Social Perception Flashcards
What is social perception
The study of how we form impressions of and make inferences about other people
Nonverbal communication
The way in which people communicate, intentionally or unintentionally without words; like nonverbal cues include facial expressions, tone of voice, gestures, body position and movement, the use of touch and gaze
WHat does it mean to encode
To express or emit nonverbal behaviour such as smiling or patting someone on the back
What does it mean todecode
To interpret the meaning of the nonverbal behaviour other people express, such as deciding that a pat
Are emotions universal?
For the most part yes, the Big 6 emotion: anger, happiness, surprise, fear, disgust, and sadness
What are affect blends
Facial expressions in which one part of the face registers one emotion while another one registers another emotion
What are display rules
Culturally determined rules about which nonverbal behaviour are appropriate to display
What are emblems
Nonverbal gestures that have well understood definitions within a given culture, they usually have direct verbal translations, (eg OK sign and nodding and thumbs up)
What is thin slicing
This is drawing meaningful conclusions about anothr person’s personality or skills based on an extremely brief sample of behvaiour
What is the primacy effect
when it comes to forming, impresisons the first traits we perceive in others influence how we view information that we learn about them later. Additionally we tend to use our schemas to associate traits with other traits
What is belief perserverance
The tendency to stick with an initial judgement even in the face of new information that should prompt us to reconsider.
Why are first impressions long lasting?
Primacy effect and belief perseverance and schemas
Who did study on primacy effect
Soloman Asch on the experiment that described two people in the same words but in different orders
What is attribution theory
This is the study of how we infer the causes of other people’s behaviours; a description of the way in which people explain teh causes of their behaviour and other people’s behaviour
Internal vs external attribution
Attributing the cause of a behaviour due to internal causes such as personality, attitude or character VS due to external situation or circumstances
What is the covariation model by Kelley
We gather data and come to a attribution conclusion: use of consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency data
What is consensus information
Informaiton about the extent to which other people behave the same way toward the same stimulus as the actor does
Distinctiveness information
Information about the extenet to which one particular actor behaves int eh same way to different stimuli
Consistency informaiton
Information about the extent to which the behaviour between one actor and one stimulus is the same across time and circumstances
high in consistency but low in consensus and distinctiveness
Most likely internal attributio
all three (consensus, distinctiveness, consistency) are high
Most likely to make external attribution
Consistency is low?
Not very clear whether external or internal
Do people always follow the covariation model to make attributions?
Studies show that people dont rely on consensus information as much , also when not all the information is available
Fundamental Attribution error
The tendency to overestimate the extent to which other people;s behvaiour is due to itnernal, dispositional factors and to underestimate the role of situational factors.
What is the study that showed the fundamental attribution error
The study with the essay about fidel castro
Why do we tend to fall into the fundamental attribution error
Perceptual salience of the people and not the situation
Perpetual salience
The seeming importance of information that is the focus of people’s attention
What is the two step attribution process
Analyzing another person’s behaviour first by making an automatic internal attribution and only then thinking about possible situational reasons for the behaviour, after which one may adjust the original internal attribution
Why do epople not tend to make the adjustment in the second step after the interal attribution
Because the first step is unconscious while the second step requires more effort and attention
When do we make the second step in the two step attribution theory
1) if we are cognitively alert and motivated to make as accurate a judgement as possible
2) we are suspicious about the behaviour of the target person
3) We consciously slow down and think carefully before reaching a judgement
What are self serving attribution
Explantions for one; successes that credit internal, dispositional factors and explanations for one’s failures that blame external, situational factors
What is the bias blind spot
The tendency to think that other people are more susceptible to attributional biases in their thinking than we are
Analytical vs holistic thinking style
Focus on the properties of an object rather than the situation surrounding the object VS the opposite
