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PSYC 515 Psychological Science and the Environment > Topic 5 - The Power of the Situation & Topic 6 - Cognition: It's Not Easy Thinking Green > Flashcards

Topic 5 - The Power of the Situation & Topic 6 - Cognition: It's Not Easy Thinking Green Flashcards

1
Q

environment shapes behaviour

A

the total physical, social, political, and economic situation in which a person behaves is very powerful and often override internal influences on our behaviour

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2
Q

B = ƒ ( P , E )

A

behavior is a function of the interaction between the person and the person’s environment

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3
Q

contingencies

A

external forces that affect the behaviour of individuals in that particular situation

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4
Q

antecedents

A

cues that precede behaviour

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5
Q

consequences

A

outcomes that reward or punish

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6
Q

reinforcers

A

consequences that reward, strengthen or increase the likelihood of behaviour

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7
Q

punishment

A

consequences that decrease the probability of behaviour

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8
Q

intermittent reinforcement

A

occurs when the pleasant consequence happens only sometimes

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9
Q

behavioural extinction

A

the weakening of the behaviour

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10
Q

fixed ratio schedule

variable ratio schedule

A

X after occurrences n=Y

X or Y after occurrences n=Z

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11
Q

fixed interval schedule

variable interval schedule

A

X if occurrences n>0 within Y timeframe, Y = fixed

X if occurrences n>0 within Y timeframe, Y = varied

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12
Q

contingency trap

A

unsustainable behaviours where the immediate rewards are not in line with distant punishers

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13
Q

social dilemma

A

self-interest against what is best for the greater good

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14
Q

commons dilemma

A

occurs when individuals are tempted by personal benefits to overuse a shared resource

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15
Q

public goods dilemma

A

when they must decide whether to contribute to a pooled resource

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16
Q

habits

A

patterns of responding to particular stimuli, built through repeated association

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17
Q

social influence

A

behaviour is shaped by the behaviour, suggestions, requests, and reactions of others

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18
Q

modeling

A

watching and imitating what others do

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19
Q

reference groups

A

any group that people use as a point of comparison to form their own attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviours

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20
Q

conform

A

to behave as others behave

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21
Q

social norms

A

general guidelines about what sort of conduct is typical, expected, or correct in that situation

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22
Q

descriptive norm

A

a guideline about what most people typically do in a particular situation that varies across situations

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23
Q

injunctive norm

A

what the culture as a whole approves of as the appropriate way to behave

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24
Q

persuasion

A

the ultimate goal of persuasion is behaviour change

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25
credibility
the believability of information, resting largely on the trustworthiness and expertise of the information source or message
26
psychological reactance
a motivation to resist or rebel
27
compliance
changing one's behaviour due to the request or direction of another person
28
foot-in-the-door technique
people are more likely to comply with a request (that they might be tempted to refuse) when it is first preceded by a less costly request (that they almost certainly will not refuse)
29
cognitive dissonance
when we experience a contradiction between our behaviours and attitudes, or between our various behaviours
30
insufficient external justification
acting in a discrepant way that we must resort to other tactics to relieve our dissonance, such as to adjust our behaviour so as to bring the disparate elements back in line
31
counter-attitudinal advocacy
when individuals find themselves in a situation promoting a position that they do not hold
32
strategic self-presentation
attempt to control others' impressions
33
social comparison
evaluating ourselves against other people
34
relative deprivation
a feeling that we may have our needs met, but they could be met with more style or grandeur
35
relative social status
how we rank compared to others
36
Behavioral engineering
the intentional manipulation of contingencies that currently create or maintain specific behaviours to motivate new behaviours instead
37
antecedent strategies
behavioural engineering strategies that focus on the stimuli that signal behaviour
38
consequence strategies
behavioural engineering strategies that focus on the outcomes of behaviour
39
Antecedent Strategies: Information
Providing information about problems and behavioural solutions. This approach includes providing justification for why certain behaviours are desirable. It can also provide instructional details.
40
Antecedent Strategies: Prompt
a cue meant to trigger behaviour
41
Antecedent Strategies: Modeling
When attempting to influence others, demonstrating appropriate behaviour often leads to better retention and increased use of a new behaviour than simply describing when and how to perform desired behaviours
42
Consequence Strategies: Incentives
Use of extrinsic rewards for behaviors
43
extrinsic rewards
external benefits, such as money and social recognition
44
intrinsic rewards
just doing the behaviour can feel rewarding in and of itself, such as: feeling a sense of purpose developing competence making progress toward a goal
45
Consequence Strategies: Informational Feedback
Simply giving people feedback about what they have accomplished can be reinforcing
46
Consequence Strategies: Social Feedback
Engineered social feedback typically includes information that encourages people to make social comparisons between their own environmental behaviour and the behaviour of others.
47
single action bias
sometimes when people take a small first step, they stop there because just doing something is enough to alleviate the (punishing) worry that is motivating them
48
rebound effect
When the first behavioural change is a big one, people sometimes feel entitled to be less responsible in other domains
49
Self-control
occurs when one changes antecedent and consequent stimuli in order to change one’s own behaviour
50
cognition
the thought processes of the human brain
51
analytic system
conscious, deliberate, and analytic, such as consulting your memory for specific information, or choosing between two possible ideas
52
automatic system
happen automatically and without conscious effort, like seeing an image in the mind’s eye or feeling emotion
53
sensation
process in which the sensory organs transmit information to the brain
54
perception
interpreting sensory information by drawing on memories of past experience within the brain
55
sensory adaptation
Stimuli that do not change, or that change very slowly, quickly lose their ability to activate a response from our sensory neurons
56
Temporal discounting
Immediate needs and wants frequently override concerns about the future because humans value short-term circumstances more than those far away in time. It makes it unlikely that we will give something up today to alleviate long-term problems.
57
Affect
the automatic system’s spontaneous emotional response to every situation we encounter
58
psychological distance
the sense that a problem is far removed from the personal here and now
59
defence mechanisms
an unconscious psychological operation that functions to protect a person from anxiety-producing thoughts and feelings related to internal conflicts and outer stressors e.g. denial rationalization
60
emotion-focused coping
mental strategies to minimize negative emotions. may alleviate anxiety for a while, it leads to greater suffering in the long-term if it allows the underlying cause of discomfort to worsen
61
Problem-focused coping
a concerted effort to eliminate the source of discomfort
62
Mortality salience
awareness of the inevitability of one’s own demise
63
heuristics
shortcuts in the brain that allow it to come to a decision by ignoring all but a few pieces of information
64
availability heuristic
tendency to make a judgment based on what is effortlessly available in memory
65
priming
an unconscious activation of related concepts exposure to one stimulus influences a response to a subsequent stimulus, without conscious guidance or intention For example, the word NURSE is recognized more quickly following the word DOCTOR than following the word BREAD.
66
mental models
the simplified memory representations the brain holds for the things we think about
67
belief perseverance
the irrational drive to maintain cherished notions, even in the face of contradictory evidence
68
confirmation bias
the tendency to search for, interpret, favour, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or values
69
environmentalists
people who work to protect our communities and our natural resources from environmental issues
70
Stereotypes
a fixed, over generalized belief about a particular group or class of people
71
loss aversion
a heightened negative reaction to giving something up
72
framing
presenting information in ways that illuminate its relevance
73
charismatic megafauna
the large, best-known and most beloved wild animals
74
mindfulness
the awareness of where one’s mind is in the moment
75
Effectiveness knowledge
helps people aim for the most impactful behaviours, so that their conscious efforts are not misdirected
76
How-to knowledge
Knowing how to do something, and perhaps having a chance to practice
77
Systems knowledge
provides the larger picture behind our problems and reveals how seemingly separate issues are interconnected
78
green defaults
make sustainability the pre-set option unless people deliberately opt out

PSYC 515 Psychological Science and the Environment (10 decks)

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