Use LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate between flashcards;
Use UP and DOWN arrow keys to flip the card;
H to show hint;
A reads text to speech;
75 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Social Psychology Definition
|
Study of how people think about, influence, and relate to other people
|
|
stereotype
|
generalization about a group's characteristics that does not consider any variation from one individual to another
|
|
Attribution Theory (Jones)
|
views people as motivated to discover the underlying causes of behavior as part of their effort to make sense of the behavior
|
|
3 dimensions of causality (Jones)
|
internal/external
stable/unstable controllable/uncontrollable |
|
Actor/Observer
And their attributional tendencies |
actor = person who produces behavior (relies on external explanations)
observer = person who offers causal explanations of the actors behavior (often uses internal explanations) |
|
Fundamental Attribution Error
|
observer overestimates importance of inter al traits and underestimates importance of external situations
|
|
Availability heuristic
|
someone who sees an accident is more likely to overestimate their chances of experiencing one
|
|
False consensus effect
|
overestimation of the degree to which everybody else thinks or acts the way we do, results from the use of our own outlook/situation to predict that of others
|
|
self-serving bias
(gender tendency?) |
tendency to take credit for our successes and deny responsibility for our failures
(females demonstrate significant decline in bias from childhood to adolescence, males do not) |
|
self-objectification
|
tendency to see oneself as an object in the eyes of others
|
|
stereotype threat
|
individual's fast-acting, self-fulfilling fear of being judged on the basis of a negative stereotype about his/her group
|
|
social comparison
ex. of downward social comparison |
process by which individuals evaluate their thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and abilities in relation to other people
downward = "at least i'm better off than that guy" |
|
cognitive dissonance theory (festinger)
|
individual's psychological discomfort caused by two inconsistent thoughts
(std instructor who has unprotected sex) 2 ways of reducing: change attitude to fit behavior or vice versa |
|
effort justification
|
one type of cognitive dissonance reduction
we try to rationalize amount of effort we put into something, so we value goals more highly if they require considerable effort |
|
self-perception theory (Bem)
|
individuals make inferences about their attitudes by perceiving their behavior
-behavior has led you to realize something about your attitude you did not know before -when our attitudes are questioned we look back on behaviors for info ("i run every day so i must like it") |
|
Main Elements of Communication/persuasion process
|
Communicator/Source (conveys message)
Communication (the message) Medium (how the message is conveyed) target/audience (who receives the message) |
|
Communicator/Source
|
expertise, credibility
trustworthiness, power, attractiveness, likability, similarity |
|
message
|
emotional appeals are very powerful
foot in the door vs. door in the face strategies |
|
medium
|
technology
|
|
target/audiece
|
age/attitude: young people are more likely to change, as are people with weaker attitudes
*elaboration likelihood model |
|
elaboration likelihood model
central route |
engaging with logical, sound argument
processed by highly involved, motivated targets stronger effect, longer lasting attitude change |
|
peripheral route
|
non-message factors, like credibility, attractiveness, emotional appeals
processed by unmotivated, inattentive targets effects are weaker, attitude change is less persistent |
|
altruistic vs. egoistically motivated behavior
|
unselfish interest in helping someone else/improve another's welfare
egoistically motivated: helping which is directed towards endgoal of increasing helper's own welfare |
|
Batson
|
women given biographies and opportunity to trade palces with a woman being shocked
if similarities are found one is more willing to give a helping hand if there's a high empathic responses women helped regardless of whether escape was easy or difficult |
|
Reciprocity vs. egoism
|
reciprocity = golden rule, involved in many religions
egoism = giving to another person to ensure reciprocity, gain self-esteem, present oneself as powerful, competent or caring, etc. |
|
Bystander Effect
Kitty Genovese |
Bystander effect = tendency for an individual who observes an emergency to help less when other people are present than when observer is alone
diffusion of responsibility among witnesses and tendency to look to behavior of others for clues on how to act |
|
aggresion
|
aggression = any behavior directed toward another individual with immediate intent to cause harm
perpetrator must believe behavior will harm target, and that the target is motivated to avoid the behavior |
|
violence
|
aggression that has the goal of extreme harm (i.e.: death)
all violence is aggression, but not all aggression is violence |
|
Neurobiology of aggression
|
charles whitman (killed 15 people from tower at u of T had tumor in the limbic system
violent suicides --> lower levels of serotonin |
|
aggression and frustration-aggression hypothesis
|
"frustration always leads to aggression"
now known not the only cause, or result (also could have passive response) other causes: physical pain, personal insults, unpleasant events (i.e.: divorce), physical enviro (i.e. weather) |
|
Cognitive elements of aggression
|
environment may prime us to behave aggressively
i.e.: presence of weapon observational learning: aggression can be learned by watching others engage in aggressive acts |
|
sociocultural factors for aggression
|
cultural variations/culture of honor
crime rates higher in countries with socioeconomic disparities cultural norms about masculine pride/family honor |
|
media & video games and violence
|
exposure to violent videogames is correlated with heightened aggression in young adults/children (both sexes)
exposure negatively linked with prosocial behavior exposure positively linked to aggressive effect and arousal |
|
conformity vs. obedience
|
conformity = change in a person's behavior to coincide more closely with a group standard
obedience = behavior that complies with the explicit demands of the individual in authority with conformity, we change our beliefs to align with the norm, with obedience, conformity is explicitly demanded. |
|
informational social influence
|
people conform because they assume majority is correct
depends on how confident we are in independent judgement, how well-informed we perceive the majority to be |
|
normative social influence
|
people conform because they fear social rejection that accompanies deviance
influence others have on us because we want them to like and approve of us |
|
deindividuation
|
being part of a group reduces personal identity and erodes sense of personal responsibility
explained by: -anonymity -loss of self consciousness |
|
social contagion
|
imitative behavior involving the spread of behavior, emotions, and ideas
i.e.: group of people on the street looking up |
|
social facilitation (Zajonc)
|
individual's performance on well-learned tasks improves due to the presence of others
presence of others arouses us -->dominant response --> produces energy and facilitates our performance however impaired performance on complex tasks |
|
social loafing (sheppard)
|
each person's tendency to exert less effort in a group because of reduced accountability for individual effort
|
|
risky shift
|
tendency for group decision to be riskier than average decision of individual members
-should lisa quit her job to become a full-time writer? |
|
group polarization effect
|
solidification and further strengthening of a position as a consequence of group discussion
|
|
groupthink (janis)
ex. cuban missile crisis |
group may make faulty decisions due to each member's tendency to conform to what each takes to be the consensus
|
|
conditions/symptoms of groupthink
|
conditions:
-cohesiveness -isolation from contrary opinions -domination by an expressive and directive leader symptoms: -shared illusion of invulnerability -fear of disapproval for deviating from group consensus -dissenters viewed as disloyal -stereotyped view of opposition as "evil" |
|
majority/minority influence
|
majority exerts normative influence: set group norms, and informational influence: greater opportunity to share views
minority must use informational pressure |
|
5 types of social identity
|
ethnic/religious
political vocations & avocations relationships stigmatized identities |
|
Social identity theory (Tajfel)
|
social identities are a crucial part of our self-image and a valuable source of positive feelings about ourselves, in order to feel good about ourselves we need to feel good about our group
(can lead to prejudice) |
|
ethnocentrism
|
tendency to favor one's own ethnic group over other groups, asserting own group's superiority
encourages ingroup/outgroup thinking |
|
explicit/overt racism
|
consciously held negative evaluation of an outgroup that is retrieved from memory and can be self-reported
|
|
implicit/covert racism
|
automatically activated negative associations with an outgroup
|
|
modern racists
|
blend antipathy with abstract values (i.e.: justice, order, conservatism)
believe discrimination no longer exists and blacks are making too many demands that upset the status quo |
|
aversive racists
|
consciously embrace nonprejudiced beliefs and disavow discrimination. however they are theorized to unconsciously have negative feelings toward outgroup members
|
|
mental disorder statistics
|
26% of americans 18+ suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year
only 6% suffer from serious mental illness 45% with mental disorders meet criteria for 2 or more disorders, with severity strongly related to comorbidity |
|
Definition of psychological disorders
|
significant pain or distress, inability to work or play, increased risk of death, loss of freedom in important areas of life
source of problem lies within a person, due to biological factors, learned habits, or mental processes (not simply a response to specific event like death of a loved one) problem is not a deliberate reaction to conditions like poverty, prejudice, or other societal conflicts |
|
abnormal behavior
|
behavior that is deviant, maladaptive, or personally distressful over a long period of time
deviates from what is culturally acceptable |
|
neurotransmitter imbalances caused by...
|
excessive production or release of NT
over or under-sensitive receptor sites in post-synaptic neuron |
|
norepinephrine
|
panic attacks
responds when exposed to acutely stressful or dangerous situations |
|
too much dopamine
|
schizophrenia
|
|
too little serotonin
|
mood disorders
|
|
GABA deficiency
|
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
|
|
Genotype-Environment interactions
|
people with diff. genotypes may be differentially sensitive or susceptible to their environments
those with genetic risk factors for depression are more likely to respond to stressful events and become depressed |
|
effect of depression on brain structure
|
stress and depression lead to changes in hippocampal structure
in animals, anti-depressants suppress toxic effects of stress on hippo and increase neurogenesis early start of treatment with anti-ds and psychotherapy may prevent neuroplastic changes |
|
psychodynamic approach to psychogical disorders
|
disorders arise from unconscious conflicts that produce anxiety and result in maladaptive behavior
emphasis on childhood experiences and repressed sexual conflicts |
|
effect of poverty on disorders and depression
|
• Poverty creates stressful living situations that can contribute to the development of disorders
o Relationship between poverty and psychiatric disorders was the same for Black and White, even though Blacks exposed to more poverty o Prevalence of disorders increased with number of risk factors for all groups, but most markedly in poor White children (i.e.: family history, housing transience, lack of warm parent-child relationships, harsh parental discipline) |
|
gender predispositions in terms of psych disorders
|
women more likely to suffer from anxiety disorders and depression ("internalizing disorders") while men more likely to suffer from aggressive "externalizing" disorders
|
|
DSM Multiaxial system
|
Axis I = all diagnostic categories except personality disorders and mental retardation
Axis II = personality disorders and mental retardation Axis III = general medical conditions Axis IV = psychosocial and environmental problems Axis V = current level of functioning |
|
basis for Axis V evaluation
|
based on highest level of adaptive functioning in social, occupational, and school activities over preceding year
scale of 10 to 100 rating of 50 = serious symptoms or impairment in functions |
|
critiques of DSM
|
labels what might be everyday problems as psychological disorders (ii.e.: underlearning or caffeine abuse)
system focuses strictly on pathology and problems, wiht a bias towards finding something wrong labels can become self-fulfilling prophecies homosexuality --> concept of "disorder" always includes a culturally-based value judgement |
|
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
|
chronic worry about a number of life matters that is judged to be excessive/uncontrollable
worry has been present more days than not for 6 months worry is accompanied by 3 of 6: -restlessness -fatigure -concentration difficulties -irritability -muscle tension -sleep disturbance |
|
panic attacks
|
discrete period of intense fear or discomfort in which 4 or more following symptoms develop abruptly and reach peak within 10 min:
• Heart palpitations, sweating, shaking, shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea, dizziness, derealization (feelings of unreality), depersonalization (being detached from oneself), fear of dying/losing control, paresthesias (numbness/tingling) |
|
neurobiological causes for panic disorders
|
phobic avoidance = prefrontal cortex
anticipatory anxiety = limbic system acute panic attack = brain stem |
|
psychological causes for panic disorders
|
fear-of-fear hypothesis (fear of having a panic attack), individuals misinterpret harmless indicators of physiological arousal (i.e.: raised heartbeat) as an emergency (heart attack)
|
|
Def. of phobia & 5 subtypes
|
fears that are uncontrollable, disproportionate, and disruptive. individual goes at length to avoid it, yet realizes fear is excessive/unreasonable
animal (dog/snake) natural environment (storms, heights, water) blood-injection-injury (blood, needles) situational (public transportation, elevators) other (choking, vomiting) |
|
social phobia
|
intense fear of being humiliated or embarrassed in social situations (public speaking, meeting strangers), leads to avoidance of feared situation
|
|
Obsession (of OCD)
|
recurrent and persistent thoughts, impulses, or images that are:
intrusive and inappropriate and cause marked anxiety or distress not simply excessive worries about real life problems person tries to ignore/neutralize them person recognizes they are the product of their own mind |