about the potential negative events. Terror Management Theory: an awareness of our own mortality terrifies individuals, forcing them to cling to comforting beliefs
Explain the difference between internal attributions and external attributions
Internal: an event or person’s behavior is die to personal factors
External: a person’s behavior is die to situational factors
What are the three pieces of information that people look for when making attributions, according to Kelley’s covariation model?
Internal: consensus is low, distinctiveness is low, consistency is high
External: consensus is high, distinctiveness is high
What is the fundamental attribution error?
the tendency to overestimate the influence of personality and underestimate the power of the situation when making attributions about other people’s behaviors
What are the three self-serving attributions described in the text? How do any of these biases differ across cultures?
False Consensus Bias: false assumption that other people share our values, perceptions, & beliefs
Truly False Consensus Bias: individuals believe that others share their beliefs even after they have information contradicting that belief
False Uniqueness Bias: we are more unique than others when it comes to socially desirable traits
social learning theory
a model for understanding social behavior that proposes we learn attitudes by observing and imitating others
attitude inoculation
process of building up resistance to attempts at persuasion
rationalization trap
progressively larger self-justifications that lead to harmful, stupid, and immoral outcomes
What are the three components of attitudes, according to information presented in class?
ABCs
Affective - emotional/feeling
Behavioral - attitude
Cognitive - thoughts/beliefs
What are dual attitudes?
contrasting beliefs about the same attitude object
What are the differences between explicit and implicit attitudes?
Explicit: consciously endorsed
Implicit: involuntary, incontrollable
Explain the theory of planned behavior
behavior is pest predicted by people’s behavioral intentions. Specific attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control
What is a bogus pipeline? Why would it be used in research?
measurement technique to circumvent the problem of the social desirability bias for self-report measures by pretending to be a lie detector
Explain cognitive dissonance? What types of situations can arouse cognitive dissonance?
state of psychological discomfor that occurs when we try to maintain conflicting beliefs and behaviors.
Example: original prophecy fails, believers must decide whether to change attitudes
How does cognitive dissonance relate to self-justification?
discomfort of cognitive dissonance may be alleviated with self-justification.
Example: a smoker believes smoking is harmful. They may deny evidence of harm for self-justification
Explain the central and peripheral paths to persuasion. What is the name of the model that proposes these paths?
Central: uses evaluation and consideration
Peripheral: non-content related factors, superficial cues, emotional cues
Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)
Heuristic Systematic Model (HSM)
Under what conditions is persuasion likely to happen via the central path?Via the peripheral path?
Central: motivation and ability to pay attention, strong arguments
Peripheral: peripheral cues, likeable communicator, appealing emotions, slogans
What are the four elements to the persuasion process, according to Hovland’s message learning approach? Give examples of each element.
Message-learning Approach
Source Variables: who, credibility
Message Variables: what, framing
Recipient Variables: to whom, personality
Context Variables: how, distraction, forewarning
Give examples of lowballing, the foot-in-the-door technique, and the door-in-the-face technique.
o Why do each of these processes work to gain compliance?
