Psychology Units 3 & 4 Flashcards
CNS and PNS (somatic and autonomic-> parasympathetic, sympathetic)
CNS-> brain & spinal cord. Controls body by processing and responding to sensory input from the PNS.
PNS-> all nerves beyond the CNS. Communicates info from the CNS to organs, glands and muscles.
Branches of PNS: Somatic (voluntary movement) and Autonomic (involuntary movement).
Branches of Autonomic: parasympathetic (rest & digest) and sympathetic (fight or flight)
Role of the spinal cord and spinal reflex
The spinal cord carries info from the PNS to the brain. Towards the brain (sensory messages). From the brain (motor messages).
monosynaptic-> one sensory and one motor neuron
eg. hit leg
polysynaptic-> one or more interneurons connecting the
sensory and motor neurons
eg. moving hand from hot surface
Roles & functions of frontal, occipital, parietal and temporal.
Frontal-> In the front & plays key roles in learning, problem-solving, personality and attention.
Occipital-> At the back & almost entirely devoted to vision.
Parietal-> In the upper half of the cerebral cortex & behind the frontal lobe & it’s main role is to receive somatosensory information (body parts).
Temporal-> In the lower, central area & is important for auditory perception and memory.
Role of Broca’s area, Wernicke’s area and Geschwinds territory.
Broca’s-> articulating sounds & coordinates messages to the areas required for speech production. If damaged= trouble speaking (speak in short sentences).
Wernicke’s-> comprehension of speech. If damaged= struggle to speak in a meaningful way.
Geschwind’s-> Connects Broca’s and Wernicke’s. Important in language processing & has a role in integrating information.
Voluntary movement- roles of primary motor cortex, cerebellum and basal ganglia
Primary Motor Cortex-> intiating & controlling voluntary movement.
Cerebellum-> fine muscle movement and skilled set of movements. Balance & posture.
Basal Ganglia-> initiating and inhibiting movement & motor learning.
Emotion occurs within the limbic system, amygdala and
prefrontal cortex
The limbic system is a set of structures involved in emotions and related behaviours. The hypothalamus (controls emotions and motivated behaviours) and hippocampus (regulation & expression of emotion) are considered to be apart of it. Thalamus (perceiving)
Amygdala-> threat detection, fear & anxiety. How we perceive emotion particularly negative.
Prefrontal Cortex-> Connects brain regions that are involved in the processing and production of emotions. Regulates and modifies emotions & deciphers between good & bad actions.
-> communicate neurotransmission using a diagram
- electrical signal is transported along the axon and arrives at the axon terminal.
- the neurotransmitters are released.
- the neurotransmitters diffuse or drift across the synaptic cleft.
- they anneal or attach to receptors on the dendrite.
- these receptors signal for ion channels on the dendrite to open.
- ions flood onto the dendrites of the post synaptic neuron creating an electrical signal.
Excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters
Excitatory-> increase the likelihood of the post synaptic neuron firing.
eg. glutamate (is associated with learning & memory)
Inhibitory-> reduce the likelihood of the neuron firing.
eg. GABA (regulating anxiety)
physical and psychological function of acetylcholine, epinephrine,
norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin
Acetylcholine-> learning, memory & REM sleep
muscle contractions
Epinephrine-> stress responses (fight, flight, freeze) regulating fear, anxeity and emotional arousal.
increase heart rate, breathing & blood pressure.
Norepinephrine-> stress responses, moods & emotional regulation, increase alertness & arousal.
as hormone-> triggers the release of glucose into blood stream, and increases blood pressure
Dopamine-> thoughts, feeling, emotions & behaviours. reinforcer of behaviours (addictive behaviours)
Serotonin-> mood and social behaviour, eating, sleep, memory, arousal & pain. Body’s sleep wake cycle, and digestion system regulation
Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease (symptoms and treatments).
Parkinson’s disease-> affects movement and mental health.
symptoms: slow movement, ridgity & involuntary movement. depression & difficulty sleeping.
causes: drop in dopamine (genetics, environmental factors)
Alzheimer’s disease-> destroys memory & important mental functions
symptoms: gradual severe memory loss, confusion.
causes: low levels of acetylcholine
-> explain the process of visual perception
Reception-> light arrives at photoreceptors on the retina (in the eye)
visible light-> between infrared and ultraviolet.
Transduction-> photoreceptors convert light to electrochemical signals
rods- light intensity
cones- distinguish different wavelengths or frequency’s.
Receptive field area of space where the receptor can respond to the stimulus.
Transmission-> signals are passed along nerves (especially optic) to the primary visual cortex.
Selection-> feature detection cells respond to specific elements in visual information.
Organisation & Interpretation-> The brain arranges the info in a meaningful way aided by the use of visual perception principles.
biological influences on visual perception
ageing- lens becomes less flexible & more opaque.
genetics- colour blindness, inherited visual disorders.
explain psychological influences on visual perception
Perceptual set- a predisposition to perceive stimuli in a specific way according to certain preconceptions
eg. past experience, motivation, context, emotional state
Visual Perception Principles:
- gestalt (figure ground organisation, closure, similarity, proximity)
- depth cues
monocular (only one eye)
->pictorial depth cues (illusion of depth on 2D surfaces- texture gradient, interposition, relative size, height in visual field, linear perspective)
->accomodation (lens changes shape to focus on an image)
binocular (use two eyes)
-> convergence (eyes angled towards each-other to converge on the same object)
-> retinal disparity (info from eyes is similar = object is further away)
- visual constancies (objects stay the same but the image they cast on the retina may change eg. shape & size).
the impact of social influences on visual perception,
Hudson’s - images with pictorial depth cues, asked which animal was closer. People from rural community’s did not consider this factor in their response. Study concluded that 3D interpretation of images was a cultural skill.
Strengths: can be used to evaluate the impact of social influences on visual perception
Limitations: ethnocentric and small cultural groups (only 2)
Deregowski’s-> participants from various cultures struggled to interpret perspective drawings and preferred split view one’s. Another test was asking participants to duplicate an image and see if they made it 2D or 3D. Study concluded that pictorial depth perception has cultural variability.
Strengths: cross-cultural research, replication of Hudson’s study.
Limitations: biased and ethnocentric.
Deregowski, Muldrow & Muldrow-> showing participants from remote villages to say what they saw. Study concluded that perception was mostly based on the person’s familiarity with the object, animal or person depicted in the image, can be learned .
Strength: internal validity (researcher had cultural knowledge)
Limitation: participants got stressed (unethical)
-> analyse the fallibility of visual perception, with reference to the Müller-Lyer,
Ames room, and Ponzo visual illusions, as well as ambiguous and impossible
figures.
Muller Lyer- the arrows (closure)
Ames Room (size constancy fails)
Ponzo Visual Illusions- the railway and two same size lines (linear perspective and size constancy)
Ambiguous figures- bunny/duck (equally likely possibilities for image interpretation)
Impossible figures- triangles (in-consist/ impossible to construct)
-> recognise the duration and capacity of sensory memory and short-term and long-term memory
sensory memory (store for incoming, fleeting sensory information):
- iconic (duration: 0.3 seconds, capacity: unlimited)
- echoic (3-4 seconds, unlimited)
Short Term memory: 5-9 items, up to 30 seconds.
Long Term memory: virtually unlimited x2
-> evaluate two models of memory, including
- the working model of memory (Alan Baddeley and Graham Hitch 1974),
including the central executive, phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad,
and episodic buffer
-the levels of processing (LOP) model of memory, including the role of
encoding in long-term memory
The Working Model of Memory:
phonological loop (auditory)
⬇
episodic buffer (combines info from different systems & LTM to create a unified memory)
⬆
visuospatial sketchpad (visual)
Linked to all is the central executive limited ability to store information & is a supervisor of the other systems.
The Levels of Processing Model of Memory:
- the more deeply a memory is processed, the longer a memory trace is predicted to last.
Shallow processing
- structural (encoding the psychical characteristics of a stimulus)
- phonemic (the sounds of a stimulus)
- maintenance rehearsal (repetition helps hold it in our active attention and working memory)
Deep processing
- semantic processing = elaborative rehearsal (info is linked/associated to the stimulus)
-> explain how information is stored in long-term memory with reference to implicit
(procedural) and explicit (episodic and semantic) memory
Implicit Memories: unconsciously recalled.
- procedural (how to conduct certain procedures)
Explicit: consciously recalled & declarative
- episodic memories (info about events of our lives eg. what you had for dinner last night)
- semantic memories (not episodic eg. info about how many cm’s are in a m).
-> describe the role of the hippocampus in memory formation and storage
- Forms explicit memory.
- consolidating and retrieving LT declarative memories
-> distinguish between recall, recognition and relearning
The more sensitive the method of retrieval = the more likely it is to demonstrate the presence of the memory.
Recall (least sensitive) eg. short answers Q’s
Recognition (moderately sensitive) eg. multiple choice Q’s
Relearning (most sensitive) eg. improving scores after redoing exams
-> consider the role of the cerebellum in forming and storing implicit (procedural) memories
- Encoding, processing and storing of procedural memories
- classically conditioned responses (a form of implicit memory)
- memory for motor skill tasks
-> describe how information is lost from memory through encoding failure, retrieval
failure and interference effects
Encoding failure: memory was never properly encoded eg. disruption to the consolidating process.
Retrieval failure: memory is present however unable to be retrieved
Interference effects:
Proactive-> old memories inhibit new memories eg. can’t remember new classroom bc you only remember your old one.
Retroactive-> new memories inhibit old memories eg. forgetting old passwords cause you keep making new ones.
->discuss strategies to improve memory, including chunking, rehearsal
(maintenance and elaborative) and mnemonics (e.g. the method of loci and
SQ4R method — survey, question, read, recite, relate, and review).
Chunking: improves the capacity of STM by grouping information together.
Rehearsal:
maintenance-> increase duration of STM
elaborative (making connections) -> improve encoding into LTM
Mnemonics: strategies that aids in memories
the method of loci-> associates a particular location on an imaginary journey
SQ4R: survey (scan for key features), question (consider questions for when finished), read (actively read text), recite (speak aloud), relate (relate info) & review (use summaries).
-> compare classical conditioning (Ivan Pavlov 1897/1902), operant conditioning
(BF Skinner 1948) and social learning theory (Albert Bandura 1977)
They are all forms of learning in Psychology. Classical conditioning involves associating two stimuli, operant conditioning focuses on the consequences of behavior, and social learning theory emphasises observational learning.
-> for classical conditioning
-recall the unconditioned stimulus (UCS), unconditioned response (UCR),
neutral stimulus (NS), conditioned stimulus (CS) and conditioned response
(CR)
-distinguish between stimulus generalisation and discrimination
- describe extinction and spontaneous recovery
-describe learned fear responses (John Watson — the ‘Little Albert’
experiment) (Watson & Rayner 1920)
Classical Conditioning (Pavlov’s Dogs).
Before conditioning:
Unconditioned stimulus (dog food)
Unconditioned Response (dog salivating)
Neutral stimulus (bell)
Association:
UCR (involuntary) and NS are associated through repeated pairing (dog salivates in response to dog food and bell is rung).
After conditioning:
The NS has become a conditioned stimulus which elicits the conditioned response
(ringing the bell causes the dog to salivate).
stimulus generalisation- an organism responds to any stimulus that is similar to the conditioned stimulus. eg. sound similar
stimulus discrimination- when an organism responds to the CS but not to any stimulus that is similar.
eg. dog salivates at bell ringing but not a buzzer.
extinction- the response is extinct after being shown several times without UCS.
spontaneous recovery- the reappearance of an extinguished
response after a rest period
Learned fear responses- Little Albert cried when rat appeared as a hammer was banged behind his head numerous times when the rat was present. Cause Little Albert to develop a fear of anything white and fluffy (stimulus generalisation)
Experiment was highly unethical:
- cause harm to participant
-no consent or permission from parents given
- no debrief
-> for operant conditioning
-distinguish between negative and positive reinforcement and punishment
- describe stimulus generalisation and discrimination
- describe extinction and spontaneous recovery
Operant Conditioning (BF Skinner’s Rats & Piegons)
Three-phase model (ABC of
operant conditioning): the Antecedent (the environment) that makes the conditions right for the Behaviour to follow and be reinforced (or extinguished) by its
Consequences.
Reinforcement:
+ giving pigeon seed when pecking button (application of pleasant stimulus)
- electric grid is removed when button is pecked (removal of unpleasant stimulus)
Punishment:
+ being nagged (application of an unpleasant stimulus)
- toy confiscated (removal of a pleasant stimulus)
stimulus generalisation- when a behaviour is displayed because of a discriminative stimulus that is similar to the original
stimulus discrimination- when a behaviour stops being applied to similar situations and only to the discriminative stimulus.
extinction- when the conditioned response disappears over time after reinforcement has ceased.
spontaneous recovery- shows that extinction of a behaviour is not ‘unlearning’.
-> for social learning theory
distinguish between modelling and vicarious conditioning.
Social Learning Theory (Albert Bandura- BOBO doll)
Children watched adults be aggressive with the Bobo doll, then when placed in a room alone, they replicated those actions.
Theory (just Bandura)
Steps:
1. attention (attention to the role model)
2. retention (mental representation of the behaviour)
3. reproduction (representation turns into an action)
4. reinforcement (action is performed and given feedback)
5. motivation (rewarded or punished for the action and is motivated to continue or not)
modelling-> when a person copies the behaviour or attitude demonstrated by another person.
vicarious conditions-> Positive consequences received by the model increase the likelihood of the observer imitating the model’s behaviour (vice versa).
-> deduce how status and power operate in groups, with reference to the Stanford Prison experiment (Haney, Banks & Zimbardo 1973)
Status-> the relative standing of a
person within a social or professional group.
Power-> the ability to influence or control the thoughts, feelings or behaviours of others.
Stanford Prison experiment:
people readily complied with social roles expected to play (power and social status in groups)
Guards became aggressive and harassed prisoners
Prisoners experienced mental breakdowns (one prisoner was so traumatised the experiment was terminated after 6 days).
Strengths: supports the situational explanation of behaviour. Improved prison conditions in the USA
Limitations: participants were “just acting” (low ecological validity) and low population validity (only male students).
-> explain the difference between primary (family) and secondary (media,
schooling) socialisation
Primary-> begins at birth and is carried out by family. Strong motivation for changing behaviours as child learns rules and expectations
Secondary->occurs later as friends and peers become increasingly important. Conform and learn to operate in groups to be accepted.
-> describe gender and compare social learning, cognitive developmental and
biology-based theories of gender role formation
Gender-> “the psychological meaning of being male or female, which is influenced by learning”
Social learning-> children learn about gender roles from the observation of others in their environment.
Differing consequences are applied to individuals based on their gender which further influences their behaviour. Gender identity is formed by these shared behaviours.
Cognitive Developmental theories of gender role formation -> gender develops as part of normal cognitive development and gender roles are a consequence of this.
Three stages:
1. gender identity- the person learns what gender they are (ages 2-3)
2. gender stability- the person learns their gender will not change over time (ages 3-4)
3. learns that superficial changes in appearance or activities doesn’t change a person’s gender (age 5)
Biological theories of gender role formation-> overarching theory that an individual’s gender is predetermined by their biological sex: their genitals and reproductive organs.
Evolutionary wise:gender roles is that natural selection required males and females to possess different biological and psychological traits to increase reproduction, and survival of human race.
evolutionary explanation for gender roles is that natural selection required males and females
to possess different biological and psychological traits to increase human reproduction, and
continue the survival of the human race.
-> describe group social influence, with reference to compliance, identification and
internalisation
Social influence-> attitudes and beliefs of someone and their behaviours are influenced by the people they associate themselves with.
Compliance-> A change is people’s attitudes publicly so that they are more likeable in their group. Agree with accepting attitudes rather their own personal beliefs,
Identification-> change is person’s attitudes and beliefs because they are influenced or are aware of how it impacts a relationship they have with a person or group.
Internalisation-> When a belief or attitude is accepted by a person and their behaviour reflects this.
-> predict how obedience, conformity and social norms (Robert Cialdini et al.
2006) lead to behaviour change
Obedience-> the commands of someone in authority or the rules or laws of a society are followed.
factors effecting:
- social proximity decreased obedience
- legitimacy of the authority figure
- group pressure
Conformity-> occurs when a person adjusts their thoughts, emotions or behaviours to agree with an individual or a group.
factors effecting:
- unanimity (whether or not a group is animous - in full agreement with each-other)
- group size
- social loafing (not putting in effort and relying on the group to answer)
- informational influence
- normative influence
- individualist culture (one believes there individual goals are more important)
- collectivist culture (the group’s goals are more important than individual)
Social norms-> an individuals expectations of how others expect them to behave or how others will behave in any given social situation.
descriptive: behaviours that are commonly put into practice.
injective: behaviours that are commonly approved or disapproved of.
Calidini->
Calidini (petrified wood)
Injunctive normation information (do not remove wood) - is more likely to reduce theft, and descriptive norm information- is more likely to increase theft (many past visitors have removed the wood from the park, change the state of the forest).
Strengths: population validity (large sample size) and ecological validity (in a natural setting)
Limitations: difficult to establish the cause/effect of uncontrolled variables
-> evaluate historical social psychological research, with reference to studies
conducted by Stanley Milgram (1963) and Solomon Asch (1951).
Milgram- (obedience)
All participants obeyed up to 300 volts, 65% up to 450 volts
Situational factors are strong influences on human behaviours and humans make incorrect dispositional attributions about the behaviour
Strength: control of variables- believed they were randomly assigned, giving shocks and roles were authentic- increases internal validity
Limitations: unethical, deception, stress, population and ecological validity (all white males, in the laboratory)
ethical problems:
- withdrawal rights not made clear
- deception involved
Asch (lines-wrong answer chosen)-> Asch (effects of group pressure among judgements)
⅓ participants conformed to the clearly incorrect majority
75% confirmed at least once and 25% never conformed
In the control group (no pressure) less than 1% gave a wrong answer
Concluded that people will conform to fit in with the group (normative social influence) because they believe the group is better informed (informational influence)
Strength: replicable
Limitations: ecological validity, deception
-> analyse Bibb Darley and John Latane’s (1968) model of bystander intervention
A 3 stage process that a bystander needs to goes through to help in a given situation. At each stage a bystander can fail to progress to the next and therefore not engage in pro social behaviour:
- noticing the situation (less likely if in a group)
- interpreting the situation as requiring help (less likely if the situation is not clear)
- taking responsibility for the situation (less likely if there are more people around)
The bystander effect: more people are present= the less likely someone will act and is explained by:
- diffusion of responsibility
- social influence
- audience inhibition
Strength: high ecological validity
Limitation: population validity (uneven # of male/ female students)
-> describe social factors that influence prosocial behaviour, with reference to the
reciprocity principle and social responsibility
Prosocial behaviour: intentionally helping others.
reciprocity-> if someone helps you, then you should help them in a similar situation. perceived capability of helping is roughly equal.
Social responsibility-> we should help people who need help because that is our social responsibility.
-> describe personal characteristics that influence prosocial behaviour, with
reference to empathy, mood, competence and altruism
Empathy-> if empathising with the person (situation or similarity), more likely to help.
mood-> good mood-> more inclined to help thus increasing possibility of engaging in PSB.
competence-> more likely to help if they are competent in doing so.
altruism-> helps due to selfless concern for others.
-> consider factors that influence antisocial behaviour, including groupthink,
diffusion of responsibility, audience inhibition, social influence and cost–benefit
analysis
Groupthink-> occurs when members of a group try to unanimous (not in full agreement) and this overrides motivation to consider other alternatives.
Diffusion of responsibility-> when each member of a group think that someone else should or will take responsibility for helping.
Audience Inhibition-> the presence of others reduces the likelihood that someone will take responsibility for helping. fear of being judges by others.
Social Influence-> if other people do not interpret the situation as help being required, someone is less likely to interpret the situation as needing to give help.
Cost-Benefit Analysis-> the pros and cons of an action is considered. costs are lower than the benefits, someone is more likely to help.
-> discuss the general aggression model (GAM)
Aggression is defined as behaviour thats intend to harm a target.
In the model, two types of processes are considered; proximate (explain individual episodes) & distal processes (operate in the background of each episode).
Proximate:
1. Input - risk factors (increases likelihood of aggression) & protective factors (reduce the likelihood of aggression)
2. Routes- Affect (how input variables influence moods and emotions), Cognition (how input influences aggressive thoughts) & Arousal (how variable input influence psychological and physiological arousal).
3. Outcomes- how an individual appraises the situation, decides and then acts.
Distal:
Biological eg. low serotonin & environmental factors eg. victimisation
-> explain how media can influence aggression, with reference to advertising,
video games and social media
Advertising can desensitise aggressive behaviours,
therefore making aggression more socially acceptable.
Video games that are highly realistic, e.g. that involve
killing people, blood and wounds, and various weapons,
are believed to desensitise people to the effects of
aggressive behaviours.
The explosion of internet trolls and their aggressive
comments on social media has led to a desensitisation
to these types of comments, normalising aggressive
behaviour.
-> describe biological theories of attraction (Buss, Abbott, Angleitner, Asherian,
Biaggio et al. 1990)
-Genetics- > natural selection (survival fo the fittest)
- Youth and physical attractiveness (fertility and passing of good genes)
-Chasity
Buss (international preferences on selecting mates)
There were very few differences in mate characteristics, showing these to be universally important in mate selection.
Strength: large sample size
Limitation: no real cause-effect can be established.
-> recognise social and cognitive origins of attraction, including proximity,
reciprocity and similarity
Proximity- the more exposed to a stimulus = the more you develop a positive attitude towards them
Reciprocity- you are more attracted to people you think are attracted to them.
Similarity- interactions with people similar to you, you are likely to reinforce shared attitudes and perspectives therefore increasing attractiveness.
-> predict why relationships change and end, with reference to Duck’s stages of
dissolution (i.e. intrapsychic stage, dyadic stage, social stage, grave-dressing
stage and resurrection stage) (Stephanie Rollie and Steve Duck 2006).
Dissolution:
Intrapsychic stage-> unsatisfied with the relationship
Dyadic-> discuss/argue about it with partner
Social-> Plan their exit & how they will tell their social circles.
Grave dressing -> getting over it
Resurrection stage -> ready for someone new
-> describe implicit and explicit attitudes
Implicit-> involuntarily formed, unconscious and difficult to self-report
Explicit-> deliberately formed, conscious & difficult to self-report.
-> predict how discrepancies between attitudes and behaviours can lead to
cognitive dissonance (Leon Festinger 1957)
According to Leon Festinger (1957), cognitive dissonance is an unpleasant psychological tension that comes when we perceive that our attitudes are inconsistent with our behaviour. People experience cognitive dissonance when they behave in a way that contradicts their attitude.
eg. dislike untruthfulness but might find yourself in a situation where you have to tell a white lie to your friend.
$1.00 group rated the task more enjoyable than $20.00 and control groups.
Thus these results are as predicted – there was less pressure to comply for the $1.00 group to rate the experience as pleasurable, so even thought it was contrary to their private opinion, they were more likely to change their opinion to correspond with their behaviour.
Strength: Controlled variables to determine cause and effect
-> evaluate social identity theory (Henry Tajfel 1970), with reference to social
categorisation, social identification and social comparison
Social categorisation- we apply different social norms to different groups, including groups we are a part of.
Social identification- people categorise themselves into a particular group and are likely to conform to the group and its social norms.
Social comparison- people exam similarities and differences between groups. people ar likely to focus on the positive characteristics of their group compared to others.
In- group members have positive views of each other, and give each member preferential treatment. An out-group consists of anyone who does not belong to your group. Out-groups are viewed more negatively, and receive inferior treatment in comparison to that of in-group members.
-> describe attributions, and recognise how attributions are used to explain
behaviour, with reference to situational and dispositional attributions, and the
fundamental attribution error (Lee Ross et al. 1977)
*Ross
This research provides empirical support for the fundamental attribution error because it clearly gave the opportunity to demonstrate attributional biases — the questioners made up their own questions, and this was known by all participants.
Attributions- concluding the reasoning for a particular behaviour eg. someone shouting on the bus, you assume they are just an angry person.
Situational attributions: behaviour is due to environmental factors. eg. your friend’s late to work because of traffic.
Dispositional attributions: behaviour is due to innate factors specific to that person. e.g. someone is late to your party because of their lack of self-discipline.
Fundamental Attribution Error: Dispositional attributions are more likely to be drawn upon than situational of others.
-> contrast self-serving and confirmation biases
Self-serving bias-> overestimates the impact of innate factors on satisfying outcomes and situational factors for unsatisfying outcomes.
confirmation bias -> the tendency to search, remember, interpret or favour information that is consistent with pre-existing beliefs and predictions.
-> describe stereotypes using the tri-component model of attitudes
stereotypes: a collection of beliefs held about members belonging to a particular group regardless of individual differences between members.
cognitive (thoughts, ideas, or beliefs), affective (negative or positive emotions), and behavioral (overt actions and responses)
-> describe scapegoating, direct experience, personal and group prejudice and the
prejudiced personality
scape goating-> blaming a person or a group for the actions of others or for conditions not of their making.
Direct experience-> prejudice can be formed through direct experience with members of the targeted group.
Personal-> to protect self- interest.
group-> develops from conforming to prejudiced group attitudes.
prejudiced personality-> personalities considered to be more prejudice are ones in high authoritarian and soical dominance orientation- refers to preference for hierarchal intergroup interactions.
-> distinguish between prejudice and discrimination
Prejudice->having an ATTITUDE towards group members based only on their membership in that group.
Discrimination-> a BEHAVIOUR directed toward a group and its members based on their membership in their group.
-> prejudice can be on the basis of social differences; describe prejudice
expressed as sexism and ageism.
sexism- often informed by gender roles with people penalised for against those expectations.
ageism- on the basis of age.
-> describe how membership, influence, integration and the fulfilment of needs,
and shared emotional connection lead to a sense of community
(David McMillan and David Chavis 1986)
- McMillian (sense of community)
membership-> boundaries provide emotional safety & develop closer connections to others.
influence-> stronger influence from the community is correlated with more cohesive communities which lead to strong sense of community.
Integration & fulfilment of needs-> Shared values allow groups to prioritise actions members find most rewarding and their needs are fulfilled.
Shared emotional needs-> the more important shared events are to members, the more likely the community is to bond.
-> consider what is meant by culture
All the ways of life including arts, beliefs and institutions of a population that are passed down from generation to generation
-> distinguish between multiculturalism and pluralism
Pluralism-> smaller groups are integrated into a dominant group and retain own cultural identity, beliefs, behaviours and values as long as those do not conflict with the majority.
Multiculturalism-> many cultures which retain their distinct identities, however there is no dominant culture.
-> examine the psychological challenges of immigration, including culture shock,
acculturation and assimilation
culture shock-> negative emotions and can result in people socially withdrawing and having reduced self esteem.
acculturation-> consistent first hand contact with an unfamiliar culture, often results in changes in mental wellbeing and the stress associated.
assimilation-> adapts to a new culture and looses their previous one.
-> consider how cultural diversity can sometimes be a source of conflict, with
reference to prejudice expressed as racism (implicit and explicit)
racism- discrimination or prejudice based on race.
implicit-> racist without being consciously aware that this is what they are doing.
explicit-> person is consciously aware of their racism.
-> describe ways to reduce prejudice, with reference to intergroup contact,
sustained contact, superordinate goals, mutual interdependence and equality
(equal-status contact).
intergroup-> more intergroup contact leads us to learn more about people from other groups and we identify with them more
sustained contact-> repeated interactions lead us to open trust, & reduces out-group homogeneity, see them more as an individual than the group they belong to.
superordinate-> people are inclined to learn more about members of the other group and increase intergroup contact. stereotypes dispelled & reduced bias.
mutual interdependence-> groups rely on each-other & increases motivation to learn about those part of different groups.
equality (equal status contact)-> when groups interact it is important that these interactions are on the bases of equal status contact.
Bargh Chen and Burrows Study
Experiment 2 – 60 participants primary with elderly stereotype or neutral words while completing a test. After test – participants timed as they walked down a corridor
Results: Participants who had been primed with elderly stereotypes had statistically slower walking speed compared to participants in neutral condition
Strength: social behaviour can be influenced by priming using stereotypes (reliability & validity)
Limitation: small sample, in lab
grant et al. study
Grant et al - dependent memory
Concluded that matching conditions and environmental context are important in retrieving new memories.
Strength: high ecological validity, variability in age sample
Limitation: small sample size (affects population validity)
