unit 2 area of study 1

Question 1

social cognition

Answer 1

relates to the way we behave in social settings and how we interpret the behaviours of others

Question 2

what does social cognition involve?

Answer 2

• detection of facial expressions and emotional responses (social perception)
• understanding other people’s cognitive and emotional states (social understanding)
• carrying out behaviours that consider goals and needs of ourselves and others (social decision-making)

Question 3

person perception

Answer 3

process by which people think about, appraise and evaluate other people

Question 4

components that contribute to person perception

Answer 4

• physical cues … person’s physical appearance, facial expressions and overall demeanour acts as signals that allow us to draw conclusions
• saliency detection … noticing features that are unique
• social categorisation … grouping individuals based of perceived social category they belong to (sex, race age)

Question 5

what is attribution?

Answer 5

process of attaching meaning to behaviour by looking for a cause.
internal attributions - factors within a person that shape behaviour
external attributions - factors around a person that shape behaviour (location, ppl around them)

Question 6

what are attitudes?

Answer 6

are learned ideas we hold about ourselves, others, objects and experiences.

Question 7

what are the tricomponents of attitudes?

Answer 7

Affective component - feelings, emotions towards…
Behaviour component - actions towards …
Cognitive components - belief about …

Question 8

what are the limitations of the model?

Question 9

cognitive dissonance

Answer 9

individuals act in a way that is inconsistent with their attitudes or perception of themselves eg- thinking animal cruelty is bad but eating meat

Question 10

5 types of cognitive dissonance

Answer 10

actor-observer- own behaviours=external/others behaviours= internal
anchoring bias - relying on first piece of info to make decisions
attentional bias - focus on particular stimuli whilst ignoring others
confirmation bias - looking for info that supports own views
halo effect - positive evaluation influences beliefs and expectations

Question 11

elements of classical conditioning

Answer 11

neutral stimulus - does not naturally cause reflex (bell)
unconditioned stimulus - naturally causes reflex (food)
unconditioned response - reflex that occurs to stimulus (salvitation)
conditioned stimulus - causes reflex through association to unst (bell)
conditioned response - stimulus in absence of unst (salvitation)

Question 12

what is the role of learner in classical conditioning

Answer 12

passive with an automatic response

Question 13

what are the three phases of operant conditioning

Answer 13

antecedent - any stimulus that precedes a behaviour
behaviour - the response that is displayed after antecedent
consequences - stimulus that occurs after behaviour and affects likelihood of recurrence

Question 14

types of consequences

Answer 14

reinforcement - increases likelihood
punishment - decreases likelihood

Question 15

types of reinforcement

Answer 15

positive- strengthens response by adding desirable consequence
negative- strengths response by removing of undesired stimulus

Question 16

types of punishment

Answer 16

positive - weakens response by adding unpleasant consequence
negative- removal of pleasant stimulus

Question 17

what is the role of learner in operant conditioning

Answer 17

active and behaviours are complex

Question 18

what are heuristics

Answer 18

mental shortcuts used for quicker, more efficient decisions

Question 19

why are heuristics beneficial?

Answer 19

• they reduce cognitive load required for decision-making
  -make snap judgement that save time and mental effort
  -simplify complex info
  -direct attention towards questions, probable outcomes and answers

Question 20

what is availability heuristics?

Answer 20

info we first think of to make judgement. readily available or easy to imagine. recent, vivid, frequent or emotional significance.

Question 21

representative heuristics?

Answer 21

estimate likelihood of something occurring or being true based on it’s similarity. biased or inaccurate

Question 22

affect heuristics?

Answer 22

influenced by current emotional state or mood. occurs quickly and efficiently. judgements about words, images, objects because of emotional response they prompt

Question 23

what is observational learning

Answer 23

someone uses observations of another person’s actions and their consequence to guide their future actions

Question 24

5 stages of observational learning

Answer 24

attention- actively watching model’s behaviour/consequences
retention- retain mental representation of behaviour for future use
reproduction- learner must have physical/mental capacity to reproduce behaviour
motivation- must have desire to perform behaviour
reinforcement- consequence influences learner’s likelihood of reproducing

Question 25

def of prejudice

Answer 25

negative preconceived notion, leads to discrimination

Question 26

def of discrimination

Answer 26

action of prejudice or treating other's in an unfair matter

Question 27

direct vs indirect discrimination

Answer 27

direct- treating person/group less favourably indirect- rule/policy has unfair effect on particular group

Question 28

social groups def

Answer 28

formed when two or more people interact, influence each other and share a common objective

Question 29

status meaning

Answer 29

position in hierarchy

Question 30

5 types of social power

Answer 30

reward- rewarding someone who complies coercive- punish someone who doesn't comply legitimate- acceptance of person as being part of social order referent- looking up to this person expert- recognise person has knowledge

Question 31

obedience def

Answer 31

change in behaviour in response to direct commands from others

Question 32

types of culture

Answer 32

collectivist cultures- value group needs over interest of individual needs, priorities loyalty to the group individualist cultures- values individual interest over group interest, independent and encourages development of personal identity

Question 33

factors affecting obedience

Answer 33

social proximity- distance between people (physical/relationship) legitimacy of authority- visible signs of authority (uniform) group pressure- group support authority figure

Question 34

conformity def

Answer 34

individuals change behaviour as result of real or implied pressure

Question 35

factors affecting conformity

Answer 35

normative influence- likelihood to conform is established by behaviour of group informative influence- looking at other's behaviour to guide us in whether we should behave in a similar way unanimity- more likely to conform when others do group size- conformity increases as group expands deindividuation- in large group can lead us to act in a way we wouldn't alone

Question 36

what is group think?

Answer 36

members of a group prioritise the strong bonds over clear decision making

Question 37

ways to reduce group think

Answer 37

-leader doesn't share opinions about topic before group starts work -consider consequences of decisions -at least one member plays 'devil's advocate' at meetings that allow group to evaluate progress

Question 38

group shift

Answer 38

group polarisation, tendency for group members to adopt a more extreme position than their individual position. can move towards risky behaviour (risky shift) or away from risky behaviour (cautious shift)

Question 39

causes of group shift

Answer 39

-tendency to evaluate or compare ourselves to other's influences our self image and our wellbeing

Question 40

social connection

Answer 40

belief that we belong to a group, generally feel close to other people. strong social connections are beneficial on our mental health

Question 41

types of social comparison

Answer 41

upward social comparison- compare ourselves to people we see as superior downward social comparison- compare ourselves to people we see as inferior lateral social comparison- we compare to our equals

Question 42

8 symptoms of group think

Answer 42

invulnerability- feeling unable to be harmed rationale- reasoning for a course of action morality- distinguishing between right or wrong stereotypes- over-simplified views about a particular group pressure- coercion self-censorship- remaining quiet to avoid criticism unanimity- expecting agreement by all mind guards- filtering out negative info

Question 43

independence meaning

Answer 43

individual is aware of how the group expects them to behave or respond but their decision making is not swayed in anyway by expectations of the group

Question 44

anti-conformity

Answer 44

deliberate refusal to comply with social norms. desire to be stubborn or rebellious