Social Psychology Flashcards
What are attitudes made of?
Belief
Value
What is belief?
Based on knowledge of the world and link object to an attribute.
Non-evaluative
Objective
What is value?
Relate to importance/desirability of object.
Subjective.
What are the three components of attitude according to the three component model?
Affective - how the person feels about the object
Cognitive - thoughts, knowledge about the object
Behavioural - actual/intended response to object
What are the functions of attitude according to Katz?
Knowledge - simplify world
Value exxpressive - reflect self-concepts (e.g. vegetarianism)
Social adjustment - social acceptance
Ego-defensive - protects character
What does self-perception theory about attitudes say?
That self-report of attitude after a behaviour is an inference of one’s own behaviour and context.
What can we use to measure attitudes?
Thurstone scale Likert scale Sociometry Scalograms (Guttman) Osgood's semantic differential scale
Explain how the Thurstone scale works
Hundreds of statements produced
Presented to judges who score statements on 11-oint scale
Set number of statements chosen based on consistent scaling
Subject then chooses which statement he agrees with
Explain how Likert scale works
Includes graded agree to disagree measures
Explain how sociometry scale works
Used to measure interpersonal attitudes in grid-like fashion (sociograms)
Explain how scalograms work
Include cumulative statements where accepting a statement means accepting all below the statement in a step-wise fasion
Explain how Osgood’s semantic differential scale works
Used to measure verbally expressed attitudes.
Allows different attitudes about a topic to be measured on one scale.
7-point scale
What does actual behaviour depend upon?
Perceived consequences
Social desirability
Habitual behaviours
Situational factors
What do we use to develop our self-concept?
Reaction of others (theory of looking glass self - Cooley)
Comparison with others
Social roles we play
Identification with role models
At what age do children show self-recognition?
20 months
What famous experiment shows self-recognition in children?
Touching the dot (touching the dot on ones face rather than in the mirror)
At what age does autobiographical memory develop?
3.5-4.5 years
Who developed the naive/common sense psychology?
Heider (1958)
What does the common sense psychology state?
People try to under stand others behaviours by piecing together information until they arrive at a reasonable explanation
What does Kelly’s co-variation model state?
We attribute behaviours to events that co-vary with those behaviours over time.
What are the three factors one must take into account when measuring the validity of inference in attribution?
Consensus - is it everyone or just the person we are looking at
Distinctiveness - does the person behave this way to other events as well or only this event?
Consistency - does the person behave this way to this event every time?
What is suggested if consensus is low?
Dispositional attribution is made - it is the person specifically
What is suggested if consistency is low?
Situational attribution is made - there is something in the context rather specifically in the person.
Who developed the systematic attributional theory?
Weiner
What does the systematic attributional theory state?
Three dimensions in process of attributions:
Locus (external/internal)
Stability (transient/permanent)
Controllability
What types of attribution bis occur?
Fundamental attribution error/correspondence bias Actor-observer effect Self-serving bias Just world hypothesis False consensus effect
What is the correspondence bias?
Overestimating dispositional factors and not situational factors while attributing cause of other’s behaviour.
Allows sense of predictability about the person.
What is the actor-observer effect?
When one is involved as an agent in a specific behaviour and attributes external causality to the behaviour.
Others who observe may invoke internal causality.
What is self-serving bias?
Offers self-enhancement and defense for behaviours.
What is the just world hypothesis?
The idea that everyone gets what they deserves.
What is the false consensus effect?
Tendency to view other person’s behaviour as representative of a group’s behaviour
What type of attribution bias leads to blame-the-victim culture e.g. bad things happen to bad people?
Just world hypothesis
Who does the first impression effect work best on?
Strangers
What is the Halo effect?
Tendency to perceive others as wholly good or bad based on few observed traits.
What is the Barnum/Forer effect?
The predisposition to believe that general, vague personality descriptions have specific relevance to individuals.
What is the Hawthorne effect?
Short-term improvement caused by observing worker performance.
What is the Pygmalion/Rosenthal effect?
Form of self-fulfilling prophecy - where students with poor expectations from teachers internalize this label and perform poorly (and vice versa).
At what age does theory of mind develop?
3.5-4.5 years
What are first-order false belief tasks?
These tasks relate to the understanding that other people can have their own thoughts about a situation
At what age do first-order false belief tasks occur?
4 years of age
What are second-order false belief tasks?
Tasks which relate to the understanding that other people can have their own thoughts about a third person’s state of mind.
At what age do children develop second-order false belief tasks?
6 years of age.
Where in the brain is theory of mind thought to be held?
Amygdala
Orbitofrontal cortex
Inferior parietal and medial frontal cortex
What does the SVR theory suggest?
Relationships proceed from stimulus to values to role stage.
Types of love?
Companionate
Passionate
Consummate
Fatuous
What is companionate love?
Intimacy & commitment
Passion not high
What is passionate love?
Intimate & passionate
Not much commitment
What is consummate love?
Intimacy, passion and commitment all mixed
What is fatuous love?
Passion and commitment
No intimacy
What are the functions of language?
Ideational - to interpret experience
Interpersonal - communicate thoughts and experience
Textual - to organise message with language
What are the terms for the study of sound structure?
Phonology
Morphology
What does syntax mean?
Study of sentence structure
What is pragmatics in linguistics?
Study of connection of context to meaning
What is semiotics?
Study of signs and symbols in relation to their form and context
What is the Whorfian hypothesos/Sapir-Whorf linguistic relativity hypothesis?
It states that the semantics of a language can affect the way a speaker perceives the world.
What is linguistic determinism?
Same as Whorfian hypothesis
What is the low ball tactic in persuasive communication?
Hiding disadvantages initially, only revealing them once agreement is reached
What is the ingratiation effect?
Eliciting likeableness in persuasive communication
What type of arguments result in behaviour change?
Two-sided
Moderately fear-inducing
Feeling vulnerable
Credibility of perceived message
Define propaganda
Mass suggestion/influence via emotional manipulation of an individual
What is groupthink?
The desire to agree with other members can override rational judgement
What are the bases of social power?
Reward - give positive/remove negative consequences
Coercive - punish those who do not conform
Legitimate - that someone has the right
Referent - through association with others who have power
Expert
Information - based on controlling information
What are the types of leadership?
Autocratic
Democratic
Laissez-Faire
What is autocratic leadership?
Leaders decision-making occurs without consultation from others.
What is Laissez-faire leadership?
Leaders involvement in decision-making is minimal.
Components of prejudice
Cognitive - stereotypes
Affective - hostility
Behavioural
Theories of prejudice
Adorno's authoritatian personality theory Scapegoating theory Relative deprivation theory Realistic conflict theory Social identity theory
What does Adorno’s authoritarian personality theory state?
Difficult upbringing and disciplinarian childhood may lead to projection of difficulties and generalised prejudice.
What is the scapegoating theory?
Related to frustration-agression model of Dollard.
In extreme frustration when source is too powerful, we may displace aggression to a soft target/scapegoat.
What is relative deprivation theory in prejudice?
Relative deprivation: discrepancy between actual attainment and societal expectations.
Acute change in relative deprivation can cause unrest and scapegoating.
What is the realistic conflict theory in prejudice?
Mere suggestion of competition is enough to trigger prejudice.
What is social identity theory in prejudice?
Individual’s positive self-image depends on personal and social identities. Thus, each person tries to improve his groups success which leads to prejudice against other groups.
How can we reduce prejudice?
Blue eyes and brown eyes experiment (Elliott) Contact hypothesis (Allport)
What is the blue eyes and brown eyes experiment?
Prejudice exhibited by a person could be lesser if they have experienced prejudice themselves.
What is the contact hypothesis?
When contact occurs between opposite group members of equal status and goals, this can reduce prejudice.
Types of aggression
Hostile Instrumental Positive Pathological Overt Covert
What is hostile aggression?
Aimed at hurting others
What is instrumental aggression?
Used as means to an end.
What is pathological aggression?
Violent for the sake of being violent
What is the type of aggression displayed when one needs to express negative feelings
Hostile
What can theories of aggression be divided into
Hydraulic/build up models
Non-hydraulic models
What theories of aggression come under the hydraulic model?
Psychoanalysis
Evolutionary
Territorial imperative
Explain the psychoanalysis theory of aggression
Human aggression is due to the death instinct, Thanatos.
What is Thanatos?
An instinctive, biological destructive death related urge that gradually builds up in everyone and must be released at some point.
What is the evolutionary theory of aggression?
Via natural selection, aggression ensures survival of genes - survival of fittest.
What is the territorial imperative theory of aggression? (Lorenz)
Aggression is a fixed action pattern elicited by specific sign stimuli.
Animal aggression = territorial imperative
Human = constructive.
What do non-hydraulic models of aggression suggest?
Refute the notion of ‘building up’ or ‘release.’
What theories come under the non-hydraulic model of aggression?
Genetic theory Social learning theory Frustration-aggression hypothesis (Dollard) Aggressive cue theory (Berkowitz) Generalised arousal theory Festinger's deindividuation theory
What is vicarious conditioning?
Type of observational learning where learning is influenced by seeing/hearing about the consequences of anothers behaviour.
What does the frustration-aggression hypothesis state?
That frustration always results in aggression. Thus, aggression will not occur if a person is not frustrated.
What is the aggressive cue theory (Berkowitz)?
Frustration produces a readiness to respond aggressively; cues in the environment will then lead a frustration person to be aggressive.
What is the generalised arousal theory?
Arousal from one source may energise some other response - transferred excitation.
What is Festinger’s deindividuation theory on aggression?
People in groups act uncharacteristically more aggressive due to sense of identity and belong and diffusion of responsibility.
What is prosocial behaviour?
Any action intended to help others.
What is the Genovese effect?
Bystander apathy - in a crowd people are less likely to help another.
What is pluralistic ignorance?
When members of a crowd look to each other for signs of distress but remain calm themselves, leading to misappraisal of situation being safe and therefore no action needed.
What is it called when someone does not help another person because they assume someone else would have helped?
Dissolution of responsibility
What is Ringelmann’s effect?
Social loafing - The larger a group, the less the individual performance as one thinks others will do the job.
What is felt stigma?
The shame felt by the patients secondary to the fear of discovery and subsequent discrimination.
Who proposed different leadership types?
Lewin
Which leadership type leads to higher productivity?
Laissez-faire
Which leadership type has low low levels of task completion?
Laissez-faire
What is the Pygmalion effect?
Rosenthal effect
Who created the concept of cognitive distortions?
Festinger
Who developed the sociogram?
Moreno
