PSYCH Exam 2
Three self serving biases (3)
Bias that the world is fair
Three self serving biases (2)
Bias that we are better, smarter, and kinder than others
Three self serving biases (1)
Bias to choose the most flattering and forgiving explanations of our own behavior
The types of intelligence (2)
Bodily-kinesthetic (Coordinating your mind with your body)
Propositions lead to
Cognitive schemes (framework for the way we think about particular things/the world)
Cultural values and experiences affect many things besides responses to specific test items like
Comfort in test settings, attitude toward testing, rapport with test giver, competitiveness, comfort in solving problems independently
Stereotype boast
Enhances performance (People in asian cultures tend to be good at math - lessens anxiety and increases motivation and performance)
The types of intelligence (7)
Existential (Tackling the questions of why we live, and why we die)
G factor
General ability (Meaning overall intelligence)
Effective strategy for reducing us-them thinking: Interdependence
Having both sides work together to reach a common goal
Humans are sensitive to inconsistencies between
actions and beliefs
Conformity
adjusting one's behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard
Though we like to think we are good mutlitaskers and can take on a lot of tasks cognitively, research shows that we ________.
are not
Social norms, or mores
are the unwritten rules of behavior that are considered acceptable in a group or society
Breaking norms
can result in a formal punishment, such as being fined or imprisoned, or an informal punishment, such as being stared at or shunned by others
Mental images influence our
cognitive schemes
In multicultural societies such as the United States and Canada, different social identities sometimes
collide
Concepts can be
complex/abstract (like justice) or concrete (like birds)
But obedience can also lead to actions that are:
deadly, foolish, illegal
Diffusion of responsibility is likely to occur under conditions that promote
deindividuation
People want to belong and want approval, those who go against norms may receive
disapproval
Human nature
dispositional
We _______ have unlimited cognitive capacity to take on more and more tasks at the same time.
do not
Subconscious processes allow us to
handle more information and perform more complex tasks than if we had to depend on conscious processing entirely
"Conformity _____ just acting as other people act, it is being affected by how they act. It is acting differently from the way you would act alone"
is not
Performing tasks subconsciously (is/is not) the same as multitasking.
is not
The excuse that Nazi Lieutenant Colonel Adolf Eichmann used to explain his involvement in the Holocaust is
just following orders
Basic features of diffusion of responsibility
lacking a sense of personal responsibility, minimizing the feeling of guilt, looking to others for guidance, increasing with group size
Diffusion of responsibility
observation of the phenomena that one feels less responsible to act in a large group
According to the conclusion of Zimbardo experiment, our behavior is drastically affected by the
situation
Diffusion of responsibility
spreading the responsibility out between many people. (You feel less responsible for doing something bad if other people are also involved)
Factor analysis
statistical method that helps identify which basic abilities underlie performance on various items (Identifies clusters of correlated items that measure same common ability or factor)
Infer a certain degree of intelligence based on characteristics we can see and measure directly
such as outcomes of rational decisions and answers to standardized tests
Multitasking
switching between two tasks that are not automatic
Even things we think we are skilled at/are routine can be dangerous like...
talking on the phone while in the car
Ethnocentrism
the belief that one's own ethnic group or religion is superior to all others, promotes "us-them" thinking
In order to organize this staggering amount of information,
the brain has developed a file cabinet of sorts in the mind called concepts
Anger, happiness, sadness fit into
the concept of emotion
Deindividuation
the loss of one's individuality (prime reason for mob violence)
Two basic, beneficial motives for conformity are:
the need for social acceptance, the need for information
Performing tasks subconsciously (e.g., knowing exactly where to drive on your way home from school without consciously thinking about it), IS NOT
the same as multitasking
Scientists who study cognition are searching for ways to
understand how we integrate, organize, and utilize our conscious cognitive experiences
Informational social influence
we accept information about reality provided by the group
Power of the situation
we all have good and bad character traits that reveal themselves depending on the situation
Experiments indicate that conformity increases when
we feel incompetent or insecure
IQ tests have been criticized for being biased in favor of...
white, middle class people (did not measure kinds of knowledge and skills that indicate intelligent behavior in minority groups)
Upon waking each morning,
you begin thinking
Society functions with direct rules and
expectations
"Us" versus
"not us"
Intelligence is made up of ___ main components
2
In Milgram's study, the participants claimed that they administered the shocks for three reasons:
Authority seemed trustworthy, the cause was good (scientific research), and they believed that if anything bad happened the researcher would take full responsibility
Who found that under certain conditions, people will conform to a group's judgment, even when it is clearly incorrect?
Solomon Asch
Certain traits increase obedience and a willingness to inflict pain on others:
Hostility, narcissism, rigidity
Situational attribution
Identify the cause of an action as something in the environment. EXTERNAL (Joe stole the money because his family is starving)
Dispositional attribution
Identify the cause of an action as something in the person, such as a trait or motive. INTERNAL (Joe stole the money because he is born a thief)
The types of intelligence (6)
Spatial (Visualizing the world in 3D)
The types of intelligence (3)
Interpersonal (Sensing people's feelings and motives)
The types of intelligence (9)
Intra-personal (Understanding yourself, what you feel, and what you want)
Crystallized IQ
Knowledge and skills (math, define words, make decisions. Heavily dependent on education and tends to remain stable)
The types of intelligence (5)
Linguistic (Finding the right words to express what you mean)
Without power authority usually has _______ influence, and therefore the authority figure is of _____ standing
Little, low
The types of intelligence (4)
Logical-mathematical (Quantifying things, making hypotheses and proving them)
Concept
Mental category that groups objects, relations, activities, abstractions, or qualities having common properties.
The types of intelligence (1)
Musical (discerning sounds, their pitch, tone, rhythm, and timbre)
The types of intelligence (8)
Naturalist (Understanding living things and reading nature)
Who created an experiment to see if participants would follow orders even when the requested behavior went against their moral beliefs or good judgment?
Stanley Milgram
Conditions that help reduce two groups' mutual prejudices and conflicts:
Passing laws and regulations that require fair and equal treatment for all groups of people, gaining public support and awareness for anti-prejudice social norms, making people aware of the inconsistencies in their own beliefs, increased contact with members of other social groups
Just-world hypothesis
People have a need to believe the world is fair and that good people are rewarded and bad people are punished
Social identity
Portion of an individual's self-concept derived from perceived membership in a relevant social group
_______ and ______ are both aspects of authority that are important in society
Power, obedience
Fluid IQ
Reason and use of info to solve new problems (Relatively independent of education and tends to decrease in old age. Processing speed)
Stereotype threat
Reduces performance (People often feel a burden of doubt about their abilities and creates an insecurity. Threat occurs when people believe they won't do well)
Obedience
Result of social influence where somebody acts in response to a direct order from an authority figure
Cognition
Simply put, it is thinking, and it encompasses the processes associated with perception, knowledge, problem solving, judgment, language, and memory.
Robbers Cave Experiment
Teaches a cooperative goal can bring two hostile groups together, thus reducing the competition and enhancing cooperation
Ethnocentric bias
Tendency to interpret behaviour from the viewpoint of our own culture. What's normal for us is assumed to be normal for everyone, but this may not be true.
Fundamental attribution error
Tendency to overestimate personality factors and underestimate the influence of the situation when explaining someone else's behavior
This study illustrates the power of norms and roles to affect individual actions
The Milgram Shock Experiment in 1963
Validity effect
The tendency of people to believe that a statement is true or valid simply because it has been repeated many times
Familiarity effect
The tendency of people to feel more positive toward a person, item, product, or other stimulus the more familiar they are with it
What can distort communication, impede the resolution of conflicts, and lead to serious misunderstandings?
The three self serving biases
Attribution theory
Theory that people are motivated to explain their own and others' behavior by attributing causes of that behavior to a situation or a disposition
Common results of multitasking are:
Usually inefficient (increases time to complete tasks), makes errors(not paying close enough attention to each task), and can be dangerous
In the Zimbardo experiment, the test subjects who, at first saw each other as equal, soon began
behaving as the role they were assigned (prisoner and guard)
Cross cultural work shows academic performance differences are strongly influenced by
beliefs about origins of mental abilities, parental standards and upbringing, and educational attitudes
Normative social influence
conform to gain social approval
Not all mental processes are
conscious (meaning we are not aware of mental processes all the time)
Norms can change according to the
environment, situation, and climate
People develop social identities based on their:
ethnicity (including nationality) religion, occupation, other social memberships
Psychometric approach
how well people perform on standardized tests (Designed to measure ability to acquire skills and knowledge)
Concepts simplify and summarize info so that it is
more manageable (relational connections) or to process info more quickly (so we can make decisions quickly and efficiently)
Intellectual achievement also depends on
motivation, hard work, and self discipline
Performance on IQ tests depend on
ones own expectations on how they will do, which is influenced by cultural stereotypes
Intelligence or IQ if difficult to define
only has invisible quality to it
Subconscious processes
outside awareness, but can be brought into consciousness if necessary
Even things like ________________ takes away your attention to the task you are doing.
overhearing someone's cell phone conversation
Conformity
permits the smooth running of society, and allows people to feel in harmony with others like them
Concepts lead to
propositions (made up of concepts to express knowledge or beliefs)
Norms function to
provide order and predictability in society
Groupthink (coined by Irving Janis)
psychological phenomenon in which people strive for consensus within a group (Think alike, censor themselves, suppress disagreements, and feel like decisions are invulnerable)
Increasing efforts now to make culture free tests but
results have been disappointing (Cultures emphasize different problem solving strategies, but IQ tests do not account for this)