AP Psych - Unit 11 - Social Psychology

situational attribution

Explaining behavior as being caused by external influences. Belief that an individual's behavior is based on events in the environment rather than long-lasting personality characteristics.

diffusion of responsibility

Reduction in sense of responsibility often felt by individuals in a group; may be responsible for the bystander effect

stereoypes

a generalized (sometimes accurate but often overgeneralized) belief about a group of people. Ex) all karate players aré fast.

conflict

a perceived incompatibilty of actions, goals, and ideas - elements are ths same at all levels, from nations at war, to cultural disputes with a society.

passionate love

an aroused state of intense absorption in another, usually present at the beginning of a love relationship - studies show, adrenaline makes the heart grow fonder. after coming off a dangerous. arousing bridge, men were more likely to accept a woman's number and call her later. - typically produces children - limited half life on this type of love and need to appreciate it (by having children to reognize that love)

social-responsibility norm

an expectation that people will help those dependent upon them - ex) young children and others who cannot give as much as they receive.

reciprocity norm

an expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them

norms

an understood rule for accepted and expected behavior. these prescribe "proper" behavior - social ---- could seem oppressive but they grease the machinery for getting by in society without worrying about being embarrassed or insulting someone

prejudice

an unjustifiable (an usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members. Generally involves involves stereotyped beliefs, negative feelings, and a prediposition to discriminatory action - ---- is a negative attitude, descrimination is a negative behavior - can be automatic and unconscious

neural influence of aggression

animal human brains have neural systems that either inhibit or produce aggressive behavior - when electrode was placed on woman's AMYGDALA, she snapped at the doctor and hit her - NO ONE SPOT IN THE BRAIN CONTROLS AGGRESSION. aggression is more likely to occur is the frontal lobe is damaged because it cant inhibit the aggression.

aggression

any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy whether done reacting out of hostility or proactively as a calculated means to an end. - deaths during war = ---- - learned instinct. but still influenced by biology

central route persuasion

attitude change path in which interested epople focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts - occurs mostly when people are naturally analytical or involved in the issue. - is more thoughtful and less superficial, so it is more durable and more liekly to influence behavior

peripheral route persuasion

attitude change path in which people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speakers attractiveness

testosterone

high levels of this is correlated with irritibility, assertiveness, implusiveness, and low tolerance for frustration -- qualities that predispose somewhat more aggressive responses to provocation - this heightenes dominance and aggressiveness, but dominating behavior also boosts these levels...

foot-in-the-door phenomenon

the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request. "start small and build" to get people to agree wtih something big

just world phenomenon

the tendency of people to believe the world is just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get - good is rewarded and vil is punished

ingroup bias

the tendency to favor our own group

categorize

one way we simplify our work is by doing this. however, by --- people into groups, we often stereotype them , biasing our perceptions of thier diversity.

reward theory of attraction

that we will like those whose behavior is rewarding to ys and that we will continue realtionships that offer more reards thn costs.

culture

the behaviors, idea, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next - --- differ in pace of life, expressiveness, personal space, etc.

personal space

the buffer zone we like to maintain around our bodies - some cultures get closer than others

companionate love

the deep affectionate attachement we feel for those with whome our lives are intertwined - this results after passionate love fades

social psychology

the scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another.

bystander effect

the tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present

fundamental attribution error

the tendency for observers, when analyzing another's behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situations and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition - in studies, even when students were told that that a woman's behavior was situational, students still attributed her behavior to her personal disposition!!

other-race effect. Also, called the cross-race effect and the own-race bias

the tendency to recall faces of one's own race more accurately then faces of other races. emerges during infancy of 3-9 months of age

actions affect attitudes

when you adopt a new ole, you strive to follow the social prescriptions assigned to that role. at first, your behvaiors may feel phone, because your are acting a role. before long, the play becomes you.

discrimination

unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group and its members. - prejudice os a negative attitude, ---- is a negative behavior.

altruism

unselfish regard for the welfare of others

defensive attribution

we often blame the victim

ingroup (us) vs. outgroup (them)

were a group oriented species. but dividing the world into us and them entails racism and war but also provides the benefits of communal solidarity. through out social identities, we associate ourselves with certain groups and contrast ourselves with others - typically hate the group that is most like us. ex) portugese and spanish. PHS vs. RHHS/Hersey 0- such identitifiecations promotoes ingroup bias

demonstrated the power of authority. obedience test

what does the Milgram Shock study reveal or demonstrate?

social inequalities

when some poeple have money, power, and prestige and others do not, the :haves" usually develop attitudes that justify things as they are. stereotypes rationalize inequalitites. ex) people viewed slaves as lazy, ignorant, and irresponsible which justified having them as slaves

outgroup

"them" - those perceived as different or apart from our ingroup

ingroup

"us" - people with whom we share a common identity

observing models of agression

- TV movies and shows depict women running from rapist but then evenutally liking it - rape myth. The more tv you watch, the more likely you are to accept this idea. - pornography tht depicts the victims liking of th action increases the acceptance of the use of coercion in sexual realtions

attitudes

- a relatively enduring and general evaluation of an object, person, group, issue or concept on a scale ranging from positive to negative feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events. - our attitudes often predict our behavior

simliarity

- friends and couples are far more likely to share common attitudes, beliefs, and interests.. - ----- breeds content

the effects of attribution

- in everyday life we often stuggle to explain other's' actions - when we make judgements, our attributions - either to the person or the situation - have consequences - ex) spouse snaps "must have had tough day" = attributing to situation VS spouse snaps "why did i marry someone so mean" = attributing to mean disposition - our attributions should be made carefully bc they have real consequences.

self-disclosure

- revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others - our dreams and worries, our proud and shameful moments

genetic influence of aggression

- some animals have been bred for aggression == his is how we know --- is involved. - y chromosome is a genetic marker of aggression

attitudes affect our actions

- sometimes predict our behavior - we sometimes stand up for what we believe in - politicians and advertisers try to influence our attitudes through persuasion

group polarization

- the enhancement of of a groups prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group. ocurrs when people within a group discuss an idea that most of them either favor or oppose

Darley and Latane's Research

- these researchers suspected that given a situation like genovese's, most people would react the same as the other 38 bystanders. - set up headsets with people on the other end who sounded like they needed help

physical attractiveness

- this influences first impressions for both sexes - people's --- also predicts their frequency of dating, their feelings of popularity, and other's intitial impressions of their personalities.. we perceive --- people to be healthier, happier, more ensitive, and more succesfful - however, peoples attractiveness is surpringly unrealtd to their self-esteem an happiness. - attractivenessis realtive to the culture. the eye of the culture.

Philip Zimbardo

- this psychologist created the Stanford prison expirament but had to call off the expirament just after six days becuase people actually took on roles of prison and guard - coined phrase. "the power of the situation"

violence and TV/Video games

- video games can prime aggressive thoughts and increase aggression. - displayed desensitization to violent images - kids who play a lot of video games see the wolrd as more hostile, het into more arguments and fights and get worse grades. - because of the interaction, video games have greater effects on aggressive behavior then tv and movies. - disconfirms the catharsis effect bc it makes kids even more aggresive

Proximity (attraction)

-geographic nearness; is freinships most pwerful predictor - proides opportunities for aggression, but much more often breeds liking.

social context

-people = determine your behavior - interactions b/w those people and the activities going on - features of the environment - the rules (explicitedly stated) of enviro and norms (not stated rles)

normative social influence

-stems from a desire to avoid punishments (such as going along with the rules in class even though you don't agree with them) and gain rewards (such as behaving in a certain way in order to get people to like you). -influence resulting from a persons desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval. we are sensitive to social norms because the price we pay for being different may be severe

Stanley Milgram

-student of Solomon Asch; - 1933-1984; Field: social psychology; Contributions: obedience study-wanted to see how far individuals would go to be obedient; Studies: Shock Study - exploited the foot-in-the-door effect- the small action (small shock) became justified, making the next act tolerable (bigger shock) - 65% of mean shocked person to an extreme level

dispositional attribution

A behavior explained or interpreted as being caused by internal influences such as traits.

self-fulfilling prophecy

A belief that leads to its own fulfillment -Aronson and Rosenthal came up with this - ex) woman thinks her husband will leave, eventually starts doing annoying things that actually causes him to leave. - beliefs influence actions/behavior.

amygdala

A limbic system structure involved in memory and emotion, particularly fear and aggression.

Solomon Asch

An important figure in the study of Conformity. He is famous for his experiment in which he had one test subject and five confederates disguised as test subjects compare line lengths. The five confederates selected the same, obviously incorrect answer, which often caused the subject to follow suit. Demonstrated the social conformity bias.

altruistic

Behaviors that benefit other people and for which there is no discernable extrinsic reward, recognition, or appreciation.

social inhibition

The tendency for an individual's performance to decline when complex or poorly learned tasks are performed in the presence of others.

Abu Ghraib Prison

US military guards subjected prisoners in Iraq to abuse and humiliation. "situations win, people lose." the guards were exhausted working 12 hours, dealing with an enemy and heightened fears of lethal attacks, understaffed, minimal training, --- all of these things created an "evil barrel" where you could put virtually anybody in it and get that kind of evil

chameleon effect

Unconsciously mimicking others' expressions, postures, and voice tones helps us feel what they are feeling.

equity

a condition in which people receive from a relationship in proportion to what they give to it - when this happens, the chances for sustained and satisfying companionate love are good

role

a set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave ex) first few weeks of getting married, it feels like youre playing house, but after a while, that becomes you - when you adopt a new one you strive to follow the social precription assigned to that role - what we do, we gradually become

social trap

a situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their self-interest, become caught in mutually destructive behavior - what we did in class with the 5 extra points vs. 15 extra points.

conformity

adjusting ones behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard - when accuracy of task matter, we are more liekly to do this - individualistic societies are less likely to do this

social loafing

especially common among men in individualistic cultures - the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable - why?? people feel less accountable in a group setting, and may view contribution as dispendable, and

Stanford Prison Expirament

expirament created by Philip Zimbardo - randomly assigned volunteer college kids roles as prison guards or prisoners. Given tests to make sure they were healthy - after a day or two of everyone consciously playing their roles, most guards developed disparaging attitudes causing the prisoners to break down, rebel and passively resign. - lesson ; the majority of people conform and commit atrocities -THE ENVIRONMENT MATTERS "not the monkeys, its the barrel thats rotten"

informative social influence

influence resulting from one's willingness to accept others' opinions about reality -happens when people change their behavior in order to be correct. In situations where we are unsure of the correct response, we often look to others who are better informed and more knowledgeable and use their lead as a guide for our own behaviors. In a classroom setting, for example, this might involve agreeing with the judgments of another classmate who you perceive as being highly intelligent. - if we are unsure of what is right, and if being right matters, we are receptive to others' opinions

self-sercvng bias, just world phenomenon, defensive attribution, and fundamental attribution error

list the four things that bias our attribution

mcdonalds incident (from stephs notes)

managers abused high school teenage girl

social scripts

mental tapes of how to act, provided byour ulture - when we find ourselves in new situations uncertain of howt o act, we rely on these. a lot of these come from tv. - music lyrics also write these.

mirror-image perceptions

mutual views often held by conflicting people, as when each side sees itself as ethical and peaceful and views the other side as evil and aggressive

learning and rewards with aggresion

our reactions are more likely to be aggressive in situations where experience has taught us that aggression pays ex) animals that have fought for their food become increasingly ferocious - rejection form peers also intensifies aggression - parents are told not to fight and hit because the children will model their behvair. there are programs that teach parents adn children how to communicate better.

social thinking

our social behaivor arises from our social cognition. we analyze why people act as they do. we try to figure our the cause of events

cognitive dissonance (discomfort) theory

proposed by Leon Festinger; the theory that we act to reduce the discomfort we feel when two of our thoughts are inconsistent. for example, when or awareness of our attitudes and of our actions clash, we can reduce the resulting discomfort by changing our attitudes. - the more dissonance we feel, the more motivated we are to find consistency, such as changing our attitudes to help justify the act

superordinate goals

shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation - especailly powerful when is causes people to g=form new groups out of the old two groups

social facilitation

stronger responses on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others. ex) after a free light turns, drivers take about 15 percent less time to travel the first 100 yards when another car is beside them at the intersection than when they are alone

aversive events

suffering can also bring out the worst in people. phsycial pain, personal insults, foul odors, high temepratures can all increase our aggression

defensive attribution

tendency to attribute our successes to our own efforts or qualities and our failures to external factors; motivation to present ourselves well; Example: self-serving bias or just-world hypothesis - *also called blaming the victim* - blaming victim for their misfortune so one feels less likely to be victimized in a similar way

biochemical influences of aggression

testosterone is a huge part in aggression (y chomrosome in men = testosterone)

deindividuation

the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity - often occurs when group participants makes poeple feel aroused and anonymous. to lose self-consciousness (to become ---- ) is to become more responsive to the group experience

groupthink

the mode of thinking tha occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives - when a group goes along with a leader and attempts to "keep the peace" instead of thinking critically and solving the problem or dealing with the situation effectively. Think JFK and Cuban Missile Crisis. NO ONE spoke up against this BAD IDEA b/c they followed the strong leader.

mere exposure effect

the phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them - familiarity breeds fondness - ex) man sent 700 letters urging him to marry her... she married the mailman

personal controlminority influnce

the power of one or two individuals to sway the majoritites - someone who stay with confidence with their opinion will get people to questions, "how are they so sure? how do they have so much donfidence in their answer/opinion?"

social control and personal control

the power of the siutation vs. the power of the individual - people arent sheep. gpoing against the nrom makes us feel free - ex) all huge inventors were all met with criticism and were sen as stupid, and unnecessary . ... inventors had to go against the nrom and push on in their inventions

frustration-aggressive principle

the principle that frustration- the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal - creates anger, which can generate aggression

social exchange theory

the theory that our social behavior is is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize costs ex) youre pondering whether or not to donte blood and you weigh the costs -- time, discomfort, and anxiety-- against the benfits (reduced guilt, social approval, and good feelings). if the reards from helping are greater than the costs, youll help.

scapegoat theory

the theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame. ex) 9/11 people lashed out at Arab-Americans - to boost our own sense os status, it helps to have others to denigrate. that is why a rivals misfortune brings twinge of pleasure

attribution theory

the theory that we explain someone's behavior by crediting either the situation or the person's disposition. - internal attributions (dispositional factors) - external attribution (situational factors) - Proposed by Frits Heider for example, a teacher may wonder whether a students hostility reflects an aggressive personality (a dispositional attribution) or a reaction to stress or abuse (a situational attribution)

group influence

the ways in which group members influence the attitudes, opinions, and behaviors of others within the group

social psychologists

these psychologists scientifically study how we think about, influence, and relate to one another - study how people influence one another behavior and mental processes indiviually and in groups (within on text)

social influence

this influence can be seen in our conformity, our compliance, and our group behavior

Leon Festinger

this man proposed the cognitive dissonance theory

Fritz Heider

this man studied how people explain others behavior and came up with the attribution thoery

kitty Genovese

this woman was rape and stapped and 38 people heard her screams yet no one helped. they did not call the police til a while after. this womans incident revealed the bystander effect.

vivid cases

thse instances are more readily available in our minds, therefore we are quick to overestimate how often they actaully occur.