Social Cognition Flashcards

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1
Q

Social Cognition

A

Involves how we interpret, analyse, remember and use information to make judgements about others in different social situations

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2
Q

Person Perception

A

Refers to the mental processes that we use to form impressions and draw conclusions about the personal characteristics of the other people

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3
Q

Halo Effect

A

A cognitive bias in which the impression that we form about one quality of a person influences our beliefs and expectations about the person in other qualities

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4
Q

Body Language

A

Communicating inner aspects of ourselves through facial expressions, eye gaze, posture, gestures and other bodily movements

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5
Q

Attribution

A

The process by which people explain the causes of their own and other people’s behaviour

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6
Q

Personal Attribution

A

An explanation of a behaviour due to the personal characteristics of an individual involved, such as their personality, ability, attitude, motivation, mood or effort

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7
Q

Situational Attribution

A

An explanation of a behaviour due to factors external to the person involved, such as the actions of another person, some aspect of the environment, the task, luck and fate

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8
Q

Fundamental Attribution Error

A

The tendency to overestimate the influence of personal factors and underestimate the impact of situational factors on other peoples behaviour

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9
Q

Actor-Observer Bias

A

Refers to the tendency to attribute our own behaviour to external or situational causes, yet attribute others’ behaviour to personal factors

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10
Q

Self Serving Bias

A

When judging ourselves, we tend to take credit for our successes and attribute our failures to situational factors

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11
Q

Individualist Culture

A

Achieving personal goals is considered to be more important that achieving group goals (being independent is valued)

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12
Q

Collectivist Culture

A

Achieving group goals is considered to be more important that the achievement of individual goals

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13
Q

Attitude

A

Is a learned, relatively enduring, favourable or unfavourable evaluation of a person, object or idea, that can affect an individual’s behaviour

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14
Q

Tri-Component Model of Attitudes

A

Affective = the emotions/feelings toward an attitude object
Behavioural = the actions toward an attitude object
Cognitive = the beliefs/thoughts/ understanding about an attitude object
The model proposes that the three components must be present, before it can be said that an attitude exists

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15
Q

Limitations of the tri-component model

A

Some psychologists do not support the tri-component model, believing that A,B and C can be inconsistent or non-existent
Psychologists prefer to say that attitudes can have up to three components

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16
Q

Cognitive Dissonance

A

The discomfort or tension that is felt when our behaviour is not consistent with our attitudes

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17
Q

Factors that influence whether attitudes and behaviour match

A
  • Perceived control over the behaviour
  • Accessibility of the attitude
  • Strength of the attitude
  • Social content of the attitude
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18
Q

Perceived control over the behaviour

A

People are more likely to act on their attitude if they believe that they are free to perform or not perform the behaviour and a belief that then can actually perform the behaviour

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19
Q

Accessibility of the attitude

A

Attitudes and behaviour are more likely to be consistent if the attitude is well known and effectively stored in memory

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20
Q

Strength of the Attitude

A

Stronger Attitudes are more likely to influence behaviour

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21
Q

Social Content of the Attitude

A

Whether it is appropriate to express the behaviour in a particular content

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22
Q

Factors that Influence Attitude Formation

A
  • Classical Conditioning
  • Operant Conditioning
  • Repeated Exposure
  • Observational Learning
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23
Q

Classical Conditioning

A

A simple form of learning that occurs through the repeated association of two or more different stimuli or events

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24
Q

Components of Classical Conditioning

A
Unconditioned Stimulus
Unconditioned Response
Neutral Stimulus
Conditioned Stimulus 
Conditioned Response
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25
Q

Unconditioned Stimulus

A

Any stimulus that produces an UCR

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26
Q

Unconditioned Response

A

The response that occurs automatically as a result of the UCS

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27
Q

Neutral Stimulus

A

Stimulus to be associated with the UCS so that is produces the response. The NS is presented before the UCS

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28
Q

Conditioned Stimulus

A

Stimulus which is neutral at the start of classical conditioning and does not normally produce the UCR, but eventually becomes associated with the UCS

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29
Q

Conditioned Response

A

The learned or acquired response to the conditioned stimulus; occurs after CS, has been associated with the UCS

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30
Q

Key Processes in Classical Conditioning

A
Acquisition
Extinction
Spontaneous Recovery
Stimulus Generalisation
Stimulus Discrimination
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31
Q

Acquisition

A

The overall process during which the organism learns to associate two events (CS and UCS)

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32
Q

Extinction

A

The gradual decrease in the strength or rate of a response, which occurs over time when the UCS is not presented

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33
Q

Spontaneous Recovery

A

The re-appearance of a CR after its apparent extinction

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34
Q

Stimulus Generalisation

A

The tendency for similiar stimulus to produce the same but not necessarily identical response

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35
Q

Stimulus Discrimination

A

The ability to distinguish between two or more different stimuli even if the stimuli are similiar

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36
Q

Operant Conditioning

A

A kind of learning for which the consequence of an action (reward or punishment) determines the likelihood that it will be performed again in the future

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37
Q

Reinforcement

A

An environmental event that increases the probability that a response will occur

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38
Q

Positive Reinforcement

A

A response is followed by the addition of a positive stimulus

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39
Q

Negative Reinforcement

A

A response is followed by the removal of a negative stimulus

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40
Q

Punishment

A

An environmental event that decreases the probability that a response will occur

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41
Q

Positive Punishment

A

The addition of a negative stimulus following a response

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42
Q

Negative/ Response Cost Punishment

A

Removal of a positive stimulus following a response

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43
Q

Factors that influence the effectiveness of reinforcement and punishment

A
  • order of presentation
  • timing
  • appropriateness
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44
Q

Three Phase Model of Operant Conditioning

A
Antecedent = what precedes and prompts a particular response
Behaviour = the response that occurs (voluntary and active)
Consequence = what happens after the response
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45
Q

Repeated Exposure

A

Attitudes can form by being exposed to an object, person, group, event or issue repeatedly

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46
Q

Mere Exposure Effect

A

We can develop a positive attitude toward objects, people, events, issues if we are exposed to them repeatedly (no reward necessary)

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47
Q

Observational Learning

A

A learning process where an individual learns to reproduce a behaviour exhibited by another individual (model)
We are more likely to imitate attitudes from a model if we observe that the attitudes have positive consequences

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48
Q

Factors that Influence Observational Learning

A
Attention
Retention
Reproduction
Motivation
Reinforcement
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49
Q

Attention

A

Person must actively watch the model

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50
Q

Retention

A

Person must hold a mental representation of the behaviour and remember it in order to imitate it later

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51
Q

Reproduction

A

Person must have the motor skills to be able to reproduce the behaviour

52
Q

Motivation

A

Person must be motivated to demonstrate what has been learned

53
Q

Reinforcement

A

Reinforcement influences the motivation to reproduce the observed behaviour and increases the likelihood of reproduction

54
Q

Vicarious Conditioning

A

The individual watches a model’s behaviour being reinforced (desirable) or punished (undesirable)

55
Q

Vicarious Reinforcement

A

Increases the likelihood of the observer behaving in a similiar way to the model whose behaviour is reinforced

56
Q

Vicarious Punishment

A

The likelihood of the observer behaving in a similiar way is decreased as a result of seeing the model’s behaviour being punished

57
Q

Stereotyping

A

The process of grouping individuals into a particular social or cultural group

58
Q

Stereotype

A

A collection of beliefs that we have about the people who belong to a particular social group, without taking into account the individual differences of its members

59
Q

Ingroup

A

The group you belong to or identify with

60
Q

Outgroup

A

Any group that you do not belong to or identify with

61
Q

Prejudice

A

An unfavourable or negative attitude towards members of a particular group, solely based on their membership to the group

62
Q

Characteristics of Majority Prejudice (Blumer 1961)

A
  • believe that they are superior to the minority group
  • believe that the minority is different from them and do not belong
  • believe that they are more powerful and more important than the minority group
  • fearful that the minority group may become more powerful or more important than the majority group
63
Q

Old-fashioned Prejudice

A

Members of the majority group openly express their prejudicial attitude toward minority groups
explicit, conscious and deliberate

64
Q

Modern Prejudice

A

A more subtle, hidden and expressed in ways which are socially acceptable
implicit, unconscious and hidden

65
Q

Discrimination

A

Is the positive or negative behaviour toward members of a particular group that expresses the prejudiced attitude
Discrimination is the behaviour

66
Q

Direct Discrimination

A

When someone is treated unfavourably based on a personal characteristic

67
Q

Indirect Discrimination

A

When treating everybody the same way disadvantages someone because of a personal characteristic

68
Q

Compare Prejudice and Discrimination

A

Prejudice is an attitude whereas discrimination is the behaviour arising from a prejudice attitude

69
Q

Methods that May Reduce Prejudice

A

Intergroup Contact
Superordinate Goals
Quality of Status
Cognitive Interventions

70
Q

Intergroup Contact

A

Sustained Contact = contact between groups or individuals must be maintained over a period of time
The Contact Hypothesis = certain types of direct contact between groups can reduce prejudice. This leads to a re-evaluation of incorrect stereotypes
Mutual Interdependence = Rivalry and prejudice will reduce if groups are mutually dependent on one another. This leads to a breakdown in stereotypes

71
Q

Superordinate Goals

A

A goal that cannot be achieved by any one group alone and override other existing goals that a group may have
Valued by both groups

72
Q

Quality of Status

A

Status of a Group = the importance or standing of the group when compared to other groups
When status between groups is not equal, group members view other group member differently - often negatively
Reducing inequity between groups can reduce prejudice

73
Q

Cognitive Interventions

A

Involve challenging and therefore changing the way someone thinks about prejudice

74
Q

Devine (1989)

A

Proposed 3 steps in cognitive interventions to reducing the prejudiced attitudes of an individual

  1. The individual must decide that their prejudiced attitude is wrong
  2. They must hold to their non prejudiced beliefs and incorporate them into their sense of self
  3. The individual must suppress prejudice reactions from conscious awareness and deliberately replace them with non prejudiced responses
75
Q

Group

A

Two or more people who influence or have the potential to influence each other and who are working towards a common goal or have a common interest or purpose

76
Q

Collective/Aggregate

A

Two or more people who exert minimal influence on each other and do not interact with each other

77
Q

Status

A

The level or importance of a group member’s position in that group

  • real or imagined
  • relative (to other people) and fluid (can change)
  • formal or informal
78
Q

Power

A

Individual’s ability to control or strongly influence the thoughts, feelings and behaviours of another person or group

79
Q

Types of Power

A
Coercive
Expert
Informational
Legitimate
Referent
Reward
80
Q

Coercive Power

A

Ability to mediate and administer punishments

81
Q

Expert Power

A

Specialist knowledge or expertise

82
Q

Informational Power

A

has useful information that cannot be gained elsewhere

83
Q

Legitimate Power

A

has a right to prescribe behaviour for another

84
Q

Referent Power

A

try to identify with, or idolise a person perceived to have power

85
Q

Reward Power

A

Ability to give positive or remove negative consequences in response to certain behaviour

86
Q

Zimbardo’s Prison Experiment

A

Research suggested power, status and role expectations are powerful influence on group and individual behaviour

87
Q

Obedience

A

Occurs when we follow the commands of someone with authority or the rules or laws of our society

88
Q

Compliance

A

Involves changing your own behaviour in response to a request - it does not necessarily involve an authority figure

89
Q

Stanley Milgram Experiment

A
  • 40 male participants aged 20-50
  • aim = whether individuals would obey an authority figure who was instructing them to inflict pain on another person when they answered incorrectly on a memory task
  • all participants delivered an intense electric shock
  • of 40 participants, 65% administered the shocks to 450 volts (lethal shock), prior only thought that psychopathic minority would
  • they didnt enjoy it, but they did it
  • experiment is quite reliable
90
Q

Stigma

A

An entire social group is negatively evaluated by others (caused by stereotyping)

91
Q

List the factors that influence obedience

A

Social Proximity
Legitimacy of authority figure
Group Pressure

92
Q

Social Proximity

A

The closer the social contact between the participants and the authority figure, the high the obedience
eg. the closer the subject is to receiving the shocks, the less obedience

93
Q

Legitimacy of Authority Figure

A

The greater the status of the authority figure, the higher the obedience
Obedience linked to Obedience Power

94
Q

Group Pressure

A

People are far more likely to disobey if someone else can be seen to disobey also

95
Q

Conformity

A

Is the tendency to adjust one’s thoughts, feelings or behaviour to accommodate the standards of peers or groups

96
Q

Solomon Asch Study

A
  • participant and 5 confederates asked to match line to the standard
  • confederates answered incorrectly for the majority
  • 75 % agreed with the confederates’ responses at least once
  • all participants report feeling self-doubt about their opinion
  • all participants who conformed stated they were aware the answers were wrong but did not wish to cause conflict within the group

“the participants who did not conform said they felt conspicuous and crazy, like a misfit when they gave answers and disagreed with those of the rest of the group

97
Q

List the Factors Affecting Conformity

A
Normative Influence
Social Loafing
Deindividuation
Culture
Unanimity
Informational Influence
Group Size
98
Q

Normative Influence

A

Individuals’ tendency to ‘follow the pack’ and comply with social norms, so they will gain approval and fit in with other group members
- Social Norms
If individuals want to impress their group members, the likelihood of conformity increases

99
Q

Social Norm

A

Society’s unofficial rules and expectations regarding how we ought to act. Most people unconsciously follow them

100
Q

Social Loafing

A

The tendency for individuals to reduce their effort when working in a group compared with when they are working alone
- this is eliminated when max effort from individual members of a group is essential for the group goal to be attained

101
Q

Deindividuation

A

The loss of individuality or sense of anonymity that can occur in group situations

  • Anonymity in a group
  • Shift in Attention
102
Q

Anonymity in a group

A

When we feel ‘invisible’ in a large group, we may behave in ways that are ‘out of character’

103
Q

Shift in Attention

A

Individuals in a large group are more likely to focus on the behaviour of the group and are less likely to reflect on the appropriateness of their own actions

104
Q

Culture (Conformity)

A

Studies have shown that there is a higher rate of conformity in collectivist cultures (emphasis on uniformity and fitting in for the good of the wider group) compared to individualistic cultures (emphasis placed on individual goals and being independent from the larger group)

105
Q

Unanimity

A

Participants are more likely to conform if the group unanimously agreed on a particular response

106
Q

Informational Influence

A

Individuals are more likely to conform when they are uncertain. They may look to others who they perceive as more knowledgeable for guidance. Conformity is more likely when people feel incompetent or when the task at hand is difficult.

107
Q

Group Size

A

Asch’s results demonstrated that conformity increased with group size up to 4
4-9 = ideal
10-15 = decrease in conformity

108
Q

Pro-social Behaviour

A

Involves acts of helping behaviour that involve personal cost to the helper

  • intentional
  • the outcome benefits someone in some way
109
Q

List the Factors Influencing Helping Behaviour

A
  • Situational Factors (noticing the situation, interpreting the situation, taking responsibility for helping)
  • Social Factors (Reciprocity norm, Social responsibility norm)
  • Personal Factors (Empathy, Mood, Competence)
110
Q

Situational Factors

A

3 situational factors that influence helping behaviour involving the following (Latane and Darley)

  • Do we notice the situation?
  • Do we interpret the situation?
  • Are we prepared to take responsibility for helping a given situation?
111
Q

Noticing the Situation

A

Research has shown that when individuals are on their own, they are quicker to notice something different or unusual than when they are in a group
Noticing that someone is in need of help is the first step in making a helping response

112
Q

Interpreting the Situation

A

Often situations are ambiguous and this can make it difficult to judge whether or not a helping response is needed
Research shows that the less ambiguous the situation, the more likely that help will be given

113
Q

Taking Responsibility for helping

A

The presence of onlookers can influence an individual’s sense of responsibility to take action - perceiving others as equally or more responsible to help (diffusion of responsibility)
- Bystander Effect

114
Q

Bystander Effect

A

Individuals are less likely to assist individuals if other bystanders are present (or believed to be present)
The greater number of bystanders, the less likely one of them is to help

115
Q

Social Factors

A

Include ‘social norms’ - standards that govern what people should or should not do in different social situations

  • not always explicit/ unwritten rules
  • social norms are determined by our culture and our society
  • reciprocity norm
  • social responsibility norm
116
Q

Reciprocity Norm

A

An unwritten rule that we should give what we receive or expect to receive

  • prescribes that we should help others who help us
  • expectation is reasonable and socially acceptable
  • not giving help in return breaks the norm, especially if the help is given voluntarily and involving some sacrifice
117
Q

Social Responsibility Norm

A

Prescribes that we should help those who need help because it is our responsibility and duty to do so

  • we are more likely to help if we feel that the person is in need is not responsible for their hardship
  • we are less likely to help if we feel that the person in need is responsible in some way for their hardship
118
Q

Personal Factors

A

Whilst environmental factors (situational and social) can influence helping behaviour, the unique characteristics of an individual, including their past experiences and disposition, can also play a role in pro-social behaviour

  • Empathy
  • Mood
  • Competence
119
Q

Empathy

A

The ability to identify with and understand another person’s feelings or difficulties. We are more likely to help others if we feel empathy for them
- the more distressed a person is, the more distressed the bystanders become and more likely they are to help

120
Q

Mood

A

We are more likely to help a person in need if we are in a good mood
Being in a bad mood can increase OR decrease the likelihood of helping behaviour

121
Q

Competence

A

We are more likely to help someone if we feel that we have the skills and expertise required - intellectual and physical
- Direct Help / Indirect Help

122
Q

Attruism

A

A type of helping behaviour where the motive to help is totally selfless

123
Q

Influences on reluctance to help

A

Diffusion of Responsibility (Social Influence)
Audience Inhibition (Social Influence)
Cost-Benefit Analysis (Personal Factor)

124
Q

Diffusion of Responsibility

A

Is the belief that in a situation where help is required and others are present, one or more other people will or should take responsibility for helping

125
Q

Audience Inhibition

A

The presence of others at the scene provides an audience and this increases the chance of being embarrassed or feeling foolish - these aspects can inhibit someone from helping

126
Q

Cost Benefit Analysis

A

Involves the individual weighing up the personal and social costs of helping against the personal and social benefits
If the anticipated costs of helping outweigh the benefits, we are less likely to help