Psychology Chapter 17

Why is the Milgram experiment on of the most famous and influential studies in social psychology?

Because of its graphic demonstration of obedience to authority

What does central route processing involve and what does peripheral route processing involve?

Central route processing involves the content of the message; peripheral route processing involves how the message is provided.

What does the IAT allow?

It allows measurement of attitudes about which people might not be consciously aware as well as an attitudes they wish to keep hidden from others.

What does the assumed similarity bias lead us to believe?

It leads us to believe that others hold similar attitudes, opinions, and likes and dislikes

What does prejudice relate to?

It relates to attitudes about a group and its members while discrimination relates to behavior directed to a group and its members.

What are the type of people that more likely to employ central route processing?

People who have a high need for cognition, a person's habitual level of thoughtfulness and cognitive activity, are more likely to employ central route processing.

What is the central question in attribution?

The central question in making an attribution is whether the cause of behavior is due to situational or dispositional factors

What do social psychologists consider?

They consider the kinds and causes of the individual's behavior in social situations.

obedience

a change in behavior in response to the commands of others

conformity

a change in behavior or attitudes brought about by a desire to follow the beliefs or standards of other people

social suporter

a group member whose dissenting views make non-conformity to the group easier

prejudice

a negative (or positive) evaluation of a particular group or its members

halo effect

a phenomenon in which an initial understanding that a person has positive traits is used to infer other uniformly positive characteristics

stereotype

a set of generalized beliefs and expectations about a particular group and its members

passionate (or romantic) love

a state of intense absorption in someone that includes intense physiological arousal, psychological interest, and caring for the needs of others

reciprocity-of-linking-effect

a tendency to like those who like us

fundamental attribution error

a tendency to overattribute others'behavior to dispositional causes and minimize of the importance of situational causes

groupthink

a type of thinking in which group members share such a strong motivation to achieve consensus that they lose the ability to critically evaluate alternative points of view

What are the basic steps of helping?

a) noticing a person, event, or situation that may require help b) interpreting the event as one that requires help c) assuming responsibility for helping d) deciding on and implementing the form of helping

attitude

evaluations of a particular behavior, person, belief, or concept

prosocial behavior

helping behavior

altruism

helping behavior that is beneficial to others but clearly requires self sacrifice

interpersonal attraction (or close relationship)

positive feelings for others; liking and loving

schemas

sets of cognitions about people and social experiences

industrial-organizational (I/O) Psychology

the branch of psychology focusing on work and job-related issues, including worker motivation, satisfaction, safety, and productivity

social cognitions

the cognitive processes by which people understand and make sense of others and themselves

cognitive dissonance

the conflict that occurs when a person holds two contradictory attitudes or thoughts (referred to as cognitions)

aggression

the intentional injury of or harm to another person

central traits

the major traits considered in forming impressions of others

What does the distinction between the three types of social pressure-conformity, compliance, and obedience-depend on?

the nature and strength of the social pressure brought to bear on a person

impression formation

the process by which an individual organizes information about another person to form an overall impression of that person

social influence

the process by which the actions of an individual or group affect the behavior of others

catharsis

the process of discharging built-up aggressive energy

social psychology

the scientific study of how people's thoughts feelings and actions are affected by others

status

the social rank held within a group

companionate love

the strong affection we have for those with whom our lives are deeply involved

social neuroscience

the subfield of social psychology that seeks to identify the neural basis of social behavior

diffusion of responsibility

the tendency for people to feel that responsibility for acting is shared or diffused among those present; more people less likely to help

self-serving bias

the tendency to attribute personal success to personal factors (skill, ability, or effort) and to attribute failure to factors outside oneself

assumed-similarity basis

the tendency to think of people as being similar to oneself even when meeting them for the first time

attribution theory

the theory of personality that seeks to explain how we decide on the basis of samples of an individual's behavior what the specific causes of that person's behavior are

group

two or more who interact with one another, perceive themselves as part of a group and are interdependent

How do you reduce the consequences of prejudice and discrimination?

-increasing contact between the target of stereotyping and the holder of the stereotype -making values and norms against prejudice more conspicuous -providing information about the targets of stereotyping -reducing stereotype threat

Strategies to deal with anger

-look again at the anger-provoking situation from the perspective of others -minimize the importance of the situation -fantasize about getting even-but dont act on it -relax

altruism contains

an element of self sacrifice

discrimination

behavior directed towards individuals on the basis of their membership in a particular group

compliance

behavior that occurs in response to direct social pressure

What does central route processing generally lead to?

it generally leads to stronger more lasting attitude change

peripheral route processing

message interpretation characterized by consideration of the source and related general information rather than of the message related

central route processing

message interpretation characterized by thoughtful consideration of the issue and arguments used to persuade

What is the ease with which we can change our attitudes depends on a number of factors including:

message source, characteristics of the message, characteristics of the target

prosocial behavior

no self-sacrificing component

situational causes (of behavior)

perceived causes of behavior that are based on environmental factors

dispositional causes (of behavior)

perceived causes of behavior that are based on internal traits or personality factors