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MCAT Psych/Soc > Ch. 9- Social Psychology > Flashcards

Ch. 9- Social Psychology Flashcards

(88 cards)

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1
Q

psychological arousal

A

alertness and readiness to respond

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2
Q

social facilitation

A

you perform better in higher psychological arousal settings

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3
Q

Yerkes-Dodson law

A

you will perform the best under conditions of moderate arousal

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4
Q

social loafing

A

being less helpful/productive in a group because other people will pick up the slack

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5
Q

bystander effect

A

if there are bystanders present, you’re less likely to help someone in distress because you think “someone else is going to help them”

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6
Q

deindividuation

A

people tend to lose their sense of self-awareness in a large group setting (low perceived responsibility)

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7
Q

what three main factors contribute to deindividuation?

A

anonymity, diffused responsibility, and group size

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8
Q

anonymity (deindividuation)

A

the sense that no one will know what you do in a crowd

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9
Q

diffused responsibility (deindividuation)

A

the sense that you’re not really responsible for what happens

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10
Q

group size (deindividuation)

A

a factor that increases the effects of anonymity and diffused responsibility

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11
Q

group polarization

A

tendency of a group to make decisions or final opinions that are more extreme than the initial positions of the individuals in the group (ie. people saying “yeah chocolate is good” -> “CHOCOLATE IS THE ULTIMATE SUPERFOOD”)

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12
Q

two main factors that contribute to group polarization

A

informational influence and normative influence

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13
Q

informational influence

A

idea that in a group discussion, people who aren’t sure about their opinions tend to think that other people in the group are more knowledgeable, therefore trusting their ideas more

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14
Q

normative influence

A

desire to be socially accepted, so tend to agree with the group you want to be part of

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15
Q

groupthink (Irving Janis)

A

irrational decisions are made within a group due to pressures towards harmony and individual conformity. has 8 main factors

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16
Q

8 main factors of groupthink (3 illusions + CEMPS)

A
  1. illusion of morality
  2. illusion of unanimity
  3. illusion of invulnerability
  4. collective rationalization
  5. excessive stereotyping
  6. mindguards
  7. pressure on dissenters
  8. self-censorship
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17
Q

collective rationalization

A

group members ignore warnings and do not reconsider their actions, assumptions, or beliefs

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18
Q

excessive stereotyping

A

members construct negative views of those outside the group who have dissenting opinions

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19
Q

illusion of invulnerability

A

an unjustified and excessive sense of optimism encourages risk-taking

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20
Q

illusion of morality

A

members of the group believe in the moral rightness of their cause and therefore ignore the consequences of their actions

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21
Q

illusion of unanimity

A

the majority views of the group are assumed to be unanimous

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22
Q

mindguards

A

members of the group protect the group’s cohesiveness by filtering out information that would be problematic

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23
Q

pressure on dissenters

A

members who express opposing views are pressured to conform and remain loyal to the group

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24
Q

self-censorship

A

members who do hold dissenting opinions do not share them

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25
what is the difference between group polarization and groupthink?
group polarization involves an increase in extremeness of views, but does not involve making decisions. Groupthink involves making irrational decisions
26
conformity
situations where someone's behavior, beliefs, or thinking changes to line up with someone else's or the social norms
27
convergence/congruence
someone's beliefs or behaviors just happen to line up with those of the group
28
internalization/conversion (subtype of conformity)
genuine change in someone's beliefs
29
compliance (subtype of conformity)
someone goes along with the group but internally dissents
30
identification
middle ground: someone'e behavior and beliefs change, but only kind of, and only in the presence of that group.
31
Solomon Asch experiment
indicates conformity power: how likely someone was going to go along with the group to give an incorrect answer
32
compliance (request-related)
obeying requests from someone who has no power to enforce them
33
foot-in-the-door technique
first making a small request, then later making a large request. people saying yes to the small request are more likely to also say yes to the larger request
34
door-in-the face technique
making a large request that you know someone will say no to, then making a smaller request that seems more reasonable.
35
low-ball technique
offering something at a low price, then raising it at the last minute after the customer is invested in the purchase
36
obedience
change in behavior in response to a direct request from someone who has the power to enforce that request
37
the Milgram experiment
experiment where people were "told" to shock someone else when they made a mistake to see how far people would go in inflicting pain on others when directly told to do so
38
Stanford Prison Experiment
an experiment where people were simulated prisoners and guards and watched their behavior towards each other (prisoners got depressed, guards got sadistic)
39
social control
the ways that norms are taught, enforced, and perpetuated.
40
deviance
when someone doesn't follow a norm
41
formal norms
a norm that's a law with penalties for violations of that norm
42
informal norms
a norm that's not written down anywhere and are more expectations than rules, no fixed penalties for violation
43
folkways
relatively insignificant informal norms that typically involve small everyday life details in behavior (ie. mismatched clothing)
44
mores
significant informal norms- you'll get some serious disapproval for violating them. (ie. cheating on your SO, being a jerk)
45
taboos
things that you DO NOT do, can be culture specific, sometimes blur the lines between formal and informal norms (ie. cannibalism, incest)
46
sanctions
any punishment or negative consequence for violating a social norm AND reward for following the norms
47
peer pressure
how the desire of approval from your peer group (or fear of disapproval) can be a powerful motivator
48
anomie
there is no longer a good match between society's stated norms and the norms that an individual responds to
49
differential association theory
deviance = a behavior you learned in a social setting
50
symbolic interactionism theory
society is created and maintained through face-to-face, repeated, meaningful interactions among individuals
51
labeling approach to deviance
being labeled as a deviant shapes people's identity in a way that increases the frequency of the behavior
52
primary deviance
deviant acts committed before someone is labeled a deviant
53
secondary deviance
deviant acts committed after being labeled a deviant (partially in retaliation to the label)
54
strain theory
deviant behavior occurs in some people where there is a mismatch between socially acceptable goals and socially acceptable ways to get there
55
general strain theory
people who experience social, economic, or personal stressors may have negative emotional experiences that push them towards deviance or crime
56
socialization
how we learn the formal and informal norms that govern society
57
mass hysteria
a fad, but the behavior that becomes "popular" is people irrationally freaking out about a percieved threat (ie. witch trials, anti-vax)
57
fads
a new behavior becomes super popular, then its popularity fades
57
riots
spontaneous episodes of civil disorder where people violently lash out against some form of authority (vandalism, destruction of property)
57
attributions
ways to explain people's good or bad behaviors
58
dispositional attribution
attributing someone's behavior to their disposition or character
58
situational attribution
attributing someone's behavior to their situation or an external focus
59
consistency cues
if someone's behaviors are consistent over time, we can make a dispositional attribution.
60
distinctiveness cues
if someone shows inconsistent patterns of behavior in otherwise comparable situations, we can make a situational attribution
61
consensus cues
if someone's behavior doesn't line up with what's socially expected, we're likely to make a dispositional attribution
62
actor-observer bias
we're more likely to make a dispositional attribution of someone else, but a situational attribution for ourselves
63
fundamental attribution error
we're more likely to apply dispositional attributions than situational attributions to other people
64
self-serving bias
we're more likely to make dispositional attributions of our own behavior if the outcomes are good, and situational attributions if the outcomes are bad.
65
internal locus of control
people think they are able to affect their own personal situations
66
external locus of control
people use situational attributions to explain their outcomes
67
halo effect
how positive or negative impressions of someone in one domain can exand to affect our judgements of them in other domains
68
just-world hypothesis
the idea that good things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people.
69
prejudice
irrational attitudes (positive or negative) towards various groups or objects. (immediate thumbs up or thumbs down based on what you see first thing.) -emotional
70
stereotypes
people have certain opinions about what things signal about a person (ie. clothes, race, gender) -contentful
71
stereotype content model
stereotypes of social groups can be arranged on two axes: warmth and competence
72
paternalistic stereotype
high warmth and low competence- low status in society but don't pose a competitive threat (children, elderly)
73
admiration stereotype
high warmth and high competence- people felt to be high status and don't pose a competitive threat (friends, in-group, allies)
74
contemptuous stereotype
low warmth and low competence- people felt to be low status and pose a competitive threat of some sort (marginalized social groups)
75
envious stereotype
low warmth and high competence- people felt to be high status and that pose a competitive threat (elites)
76
discrimination
actions taken to treat somebody differently based on their group or demographic category membership and/or existing prejudices
77
self-fulfilling prophecy
we alter or sabotage our behavior in response to stereotypes
78
individual discrimination
reflects behavior on the individual level- a single person treats other people differently based on their groups
79
institutional discrimination
larger patterns of unequal behavior or outcomes, as mediated by entire institutions
80
stereotype threat
being reminded (even indirectly) of relevant stereotypes can affect someone's performance
81
stereotype boost
people can perform better if they are reminded of positive stereotypes that apply to them
82
stigmatized
when society strongly disapproves of certain behaviors and identities (aka. has stigma)
83
ethnocentricism
viewing all phenomena through one's cultural lens
84
cultural relativism
taking the perspective of different cultures with different normative behaviors from one's own

MCAT Psych/Soc (12 decks)

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