UNIT 2 EXAM TERMS Flashcards
Robbers cave experiment
groups can be manipulated to hate each other
milgrams obedience experiment
ordinary people without hostility or evil intent will compromise their morals to obey an authority figure
attribution
how we explain another person’s behavior
situational attribution
explaining behavior as a consequence of the current context and circumstances
dispositional attributions
explaining behavior as a consequence of the person’s stable, enduring traits
self serving bias
we attribute our successes to dispositional variables and our failures to situational variables
actor-observer bias
we use situational variables to explain our own behavior while using dispositional behavior to explain the behavior of others
stanford prison experiment
situational factors shape how others behave
fundamental attribution error
tendency to overestimate the influence of personal characteristics and underestimate the influence of the situation
just-world belief
assumptions that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people
attitudes
positive or negative feelings, influenced by beliefs, that predispose our reactions to objects, people, and events
foot in the door phenomenon
tendency to agree to a big request if youve already agreed to a small request
cognitive dissonance
uncomfortable state that occurs when behavior and attitudes dont match
persuasion
influencing one’s actions by changing their attitudes
peripheral rout
uses attention grabbing cues to trigger speedy emotion based judgements
central route
offers evidence and arguments that trigger careful thinking
social norms
rules for expected and accepted behavior
social contagion
natural tendency for humans to mirror each other
conformity
adjusting our behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard
obedience
adjusting our behavior to comply with a demand issued by an authority figure
normative social influence
influence resulting from a person’s desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval
informational social influence
influence resulting from a person’s willingness to accept others opinions of reality
groupthink
the desire for harmony in a decision making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives
social facilitation
in the presence of others, improved performance on simple or weal learned tasks, and worsened performance on difficult tasks
deindividuation
the loss of self awareness and self restraint occurring in group situation that foster arousal and anonymity
social loafing
the tendency for people to exert less effort when working with a group
discrimination
unjustifiable negative behavior towards a group
prejudice
an unjustifiable and negative attitude toward a group
ingroup bias
tendency to favor our own ingroup
scapegoat theory
theory that prejudice offers an outlet by providing someone to blame
availability heuristic
tendency to overestimate the frequency of an event by how readily it comes to mind
health psychology
the application of psychological principles to promote health and well being
biopsychosocial model
a model of health that integrates the effect of biological, psychological, and social factors to understand health and illness
biological
genetic predisposition, exposure to microbes, brain and other nervous system development
psychological
stress and coping strategies, health benefits
social
cultural influences, family relationships, social supports.
stress
process by which we percieve and respond to events that we appraise as threatening
catastrophes
large scale disasterss
significant life changes
leaving home, death of a loved one, transitions
daily hassles and social stress
acute and repetitive instances of stress
general adaptation syndrome
a consistent pattern of responses to stress that consists of three stages
alarm stage
activation of the sympathetic nervous system to prepare for flight/fight
resistance stage
when stressors are prolonged, attempt to adapt and cope as best as possible
exhaustion stage
if stressors are severe and last long enough, reserves are depleted
sympathetic adrenal-medullary (SAM) system
hormones: epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine.
short lived arousal responses
hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis
hormone: cortisol
long erm responses associated with chronic stress
direct effect of stress on health
chronic stress associated with disease
indirect effect of stress on health
coping strategies such as smoking, drinking, drugs, and poor eating.
type A
competitive, achievement oriented, aggressive, hostile, restless, impatient with others, unable to relax
type B
noncompetitive, relaxed, easygoing, and accommodating
problem-focused coping
a response to stress designed to address specific problems by finding solutions.
emotion focused coping
a response to stress that targets negative emotions arising from a situation
relationship focuesed coping
a response to stress designed to maintain and protect social relationships
positive psychology
emphasizes normal behavior and human strengths
PERMA model
Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishment
faith factor
phenomenon of religious activity being highly correlated with longer life
core idea
our intellectual progression reflects an unceasing struggle to make sense of our experiences
schemas
frameworks for organizing and interpreting information
(updating schema) Assimilation
interpretation new experiences in the context of our existing schemas
(updating schema)
Accommodation
adapting our current schemas to incorporate new information
4 stages of cognitive development
Jean Piaget
Sensorimotor stage
(0-2 years) infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities
preoperational stage
(2-6/7 years)
child learns to use language but doesnt comprehend mental operations of concrete logic
concrete operational stage
(7-11 yrs)
children gain mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events
formal operational stage
(12-dead)
people think logically about abstract concepts
theory of mind
understanding of others’s mental states, feelings, perceptions, thoughts
attachment
emotional tie with others, children seeking closeness to caregivers
secure attachment
infants play happily and explore surrounding in mother’s presence. become distressed when she leaves
insecure attachment
infants do not explore, cling to mother, cry loudly when she leaves and stay upset or seem indifferent to her departure
anxious attachment
constantly craving acceptance but remaining vigilant to signs of rejection
avoidant attachment
people experience discomfort getting to close to others and maintain distance
adolescence
transitional period from childhood to adulthood
hyelin
fatty tissue that forms around axons to enable faster neurotransmission and better communication between brain regions
Levels of moral thinking
Kohlberg
pre-conventional morality
before age 9. Self interest, obey rules to avoid punishment
conventional morality
early adolescence. uphold laws and rules to gain social approval or maintain social order
postconventional morality
adolescence and beyond. actions reflect belief in basic rights and self defined ethical principles
moral intuitions
emotional reactions
moral reasoning
logical approach to judgements
proximity
geographical nearness, friendships most powerful predictor
mere exposure effect
repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases our liking for them
physical attractiveness
physical appearance drives first impressions more than sincerity, intelligence, personality
similarity
friends/couples are more likely to share attitudes, beliefs, interests, age, religion, race, education, intelligence, etc.
Triangular Model of love
Sternberg. close relationships vary along dimensions of intimacy, passion, and commitment
intimacy
closeness or bonding, sharing personal facts and moments of life
passion
arousal and romance, infatuation directed toward a particular person, physically-driven
commitment
promise that you make to yourself to maintain the relationship over time
romantic love
intimacy + passion; without commitment, this type of love fades quickly
companionate love
intimacy + commitment; deep friendships or family relationships
fatuous love
passion+commitment; intense relationship in which insufficient times has passed for the development of intimacy
consummate love
intimacy+passion+commitment
identity vs role confusion
refine a sense of self by testing roles and integrating them to form a single identity (teens into 20’s)
intimacy vs isolation
form close relationships or feel socially isolated (20-40)
generatively vs stagnation
discover a sense of contributing to the world (40-60s)
integrity vs despair
reflecting on lives, may feel a sense of satisfaction or failure (60-up)
equity
both partners receive in proportion to what they give
self disclosure
revealing intimate details about oneself
positive support
considerate communication; postive interactions
parenting styles
described as a combination of how responsive and demanding parents are
authoritarian parenting style
coercive; impose rules and expect obedience. (children develop fewer social skills and lower self esteem)
permissive parenting style
unrestraining, make few demands, set few limits, use little punishment. (children are aggressive and immature)
neglectful parenting style
uninvolved, neither demanding or responsive. (children have poor academic and social outcomes)
authoritative parenting style
confrontative, demanding and responsive, exert control by setting rules but encourage open discussion and allow exceptions (children develop with highest results)
compensatory mechanisms
reorganization or neural networks to maintain performance in the face of neural decline
reminiscence bump
better recollection of events that occur during teens/twenties
personality
an individuals’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting
self
the center of the personality, organizer of our thoughts, feelings, actions
psychodynamic theories
theories that view personality with a focus on the unconcious mind and the importance of childhood experiences
humanistic theories
theories that view personality as a combination of specific patters of traits
trait theories
theories that view personality as a combination of specific patters or traits
social-cognitive theories
a view of behavior as an interaction between people’s traits and their social context
ID
unconscious energy that strives to satisfy basic sexual/aggressive desires
ego
partly conscious part of personality that mediates the desires of ID and superego
superego
partly conscious part of personality that represents internalized ideas and provides standards for judgement
defense mechanisms
tactics that reduce or redirect anxiety by distorting reality
repression
most basic defense, banishing anxiety-inducing thoughts and memories, motivated forgetting
projection
disguising one’s own threatening impulses by attributing them to others
displacement
focusing unresolved sexual or aggressive impulses into a more acceptable activity
rationalization
offering self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening unconscious reasons for one’s actions
freud’s contributions
challenged our self-righteousness, exposed our self-protective defenses, reminded us for our potential for evil
feud’s shortcomings
explanations of behavior are retrospective rather than predictive,
Thematic Apperception test (TAT)
projective test in which people express their inner feelings through stories they make up about ambiguous scenes
Rorschanch inkblot test
projective test that seeks to identify people’s inner feelings by analyzing how they interpret 10 inkblots
Abraham Maslow
characteristics of self-actualization, studied healthy and creative people rather than clinical cases of troubled people
carl Rogers
people are basically good and are endowed with self-actualizing tendencies
unconditional positive regard
attitude of grace that values oneself and others even with the knowledge of their failures
genuineness
open to one’s own feelings; transparent and self disclosing
empathy
share and mirror others’ feelings and reflect their meanings
personality inventories
longform questionnaires with true/false or agree/disagree items desiged to gauge a wide range of feelings/behaviors
factor analysis
method for identifying traits; statistical procedure for identifying clusters of co-varying items on a personal inventory
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests; used in many contexts from diagnosing emotional disorders to job interviews
big five factors
considered to be the best approximation of basic trait dimensions. (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism)
openness
high: imaginative, prefers variety, independent
low: practical, prefers routine, conforming
conscientiousness
high: organized, careful, disciplined
low: disorganized, careless, impulsive
Extraversion
high: sociable, fun-loving, affectionate
low: retiring, sober, reserved
agreeableness
high: soft hearted, trusting, helpful
low: ruthless, suspicious, uncooperative
neuroticism
high: anxious, insecure, self pitying
low: calm, secure, self-satisfied
person-situation controversy:
quest for identifying genuine personality traits that persist over time and across situations
albert Bandura
emphasized the interaction of our traits with our situations
social component
we learn behaviors through conditioning or by observing and imitating others
cognitive component
what we think about a situation affects our resulting behavior
reciprocal determinism
the interacting influence of behavior, internal cognition, and the environment
spotlight effect
overestimating other’s noticing and evaluation our appearance, performance, and blunders
self efficiacy
sence of competence on a task
self esteem
feelings of low/high self worth
dunning-kruger effect
ignorance of one’s own incompetence
self-serving bias
a readiness to perceive ourselves favorably
narcissism
excessive self-love and self-absorption
subtly strategic
self-disparaging comments elicit reassurance from others
defensive self esteem
focuses on straining itself; respond to perceive threats of failure and criticism with anger/aggression.
secure self esteem
less contingent on external evaluations; authentic pride rooted in achievement and pursuit of satisfying relationships and quality of life.
