Social Thinking

Question 1

actor-observer bias

Answer 1

people will see their own failures as caused by external factors while other people’s failures are caused by internal factors

Question 2

fundamental attribution error

Answer 2

putting too much emphasis on internal factors while ignoring environmental factors
ex: someone failed a test because they are stupid instead of knowing their parents are getting a divorce

Question 3

belief perseverance

Answer 3

people hold onto their beliefs even when there is strong evidence in the contrary

ex: holding onto your belief in santa even after he didn’t bring presents

Question 4

secure attachment

Answer 4

baby gets upset when parent leaves but can be reassured when parent returns

Question 5

avoidant attachment

Answer 5

no distress when a parent leaves but not comfort when they return

Question 6

ambivalent attachment

Answer 6

distressed upon separation, mixed response when parent returns

Question 7

disorganized attachment

Answer 7

erratic behavior and social withdrawal

Question 8

stereotype threat

Answer 8

when someone is notified about a stereotype which causes them to underperform/fulfill the stereotype

Question 9

stereotype boost

Answer 9

positive stereotypes improve performance

ex: telling an asian they are good at math before a math exam

Question 10

attribution theory

Answer 10

individuals tend to explain behavior as resulting from external or internal causes

Question 11

dispositional attribution

Answer 11

behavior caused by internal factors

Question 12

situational attribution

Answer 12

behavior caused by external factors

Question 13

informational influence

Answer 13

accept information from others as reality; comes into play when people don’t know what is really happening or what to think

Question 14

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Answer 14

basic needs > psychological needs > self-fulfillment needs

basic needs: physiological (food, water, warmth, rest), safety (security, safety)

psychological needs: belongingness and love, esteem needs (feeling prestigious, accomplished, productive)

self-fulfillment needs: self-actualization (achieve one’s potential)

Question 15

self-positivity bias

Answer 15

belief that you are immune to negative outcomes

Question 16

social cognitive theory

Answer 16

people learn through observing others

Question 17

vicarious learning

Answer 17

watching someone else engage in a behavior and the consequences associated with that behavior is a powerful method of learning

you can either replicate that behavior or avoid it

Question 18

overconfidence bias

Answer 18

occurs when someone believes they are better at something than they actually are

ex: believing you are more prepared for the MCAT, but really aren’t

Question 19

optimism bias

Answer 19

tendency of people to underestimate the probability that bad things will happen to them

Question 20

difference between optimism bias and self-positivity bias

Answer 20

they are roughly the same thing. Both underestimate the likelihood of adverse events impacting them
self-positivity focuses on negative outcomes that can happen (getting sick)

optimism bias focuses on the bad things that can occur to them (car accident, cancer)

Question 21

cognitive biases

Answer 21

irrational thought processes that commonly occur and result in illogical conclusions

Question 22

confirmation bias

Answer 22

person pays attention to evidence that supports their point, while ignoring evidence against it

Question 23

anchoring bias

Answer 23

an over-reliance on an initial piece of information when making decisions

Question 24

hindsight bias

Answer 24

looking back on an event and thinking “I knew all along”

believing something was so predictable

ex: me looking back and just knowing that the baby’s name was going to be lily

Question 25

heuristics

Answer 25

mental shortcut we use to make quick decisions

ex: used for problem solving; working backwards or breaking up a task into steps

Question 26

representative heuristic

Answer 26

faulty way of thinking where you stereotype a person based on their demographic or occupation

ex: looking at a big burly dude with tattoos and thinking he must be a criminal when he is actually a librarian

Question 27

available heuristics

Answer 27

way of thinking based on what first comes to mind

ex: you just read about shark attacks so now you think they are more common than they actually are

Question 28

algorithm

Answer 28

way to problem solve

ex: instruction manual

Question 29

mere exposure effect

Answer 29

the more you are around something, the more you like something

ex: you like the beach more when you live by the beach than when you live in Texas

Question 30

imitation of reference group

Answer 30

you compare your beliefs and behaviors to a reference group and often modify your beliefs and behaviors to follow the reference group

ex: when someone dies by suicide and is well publicized, individuals who are thinking about dying by suicide might follow suite because they follow after the reference group

Question 31

mass hysteria

Answer 31

phenomenon that transmits collective illusions of threats, whether real or imaginary, through a population and society as a result of rumors and fear

ex: those videos where someone drops everything and starts running in the opposite direction and everyone follows suite would be an example of mass hysteria because they are alluding to a threat

Question 32

cognitive neoassociation model

Answer 32

more likely to act aggressive when experiencing negative emotion - aka tired, hungry, angry, or in pain

Question 33

consistency cue

Answer 33

consistent behavior of a person over time

the more regular the behavior, the more we associate that behavior with a person

ex: I close my door and open my laptop because I am studying –> my housemates know that around 6pm is when I do this –> consistent behavior vs it is 6pm and I’m not studying, my housemates will see this as a difference

Question 34

consensus cues

Answer 34

relate to the extent to which a person’s behavior differs from others

ex: everyone laughing at a comedian is high consensus vs only Ryan laughing at the comedian is a low consensus
- we aren’t all in agreement with the behavior

Question 35

distinctiveness cues

Answer 35

extent to which a person engages in similar behavior across a series of scenarios

ex: I usually have a calm demeanor and then in one situation I become very angry –> people will form a situational attribution to explain it

Question 36

correspondent inference theory

Answer 36

when an individual unexpectedly performs a behavior that helps or hurts us, we tend to explain the behavior by dispositional attribution –> will correlate these actions with a person’s behavior

Question 37

attribute substitution

Answer 37

when people substitute simpler solutions and apply heuristics to explain complex situations –> however, often lead to incorrect answers

ex: will simplify a question about volumetric spheres in a cube to instead calculate a circle in a square which will give you a widely inaccurate answer