502 Terms
502 Terms
502 Terms
1. 1) Social the scientific study of the feelings, thoughts and behaviors of individuals in different social contexts such as dyads,
Psychology groups and organizations
(chapter 1 intro
begins)
2. 2) Channel certain situational circumstances that appear unimportant on the surface but that can have great consequences for
Factors behavior, either facilitating or blocking it; or guiding behavior in a particular direction. Important to take into
account because individual differences weren't good predicting factors in many experiments
3. 3) Dispositions internal factors, such as beliefs, values, personality traits, or abilities that guide a person's behaviour.
4. 4) Construal interpretation and inference about the stimuli or situations we confront.
5. 5) Fundamental the failure to recognize the importance of situational influences on behaviour, together with the tendency to
Attribution overemphasize the importance of dispositions or traits on behaviour.
Error
6. 6) Gestalt based on the German word "Gestalt" meaning "form" or "figure". This approach stresses the fact that objects are
Psychology perceived not by means of some automatic registering device but by active, usually unconscious, interpretation of
what the object represents as a whole.
7. 7) Prisoner's a situation involving payoffs to two people in which trust and cooperation lead to higher joint payoffs than mistrust
dilemma and defection. The game gets its name from the dilemma that would confront two criminals who were involved in a
crime together and are being held and questioned separately. Each must decide whether to "cooperate" and stick
with a prearranged alibi or "defect" and confess to the crime in the hope of lenient treatment.
8. 8) Schemas: generalized knowledge about the physical and social world and how to behave in particular situations and with
different kinds of people.
9. a) Stereotypes: schemas that we have for people of various kinds that can be applied to judgments about people and decisions
about how to interact with them.
10. 9) Natural an evolutionary process that molds animals and plants such that traits that enhance the probability of survival and
Selection: reproduction are passed on to subsequent generations.
11. 10) Theory of the understanding that other people have beliefs and desires.
mind
12. 11) Parental the evolutionary principal that costs and benefits are associated with reproduction and the nurturing of offspring.
Investment Because these costs and benefits are different for males and females, one sex will normally value and invest more
in each child than will the other sex.
13. 12) Naturalistic the claim that the way things are is the way they should be.
Fallacy
14. 13) cultures in which people tend to think of themselves as distinct, social entities, tied to each other by voluntary
Independent bonds of affection and organizational memberships, but essentially separate from other people and having
(Individualistic) attributes that exist in the absence of any connection to others.
Cultures:
15. 14) cultures in which people tend to define themselves as part of a collective, inextricably tied to others in their group
Interdependent and having relatively little individual freedom or personal control over their lives but not necessarily wanting or
(Collectivistic) needing these things.
Cultures
16. Ratio Bias The tendency to estimate an event as more likely when its probability is presented as a ratio between large
numbers, and less likely when its probability is presented as a ratio between small numbers
17. The Milgram Experiment described as a "study of learning"
Experiment Participants instructed to shock another participant for any wrong answers
The other participant is a confederate who never receives any real shocks
Shock level increased for each wrong answer
Shock levels ranged from 15 volts (slight shock) to 450 volts (danger: severe shock)
During the experiment, the confederate begins to scream in pain and demand that the experiment end
Later, the confederate stops making any sounds, indicating he may be possibly injured or dead
The experimenter, wearing a white lab coat, instructs the participant to continue with the experiment
18. Milgram Study Despite potential harm to another person, 62.5 percent of participants completed the experiment
results Originally it was predicted that less than 1 percent of people would follow instructions until the end
Participants were of different ages and social classes
Same effects were found for women and men
Classic example of the power of the situation
Participants did not intend to harm another person, yet behaved in accord with the situation
19. culture and Despite many human universals, there is cultural variation in how universals are expressed. There are cultural
human behavior differences in self-definition
20. Independent Think of self as distinct social entity
(individualistic) Ties to others are voluntary
cultures View personal attributes as constant
21. Interdependent Think of self as part of a collective
(collectivistic) Interconnected to others, with little emphasis on individual freedom or choices
cultures
22. Where Individualism is more common in Western cultures
individualism is Europe, United States, Canada, and Australia
more prevalent Believe important attributes linked to the self
Value individual distinction
23. where Collectivism is more common in non-Western cultures
collectivism is East Asia (China, Japan, Korea), South Asia (India, Malaysia), Latin America, and Africa
more prevalent Believe important attributes linked to relationships with others and group membership
Self viewed as overlapping with close others
24. Experiment: Hypothesis: A major cause of offering to help another person is whether one is in a hurry
The power of Research method: participants were chosen who were expected to be helpful (seminary students). Primed to think
the situation about helping by being asked to prepare a talk on the good samaritan. Some participants were told they had to
and helping rush, other condition told they had plenty of time. Participants passed a victim in obvious need of help. Only 10%
in hurry helped, 60% not in a hurry helped.
Conclusion: the mundane fact of being in a hurry is such a powerful situational factor that is overrides people's
good intentions. (example of channel factor)
25. Construal and when called the game "wall street game", the majority played competitively, and when called "community game"
the prisoner's most played cooperatively. Didn't matter if had been identified as a competitive or cooperative person
dilemma
26. Automatic vs. People's construals of situations are often largely automatic and unconscious
Controlled
Processing
27. Automatic and based on emotional factors, faster
unconscious
processing
28. skill acquisition how we can carry out procedures without our awareness, automatic processing
29. mental how we can form beliefs without even being aware, freud, that's why social psychologists can't just ask people why
processing they did things need to observe them to uncover the real meaning
30. Conscious and controlled by careful thought, much slower
systematic
processing
31. mentioning words causes people to walk more slowly without them realizing it
about elderly
32. Hindsight Bias Tendency to be overconfident about one's ability to have predicted a given outcome after already knowing the
(chap 2 begins the outcome.
methods of social The feeling that "I knew it all the time."
psychology) Moreover, people overestimate what they themselves and others actually did know in foresight at particular
situation.
33. Hindsight Bias Participants were asked to estimate the probability of various possible outcome of on Nixon's trip to China
Experiment (1972).
2 to 6 weeks after the visit same subjects asked to recall the probabilities of the original predictions. Results
showed that participants remembered having given higher probabilities than they actually had to occurred
events.
34. empirical results The main tool in Social Psychology is empirical research
For instance, research on romantic attraction indicates successful couples are more typically more similar than
different (that is, birds of a feather do flock together)
The feeling that you "already knew" the results of a social psychology experiment research are unjustified
35. What social Social psychology can explain many behaviors that may seem surprising
psychology Social psychology can reveal many ways in which our perceptions are often inaccurate or mistaken (our blind
teaches us spots)
Social psychology shows that much of our behavior is influenced by factors of which we are often unaware
(e.g., the power of situation).
36. observational Involves observing participants in social situations.
research Attempts to systematically observe behaviors.
Behaviors may be recorded and categorized.
May involve additional measures like interviews and questionnaires
37. Brickman studies people who won the lottery, paraplegics, people who didnt experience extreme life events. The lottery winners
life satisfaction in in the short term had extreme happiness and paraplegics had extreme despair, but in long term there was no
three groups large difference between the groups in life satisfaction
38. correlational Research that examines the relationship between variables without assigning participants to different situations
research or conditions
The Experimenter measure the dependent variables (E.g., Level of Sport activity, degree of smoking).
Enable us to point out on specific relationships but we cannot make inferences about causes of behavior
39. correlation does Correlation determines that two things are related but not that one variable causes changes in the other,
not equal because of the lack of manipulation. Helpful in alerting us to various possibilities for causal hypotheses about
cuasation the nature of the world but they don't tell us about the direction of causality
40. external variables A correlation between two variables may actually be caused by a third variable
may explain For example -
correlations Need for achievement can predict both education and income but cannot predict IQ.
41. self-selection Researchers have no control over characteristics, choices, and behaviors of the participants
The participants, not the researchers, determine the levels of the variable being studied (Smokers vs. Non
smokers). Problem that arises when the participant, rather than the investigator, selects his/her level on each
variable, bringing with this value unknown other properties that make causal interpretation of a relationship
difficult. Problem in correlational research
42. experimental Research that involves assigning participants to different situations or conditions.
research Participants should be randomly assigned to different conditions
Experiments allow for causal inferences about how different conditions influence behavior
43. benefits of Conditions are controlled or manipulated by the researcher
experiments Behaviors are systematically measured
Comparisons of how different manipulations affect behavior allow researchers to determine causal influences of
behavior
44. experimental Independent variable=The variable that is manipulated by the researcher
methods The independent variable is hypothesized to cause changes in the dependent variables
Dependent variable=The variable that is measured
Often a change in behavior, feelings, or evaluation
Control condition=A condition identical to the experimental condition but absent from the independent variable
45. random Random assignment to condition ensures that individual differences are evenly distributed across conditions. Can infer
assignment that differences between experimental and control groups are due to the experimental manipulation and not to
differences between the types of people that were in each condition
46. basic Concerned with trying to gain knowledge in its own right. Aim is to gain greater understanding of a phenomenon
research
47. applied Concerned with using current understanding of a phenomenon in order to solve a real-world problem
research
48. participant to observe at close range.
observations Social psychologists observe social situations in a semi formal way /taking notes and interviewing participants) but
they typically design additional research to verify the impressions they get from participant observation.
49. archival refers to the method of research that looks for evidence tat is found in archives of various kinds.
research
50. surveys most common type of study in social psychology uses this method, either by interviewing or asking to fill out a
questionnaire.
•important to be RANDOM SAMPLE
• A haphazard sample (i.e getting people to be part of the survey by asking people as they are coming in/out from
the library) runs the risk of being biased in some way- including too many of one kind of person and too few of
another kind
•The number of people needed to get a reasonably accurate result on some question is essentially independent of the
size of the population in question
51. longitudinal a study conducted over a long period of time, which is periodically assessed regarding a particular behavior.
study
52. natural naturally occurring events or phenomena having somewhat different conditions that can be compared with almost as
experiments much rigor as in experiments where the investigator manipulates the condition
53. external There are weaknesses in experimental studies as well- sometimes experiments are a bit sterile and so removed from
validity in everyday life that it can be hard to know how to interpret them (poor in external validity).
experiments When the purpose of the research is to generalize the results of an experiment directly to the outside world external
validity is crucial.
When the purpose of the experiment is to clarify a general idea/theory external validity is unimportant.
54. external an experimental setup that closely resembles real-life situations so that results can safely be generalized to such
validity situations
•I.e Milgram experiment- most of us will probably never be put in a similar situation
•Poor external validity isn't always fatal, sometimes experimenters strip down situations to its bare essentials on
purpose as a way to make a theoretical point, that would be hard to make with real-world materials.
55. field one of the best ways to ensure external validity, an experiment set up in the real world (that resembles a laboratory
experiment experiment), usually with participants who aren't aware that they are participating in a study of any kind.
56. internal in experimental research, confidence that its the manipulation variable ONLY that could have produced the results.
validity •The experimental situation is held constant in all other respects, and participants in the various experimental
conditions don't differ on average in any respect before they come to the laboratory
•Requires that the experimental setup seem realistic and plausible to participants.
57. debriefing in preliminary versions of an experiment, asking participants straightforwardly if they understood the
instructions, found the setup to be reasonable, and so forth. In later versions, debriefings are used to educate
participants about questions being studied.
•Pilot studies (preliminary) often provide useful information about the experiment design
•Debriefing participants is also routine for the purpose of education.
-help ensure they pass the various criteria of internal validity
58. reliability the degree to which the particular way we measure a given variable is likely to yield consistent results.
•Typically measured by correlations between 0 and 1
Measurement validity- the correlation between some measure and some outcome that the measure is
supposed to predict
-help ensure they pass the various criteria of internal validity
59. statistical a measure of the probability that a given result could have occurred by chance
significance When we have an empirical result such as the finding that there is a correlation between 2 variables or the
finding that some independent variable affects a different variable in an experiment we can test the statistical
significance.
A finding has statistical significance if the probability of obtaining the finding by chance is less than some
quantity (usually 1 in 20 or .05)
60. Statistical •The size of the differences between groups in and experiment or the size of a relationship between variables
significance is in a correlational study
primarily due to •The number of cases the findings is based on
→ The bigger the difference or relationship and the larger the number of cases, the greater the statistical
significance
61. Institutional Review a university committee that examines research proposals and makes judgments about the ethical
Board (IRB)- ethical appropriateness of research.
concerns •Research conducted in universities HAS TO go through the IRB
•If some aspect of the procedure is deemed overly harmful, that procedure MUST be changed before the
study can be approved
62. informed consent participants willingness to participate in a procedure or research study after learning all relevant aspects
about the procedure/study.
•Practiced followed for most psychological research as well
63. deception research research in which the participants are misled about the purpose of the research or the meaning of something
that is done to them
•Impossible to get informed consent
•So exceptions are made for this kind of research and if there is a good reason to deceive participant it will
generally be allowed by IRB's
64. Experiment about Hypothesis: members of a culture of honor, u.s. southerners, will respond with more anger and aggression
honor differences in than northerners
the U.S. Research method: participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire and take it down a long narrow hallway
When the participant passed a student he would yell *******.
Results: Southerners responded with more facial and bodily expressions of anger when insulted than
northerner's and their testosterone levels increased.
Conclusion: Southerners are more biologically prepared for aggression.
65. Chapter 3 The Social Self
66. three principles of 1.social situations have a very strong impact on behavior.
social psychology 2.if a situation is perceived as real, it is likely to have real consequences.
3.people wish to justify their actions and preserve or increase their sense of positive self worth.
67. the self concept The sum of our beliefs about ourselves.
68. sources of self -Introspection
knowledge -Self perception about behavior
-Influence of others
-Autobiographical memories
-culture
69. biological disposition in Five-factor model of personality
personality development Five traits that are basic building blocks of personality
Openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism
Traits are highly heritable and are linked to specific biological processes
70. family influence and sibling -Diversification-Siblings may take on different roles in the family to minimize conflicts
dynamic on personality -Birth order may influence personality traits-Older siblings are often more responsible and
development supportive of the status quo (e.g., Leaders), younger siblings are often more rebellious and open to
new experiences (e.g., creative artists).
71. heritable traits run in Big Five personality traits are highly heritable
families
72. Genetic heritability can be Identical twin are 100 percent genetically identical
determined from twin Monozygotic: from one zygote
studies Dizygotic: from two zygotes
Therefore, the influence of genetic factors on personality traits can be estimated by examining the
differences between identical and fraternal twins
73. Fraternal twins are 50 Dizygotic: from two zygotes
percent genetically Fraternal twins are as genetically similar as any other two siblings (50 percent genetically identical
identical on average), but share a more similar environment because they are born at same time
74. identical twins monozygotic twins resembles each other more in their extraversion and neuroticism than do
dizygotic twins, who only share half their genes
75. independent view of self Self seen as a distinct, autonomous entity, separate from others and defined by individual traits and
preferences
76. interdependent view of self Self seen as connected to others, defined by social duties and shared traits and preferences
77. gender and the self -Across cultures, men generally have more independent, and women have more interdependent,
views of self
-Women likely to refer to relationships when describing self
-Women more attuned to external social cues whereas as men more attuned to their internal
responses
78. why differences between -Differences may be due to socialization
cultures -Cultural stereotypes, parental feedback, educational treatment
-Evolution may contribute to gender differences
-Independent views of self may advantage males in acts like physical competition and hunting
-Interdependent views of self may advantage females in acts related to maintaining social bonds and
care giving
79. situationism and the self Aspects of the self may change depending on the situation
80. social context Sense of self may shift dramatically depending on whom we are interacting with
For instance, may feel different about the self when interacting with authority figures than when
interacting with subordinates
81. distinctiveness hypothesis We identify what make us unique in each particular context, and we highlight that in our self definition
For instance, age may seem more important to self-definition if you are surrounded by much older
people
-American children define themselves according to how they are unique and different from their
classmates
82. social comparison theory -The hypothesis that we evaluate ourselves through comparisons to others
-Downward social comparisons may boost self-esteem by making us feel better about the self
-Upward social comparisons may motivate self-improvement
83. In World War II African-American soldiers stationed in Southern In the south--Compared with local non-enlisted African-
United States exhibited higher morale than those stationed in Americans, whose situation was worse than that of the
Northern states. recruits.
In the North-->Compared with local non-enlisted African-
Americans, whose situation was better than that of the
recruits.
84. olympic gold medalists comparing themselves experiment H: people's emotional responses to events are influenced
about their thoughts of what would have been.
RM: videotaping olympic medalists and had people judge
how happy they looked
R: they found the bronze (3rd place winners) looked much
happier in comparison to the silver, second place winner
c:the silver is just thinking how they are not gold and the
bronze is just happy to have gotten an award.
85. Better-than-average effect Most Westerners tend to have a positive view of the self
Tend to rate the self as better than average on most traits
Weight abilities we excel at as more valuable
86. influence of others Knowledge about the self helps organize how we behave
in different situations and with different people
87. Social self-beliefs Beliefs about the roles and duties we assume in different
groups
88. Relational self-beliefs Beliefs about our identities in specific relationships
For instance, who you are as a son/daughter feels
different than who you are as a boyfriend/girlfriend
89. collective self-beliefs Beliefs about our identity as members of important social
categories
Examples could be identity based on citizenship, ethnicity,
gender, profession, and so on
90. self-reference effect The tendency to elaborate on and recall information that
is integrated into our self -knowledge
For instance, better memory for a list of adjectives if
considering whether the adjectives apply to the self
91. Self-image bias Tendency to judge other people's personalities according
to their similarity or dissimilarity to our own personality.
For instance, If you view yourself as intelligent you may
judge others strongly by how intelligent you perceive
them to be
92. self-discrepancy theory, higgins Behavior is motivated by cultural and personal moral
standards
Individuals want to resolve discrepancies of who they
are with who they want to be or ought to be
93. actual self the person we believe ourselves to be
94. self guides Ideal self: the person we wish we could be
Ought self: the person we feel should be
95. discrepancy between ideal and actual self self causes feelings of depression, disappointment, shame
and sadness.
96. discrepancy between actual and ought self causes feelings of anxiety.
97. promotion focus Focus on positive outcomes and moving toward
becoming our ideal self
98. prevention focus Focus on negative outcomes and attempt to avoid not living up to our ought self
99. self-esteem Overall positive or negative evaluation we have of ourselves
100. trait self-esteem Enduring level of regard we have for ourselves
Fairly stable across time
101. state self-esteem Dynamic and changeable feelings about the self felt at different moments in time
102. positive illusions - better than average effect
-Research suggests that most well-adjusted people may have slightly unrealistic
views about themselves -
103. overweighing positive views of the self a common positive illusion, Believe positive traits are more true of the self than
negative traits
Believe positive traits are unique but negative traits are common
Our memory is selective....
104. distortions in memory of grades compared people's grade letter A, B, C, D to their actual grade and found that the
lower letter grades had more distortions in their memory of grades and not accurate
recall
105. Exaggerated perceptions of control a common positive illusion, Believe we have more control over events than we do
(Langer, 1975)
-like when trying to roll small number roll dice in smaller range of motion, as if it
matters
106. self control and ego depletion Regulating behavior requires mental energy, but mental resources are limited
107. Ego depletion State where previous acts of self-control drains ability to control future behavior
For instance, participants who controlled behavior by eating healthy fruits instead of
delicious cookies gave up faster when they had to solve a puzzle later - Lemonade
experiment
108. unrealistic optimism a common positive illusion, Believe positive events are more likely to happen to
oneself than to other people
"It will not happened to me"
"I am not part of the normal distribution"
109. Overconfidence in our knowledge People believe that they know more than they actually know. In other words, "those
who know more don't know more about how much they know."
110. Positive illusions about the self are more Members of collectivistic cultures are less likely to report enhanced feelings of
common in individualistic cultures control, less likely to rate themselves as better than average, and less likely to be
unrealistically optimistic
111. Individualistic cultures place greater value Positive illusions promote feelings that the self is unique, independent, and good
on positive views of the self than
collectivistic cultures Importantly, not all illusions about the self are positive....same processes may lead
also to negative consequences --
112. Self perception of attitudes: inference from -Participants were asked to write down things the like about their relationship with
the difficulty of retrieval (experiment ) their partner.
-Some participants were asked to write down 2 things they like about the
relationship, and others were asked to write down 10 things they like about it.
-Two other experimental groups listed 2 things or 10 things they disliked about the
relationship with their partner.
-Pretest shows it is easy to produce 2 examples of things we like or dislike, but it
is difficult to produce 10 examples.
-Satisfaction of the relationship was assessed.
113. results of above experiment -Participants who are asked to write down 10 things list more but experience more
difficulty in retrieving items than participants who list two things.
-They infer "if it is so difficult for me to recall good/bad things then there probably
aren't that many good/bad things, therefore the relationship isn't that good/bad.
114. Self-evaluation People are motivated to maintain positive self-esteem
maintenance Positive self-evaluations maintained through reflection and strategic social comparisons
model
115. basking in Enhancing self-esteem by identifying or claiming affiliation with a successful group.
reflected glory Students were more likely to wear their university affiliated apparel after a victorious football weekend and
more likely to use the pronoun "we" after a successful athletic weekend than if their team had lost
116. Motivations for Prefer friends who don't outshine us in domains contingent to our self-worth
friendships Having friends who excel in other domains can boost self-esteem by allowing us to bask in their reflected
glory
117. Self-verification Verifying information
theory May maintain consistent view of the self by selectively paying attention to information consistent with self-view
May associate with people who provide preferred feedback about the self
Use identity cues to display our self-view to others
118. Impression Attempts to control how other people will view us
management For instance, by managing how you dress, behave in public, whom you associate with, what you reveal about
yourself to others
When interacting with others, we present a public face that we want others to believe
119. Self monitoring The theory refers to the process through which people regulate their own behavior in order to "look good" so
that they will be perceived by others in a favorable manner
120. High self- monitor their behavior to fit different situations, adjusts behavior to situation, attempt to control the beliefs
monitoring other people have of them (manage impression)
121. Low self- More cross-situationally consistent (behave according to their inner feelings, opinions or moods)
monitoring
122. Self Handicapping If we (a) are unsure of our success on a task we value and (b) feel we should do well, we may claim or create
a handicap to our own performance.
We do this in order to (a) build an advance excuse for possible future failure that might otherwise damage our
self-esteem and/or (b) be able to claim additional credit should we nevertheless succeed.
123. Forms of self- Unattainable goals
handicapping Not practicing/ studying
Taking drugs and alcohol
Stress, report of symptoms of physical illness
Lowering expectations
Damaging performance
Predicting failure
124. Multi-Dimensional In contrast to the view of the self as a fixed element of our personality (stable, changes slowly) - there are
Self different types of "selves", which can be influenced, and change from one situation to the other.
125. Chapter 4 Understanding others
126. attribution theory General term for theories about how people explain the causes of events they observe
Cause - Effect relationship
Often make immediate inferences about other people based on their physical appearance
Which in turn influences our behavior towards other people
127. Snap judgments Attributions are often made very quickly based on limited information
Snap judgments can
be accurate, but most accurately
predict what other people will think
most accurate when judging how attractive, likeable, trustworthy a person is
128. causal -Explanation for the cause of your or another person's behavior
attribution -Internal attribution-Behavior is explained by aspects of the person - personality, intentions (e.g., confused )
-External attribution-Behavior is explained by aspects of the situation - contextual factors, (e.g., traffic Jam)
-The type of attribution made will influence how you respond to the situation
-For instance, if your friend cancels plans to get together with you, thinking your friend must not be feeling well
feels better than thinking your friend doesn't like hanging out with you
129. Fundamental Tendency to believe that a behavior is due to a person's traits or disposition despite the situational causes present
attribution error The tendency to underestimate the role of external factors, and
(FAE) overweigh the contribution of internal factors in making attributions
For instance, inferences may be made about someone's true personality even when we are aware that their
behavior resulted from an assigned role
130. fundamental half of the participants read a pro-castro essay and the other an anti-castro essay, even though some people were
attribution error assigned a certain topic and others wrote about their actual beliefs, the people reading the essays rated the
study authors attitude based on the stance they took even when they were told that the stance was assigned, meaning
they had no choice about which one to write about
131. the perceiver a questioner and a responder were assigned questions and answers to read. One set of answer assigned was
induced selfish and the other one was altruistic. Even though, questioner knew that the answers were scripted they still
constraint judged the people who read altruistic answers as being more altruistic
paradigm
experiment
132. Perceived Often attribute things to what appears to be most obvious cause
salience Fundamental attribution errors may occur because people are often more salient than the surrounding context
(reason for
FAE)
133. Motivation to Motivated to believe that people get what they deserve in life
believe in a just Good things happen to good people, bad things to bad people
world, reason Fundamental attribution errors may be reassuring because we feel less vulnerable to external factors influencing
for FAE our life outcomes
134. Automatic and Dispositional attributions are often made automatically (system 1)
controlled
cognitive Situational attributions require more cognitive thought after weighing information about the context (system 2)
processing
135. What is the (A)In theory, we should simultaneously weigh both the person's behavior and the surrounding context to arrive at
process of an explanation of a behavior. (B) In actuality, we first automatically characterize the person in terms of the
infering behavior and then sometimes make an effortful adjustment for the context to arrive at an explanation of the
dispositions? behavior.
136. experiment that when asked why am I here studying psychology students focused on aspects of the major for their own choice,
demonstartes but on personality characteristics for their friend's choice
actor- observer
differences
137. experiment a person in class was given time to come up with general knowledge questions and then asks a random person in
about rating class. She is coming up with the questions and has time to think about them from her general knowledge doesn't
general mean she has more than the person answering the questions but class and the contestant end up rating the person
knowledge who asked the questions as having much more general knowledge
138. Actor-Observer Attributions may differ between the person engaging in a behavior and a person observing the behavior
Differences The actor is disposed to explain behavior as due to the situation
The observer is disposed to explain behavior as due to dispositional qualities of the actor
For instance, when explaining the choice of major for themselves and their friends, students focused on aspects of
the major for their own choice, but on personality characteristics for their friend's choice
139. Causes of Perceptual salience-As actors, the situation is salient; as observers, the person is salient
actor-observer May ignore the influence of dispositions when explaining our own behaviors
differences Lack of information about the intentions and past behaviors of the actor
140. Culture and Context Collectivistic cultures may be more attuned to contextual factors
Emotional context
When judging the facial expression of an individual, collectivists were more influenced by
facial expressions of other people in the scene
141. Rod and Frame Test Individualists perform better at making absolute judgments, but collectivists perform better
at making relative judgments
Relative judgments require paying attention to the length of a line in context with the frame
that surrounds it
142. The fundamental attribution error is Individualists more likely to attribute behaviors to dispositions
less prevalent in collectivistic Collectivists more likely to attribute behaviors to the situation
cultures Coaches in the United States were more likely to attribute wins to abilities of the players
whereas coaches in China were more likely refer to difficulties experienced by the other
team
143. Differences in attribution made even In one study, participants were shown an animation of a single fish swimming away from a
for non-human targets larger group of fish
when looking at the same picture American participants were more likely to attribute behavior to individual choices of the
judged it differently fish, and Chinese participants, to the actions of the group
144. Priming Culture For people who are connected to both independent and interdependent cultures, attribution
styles may change depending on the cultural context
Evidence from Hong Kong
Hong Kong is heavily influenced by both China and Western countries like the United
States and the United Kingdom
145. hong kong Residents of Hong Kong can switch between independent and interdependent attributions
styles
Made more dispositional attributions after being primed with images related to Western
culture
Made more situational attributions after being primed with images related to Chinese
culture
146. self-serving biases Tendency to attribute failures to external causes and success to internal causes
For instance, athletes may attribute losses to bad referees but victories to talent and hard
work
Self-serving biases can boost and maintain positive self-esteem
147. explanatory style A person's habitual way of explaining events
148. explanatory dimensions internal vs. external, Stable vs. instable, global vs. specific
149. Internal versus external Degree that cause is linked to the self or to the external situation
150. Stable versus instable Degree that the cause is seen as fixed or as something that is temporary
151. global vs. specific Degree that the cause is seen as affecting other domains in life or is restricted to affecting
one specific domain
152. Pessimistic attribution style Internal, stable, global attributions habitually made for negative events
"It's my fault," "I'm never going to be able to," "I am no good at anything."
Pessimistic attribution styles predict lower grades and poorer physical health later in life
153. does explanatory style early in life Later in life it does by the time reach 55 you are much less healthy and they found that it is
predict later physical health? a significant predictor, positive outlook means you are more likely to take care of yourself
154. gender differences in attribution Boys more likely to attribute failures to external causes
Girls more likely to attribute failure to internal causes
155. Differences may be due to -Study found that teachers gave negative feedback related to intellectual ability to girls
elementary school socialization and negative feedback related to nonintellectual aspects of behavior to boys
-Boys may be inadvertently taught that failures are due to lack of effort while girls may
learn that failures are due to ability
156. Covariation Behavioral attributions are made by weighing information about the potential causes of the behavior
principle -consensus, distinctiveness, consistency
157. Consensus What would most people do in the given situation
158. distinctiveness Whether an individual's behavior is unique to a given situation or whether that person would behave the same
way in a different situation
159. consistency Whether an individual acts the same way in similar situations
160. External For instance, a person yelling loudly during a football game
attributions Since most people would (high consensus)
likely if If the person doesn't yell in other situations (high distinctiveness)
consensus, The person yells throughout the game or during other football games (high consistency)
distinctiveness, Assume the person's behavior is a product of the situation—External attribution
and consistency
are high
161. Internal For instance, a person laughing at a funeral
attributions Since most people wouldn't (low consensus)
likely when If the person laughed in other honorable situations (low distinctiveness)
consensus and The person continued to laugh throughout the funeral or at other funerals (high consistency)
distinctiveness Assume there is something unusual about the person --internal attribution
are low but
consistency is
high
162. Discounting and Discounting: the existence of any additional reason that could account for
augmenting the effect reduces the likelihood of any given reason
principles Augmenting: the existence of reasons that could have prevented the
effect increase the likelihood of the cause that could produce it.
e.g.,
Salesperson: "it looks fantastic on you"--Cause A: looks good, Cause B: she gets percentage on sales
Discounting the likelihood of cause A
163. Counterfactual Thoughts of what might have been, could have been, or should have been "if only" something had been done
thinking differently
Causal attributions can be formed by comparing real outcomes to imagined alternatives
164. Emotional Emotional reactions to counterfactual thoughts increase depending on how easy it is to imagine the alternative
amplification May feel more personally responsible for failure depending on how easy it is to imagine the alternative
165. Counterfactual Although it seems counterintuitive, bronze medalists are often more satisfied with their accomplishment than
thinking at the silver medalists
Olympics Silver medalists may imagine a gold medal as the alternative
Bronze medalists may imagine receive no medal as the alternative
166. sensitivity to participants are shown a target stimulus and after a brief period of time they are asked to draw a vertical line in
context and an empty box. In the relative task the line must be drawn in the same proportion to the original box and in the
framed line task absolute task the line must be the same exact length as the original line even though the boxes are different
sizes. Japanese are better at relative task and americans are better at absolute task.
167. adjusting participants had to watch a viedo-tape of an anxious woman. Half told she was answering anxiety-inducing
automatic questions and the other half was told she was answering normal questions about what kind of books she likes.
characterizations Hypothesis-all participants would automatically assume she is an anxious person, but the innocuous anxiety-
experiment inducing condition would then deliberately adjust their initial characterization. However, another condition was
added that half the participants were kept busy by being told to memorize words. Gilbert predicted that the extra
demand on their attention would prevent them from deliberately changing their initial attribution.
168. Study- tutoring after an initial round of tutoring the student is assessed. If the student performs well then the tutors made an
student that has internal attribution for their improvement, but if they did poorly then they blame the student, external attribution,
difficulty with instead of themselves. But this may be rational if the teacher tried many different study tactics
material
169. Study interview, Participants witnessed a person either act extroverted or introverted in an interview, half told he was
discounting and interviewing to be a submariner (position better for extroverts) and the other told astronaut (more
augmentation introvert job). When they rated the people, they rated the out-of-role person more extremely than the
person who fit the role (an introvert for an introvert job they rated less as an introvert than an introvert
for an extrovert job). In role behavior they rated more mildly
170. Chapter 5 Social Judgment
171. social judgement Research on social judgments examines how people make decisions, interpret past events, understand
important to study current events, and make predictions for future events
The social judgments made will ultimately influence behaviors
-often are inaccurate and lead to biases
172. reality vs. perceived in the song the child's intuition is that more is better than less, so he replaces the dollar for two quarters
reality but in reality he made a mistake but he didnt know. The father knows he made this mistake
173. two models in decision normative and descriptive
making
174. normative model have a formal and organized theoretical framework that suggests the optimal (correct) answer for
specific problem.
175. Descriptive model describe how people actually solve specific problems and what intuitions guide their behavior.
176. firsthand information Information based on personal experience or observation
177. secondhand information Information that comes from other sources, like gossip, news accounts, books, magazines, the Internet,
and so on
178. Personal experiences -There can be biases, for instance, making judgments about what a country is like from having visited
may be unrepresentative only a few people and places
-People assume that even small sample is representative...
179. in a study they asked demonstration of Pluralistic Ignorance: (A) University students believe that drinking alcohol is more
students how popular among their peers than it really is. Because of this belief, they censor their own reservations
comfortable they are about drinking, thus furthering the illusion that alcohol is so popular. (B) Princeton University students'
drinking alcohol, their ratings of their own and other students' comfort with campus drinking habits at Princeton.
friends, and the average
student
180. pluralistic ignorance a situation where a majority of group members privately reject a norm, but assume (incorrectly) that
most others accept it..."the situation where 'no one believes, but everyone thinks that everyone believes.'".
181. examples of pluralistic -Difficult topics in class-No one asks questions because everyone else is pretending they understand
ignorance -Popularity of drinking in colleges and universities-Students believe drinking is more popular than it is
-Reluctance to communicate with new social groups
Contact between two groups may be avoided because each group fears being rejected by the other
182. memory biases Memory is not a passive recorder
Memories are actively constructed-they can change over time, and are influenced by outside forces
Memory is biased by inference and expectation
183. flashbulb memories Very vivid memories of important events show frequent errors
-your amygdala is activated because it was an emotional experience
184. flase memory convinced students that pluto licked their ears when they visited disney land even though he never did
experience
185. primacy effects When information presented first in a list has disproportionate influence on subsequent judgments
186. recency effects When information presented last in a list has disproportionate influence on subsequent judgments
187. asch experiment on he asked participants to rate a person's character. In one condition he listed the more negative traits first
primacy effect and in the second condition he listed the more positve characteristics first. They were the same list but
the people in the second condition rated the person more favorably
188. reasons for order Cognitive limitations
effects (framing Easier to pay attention to first and last items
effects) Items presented first influence construal of later items
May not remember items inconsistent with initial expectations
In surveys about life satisfaction and romantic life satisfaction, stronger correlations if questions about
romantic life are asked first (framing effect)
189. positive and Negative information draws more attention than positive information
negative framing Information framed in negative ways will elicit stronger responses
In decision making, a loss is more aversive than a missed opportunity=Loss aversion
190. house money when get money from casino, you don't feel like it is your money so you are more likely to risk it
effect
191. break-even effect people at the last part of gambling are more likely to try to pay back their losses and break even so they take
more risks
192. confirmation bias The tendency to test an idea by searching for evidence that would support it
Can lead to false beliefs because people may fail to attend to disconfirming information
193. knowledge vs. your knowledge remains stable over time but your confidence level increases?
confidence level
(going to ask on
final)
194. dual modes of system 1-(automatic controlled processing)Rapid responses based on associations that come automatically to
information mind
processing Intuitive information processing can be done in parallel
Many things can be intuitively processed at the same time
Rational- System 2
Slower responses based on controlled, rule-based reasoning
Rational information processing must be done serially
Based on cognitive operations that must analyzed one at a time
195. assessing People need to make decisions constantly, such as risk perception, financial investments, insurance and etc...
probabilities People employ several rules of thumb to assess probabilities -- Heuristics
These heuristics are fast and frugal, helping us to achieve "good enough" accuracy using limited resources.
However, under certain conditions these heuristics lead to significant biases in a consistent fashion.
196. representativeness a heuristic, reasoning the more object X is similar to Y, the more likely we think X belongs to Y group
heuristic -The problem is that similarity is not always in line with the probability rules.
197. availability heuristic, The easier it is to consider instances of class Y, the more frequent we think it is
like if jumps into our mind right away
198. Base-rate Information about the relative frequency of events
information E.g., Base-rate neglect occurs when judging a likely choice of profession from individual personality traits
-we make errors when we don't attend to these
199. example of participants were asked to rate academic disciplines either in terms of likelihood that Tom W. chose that
demonstrating graduate field, the perceived similarity between the description of Tom W. and the prototypical student in that
heuristics field, or the number of graduate students enrolled in each field. The ratings of likelihood and how similar Tom
is to that field were almost identical. Failed to take into account base-rate info, like how popular is that major
200. insensitivity to -According to the "law of large numbers" the size of a sample should greatly affect the likelihood of obtaining
sample size the same results in the population.
People, however, ignore sample size
-People believe that even small samples are highly representative of the populations from which they are
drawn .
201. misconception of People expect random sequences to be "representatively random" even locally
chance E.g., they consider a coin-toss run of HTHTTH to be more likely than HHHTTT or HHHHTH
even though the odds are the same, it stays 50/50 everytime
202. the gambler's fallacy After a run of reds in a roulette, black will make the overall run more representative (chance as
a self-correcting process??)
203. example of availability heurisitc: Classes whose instances are more easily retrievable will seem larger
ease of retrievability For example, which is more prevalent: words that start with r or words with r as the 3rd letter?