AP Psychology

• Actor-observer bias


  Phenomenon of explaining other people's behaviors are due to internal factors and our own behaviors are due to situational forces
• Ageism


  Prejudice and discrimination toward individuals based solely on their age
• Aggression


  Seeking to cause harm or pain to another person
• Altruism


  Humans' desire to help others even if the costs outweigh the benefits of helping
• Asch effect


  Group majority influences an individual's judgment, even when that judgment is inaccurate
• Attitude


  Evaluations of or feelings toward a person, idea, or object that are typically positive or negative
• Attribution


  Explanation for the behavior of other people
• Bullying


  A person, often an adolescent, being treated negatively repeatedly and over time
• Bystander effect


  Situation in which a witness or bystander does not volunteer to help a victim or person in distress
• Central route persuasion


  Logic-driven arguments using data and facts to convince people of an argument's worthiness
• Cognitive dissonance


  Psychological discomfort that arises from a conflict in a person's behaviors, attitudes, or beliefs that runs counter to one's positive self-perception
• Collectivist culture


  Culture that focuses on communal relationships with others such as family, friends, and community
• Companionate love


  Type of love consisting of intimacy and commitment, but not passion; associated with close friendships and family relationships
• Confederate


  Person who works for a researcher and is aware of the experiment, but who acts as a participant; used to manipulate social situations as part of the research design
• Confirmation bias


  Seeking out information that supports our stereotypes while ignoring information that is inconsistent with our stereotypes
• Conformity


  When individuals change their behavior to go along with the group even if they do not agree with the group
• Consummate love


  Type of love occurring when intimacy, passion, and commitment are all present
• Cyberbullying


  Repeated behavior that is intended to cause psychological or emotional harm to another person and that takes place online
• Diffusion of responsibility


  Tendency for no one in a group to help because the responsibility to help is spread throughout the group
• Discrimination


  Negative actions toward individuals as a result of their membership in a particular group
• Dispositionism


  Describes a perspective common to personality psychologists, which asserts that our behavior is determined by internal factors, such as personality traits and temperament
• Empathy


  Capacity to understand another person's perspective—to feel what he or she feels
• Foot-in-the-door technique


  Persuasion of one person by another person, encouraging a person to agree to a small favor, or to buy a small item, only to later request a larger favor or purchase of a larger item
• Fundamental attribution error


  Tendency to overemphasize internal factors as attributions for behavior and underestimate the power of the situation
• Group polarization


  Strengthening of the original group attitude after discussing views within the group
• Groupthink


  Group members modify their opinions to match what they believe is the group consensus
• Homophily


  Tendency for people to form social networks, including friendships, marriage, business relationships, and many other types of relationships, with others who are similar
• Homophobia


  Prejudice and discrimination against individuals based solely on their sexual orientation
• Hostile aggression


  Aggression motivated by feelings of anger with intent to cause pain
• In-group


  Group that we identify with or see ourselves as belonging to
• In-group bias


  Preference for our own group over other groups
• Informational social influence


  Conformity to a group norm prompted by the belief that the group is competent and has the correct information
• Instrumental aggression


  Aggression motivated by achieving a goal and does not necessarily involve intent to cause pain
• Internal factor


  Internal attribute of a person, such as personality traits or temperament
• Just-world hypothesis


  Ideology common in the United States that people get the outcomes they deserve
• Normative social influence


  Conformity to a group norm to fit in, feel good, and be accepted by the group
• Obedience


  Change of behavior to please an authority figure or to avoid aversive consequences
• Out-group


  Group that we don't belong to—one that we view as fundamentally different from us
• Peripheral route persuasion


  One person persuades another person; an indirect route that relies on association of peripheral cues (such as positive emotions and celebrity endorsement) to associate positivity with a message
• Persuasion


  Process of changing our attitude toward something based on some form of communication