social psychology Flashcards
What are causal attributions?
Inferences about the causes of one’s own behaviors and the behaviors of others.
What are the two types of causal attributions?
- Internal (dispositional)
- External (situational)
What is an optimistic explanatory style?
Attributing negative outcomes to external, unstable, and specific factors.
What is a pessimistic explanatory style?
Attributing negative outcomes to internal, stable, and global factors.
What is the fundamental attribution error?
The tendency to overestimate dispositional factors and underestimate situational factors in others’ behaviors.
How does culture affect the fundamental attribution error?
North Americans make more dispositional attributions, while Asian Indians make more situational attributions.
What is the actor-observer effect?
The tendency to attribute our own behaviors to situational factors and others’ behaviors to dispositional factors.
What is the self-serving bias?
Attributing our own desirable behaviors to dispositional factors and undesirable behaviors to situational factors.
What is the ultimate attribution error?
Attributing in-group negative behaviors to situational factors and out-group negative behaviors to dispositional factors.
What does the group attribution error describe?
Attributing individual group member’s beliefs and decisions to the group as a whole.
What are the two versions of the group attribution error?
- Belief that an individual group member’s beliefs reflect the group
- Belief that group decisions reflect the decisions of each individual member
What is Kelley’s covariation model?
A model proposing that attributions about behavior are based on consensus, consistency, and distinctiveness.
What does ‘consensus’ refer to in Kelley’s covariation model?
Whether others would behave the same way in the same situation.
What does ‘consistency’ refer to in Kelley’s covariation model?
Whether the person usually acts this way in this type of situation.
What does ‘distinctiveness’ refer to in Kelley’s covariation model?
Whether the person usually behaves differently in other situations.
When are external attributions likely to be made according to Kelley’s model?
When consensus, consistency, and distinctiveness are all high.
When are internal attributions likely to be made according to Kelley’s model?
When consensus is low, consistency is high, and distinctiveness is low.
What are the two types of cognitive processing distinguished in social cognition?
Automatic processing and controlled processing
Automatic processing is fast and efficient, while controlled processing is slower and effortful.
What is the confirmation bias?
The tendency to seek and pay attention to information that confirms our attitudes and beliefs and ignore information that refutes them
This bias is related to self-verification theory, which predicts individuals seek feedback that confirms their self-concepts.
What does illusory correlation refer to?
Overestimating the relationship between two variables that are not related or only slightly related
An example includes overestimating behaviors consistent with negative stereotypes of minority groups.
Define the base rate fallacy.
The tendency to ignore or underuse base rate information and be influenced by distinctive case features
Juries often rely more on anecdotal evidence than on base-rate information.
What is the false consensus effect?
The tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our opinions, values, and beliefs
It affects judgments in various situations, such as estimating others’ performance on a test.
What is the gambler’s fallacy?
The belief that a particular chance event is affected by previous events and will ‘even out’ in the short run
An example is believing the next coin toss will be tails after several heads.
What does counterfactual thinking involve?
Imagining what might have happened but didn’t, often involving better or worse outcomes
It is more likely when the outcome is personally significant.
What is illusory control?
The belief that one can influence events outside their control
Examples include superstitious behaviors like blowing on dice or choosing ‘lucky’ lottery numbers.
Define the spotlight effect.
The belief that more people take note of one’s actions and appearance than is actually the case
It is especially common in individuals with social anxiety.
What is the illusion of transparency?
Overestimating the extent to which others can discern one’s internal thoughts and feelings
This occurs when individuals believe others can detect their emotional reactions.
What is the hindsight bias?
The tendency to believe one could have predicted an event after it occurs, also known as the ‘knew-it-all-along’ effect
It affects how people remember their pre-event predictions.
Define the sunk-cost fallacy.
The tendency to continue investing resources in an endeavor despite it not producing desired outcomes
This is also known as the Concorde fallacy, where the British and French governments continued funding the Concorde project.
What are heuristics?
Mental shortcuts that provide quick estimates about the likelihood of uncertain events.
What are the three types of heuristics distinguished by Kahneman and Tversky?
Representativeness, availability, and anchoring and adjustment.
What does the representativeness heuristic involve?
Ignoring base rates and other important information, focusing on how much an event resembles a prototype.
What is the conjunction fallacy?
When people estimate that the odds of two uncertain events happening together are greater than the odds of either event happening alone.
In the Linda problem, which statement did most students choose?
Linda is a bank teller and is active in the feminist movement.
Why did students exhibit the conjunction fallacy in the Linda problem?
They relied on the representativeness of Linda’s description rather than on logic or probability.
What does the availability heuristic involve?
Basing judgments about the frequency of an event on how easy it is to recall relevant examples.
Give an example of the availability heuristic.
Overestimating the frequency of deaths due to shark attacks and plane crashes.
What is the anchoring and adjustment heuristic?
Estimating the frequency of an event by starting with a starting point and making adjustments.
Provide an example of the anchoring and adjustment heuristic.
Negotiating the price of a used bicycle at a garage sale.
What does the simulation heuristic involve?
Judging the likelihood of an event based on how easily it can be imagined happening.
How does the simulation heuristic affect emotional reactions?
Events that are easily imagined being undone lead to more extreme emotional reactions.
What is counterfactual thinking?
Imagining alternative actions or events that would have led to different outcomes.
In the airport scenario, who did subjects think would feel worse about missing the flight?
The man who missed the flight by only 5 minutes.
Fill in the blank: The representativeness heuristic can lead to _______.
Conjunction fallacy.
True or False: The availability heuristic can lead to accurate judgments if the recalled examples are representative.
True.
What is the relationship between attitudes and behaviors according to early research?
A weak relationship was found.
What affects the strength of the relationship between attitudes and behavior?
Conditions such as strength, accessibility, and specificity of attitudes.
When are attitudes better predictors of behaviors?
When a person’s attitude is strong.
What enhances attitudinal strength?
When the attitude is derived from direct experience and is relevant to self-interests.
How does accessibility of an attitude influence behavior prediction?
Easily accessible attitudes predict behavior better.
What increases the likelihood that an attitude predicts behavior?
When a person is well-informed or has been repeatedly asked about it.
What is the significance of specificity in attitudes and behaviors?
The link is stronger when attitudes and behaviors are at the same level of specificity.
What is the Theory of Planned Behavior?
A framework where intention to perform a behavior is the best predictor of that behavior.
What three factors determine a person’s behavior intention in the Theory of Planned Behavior?
- Person’s attitude toward the behavior
- Subjective norms
- Perceived behavior control
What does the Prototype/Willingness Model predict?
Health-related risk behaviors through reasoned and social reaction paths.
What is the reasoned path in the Prototype/Willingness Model?
It results from a person’s behavior intention.
What influences the willingness to engage in a behavior according to the Prototype/Willingness Model?
The perceived acceptability of the behavior and the person’s prototype.
What does the Health Belief Model identify?
Beliefs, attitudes, and factors predicting engagement in behavior to reduce disorder risk.
What are the components of the Health Belief Model?
- Perceived susceptibility
- Perceived severity
- Perceived benefits
- Perceived barriers
- Self-efficacy
- Cues to action
What does perceived susceptibility refer to?
A person’s perception of their likelihood of developing a disorder.
What is perceived severity in the Health Belief Model?
A person’s perception of the seriousness of the consequences of developing a disorder.
What are perceived benefits?
Beliefs about the likelihood that taking action will reduce vulnerability to the disorder.
What are perceived barriers?
Beliefs about the material and psychological costs of taking action.
What does self-efficacy refer to?
A person’s confidence in their ability to take action.
What are cues to action?
Factors that motivate the person to act.
True or False: The Health Belief Model suggests that targeting certain factors can increase willingness to engage in health-related behavior.
True
What are the two routes of processing in the Elaboration Likelihood Model?
Central route and peripheral route
The central route involves thoughtful evaluation, while the peripheral route involves automatic evaluation.
In the Elaboration Likelihood Model, when is the central route most likely to be used?
When the message is personally relevant, the person has cognitive ability, and/or is in a neutral or bad mood
This route leads to strong and enduring attitude change.
What factors influence attitude change through the peripheral route?
Peripheral cues such as source, message, and recipient factors
Examples include communicator’s attractiveness and message length.
What is the latitude of acceptance in Social Judgment Theory?
Positions the person finds acceptable because they are similar to their own position
This represents the degree of similarity that influences acceptance.
According to Social Judgment Theory, what happens to latitudes when ego-involvement increases?
Latitudes of acceptance and noncommitment become smaller, and latitude of rejection becomes larger
This indicates a stronger resistance to opposing views.
What is the focus of Heider’s Balance Theory?
The relationships among a person (P), another person (O), and an attitude object or event (X)
It assesses whether these relationships are balanced or unbalanced.
What motivates people to establish balance in Balance Theory?
A sense of discomfort caused by unbalanced states
People seek to resolve inconsistencies in their attitudes toward others and objects.
What is cognitive dissonance according to Festinger’s theory?
A state of mental discomfort due to inconsistency between cognitions or between cognition and behavior
This discomfort motivates individuals to relieve the dissonance.