Theories Flashcards
Reinforcement Theory
Verplank, Pavlov, Thorndike, Hull, Skinner behavior is motivated by anticipated reward
Role Theory
people are aware of the social roles they are expected to fill and much of their observable behavior can be attributed to adobting those roles
Consistency theories
people prefer consistency, if there is inconsistency, people will try and resolve it
Fritz Heider’s Balance Theory
three elements are related: person whom we’re talking about P, some other person O, and another thing, idea, or some other person X - balance will exist if there are one or three positives
Leon Festinger’s Cognitive Dissonance Theory
Behavior that conflicts with an attitude may result in changing one’s attitude so that it is consistent
- If a person is pressured to say or do something contrary to his or her privately held attitudes there will be a tendency for him or her to change those attitudes
- The greater the pressure to comply, the less this attitude change. Ultimately, attitude change generally occurs when the behavior is induced with minimum pressure.
Daryl Bem’s self-perception theory
people infer what their attitudes are based upon observation of their own behavior
Leon Festinger’s Social Comparison Theory
we are drawn to affiliate because of a tendency to evaluate ourselves in relationship to other people
- People prefer to evaluate themselves by objective, nonsocial means. However when this is not possible, people evaluate their opinions and abilities by comparing them to those of other people.
- The less the smiliarity between two people, the less the tendency to make these comparisons.
- When a discrepancy exists, there is at endency to chagne one’s position to move it in line with the group.
Gain-Loss Principle
evaluation that changes will have more of an impact
Social Exchange Theory
People attempt to maximize rewards and minimize costs when making affiliation/attraction decisions
Equity Theory
We consider not only our own costs and benefits of social exchanges but the costs and rewards of the other person. We prefer our ratio of costs to rewards be equal to the other person’s ratio
Mere Exposure Hypothesis
repeated exposure to a stimulus leads to enhanced liking for it
Batson’s Empathy-Altruism Model
Situations in which others may need help, people might feel distress and/or empathy, either can determine helping behavior – empathy stays.
Attribution Theory
individuals infer the causes of other people’s behavior, Heider: dispositional causes and situational causes
Fundamental Attribution Error
general bias towards dispositional causes
Halo Effect
allow a general impression to influence otehr more specific evalautions about a person
Gender Schematic Processing Theory
Martin and Halverson, as soon as children are able to label themselves, they concentrate on those gender behaviors paying less attention to opposite gender behaviors
Kohlber’s Self-Socialization Theory
Gender Labeling, Gender Stability, and Gender Consistency
Kohlberg’s Morality Stages
Preconventional - right/wrong, punishment and obedience, reciprocity/instrumental
Conventional - looking for approval, law and order
Post Conventional - social contract, greater good, universal ethics
Heinz Dilemma
Ainsworth’s Attachment Types
Type A - Avoidant -same with strangers and parents
Type C - Resistant, resists stranger attached to parents, resistant upon return
Type B - Secure
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Sensorimotor
Preoperational - understands object permanence
Concrete Operational - understands conservation
Formal Operational - like a scientist
Stages of Fetus
Zygote, Germinal Period, Embryonic Period - increases in size by 2 million percent, Fetal period - electrical activity in the fetus brain
Law of specific Nerve Energies
Johannes Muller, each sensory nerve is excited by only one kind of energy, sensation depends more on the part of hte brain that nerves stimulate than on the particular stimulus that activates them
Weber’s Law
mathematical expression of Weber’s discovery about just noticeable differences, states that the change in stimulus intensity needed to produce divded by the stimulus intensity of the standard stimulus is constant, fits data except at very low and very high intensitites
Fechner’s law
relationship between intensity of sensation and intesnity of the stimulus, derived from Weber’s law, sensation increases more slowly as intensity increases
