Test 1 Flashcards
What is social psychology?
Social psychology is the scientific stdy of the feelings, thoughts, and behaviours expressed in the presence of others
How was the field of social psychology developed?
Social psychology began via classic experiments which gave rise to the concepts outlined in this course (ex: Milgram = obedience, Asch = conformity, etc.)
Who is the founder of social psychology?
The founder of social psychology is Kurt Lewin, a physicist who applied physics to social psychology
How did Kurt Lewin look at social situations using a physics-lens?
Kurt Lewin analyzed social interactions by looking at the forces between the situation and the person
He emphasized the importance of external factors (the situation) and internal factors (the person)
What 2 research methods are most common in social psychology?
- Experimental
- Correlation
What are the characteristics of an experimental study?
Experimental studies require lots of manipulation and control
What are the characteristics of a correlational study?
Correlational studies do not require manipulation/control, but instead chart the strength/direction of a relation, allowing for prediction
What is the benefit to taking an experimental approach?
Experimental studies can determine cause/effect but correlational studies cannot
What are the two requirements for research to be considered trustworthy?
- Reliability
- Validity
What is reliability
Reliability = consistency
Two people can conduct the same study and get the same results
What is validity?
Validity = the study is measuring what it is supposed to measure
There is no 3rd variable that is influencing the results
Is it possible for a test to be reliable, but not valid?
Yes
Ex: IQ tests (reliable, but they measure academic achievement, not intelligence per se)
What cultural orientations are there?
- Individualistic cultural orientation (independent)
- Collectivistic cultural orientation (inter-dependent)
What are the characteristics of an individualistic culture?
Individualistic cultures (typically Western) emphasize the self/the individual:
- Self-determination (person controls their own life)
- Indivdual’s goals/desires take precedence
-Very competitive and legalistic
- Only caring about oneself
- Concerned with gender equality
What are the characteristics of a collectivistic culture?
Collectivistic cultures (typically Eastern) emphasize the group/the collective:
- The group’s needs are prioritized
- Individual’s goals/desires are set aside for the good of the group
- Tradition-oriented/ritualistic (ex: multigenerational families)
- Gender prescriptive (roles for men, roles for women, no overlap)
What is the social self?
The social self asks who am I and how do I define myself?
Includes the self concept and the self-identity
What is the self-concept?
Self-concept = how you think about yourself
Ex: I see myself as a kind person
What is the self-identity?
Self-identity = how you identify yourself (things that make you unique from others)
Ex: I identify as a Christian
How did the concept of schema originate?
Sceme was originally a memory concept/structure in memory research
Specifically, it was a hypothetical cognitive structure (since if you looked at a brain, you couldn’t see schema)
How is schema a memory structure?
Schema is a memory structure because it encompasses how information is stored in long-term memory (information is sorted then stored in schemas)
What are schemas made up of exactly?
Schemas are comprised of assumptions we have about people/places/things, usually built from previous experiences with them
They are integrated frameworks of knowledge (knowledge structures)
Why are schemas important?
Schemas are important because they affect how we encode/retrieve information. We usually have an easier time encoding information that agrees with our schemas, but a hard time encoding information that disagrees with them.
What is the self-schema?
The self-schema is an overriding schema, similar to the self-concept, which contains all the information you have about yourself (memories, beliefs, feelings, etc.). It is a filter and decides what comes in/goes out of your schema
What socialization agents affect the development of the self?
Socialization agents (people/surroundings that have socialized you in a particular way) are parents, peers, teachers, social media
How is your cultural/gender self influenced by your community?
Individualistic and collectivistic cultures have different ideas about gender. Men are often seen as more individualistic (concerned with oneself), while women are seen as being more collectivistic (concerned with the group). Also, individualistic vs collectivistic cultures expect different roles for different genders
What is social comparison theory?
Social comparison theory is a theory created by Leon Festinger which believes that since there is no objective standard/guide for determining if we are “doing well” in life, people actively seeke out information to try to get an accurate of their own standing (by comparing themselves to other people)
What are the two types of social comparison?
- Downward social comparison
- Upward social comparison
What is downward social comparison?
Downward social comparison is comparing ourseves to someone who is less skilled/successful than us to make us feel better about ourselves/improve our self-esteem
What is upward social comparison?
Upward social comparison is comparing ourseves to someone who is more skilled/successful than us to motivate ourselves to work harder
What is self-esteem?
Self-esteem is an evaluative concept used by us to evaluate ourselves. It is related to the self-concept and refers to our overall positive/negative evaluation of how we feel about ourselves.
What is self-efficacy?
Self-efficacy is related to self-esteem and it refers to how confident you are in your own abilities to effectively perform actions and overcome challenges.
If you believe you are capable of doing something, you are more likely to try to do it
What are mastery experiences?
Mastery experiences are when you set small, meaningful goal and achieve them. When this happens, your self-efficacy improves (you grow more confident in your own abilities).
What is the locus of control?
Locus of control refers to where you believe the control in your life lies.
If you have an internal locus of control, it means you think you are mostly in control, responsible for your success/failure, and you generally have higher self-esteem
If you have an external locus of control, it means you think chance/luck is mostly responsible for your success/failure, and you generally have lower self-esteem
What are contingencies of self-worth?
Contingencies of self-worth are beliefs your self-esteem is dependent on, like your successes/failures in a specific area
Ex: being an academic and passing/failing an exam
What is the sociometer hypothesis?
The sociometer hypothesis believes self-esteem is an internal subjective index (scale decided by YOU) of the extent to which you are accepted socially
- Believes that when we have thriving social relationships, we tend to have higher self-essteem (the reverse is true for interpersonal problems + low self-esteem)
** Our self-esteem reflects how socially accepted or rejected we feel.
What is self-enhancement?
Self-enhancement is done to protect ourselves and our self-esteem, usually through self-affirmation theory and overconfidence bias
What is self-affirmation theory?
Self-affirmation theory says that when we experience failure in one area of our lives, we reassure ourselves (and protect our self-esteem) by affirming a valued aspect of ourselves unrelated to the threat
Ex: I failed my exam, but at least I’m a great dancer
What is overconfidence bias?
Overconfidence bias (or the better-than-average effect) is the phenomenon whereby most people think that they are slightly better than average regarding skills, personality traits, etc.
Ex: 90% of people think they are better than 50% of drivers
What is self-verification theory?
Self-verification theory refers to how people try to verify self-evaluations by surrounding themselves with people who will affirm them
- People seek out information and experiences that confirm how they already see themselves, whether it’s positive or negative.
** Confirmation bias
Ex: Even though Sarah’s friends constantly praise her intelligence and kindness, she seeks out situations where she receives criticism or feedback that aligns with her belief that she’s not good enough, as it confirms her negative self-concept
What is self-discrepancy theory?
Self-discrepancy theory is the belief that behaviour is motivated by standards reflecting our ideal self and our actual self
Essentially, it evaluates whether or not you are living up to your own standards
Large discrepancy suggests that you have self-esteem problems, while small discrepancies suggest you have healthy self-esteem
What are the 6 ways to improve self-esteem?
- Recognize that you control your self-image
- Don’t lets other set standards for you
- Recognize unrealistic goals
- Modify negative self-talk
- Emphasize your strengths
- Work to improve yourself
What is social cognition?
Social cognition refers to how we think/process social information (how we interpret, analyze, remember, and use social information about the social world)
How is social information processed using social cognition?
Processing via social cognition is automatic and unintentional
It is not always logical/rational, therefore not accurate (affected by emotions/feelings)
Why is social cognition limited?
Social cognition is limited because there are limits to our cognitive ability/what we can remember. Reducing the load (using mental shortcuts) means we lose accuracy
What are the 3 basic processes that explain how schemas and social cognition are related?
- They affect our attention
- They affect our encoding
- They affect our retrieval
How do social cognition and schemas affect our attention?
We tend to notice information related to existing schemas, and informaton inconsistent with our schemas tends to be ignored/discounted
How do social cognition and schemas affect our encoding?
We tend to encode info that agrees with our schemas. If something happens that contradicts/is opposite to our old schemas, we either update our schemas or make new ones
How do social cognition and schemas affect our retrieval?
We tend to recall information more easily if it is consistent with our schemas. Information that is inconsistent with our schemas doesn’t generally affect recall (unless it exists in a separate schema file)
What are the advantages of using schemas?
- Schemas reduce cognitive effort
- Schemas can be used in times of stress to reduce the need to think/make life easier
What are the disadvantages of using schemas?
- Schemas lead to distortions (are inaccurate)
- Actions linger after they are no longer needed due to the perseverance effect (schemas remain even once they have been disproven)
Why are there schema distortions?
Schema distortions exist because of the ambiguous nature of social information (sometimes what is right and what is wrong is unclear)
What are the common schema distortions?
- Pluralistic ignorance
- Self-fulfilling prophecy
- Ideological distortions
- Confirmation bias
What is pluralistic ignorance?
Pluralistic ignorance refers to the misperception of a group norm. Essentially, we behave in a way we are morally opposed to because others are doing it.
- Groupthink
Ex: gangs, peer pressure, fraternities, etc.
What is self-fulfilling prophecy?
Self-fulfilling prophecy refers to the phenomenon whereby people behave in a certain way because they are expecting a certain outcome, and end up bringing about that outcome.
Ex: You think you are going to a fail a test, so you don’t study and end up failing
What is the Rosenthal experiment?
In the Rosenthal experiment, teachers were told that certain students in their class were “academic bloomers” or had the potential for significant intellectual growth, based on the results of a bogus test. They began to treat these students differently, providing them with more attention, encouragement, and opportunities for learning. The results of the experiment showed that the students who were labeled as “academic bloomers” experienced greater intellectual growth compared to their peers.
What are ideological distortions?
Ideological distortions are a result of misleading secondhand information. People who transmit news information often have an agenda; they control the narrative (what information is spread/supressed)
- Biased view of reality because of misleading sources
What is confirmation bias?
Confirmation bias involves testing a proposition by searching for evidence that supports it (only looking for evidence that supports our original idea)
What are framing effects?
Framing effects refer to how the sequence/wording (frame) of a message can influence how we interpret the information?
What are the 2 main framing effects?
- Primacy (information given at the beginning tends to influence people more than the information that follows)
- Recency (information given at the end tends to influence people more than the information that follows)
What are the two perceptions for processing information?
- Bottom-up
- Top-down
What is bottom-up processing?
Bottom-up processing is used when encountering new simuli (beginning at the bottom/foundation and working our way up)
What is top-down processing?
Top-down processing is used when we have past experience/expectations (beginning at the top, working our way down to where the foundation was originally built)
- What is the perfect format for the schema question?*
- Explain how schema was originally a memory concept/hypothetical memory structure for classifying information
- Explain what the self-schema is (including origin, socialization agents, and how it relates to the gender/culture social self)
- Explain perception/info-processing (its advantages/disadvantages, and at least two of the following: self-fulfilling prophecy, pluralistic ignorance, ideological distortions, confirmation bias)
What are heuristics?
Heuristics are unconscious mental shortcuts/simple rules that we have for making complicated decisions
- Automatic shortcuts to reduce cognitive overload
What are the 2 kinds of heuristics?
- Representative heuristics
- Availability heuristics
What are representative heuristics?
Representative heuristics refer to making a judgement about a person based on the rule that the more alike one person is to a typical person of anothergroup, the more likely it is that they too are a member of this group (judgement based on similarity)
Ex: People who read a lot must be librarians because I know that librarians read a lot
What are availability heuristics?
Availability heuristics refer to believing things to be more/less important depending on how quickly they come to mind (judgement is influenced by dramatic events)
Ex: Dying in a plane crash must be very common since I have seen news reports about it
Where do we go wrong with representative heuristics?
Ignoring base rate information (the relative occurence/actual population statistics)
Ex: When John assumes that all people who play video games are teenagers, ignoring the fact that many adults also play video games, he may overlook potential customers for his video game store, leading to missed opportunities for sales.
Where do we go wrong with availability heuristics?
Overestimating the importance of things based on dramatic events
Ex: When Claire concludes that airplane travel is extremely dangerous because she vividly remembers news stories about plane crashes, despite statistical evidence showing that driving a car is statistically riskier, she is misusing availability heuristics.
What is social/causal attribution?
Causal attribution is a set of concepts explaining how people try to attribute causes to the behaviour of others in order to understand it
What are the 2 kinds of causal attribution?
- Dispositional (internal)
- Situational (external)
What is dispositional attribution?
Dispositional attribution involves assuming the cause of someone’s behaviour is internal/because of who they are
What is situational attribution?
Situational attribution involves assuming the cause of someone’s behaviour is external/because of their environment
What are co-variation principles?
Co-variation principles are used to assess if something is situational/dispositional
Seeks to understand what other things are going on that might influence the behaviour
What are the three co-variation principles?
- Consensus
- Distinctiveness
- Consistency
What is consensus?
Consensus refers to the extent to which other people behave in the same way in a similar situation.
When consensus is high = External
When consensus is low = Internal
Ex: If everybody in the audience is laughing, the consensus is high. If only Tom is laughing, the consensus is low.
What is distinctiveness?
Distinctiveness refers to the extent to which the person behaves in the same way in similar situations.
When distinctiveness is high = external/situational
When distinctiveness is low = internal/dispositional
Ex: If Tom only laughs at this comedian, the distinctiveness is high. If Tom laughs at everything, then distinctiveness is low.
What is consistency?
Consistency refers to the extent to which the person behaves like this every time the situation occurs
When consistency is high = Internal
When consistency is low = External
Ex: If Tom always laughs at this comedian, the consistency is high. If Tom rarely laughs at this comedian, then consistency is low.
According to co-variation principles, when do we make a situational attribution?
We make a situational attribution when consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency are all high
According to co-variation principles, when do we make a dispositional attribution?
We make a situational attribution when consensus and distinctiveness are low, but consistency is high
What is imaginary thinking?
Imaginary thinking refers to the tendency for individuals to attribute causes to events or outcomes based on hypothetical or imagined scenarios rather than factual evidence or logical reasoning
- People making shit up
What are the two errors related to imaginary thinking?
- Discounting principle
- Augmentation principle
What is the discounting principle?
The discounting principle is when people are less likely to see one specific cause as important if there are other possible causes for the same behavior or outcome.
Ex: Frank got promoted at work, and while his hard work played a big role, his colleagues also think he got the promotion because his boss is his cousin.
Explanation: The discounting principle suggests that because there’s another possible cause for Frank’s promotion (his boss being his cousin), people may downplay the significance of his hard work in achieving it. This overlooks the individual’s efforts and abilities, leading to unfair or inaccurate attributions of causality.
What is the augmentation principle?
The augmentation principle means that if a situation has multiple possible causes, people are more likely to focus on and give importance to one cause if other causes are also present.
Ex: When a student receives an A on a test despite not studying, the teacher may attribute the grade to the student’s natural intelligence, discounting the possibility that the student cheated.
Explanation: The augmentation principle can be problematic because it overlooks other possible causes for behavior, leading to inaccurate conclusions. In the example, attributing the grade solely to the student’s intelligence might overlook the possibility of cheating.
What errors/biases affect the accuracy of causal attribution?
- Self-serving bias
- Fundamental attribution error
What is self-serving bias?
Self-serving bias is a bias concerning success/failure. It refers to the tendency of people to attribute success to their own abilities, but attribute failure to the situation
Ex: If I pass a test, it’s because I’m awesome. If I fail a test, it’s because the class is really hard
What is fundamental attribution error?
Fundamental attribution error is a bias concerning how we view other people’s behaviour. It refers to the tendency to attribute other people’s behaviour to their disposition/character and fail to recognize the situational/contextual influences
Ex: Thinking that if a penguin slips and falls down, they must be clumsy (instead of considering that the ice might be slippery)
- What is the perfect format for the causal attribution question *
- Definition of causal attribution (idea that we are always trying to attribute a case to the actions of others)
- Identify two types of causal attribution and define them both (situational attribution = environmental/external; dispositional attirbution = personal/internal)
- Introduce concept of co-variation principles and define them each (consensus = what most people would do in a given situation; distinctiveness = what an individiual would do in different situations; consistency = what an individual does in a given situation on different occassions)
- Explain how co-variation principles pair together to make situational/dispositional attributions (situational = high, high, high; dispositional = low, low, high)
- Introduce and define imaginary thinking (discounting principle = decreasing the importance of one potential cause in favour of another one; augmentation principle = increasing the importance of one potential cause over all the others)
- Introduce errors/biases (self-serving bias = if I do something great, I’m great, if I do something bad, it was because of my circumstances; fundamental attribution error = if someone does something, positive or negative, it is because of the person they are, not their circumstances)
