Psychology of the Early Years

Question 1

What are Social Cognitions?

Answer 1

cognitive processes and structures that influence and are influenced by social behaviour

Question 2

Two features of Asch’s configural model

Answer 2

Central and Peripheral traits

Question 3

What are Schemas?

Answer 3

(A cognitive structure) set of interrelated cognitions, such as thoughts, attitudes, or beliefs.

Question 4

What are Implicit personality theories?

Answer 4

Certain characteristics go together to form specific types of personality

Question 5

Name 5 types of schemas?

Answer 5

Person, Role, Event, Content-free, Self-schemas

Question 6

What is meant by availability heuristics?

Answer 6

The frequency or likelihood of an event is based on how quickly instances or associations come to mind

Question 7

What is meant by Anchoring and Adjustment

Answer 7

inferences are tied to initial standards or schemas

Question 8

What is Representativeness?

Answer 8

Instances are assigned to categories or types of the basis of overall similarity or resemblance to the category

Question 9

What is a prototype

Answer 9

A cognitive representation of the typical/ideal defining features of a category

Question 10

What are Stereotypes?

Answer 10

Widely shared and simplified evaluative image of a social group and its members.

Question 11

What is meant by Attributions

Answer 11

How we explain our own behaviour and the behaviour of other

Question 12

What are key features of The Theory of Naive Psychology – Heider (1958) [3]

Answer 12

• Focuses on peoples naïve and common sense
• We identify stable and enduring properties of the world (consider personality and situational variables)
• We differentiate between personal (internal) and environmental (external) causalities.

Question 13

What are key features of The Covariation Model – Kelley (1967) [Definition + 3]

Answer 13

People are like scientists: identify a factor that covaries with behaviour, they assign a causal role
- consistency (high/low)
- distinctiveness (high/low)
- consensus (high/low)

Question 14

What are key features of Attributional Theory – Weiner (1979, 1984, 1985) [Definition + 3]

Answer 14

Success or failure on a task leads us to make an attribution (explanation) based upon three performance dimensions:
– Stability (success/failure is fairly permanent or unstable)
– Locus of causality (factor is external/internal to the individual)
– Controllability (factor is/is not under individual’s control).

Question 15

What are key factors of Attributional bias [5]

Answer 15

Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)
Focus of attention
Differential Forgetting
Cultural differences
Linguistics

Question 16

What is Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)?

Answer 16

The over emphasis of an individual’s personal factors and underestimation of situational factors of others

Question 17

What is Focus of attention? (attribution bias) [2]

Answer 17

Disposition attribution (overlook the situations that people are in, and judge their behaviour based on what we assume is their personality) vs Situation attribution (tendency to analyse a person’s actions according to the situation that they are in)

Question 18

What is Differential Forgetting?

Answer 18

Situational Causes maybe forgotten more easily than Distortional Causes

Question 19

What is Actor-Observer effect

Answer 19

People make different attributions of behaviour depending on whether they are observing or performing the behaviour

Question 20

What is Correspondence bias?

Answer 20

Tendency to draw inferences about a person’s unique and enduring dispositions from behaviours that can be entirely explained by the situations in which they occur

Question 21

What are causes of Correspondence bias?

Answer 21

• Lack of awareness
• Unrealistic expectations
• Inflated categorisations of behaviour
• Incomplete corrections of dispositional interferences

Question 22

What is meant by a Self-Serving bias?

Answer 22

Distortions that protect our self-esteem and self-concept (ego-serving). The individual attributes positives to internal factors and blame environment for failure.

Question 23

What is meant by Self-Handicapping?

Answer 23

Proactively avoiding threats to one’s self-esteem via any action or choice of performance setting that enhances the opportunity to externalise (excuse) failure and to internalise (reasonably accept credit) success

Question 24

What is The Just-world phenomenon?

Answer 24

The tendency to believe that world is a just place = people get what they deserve and deserve what they get.

Question 25

What is the Ultimate FAE?

Answer 25

The UAE is just the FAE, applied to group-level processes

Question 26

What are Inter group attributions?

Answer 26

Causes of behaviour depending on group membership

Question 27

Stages of Child Development (general) [5]

Answer 27

Prenatal
Infancy
Preschool/Early childhood
Middle childhood
Adolescence

Question 28

What are the stages of development in Piaget stage theory

Answer 28

Sensori-motor
Pre-operational
Concrete operational
Formal operational

Question 29

Charecteristics of the Sensori-motor stage [5]

Answer 29

Duration: Birth - 18 months/2 years (approx.)
Leaning through senses and reflexes
Manipulate materials
Thought and language begins
Object permeance is understood < 9 months old +

Question 30

Characteristics of the Pre-operational stage [5]

Answer 30

Duration: 18/24 months - 7 years
Ideas based on perception
Overgeneralize based on limited experiences
Centration: focus on one variable at a time
Lack social cognition

Question 31

Characteristics of the Concrete operational stage [5]

Answer 31

Duration: 7/8 years - 11/12 years
Form ideas based on reasoning
Limited thinking to objects and familiar events
Decentration: more flexible thinking
Reversibility

Question 32

Characteristics of the Formal operational stage [5]

Answer 32

Duration: 11/12 years +
Think conceptually
Think hypothetically
Abstract thought and reasoning
Advanced problem solving