Chapter 1 Flashcards
Social Psychology
The scientific study of the feelings, thoughts, and behaviors of individuals in social situations. (Gill I h, Keltner, Chen, & Nisbett, 2012)
- Explains how social factors influence behavior
____ ____ can lead to hindsight bias, a term describes the situation when….
Common sense; Everything seems obvious in retrospect
Power of the Situation
“The behavior of people is always a function of the field of forces in which they find themselves” — Kurt Lewin
- Foundational idea in social psychology
- Highly underestimated by many
In Stanford Prison Experiment, the researcher aims to examine the cause of why prisoners are often brutally treated by the guards. How did the recruited students react to the experimental settings, and why were they behaving that way?
The recruited students behaved exactly like the guards and prisoners in the reality, one brutally bullying the other group. This is cause by the power of the situation, where the guards are given the utmost authority over the prisoners.
The Milgram experiment was developed aiming at looking at why did ordinary people supported and even participated in the cruelty of Nazi Germany. Participants were told to press a button that would shock the learner every time they got a question wrong.
I) Did the majority of people withdraw or continued?
- 80% of participants continued past 150 volts, and 62.5% (which is the majority of people) continued all the way to the end, 450 volts
- Average amount: 360 volts
The Milgram experiment was developed aiming at looking at why did ordinary people supported and even participated in the cruelty of Nazi Germany. Participants were told to press a button that would shock the learner every time they got a question wrong.
ii) Why didn’t the participants stop?
- The experimenters took full responsibility for their actions
- Experimenters felt like authority figures who are trustworthy
- Participants were not told how to quit
- The increase in shocks was gradual, which diminished the emotional reaction.
The Good Samaritan experiment wanted to examine whether a good deed can be done in particular situations. Participants were told to give a sermon across the street, and were told they had plenty of time or they were running late. On the way to their sermon, they will pass a man who clearly needed some help.
i) How did the participants react to the man?
When they were told that they had plenty of time, the majority of the participants helped; When they were told that they were late, only about 10% of the participants helped. This illustrated the power of the situation that only when self interest is ensured will the person help another.
Channel Factor
Small, seemingly innocuous prompts that have large effects on behavior
How does a channel factor work?
It works by bringing an abstract idea to a concrete, doable plan
Fundamental Attribution Error
The tendency to attribute behaviors to disposition rather than circumstance
ex. As a HR, you have to be brutal when doing your work, so people depict you as a bully, but in reality you’re a really nice person to deal with, you’re just in the circumstance that needed the brutallity
Construal
Our interpretations of the world around us
Gestalt Psychology
Our perceptions are not direct translations of reality but rather based on what we think objects represent as a whole.
Schemas
Organized categories of knowledge
Stereotypes
Schemas about groups of people
* Help us make judgements about people, but can be wrong and harmful
Automatic processing
Quick, effortless, and non-conscious way of processing the information
ex. Reading emotions, first impressions, priming
