Unit 2

• What is person perception?

  The different mental processes used to understand and form impressions of other people
• Person perception can be both...

  Direct and indirect
• Attribution definition?

  An evaluation made about the cause of behaviour and the process of making this evaluation
• Steps of cognitive process?


  See it, acknowledge it, interpret it
• What is an Internal Attribution?


  When we judge behaviour as being caused by something personal within an individual
• Internal Attribution is also known as...

  Personal attribution
• What is external attribution?


  When we determine the cause of behavior as resulting from situational factors occurring outside the individual
• External attributions are also known as....

  Situational attributes
• What are fundamental attribute errors?

  Our tendency to explain other peoples behaviour in terms of internal factors, while ignoring possible external factors
• What is attribution style?

  Tendencies and repeated patterns in the way someone makes attributes
• Addictive behaviours definition?


  Behaviors that are associated with a dependence upon a particular stimulus, despite negative consequences
• What is actor-observer bias?


  The tendency to attribute our own actions to external factors and situational causes while attributing other peoples actions to internal factors
• Between-subjects design (also known as independentgroups design or between-groups design) definition?


  An experimental design in which individuals are divided into different groups and complete only one experimental condition
• Behavioural component definition?

  Our outward and observable actions that reflect our point of view about something
• When does Cognitive dissonance occur?

  Cognitive dissonance occurs when there is an inconsistency or misalignment between an individual’s thoughts, feelings, and/or behaviours.
• Do Individuals always experience cognitive dissonance if their thoughts, feelings, and/or behaviours do not align?


  Individuals may not experience cognitive dissonance if they are able to adequately justify their inconsistencies between their thoughts and behaviours.
• What is Confirmation bias?

  the tendency to search for and accept information that supports our prior beliefs or behaviours and ignore contradictory information
• What is Self-serving bias?

  the tendency to attribute positive success to our internal character and actions and attribute our failures to external factors or situational causes
• What is the Halo effect?


  the tendency for the impression we form about one quality of a person to influence our overall beliefs about the person in other respects
• What is the False-consensus bias?

  the tendency to overestimate the degree to which other people share the same ideas and attitudes as we do
• What is a Controlled experiment?

  a type of investigation in which the causal relationship between two variables is tested in a controlled environment; more specifically, the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable is tested while aiming to control all other variables
• What is a Case study?

  an in-depth investigation of an individual, group, or particular phenomenon (activity, behaviour, event, or problem) that contains a real or hypothetical situation and includes the complexities that would be encountered in the real world
• What are Controlled variables?

  variables other than the IV that a researcher holds constant (controls) in an investigation, to ensure that changes in the DV are solely due to changes in the IV
• What is a Correlational study?

  a type of non-experimental study in which researchers observe and measure the relationship between two or more variables without any active control or manipulation of them
• What is Classification?

  the arrangement of phenomena, objects, or events into manageable sets
• What is the Control group?

  the group of participants in an experiment who receive no experimental treatment or intervention in order to serve as a baseline for comparison
• What is a Convenience sampling?


  any sampling technique that involves selecting readily available members of the population, rather than using a random or systematic approach
• What is a Confounding variable?

  a variable that has directly and systematically affected the dependent variable, apart from the independent variable
• What is Counterbalancing?


  a method to reduce order effects that involves ordering experimental conditions in a certain way
• What is the Cognitive component?

  our thoughts and beliefs towards something
• What is cognitive dissonance?

  the psychological tension that occurs when our thoughts, feelings, and/or behaviours do not align with one another
• What are Cognitive biases?

  unconscious, systematic tendencies to interpret information in a way that is neither rational nor based on objective reality
• What is Culture?

  the customs, behaviours, and values of a particular group in society
• What is a Collectivist culture?

  a culture that prioritises the needs and goals of groups
• What is Conformity?

  adjusting one’s thoughts, feelings, or behaviours to match those of others, a social group, or a social situation
• What is empirical evidence?


  information obtained through direct and systematic observation or experimentation
• What is the experimental group?

  the group of participants in an experiment who are exposed to a manipulated independent variable (i.e. a specific intervention)
• What are external attributes?

  occurs when we determine the cause of a behaviour as resulting from situational factors occurring outside the individual
• What is discrimination?


  the unjust treatment of people due to their membership within a certain social category
• What is the fundamental attribution error?

  our tendency to explain other people’s behaviour in terms of internal factors, while ignoring possible external factors