Psychology 160 Midterm Flash Cards

Front 1

Situationism

Back 1

i. The first pillar of social psychology and a common way to analyze social behavior. Purpose is to show situation can be so powerful that it shapes behavior at that moment and looks at the immediate situation

Front 2

Construal

Back 2

idea where to understand what people do, one must get into their mind and see the person’s interpretation; example is prisoner's dilemma

Front 3

tension systems

Back 3

pushing and pulling forces; third pillar of social psychology

Front 4

social facilitation

Back 4

the idea that being in the presence of others changes our behaviors as opposed to being by yourself

Front 5

social loafing

Back 5

responsibility is diffused and therefore, performance goes down in groups

Front 6

deindividuated

Back 6

This is defined as the reduced sense of individual identity accompanied by diminished self-regulation that comes over a person when her or she is in a large group.

Front 7

groupthink

Back 7

when people are trying to reach a quick decision, will be less scrupulous on decision and less likely to voice concerns; we lose rationality in groups which means we can make really bad decisions.

Front 8

group polarization

Back 8

in groups, decisions become more polarized and extreme

Front 9

schemas

Back 9

generalized knowledge about the physical and social world and how to behave in particular situations and with different kinds of people

Front 10

groupthink

Back 10

when people are trying to reach a quick decision will be less scrupulous on the decision and less likely to voice concerns

Front 11

risky shift

Back 11

in non-life threatening situations, groups tend to recommend riskier courses of action than individuals

Front 12

group polarization

Back 12

in groups, decisions become more polarized and extreme

Front 13

propinquity

Back 13

the most important aspect in choosing a friend or romantic partner is that they tend to be close by

Front 14

mere exposure effect

Back 14

the more you are exposed to a certain stimulus, the more you like it.

Front 15

similarity

Back 15

more likely to be attracted to someone who is like you

Front 16

explanations for why similarity matters

Back 16

1. validation of your own attitudes is rewarding
2. ease of social interaction
3. authenticity perspective: you can be more authentic

Front 17

reproductive fitness

Back 17

the capacity to get one's genes passed on to subsequent generations

Front 18

gender differences

Back 18

in reproduction, there are evolutionary arguments for the difference in mate preferences based on gender differences. Women put more resources into offspring and therefore are drawn to resources. Women also have a smaller window of fertility and thus men are attracted to youthfulness and beauty

Front 19

parental investment

Back 19

there are differences in cost of reproduction between genders, therefore men and women approach each other with different strategic interests in mind.

Front 20

parental uncertainty

Back 20

women know that their baby is theris whereas men are not always 100% sure

Front 21

attachment theory

Back 21

our early attachments with our parents shape our relationships for the remainder of our lives

Front 22

working models of relationships

Back 22

conceptual models of relationships with current others based on the other person's availability, warmth, and ability to provide security as derived from children's experience with how available and how warm their parents were

Front 23

secure attachment style

Back 23

feel secure in relationships, conformtable with intimacy and desire to be close to other during times of threat and uncertainty

Front 24

avoidant attachment style

Back 24

prone to exhibit compulsive self-reliance, prefer distance from other and during conditions of threat are dissmissive and detached.

Front 25

anxious attachment style

Back 25

individuals compulsively seek closeness, express continual worries about relationships and during situations of threat and uncertainty excessively try to get closer to others

Front 26

power

Back 26

the ability to control one's own outcomes and those of others and the freedom to act

Front 27

communal relationships

Back 27

relationships in which the indviduals feel a special responsibility for one another and give according to the principle of ability and receive according to the principle of need; often long-term relationships

Front 28

exchange relationships

Back 28

relationships in which the individuals feel little responsibility towards one another and in which giving and receiving are governed by concerns of equity and reciprocity; often short-term relationships

Front 29

four horsemen of the apocalypse

Back 29

criticism, defensiveness, contempt, stonewalling

Front 30

triangular theory of love

Back 30

there are three major components of love: intimacy, passion and commitment which can be combined in different ways

Front 31

investment model of interpersonal relationships

Back 31

three things make partners more committed to one another: rewards, alternatives and investments in the relationship

Front 32

OCEAN

Back 32

openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism

Front 33

birth order

Back 33

siblings are born and in conflict with one another which creates different niches for the siblings to fill. First borns are more dominant and assertive while latter borns are more open to experience and likely to engage in risky behaviors

Front 34

independent self-construal

Back 34

define self according to unique characteristics and is stable throughout life

Front 35

inter-dependent self-construal

Back 35

define self based on relationships with other people; no stable sense of self

Front 36

social comparison theory

Back 36

the hypothesis that says we compare ourselves to other people in order to evaluate our opinions, abilities, and internal states

Front 37

self-esteem

Back 37

how we feel about ourselves; often a stable property of who you are

Front 38

relation self

Back 38

the beliefs, feelings, and expectations about ourselves that derive from our relationships with significant others in our lives. Examines how prior relationships shape our current beliefs, feelings and interactions with people who remind us of others in our past

Front 39

positive illusions

Back 39

unrealistic view of self

Front 40

illusion of control

Back 40

people demonstrate irrational belief that they can control random events such as dice roll

Front 41

conformity

Back 41

changing one's behavior in reponse to explicit or implicit pressure from others

Front 42

obedience

Back 42

social influence in which the less powerful person in an unequal power relationship submits to the demands of the more powerful person

Front 43

compliance

Back 43

responding favorably to an explicit request by another person

Front 44

chameleon effect

Back 44

the nonconscious mimicry of the expressions, mannerisms, movements and other behaviors of those with whom one is interacting

Front 45

autokinetic illusion

Back 45

the apparent motion of a stationary point of light in a completely darkened environment

Front 46

information social influence

Back 46

the influence of other people that results from taking their comments or actions as a source of information as to what is correct, proper or effacious

Front 47

normative social influence

Back 47

the influence of other people that comes from the desire to avoid their disapproval, harsh judgments and other social sanctions

Front 48

public compliance

Back 48

agreeing with someone or advancing an opinion in public but continuing to believe something else in private

Front 49

door-in-the-face technique

Back 49

asking for a very large favor that person will certainly refuse and then following with a more modest favor

Front 50

that's not all technique

Back 50

adding something to an original offer which is likely to create some pressure to reciprocate

Front 51

foot in the door technique

Back 51

a compliance technique in which one makes an initial small request to which nearly everyone complies followed by a larger request involving the real behavior of interest

Front 52

attitude

Back 52

an evaluation of an object in a positive or negative fashion that includes the three elements of affect, cognitions and behavior

Front 53

utilitarian function

Back 53

an attitude function that serves to alert us to rewarding objects and stimulations we should avoid

Front 54

value-expressive function

Back 54

attitudinal function whereby attitudes help us express our most cherished values usually in groups in which they can be supported and reinforced

Front 55

terror managment theory

Back 55

theory positing that to ward of the anxiety we feel when contemplating our own demise, we cling to cultural world views and strongly held values out of a belief that by doing so part of us will survive death

Front 56

elaboration likelihood model

Back 56

model of persuasion that maintains there are two different routes to persuasion: the central and the peripheral route

Front 57

central route

Back 57

persuasive route wherein people think carefully and deliberately about the content of a message attending to its logic, evidence, etc.

Front 58

peripheral route

Back 58

people attend to relatively simple, superifical cues related to the message such as length or the expertise or attractiveness of the communicator

Front 59

source characteristics

Back 59

characteristics of the person who delivers the message

Front 60

message characteristics

Back 60

aspects of the message itself including the quality of the evidence and the explicitness of its conclusions

Front 61

receiver characteristics

Back 61

characteristics of the person who recieves the message including age, mood, and motivation to attend to the message

Front 62

sleeper effect

Back 62

an effect that occurs when messages from unreliable sources initially exert little influence but later cause individuals attitudes to shift

Front 63

attitude inoculation

Back 63

the idea that small attacks upon our beliefs that engage our attitudes, prior commitments and knowledge structures enabling us to counteract a subsequent larger attack and be resistant to persuasion

Front 64

EEA

Back 64

abstract description of the social and physical environment in which human genes evolved

Front 65

teasing

Back 65

an intentional provacation accompanied by playful off-record markers

Front 66

Grice's maxims of communication

Back 66

sincere communication involves utterances that are to be taken literally. Statements should adhere as closely as possible to the following four things: truth, informative, relevance, and clarity

Front 67

awe

Back 67

high-wattage experience nearly as rare as birth, marriage and death, one that transforms people and energizes them in pursuit of the meaningful life and in the service of the greater good

Front 68

Awe

Back 68

triggered by vagus nerve and is accompanied by a warm swelling in the chest

Front 69

piloerection

Back 69

the activation of minute muscle that surround hair follicles distributed throughout the body but in particular the back and neck.