social psychology Flashcards
what is attribution?
-how we make judgements about the causes of behavior
-both our own and others behavior
what are the 2 types of attribution and define them?
-dispositional: behavior due to internal factors (ex. personality, intelligence)
-situational: behavior due to external factors (ex. environmental setting, distractions, circumstance)
what are the 6 attributional errors discussed in lecture?
-correspondence bias
-fundamental attribution error
-actor-observer bias
-self-serving bias
-group-serving bias
-just-world belief
what is correspondence bias?
general tendency to overestimate dispositional factors and underestimate situational factors
what is fundamental attribution error?
-similar to correspondence bias
-FAE somewhat earlier theory
-complete failure to consider situational factors; reliance on disposition factors
what is actor-observer bias?
-emphasizes dispositional factors to explain behavior of others
-emphasizes situational factors to explain own behavior
what is self-serving bias?
-attribute our own successes to dispositional factors
-attribute our own failures to situational factors
what is group-serving bias?
-attributions made by a group or organization
-attribute group’s successes to dispositional factors
-attribute groups failures to situational factors
what is just-world belief?
-assume that good things happen to good people
assume that bad things happen to bad people
what are attitudes?
favorable or unfavorable evaluations that predispose behavior toward a person, object, or situation
what question does attitude formation ask?
where do our attitudes come from?
where do our attitudes come from?
-attitude adoption as social inclusion
-learning: operant and classical conditioning; observational learning
-genetic influences
what is attitude change?
-influence of cognitive dissonance (festinger)
-uncomfortable cognitive state due to perception of contradictory information
-action does not match beliefs
what is the elaboration likelihood model (ELM)?
-explanation for response to persuasive messages
what is belief perseverance?
the tendency to cling to one’s initial belief even after receiving new information that contradicts or disconfirms the basis of that belief
what is the backfire effect?
given evidence against their beliefs, people can reject the evidence and believe even more strongly
what is prejudice?
attitude or prejudgment about others, usually negative
what are stereotypes?
simplified sets of traits associated with group membership
what is the influence of confirmation bias?
we search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms our preexisting beliefs and hypotheses
what is the process of stereotyping?
-arises from our tendency to categorize and generalize
-stereotyped categories can contain accurate information, BUT become inaccurate by oversimplifying, exclusion of information
what is in-group favoritism?
-says we tend to favor people in our own group
-says we tend to view people in an out-group negatively
What was the Robbers Cave Experiment (Sherif)?
-assigned boys to 2 groups at summer camp: rattlers and eagles
Tasks were:
1. groups separated at first; in-group bonding
2. competitive events between groups
3. integration, social activites
4. required cooperation (superordinate goals)
-Results: groups showed a lot of in-group favoritism and some even wanted to figt those in other group
What does the Implicit Association Test (IAT) test for?
-tests unconscious attitudes
What is stereotype threat?
-feeling of being at risk of conforming to stereotypes about your social group
-priming of stereotype information
-“im aware theres a stereotype out there about ___, knowledge of that leads to self-fulfilling prophecy (negative)
what are social norms and the types?
-rules for behavior in social settings
-2 types implicit and explicit
-explicit ex: no smoking indoors
-implicit ex. ‘bless you’ when someone sneezes
what is conformity?
matching behavior and appearance to perceived social norms
what is compliance ?
agreement to requests from others wit no perceived authority
what is obedience?
compliance to requests from authority figures
Why do people conform?
-useful in new or ambiguous situations
-reduces risk of social rejection
what are 2 compliance techniques?
-foot-in-the-door: a small request is followed by compliance with a larger request that might otherwise have been rejected
-door-in-the-face: (2nd)compliance with a target request is preceded by a large, unreasonable request (1st)
what is deindividuation?
immersion of individual withing group, leading to anonymity
what is dehumanization?
depriving a person or group of positive human qualities
what is social facilitation?
the presence of others changes individual performance
On average, what occurs with social facilitation and why?
-on familiar or simple tasks: better performance
-on unfamiliar or complex tasks: worse performance
-why? heightened arousal for complex tasks : link to Yerkes-Dodson Law
what is social loafing?
lower effort and motivation when working in a group vs. working alone
-ex. working on group class assignments
–less social loafing if task is found intrinsically enjoyable
what is group polarization?
during discussion, members tend to take more extreme positions in direction they were already inclined to old
-why?
–conformity
–like-minded people tend to affiliate with one another
what is group think?
group does not question its decisions critically;often leads to flawed decisions
-ex. pearl harbor
what are the symptoms of groupthink (janis)?
-unquestioned belief in the morality of the group; causing members to ignore the consequences of their actions
-rationalizing warnings that might challenge the group’s assumptions
-stereotyping those who are opposed to the group
-self-censorship of ideas that deviate from apparent groups consensus
-illusions of unanimity among group members; silence viewed as agreement
what are the 2 routes according to the elaboration likelihood model?
-central route
-peripheral route
what is the central route?
consider arguments carefully and thoughtfully
-quality of argument
what is the peripheral route?
- evaluation shortcuts
-number of arguments; how message is presented; characteristics of speaker
-requires less attention
attitude change in response to our own cognitive processes is?
reduction of cognitive dissonance
what is cognitive dissonance?
the state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, especially as relating to behavioral decisions and attitude change.
attitude change in response to efforts from others is?
persuasion
what does the implicit association test avoid?
social desirability effects
