CH 3 Vocab Flashcards
(23 cards)
Attribution
an explanation of why things happen or why people act the way that they do; not always necessarily correct
cognitive complexity
The number of mental constructs an individual uses, how abstract they are, and how elaborately they interact to create perceptions
Cognitive schemata
mental structures people use to organize and interpret experience
Constructivism
a theory that holds that we organize and interpret experience by applying cognitive structures called schemata
schemata
cognitive structures we use to organize and interpret experiences
prototype
A knowledge structure that defines the clearest most representative example of some category
personal construct
A bipolar mental yardstick that allows us to measure people and situations along bipolar dimensions of judgment.
empathy
The ability to feel with another person, to feel what he or she feels in a situation
culture
the beliefs, values, understandings, practices, and ways of interpreting experience that are shared by a group of people
expectancy violation theory
Theory claiming that when our expectations are violated, we become more cognitively alert as we struggle to understand and cope with unexpected behaviors
positive visualization
A technique used to enhance success in a variety of situations by teaching people to visualize themselves being effective and successful
individualism
A predominant western value that regards each person as unique, important, and to be recognized for her or his individual qualities and behavior
inference
an interpretation that goes beyond the facts known but is believed to logically follow from them
judgement
A belief or opinion based on observations, feelings, assumptions, or other nonfactual phenomena
monitoring
The observation and regulation of ones own communication
mind reading
the assumption that we understand what another person thinks or how another person perceives something
perception
an active process of selecting , organizing, and interpreting people, objects events, situations, and activities
person centeredness
the ability to perceive another as a unique and distinct individual apart from social roles and generalizations
script
expected or appropriate sequences of action in particular settings
self-serving bias
the tendency to attribute our positive actions and successes to stable, global, internal influences that we control and to attribute negative actions and failures to unstable, specific, external influences beyond our control
interpretation
the subjective process of creating explanations for what we observe and experience
social community
a group of people who live within a dominant culture yet also belong to another social group or groups that share values, understandings, and practices distinct from those of the dominant culture
stereotype
a predictive generalization about a person or situation
