psych final exam

• Schema


  mental categories our brain uses to quickly make a judgement about our surroundings in order to save processing power. At their most basic level schemas help us assess our approach to stimuli, and more complex schemas can infer personality characteristics of people around us and suggest how we should act
• Social Cognition


  Reflects how we perceive others based on our schemas for different types of people, whether accurate or inaccurate
• Attribution


  An assumption of why a person is acting a certain way; are often biased by personal experience
• Social Cognitive Biases


  A reliance on schemas to make assumptions about social situations and people; they are often incomplete but have solidified over time to become a bias

  
  

  - bias means our schema affects our perceptions
• Fundamental Attribution Error


  The tendency to automatically attribute behaviors to a person's character, nature, and personality traits (or in one word disposition); normally wrong, so it's an error that people make

  
  

  - attributing a persons behavior to what we ASSUME to be his/her personality rather than factors outside that individual (ex: the situation)
• Dispositional Influences


  A person's character, nature, and personality traits influences behavior; we often judge people based off this
• Situational Influences


  The situation a person is in influences behavior; we often underestimate this influence
• Self-Serving Bias


  Taking credit for our successes and blaming our failures on situational factors in order to maintain a positive view of ourselves.

  
  

  - attribution process reflecting a tendency to explain our behavior in a blameless or virtuous way, despite evidence on the contrary
• in-groups and out-groups


  another way of saying "us" vs "them". when we look at other group members we don't see a lot of diversity among the individuals; we perceive "them" to be similar. However, we realize members of our own group vary greatly
• homogeneity effect


  the tendency to see members of outgroups as more similar to one another than to the members of our own group, the ingroup
• In-Group Bias & Favoritism


  We show favoritism within our personal group, think our group is better than others
• Group-Serving Bias


  We maintain positive evaluations of our group even if the evidence shows otherwise
• Social Comparison


  We evaluate ourselves by comparing us with others
• attraction


  feeling of being drawn toward another and desiring the company/characteristics of a person
• Proximity & Similarity


  We're more likely to be attracted to individuals and groups that are similar to us and closer to us
• stereotype


  value-laden schemas where we generalize characteristics, motives, and behaviors to entire groups of people (overgeneralize). Serve as a way to make quick judgements about other groups
• halo effect


  tendency to make assumptions about a person based on a single positive characteristic.

  - not like religion more like light, "halo" radiating from a single source of light, like the sun
• intergroup contact theory


  a theory that states prejudice is based on a lack of information and more contact between groups will lead to greater understanding and less prejudice
• Prejudice and Discrimination


  Prejudice is an attitude, discrimination is a behavior
• attitude is influenced by


  ABC: Affective, behavioral, and cognitive component
• Attribution and Attitude: ABC : A


  Affective/Evaluative Component - likes, dislikes, emotions
• Attribution and Attitude: ABC: B


  Behavioral Component - intentions to act in specific ways
• Attribution and Attitude: ABC: C


  Cognitive Component - beliefs, information
• Peripheral & Central Route


  Paths to changing an attitude
• Peripheral Route


  Attempts to intervene on beliefs we hold habitually and are not very strong

  
  

  - where persuasive messages don't have to be particularly logical, clear, or compelling to induce change

  - one of two routes to changing an attitude
• Central Route


  Attempts to intervene on core beliefs (personal values or strongly held ideas)

  
  

  - sales pitches for change must be logical, clear, and compelling- don't change these values without remarkable cause

  - one of two routes to changing an attitude
• Self-Perception Theory


  Basing our attitudes or values from observing what behavior we choose to perform

  
  

  - we actually infer some of our attitudes by interpreting our own behavior

  ex: have a 2nd sandwich and say to self, "I must be hungrier than I thought." how can YOU be hungrier than YOU thought
• Foot-in-the-Door


  Obtaining a small commitment in order to achieve a larger request later
• Door-in-the-Face


  Making a large, often irrational, request in order to make the smaller request that follows seem much more reasonable
• Cognitive Dissonance


  Tension or discomfort when an individual's attitudes and beliefs are not aligned or consistent
• Social Influence Principle


  The principles that control behavior (how forces can influence us without us even knowing)
• Six social influence tactics people use to get others to comply with their requests


  1.) reciprocity

  2.) consistency

  3.) conformity (aka social proof)

  4.) authority

  5.) ingratiation (aka liking)

  6.) scarcity
• Reciprocity Principle


  One good turn deserves another

  -We return favors

  -We are more likely to comply after retreating (door-in-the-face phenomenon)

  
  

  Reciprocity: a feeling of obligation arising from the notion that we are in debit to someone when they do us a favor
• Consistency Principle


  I'll do it because I said I would

  -We resist change

  -We act ourselves into certain thinking and vice versa

  -We honor public, active, and voluntary commitment

  
  

  Consistency: the pressure we feel to behave in ways that are in concert with our attitudes or beliefs, or to behave in ways we know others expect us to behave
• Conformity Principle


  Everybody's doing it

  -We follow those who are similar and credible

  -We model most in unfamiliar situations
• Authority Principle


  I was just following orders

  -We follow authority blindly and mindlessly

  -We follow those with credibility
• Ingratiation Principle


  I'll do it because i like you, or I want you to like me

  -We are attracted to similarities

  -We like those who praise us and cooperate

  -We actively care for the people we like

  
  

  ingratiation definition: a conscious effort to get others to like us
• Scarcity Principle


  I'll do it because I might not get to later

  -We react to protect our individuality

  -We value rare opportunities

  -We are motivated to avoid loss

  
  

  Scarcity: attempt to influence people by conveying the notion that something is rare, valuable, or won't be available in the future.
• self-monitoring


  actively monitoring others' reactions and adjusting your actions to change the way you believe they perceive you
• Obedience to Shock- Stanley Milgram (1963)


  Studies the effects of people in the roles of teacher and learner; if the learner got an answer wrong the teacher (a regular person) was forced to shock the learner; many shocked them to the point of possible death

  
  

  - the teachers were shown to have little problem applying painful shocks to innocent people. After, teachers and students had to reconcile- teachers then felt awful for theoretically harming or killing students. Cognitive dissonance!