Social Psychology Flashcards
Midterm
What is the definition of social psychology?
The scientific study of the way in which people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people ~ the reasons why people act the way they do in social settings, how others impact you surrounded by a group, self-interpretation of how we should act around other people, social norms, power to change our minds.
What is fundamental attribution error?
the tendency to overestimate the extent to which people’s behavior is due to their own personality traits and to underestimate the power of social influence ~ first 60 seconds, last long time, quicker to attribute something to an individual (character trait) and not to the situation they are in.
What is naive realism?
most people believe that they perceive things accurately ~ “as they really are”
If someone does not see it the way that you do, you think they are wrong, and you should educate them
What is an example of self-fulfilling prophesy? (Which of the following)
you have an idea/initial belief/thought/concept (something is happening in your mind) Ex. you hang out with your good friend and they say someone is an asshole, when that person comes over, you automatically give her this cold shoulder, then she tells you something rude and you think your friend was right.
~initial belief changed your behavior that led to a series of events that confirmed your original belief (which may or may not have been true)
What are two Basic human motives that influence the way we construe the world?
Hunger, fear, need for control, rewards, and love
What is the take away from the Wall Street Game?
the nature of how people are competitive can change just upon the name of the game (different settings)
What is social influence? (Which of the following)
the effect that the words, actions, or mere presence of other people has on our thoughts, feelings, attitudes, or behaviors ~ sometimes our behaviors change when people try to convince us and sometimes, we are influenced by the presence of others like charity, or reading the room, or mob mentality
What are some advantage of using experiments in social psychology?
Allows researchers to study behaviors that are more difficult to observe, can often apply results to larger samples of population, random selection - everyone in the population has an equal chance of being selected for the sample
Which research method is best used to determine if one variable causes another, random selection to different conditions and ensure conditions are identical except for the independent variable
experimental
Which research method is best used for systematically recording measurements or impressions of a behavior while people watching?
observational
Which research method is best used for predicting one variable on another?
correlational
How do researchers come up with/formulate their theories and hypotheses?
inspo from earlier theories and research, dissatisfaction with current answers to problems, personal experiences or observations “people watching”
Does correlation equal causation?
NO
What is internal validity (which of the following)
making sure everything stays the same but the IV
What is external validity (which of the following)
the extent to which the results of an experiment can be generalized to other situations and to other people.
What is the availability heuristic? (Which of the following)
basing a judgement on how easily something comes to mind - sending something back to the kitchen is often thought of as rude
What is the representative heuristic? (Which of the following)
people classify something according to how similar it is to a typical case - Joe has blond hair, like surfing, the beach, and has a deep tan - think he lives in CA
What are judgement heuristics?
mental shortcuts people use to make judgements quickly and efficiently
What is social cognition?
how people think about themselves and the social world; more specifically, how people select, interpret, remember, and use social information to make judgement and decisions ~ how we process info and make decisions
Horoscopes and the Barnum effect
tendency for people to believe that vague personality descriptions uniquely apply to them
What is counter-factual thinking?
mentally changing some aspect of the past as a way of imagining what might have been ~ protect ego so don’t feel too bad about it brain protects us - if only I would have gotten that one question or etc. If they won game 1 they would have won the world series
What is controlled thinking?
thinking that is conscious, intentional, voluntary, and effortful. Think about one complex think at a time.
What is automatic thinking?
thinking that is unconscious, unintentional, involuntary, and effortless ~ first impressions, automatic goal pursuit - priming church give more charity
What are the components of schemas?
mental structures people use to organize their knowledge about the social world around themes or subjects and that influence the information people notice, think about, and remember. Used in everything - people (personality types), gender, events, political party, social roles, etc.
Accessibility - the extent to which schemas and concepts are at the forefront of people’s minds and are therefore likely to be used when making judgements about the social world.
