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79 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
social psychologists
study the social influennces that help explain why the same person will act differently in different situations
attribution theory

fritz heider
suggests how we explain someones behavior- by crediting either the situation or the persons disposition
fundamental attribution error
tendency to UNDERESTIMATE the impact of the situation and OVERESTIMATE the impact of the personal predisposition

ex. someone playind a mean character in a play, we tend to see them as a mean person.
attributions to personality
we make judgements about someones personality in that specific situation, which can create a false image
feelings, often based on our beliefs, that predispose us to repsond in a particular way to objects, people, and events
attitudes and behaviors
attitudes can influence behavior, but behavior can also influence attitude
foot in the door phenomenon
role playing

phillip zimbardo
randomly assigned people to play guards or prisoners:
cognitive dissonance theory
changing our attitudes to help justify our actions
deiner +.. experiment
college students: cheating is wrong

given IQ test. students went on after time was up

situation defines who we are
low ball technique
raising prices after people commmit to buying a car
writing stuff down can make you more likley to believe it.

ex. prisoners of war forced to write communist letters.

cereal contest with kids
congitive dissonance

if behavior + attitudes are in conflict, we tend to change out ATTITUDE
role playing
playing a certain role, you can pick up the mentalities of that character
chameleon effect
unconciously mimicking others expressions, posture, and voice tones
adjusting ones behaviors or thinking to coincide with a group standard
solomon acsh

line conformity test
if 4 previous people answer all the same thing and you know its wrong, you begin to rethink your answer
normative social influence
influence resulting from a persons desire to gain approval or avoid dissaproval
informational social influence
influence resulting from one's willingness to accept others' opinions about reality
robert baron experiment
shown a slide of 1 person then asked to identify the same out of a pic of 4 people

people didnt conform when they thought task was important
stanley milgram experiment
teacher (me) or learner. if someone answers a question wrong, you are to shock them. after they scream, the instructor still tells you to continue

a majoirty of the people conformed
norman triplett

social facilitation
people wound their fishing rods faster when in front of someone doing it fast as well

stronger responses on simple of well learned tasks in the presence of others.
peformance and social facilitation
we do what were good at better and what were bad at worse when being watched
social loafing

alan ingham

tug of war experiment: people pulled less harder when they thought other people were pulling
the loss of self awareness and self restaint occuring in a group situation where you cannot be identified
group polarization
the enhancement of a groups prevailing inclinations through discussion within a group

irving janis
mode of thinking that occurs when desire for harmony in a decision making group overrides a realstic appraisal of alternatives

studied the JFK fiasco in cuba
unjustifiable attitude toward a group and its members. prejeduce generally involves stereotypes beliefs, negative feelings, and a predisposition to discriminatory action
social norms
norms in society that we learn so we can fit into it
stanley milgram experiment &...

pressure of others
the closer the teacher was to the learner, the harder it was to comply

if you can blame someone else for your actions, obedience goes up

credibility of yale university

if others refused to give a shock, others were more likley to follow
generalized belief about a group of peopl
unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group or its members
social facilitation
if others are watching, your either do better or worse (depending if you are good or bad at the activity)
prejudice and social inequalities

nature of prejudice: gordon allport
people with power, prestige, money, people usually develop attitudes that justify things as the way they are

being a victim of discrimination can produce either self blame or anger
blame the victim dynamic
if circumstances of povery breed higher crime rate, someone can then use the higher crime rate to justify continuing the discrimination aginst those who live in poverty
"us" people with whom one shares a common identity
"them" those percieved as differnt or apart from ones ingroup
ingroup bias
the tendency to favor ones own group
scapegoat theory
categorization and prejudice
in categorizing people, we often stereotype them into groups
prejudice and vivid cases

myron rothbart
we often judge the frequency of events by instances that readily come to mind (assuming all muslims are terrorists)

showed 10 pictures of men who committed minor crimes and 10 who committed major. people recalled a greater number of pictures of the major crime people
just world phenomenon
ex. observing someone being shocked makes us think less of the victim
hindsight bias
tendency to believe after learning an outcome that one would have foreseen it.

ex. a woman getting raped- "she should of known better"
any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy
aggresion and genetics (twins)
identical twins are both more likley to be aggresive than fratrnal twins

y chromosone believed to be a factor
agression and neural influences

frontal lobe
stimulated amygdala produces aggression

less frontal lobe activitiy, which controls impulses
agression and biochemical influences

catrated bulls, mice become less aggresive

low levels of seratonin yield aggresion
agression and dominating behavior
dominant behavior can lead to more testosterone levels
alcohol and agression
alcohol can increase aggresion
frustration agression principle
the principle that frustration- the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal-creates anger, which can lead to agression
agression and other averise principle
hotter temperatures, foul odors, and cigarette smoke can also promote agression
aggression and learning
people can learn to be aggresive when it is rewarding

families with minimal father care

cultural modles that promote agression
models of agression
observing media portrayals of TV promotes agression

rise of r rated films.

rapists do report a greater thatn usual apetite for sexually explicit materials
social scripts
mental tapes for how to act, provided by culture
douglass gentile study
kids who play a lot of violent video games see the world as more hostile, get into more arguments and fights, and get worse grades
study results of video game effects and the catharsis hypothesis
the idea that we feel better if we "blow off steam" is proven to be false
social conflict
percieved incompatability of actions, goals or ideas
social trap
a situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their self interest, became caught in mutually destructive behavior
mirror image perceptions
distorted images of an enemy that are similar to an enemies distoreted images

if we hate someone, that person will begin to hate us
mere exposure effect
repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them
lisa DeBruine experiment
people are more trusting and cooperative with people that have a similar physical appearance to them
appearance and prosocial relations
people tend to like someone if they think they are attractive
reward theory of attraction
we like those whose behavior is rewarding to us and that we will continue relationships that offer more rewards than costs.
passionate love
an aroused state of intense positive absorption in another usually present at the beggining of a love relationships
passionate love and arousal
people tend to find someone more attractive when they are aroused
compaionative love
deep affectionate attachment we feel for those weith whom our lives are intertwined

the basis of all enduring relationships
condition in which people recieve from a relationship in proportion what they give to it
self disclosure
the revealing of intimate details about ourselves to others that creates a closer relationship
unselfish regard for the welfar of others
john darley and bib latane

bystander effect
the tendency for any given bystander to be less likley to give aid if other bystanders are present
hapinnes and willingness to help
the happier people are, the more likley they are to help others.
social exchange theory
the theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which to maxamize benefits and minimize costs
reciprocity norm

ex. tipping
social responsibility norm
an expectation that people will help those dependent upon them
muzafer sherif and superordinate goals
shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation

competeting boy scouts that eventually learned to cooperate
cooperation and contact
making opposing groups have contact with each other and engage in cooperative contact makes them reduce conflict between each other
cooperation and a shared predicament
a common enemy will breed solidarity
win win orientation
aiming at a mutually beneficial resolution
graduated and reciprocated initiatives in tension reduction- a stategy designed to decrease international relations