Social Psychology Final Exam

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Hindsight Bias

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The tendency to exaggerate, after learning an outcome, one's ability to have foreseen how something turned out. "I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon"

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Hypothesis

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A testable proposition that describes a relationship that might exist between events

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Social Psychology

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The scientific study of the ways in which most individuals are affected by their social situation

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Theory

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An integrated set of principles that explains and predicts observed events

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Correlational Research

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The study of the naturally occurring associations between two of more factors

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Demand Characteristics

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Characteristics or cues in a study that suggest to participants what behaviour is expected

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Dependent Variable

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The variable being measured, so-called because it may depend on manipulations of the independent variable

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Experimental Realism

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The degree to which an experiment produces the real psychological experiences that it is intended to create

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Experimental Research

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Studies that seek clues to cause-effect relationships by manipulating one or more factors (independent variables) to determine their impact on other factors (dependent variables)

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Independent Variable

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The experimental factor that a researcher manipulates

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Informed Consent

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An ethical principle requiring that research participants be told enough to enable them to decide if they wish to participate

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Mundane Realism

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The degree to which an experiment is superficially similar to everyday situations

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Observational Research Methods

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Research methods in which individuals are observed in natural settings, often without awareness, in order to provide the opportunity for objective analysis of behaviour

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Random Assignment

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The process of assigning participants to the conditions of an experiment such that all persons have the same chance of being in a given condition

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Reactivity

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The degree to which a measure may itself influence the behaviour we are studying

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Reliability

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The extent to which a measure yields the same result when used on more than one occasion to assess some relatively stable characteristic

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Representative Samples

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Carefully selected samples used by survey researchers so that participant responses accurately reflect the responses of the population of interest

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Validity

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The extent to which a measure assesses what it is intended to assess

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Collectivism

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Giving priority to the goals of one's groups and defining one's identity accordingly

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Culture

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The enduring behaviours, attitudes, and traditions shared by a large group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next

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Gender Roles

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Sets of behavioural expectations (norms) for males and females

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Gender

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In psychology, the characteristics, whether biological or socially influenced, by which people define male and female

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Individualism

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The concept of giving priority to one's own goals over group goals and defining one's identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications

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Role

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A set of norms that define how people in a given social position ought to behave

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Self-Concept

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A person's answers to the question, "Who am I?"

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Self-Presentation

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Wanting to present a desired image both to an external audience (other people) and an internal audience (ourselves)

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Self-Reference Effect

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The tendency to process efficiently, and remember well, information related to oneself

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Self-Schemas

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Beliefs about self that organize and guide the processing of self-relevant information

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False Consensus Effect

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The tendency to overestimate the commonality of one's opinions and one's undesirable or unsuccessful behaviours

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False Uniqueness Effect

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The tendency to underestimate the commonality of one's abilities and one's desirable or successful behaviours

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Self-Serving Bias

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The tendency to perceive and present oneself favourably

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Actor-Observer Bias

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When we are the actor, we tend to attribute behaviour to the environment, whereas when we observe others, we tend to underestimate the impact of the environment

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Attribution Theory

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The theory of how people explain other's behaviour-for example, by attributing it either to internal dispositions (enduring traits, motives, and attitudes) or to external situations

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Correspondence Bias

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A tendency for people to view behaviour as coming from inner dispositions

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Dispositional Attribution

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Attributing behaviour to the person's disposition and traits

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Fundamental Attribution Error

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The tendency for observers to underestimate situational influences and overestimate dispositional influences upon others' behaviour

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Situational Attribution

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Attributing behaviour to the environment

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Availability Heuristic

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An efficient but fallible rule of thumb that judges the likelihood of things in terms of their availability in memory. If instances of something come readily to mind, we presume it is commonplace

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Behavioural Confirmation

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A type of self-fulfilling prophecy whereby people's social expectations lead them to act in ways that cause others to confirm the expectations

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Confirmation Bias

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We are eager to verify our beliefs but less inclined to seek evidence that might disprove them

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Illusion of Control

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Perception of uncontrollable events as subject to one's control or as more controllable than they are

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Illusory Correlation

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Perception of a relationship where none exists, or perception of a stronger relationship than actually exists

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Regression Toward the Average

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The statistical tendency for extreme scores or extreme behaviour to return to one's average

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Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

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The tendency for one's expectations to evoke behaviour in others that confirms the expectations

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Attitude

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A general and enduring evaluation of some person, object, or issue along a continuum from positive to negative

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Cognitive Dissonance

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Tension that arises when one is simultaneously aware of two inconsistent cognitions, as when we realize that we have, with little justification, acted contrary to our attitudes.

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Cognitive Dissonance Theory

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Proposes that we act to reduce cognitive dissonance, as when we adjust our attitudes to correspond with our actions

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Door-in-the-Face Technique

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The tendency- based on the principle of reciprocity- for people who have first declined a large request to comply with a subsequent, smaller request

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Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon

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The tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request

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Low-Ball Technique

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A tactic for getting people to agree to something. People who agree to an initial request will often still comply when the requester ups the ante. People who receive only the costly request are less likely to comply with it

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Self-Perception Theory

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When unsure of our attitudes, we infer them by looking at our behaviour and the circumstances under which it occurs

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Conformity

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Changing one's perceptions, opinions, or behaviour in order to be more consistent with real or imagined norms

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Informational Influence

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When people change their opinions or actions because they believe that others have the information they need to make the right decisions

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Normative Influence

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When people change their opinions or actions because they want to fit in with the group (be normal)

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Obedience

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Changes in behaviour elicited by the commands of an authority figure

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Attractiveness

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Having qualities that appeal to an audience. An appealing communicator is most persuasive on matters of subjective preference

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Central-Route Persuasion

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Persuasion that occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favourable thoughts

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Credibility

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Believability. A credible communicator is perceived as both expert and trustworthy

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Peripheral-Route Persuasion

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Persuasion that occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as the speaker's attractiveness

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Sleeper Effect

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A delay in the impact of a message; occurs when we remember the message but forget a reason for discounting it

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Subliminal Messages

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Messages presented in such a manner as to be below a person's threshold of conscious awareness

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Attitude Inoculation

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Exposing people to weak attacks on their attitudes so that when stronger attacks come, they will have refutations available

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Certainty

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Refers to the level of subjective confidence or validity a person attaches to his or her attitude

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Cult

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A group typically characterized by (1) distinctive rituals and beliefs related to its devotion to a god or a person, (2) isolation from the surrounding "evil" culture, and (3) a charismatic leader. (A sect, by contrast, is a spinoff from a major religion)

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Indoctrination

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A process, used by a number of social groups, to teach members a partisan and uncritical acceptance of the group's perspective on issues

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Reactance

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A motive to protect or restore one's sense of freedom. Reactance arises when someone threatens our freedom of action

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Selective Attention

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The extent to which people's attitudes bias the attitude-relevant information that attend to, once exposed

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Selective Exposure

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The extent to while people's attitudes bias the attitude-relevant information that expose themselves to

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Selective Judgement

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The extent to which people's attitudes bias how they draw conclusions about the meaning or relevance of information

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Selective Memory

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The extent to which people's attitudes bias recall and recognition of attitude-relevant information

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Selective Perception

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The extent to which people's attitudes bias their encoding of information

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Ease-of-Processing Bias

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If material seems easy while studying you think you will remember it well

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Temporal Self-Comparison

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We compare ourselves now to how we were before

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Working Self-Concept

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Whatever concepts of yourself are active at the moment

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High Self-Monitor

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Varies the way they act greatly in different situations, often has different groups of friends they do different things with rather than one group they do all things with

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Low Self-Monitor

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Acts the same way in all situations, tends to have one group of friends they do everything with

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Barnum Effect

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Thetendency to accept certain information as true, like horoscopes

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Self-Handicapping

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Setting yourself up for failure, if you believe you can't do something then you can't

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Tesser Self Esteem Maintenance Model

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