Exam 1

Question 1

What is Social Psychology?

Answer 1

The study of how people affect, and are affected by, others
* Helps make sense of social world
* Helps us understand basic principles of social influence as well as other principles of social behavior

Question 2

How is Social Psychology different from Sociology?

Answer 2

Sociology is the study of human societies and the groups that form those societies.
Psychologist start from the inside the individual and work outward whereas Sociologist start with large units such as countries, religion, and organizations and work inwards.

Question 3

What are the subdisciplnes of Psycholgy presented in table 1.1 on the textbooks?

Answer 3

Biology Psychology: Biological psychologists focus on what happens in the brain, nervous system, and other aspects of the body.

Clinical Psychology: Clinical psychologists focus on psychopathology, which is the scientific study of mental illnesses or disorders.

Cognitive Psychology: Cognitive psychologists focus on thought processes, such as how memory works and what people notice.

Developmental Psychology: Developmental psychologists study how people change across their lives, from conception and birth to old age and death.

Personality Psychology: Personality psychologists focus on important differences between individuals, as well as inner processes.

Social Psychology: Social psychologists focus on how human beings think, act, and feel. Thoughts, actions, and feelings are a joint function of personal and situational influences.

Question 4

Why was Norman Triplett study so important to the field of Social Psychology?

Answer 4

Competition enhances performance:
Conducted one of the first social psychology experiments in 1897. Noticed that bicycle riders who competed against others performed better than those who competed against the clock. Realized presence of another rider releases a competitive instinct which increased “nervous energy”.

Question 5

Why was Max Ringelmann’s study so important to the field of Social Psychology?

Answer 5

As group size increases, individual effort decreases:
Had men pull on a rope alone and as part of a group. He measured the amount of effort exerted by each participant. He found that as group size increases, individual effort decreases. We now call this “social loafing”.

Question 6

Why are William McDougal, Eduard Ross, and Gordon Allport important to the field of Social Psychology in the early 1900’s?

Answer 6

in 1908 William McDougal and Eduard Ross published the first 2 textbooks to bear the title “Social Psychology.”
Gordon Allport proposed in 1954 that attitudes were “the most distinctive and indispensable concept in contemporary American Social Psychology”. The study of attitudes dominated social psych research for decades and is still centrally important today.

Question 7

Who argued that attitudes were the most important and useful concept in social psychology?

Answer 7

Gordon Allport, specifically that attitudes were “the most distinctive and indispensable concept in contemporary American Social Psychology”

Question 8

Who proposed the idea that behavior is a function of both the person and the situation?

Answer 8

Kurt Lewin proposed that you need more information on people and the situation for predicting behavior.
ex: Nathan will finish his school paper on time.
people – is Nathan lazy? his IQ? does he like the topic?
situation – is the task hard? computer broken? are others bothering him?

Question 9

What event influenced Stanley Milgram’s study on obedience?

Answer 9

Studied the role of obedience to understand atrocities of World War II (The Holocaust)

Question 10

What are the two main “camps” in psychology during the 1950’s and 1960’s?
(general understanding of what their theoretical approach were)

Answer 10

• Behaviorism: learning principles (e.g., rewards and punishments).
  Theoretical approach that seeks to explain behavior in terms of learning principals, without reference to inner states, thoughts or feelings.
• Freudian psychoanalysis: elaborate interpretations of individual experiences.
  Theoretical approach that seeks to explain behavior by looking at the deep unconscious forces inside the person.

Question 11

Which topic has been of the MOST interest to social psychologist during the last 30 or so years?

Answer 11

Social Neuroscience/ Social Cognition

Question 12

How would you describe the ABC Triad?

Answer 12

• Affect: how people feel (i.e. self-esteem)
• Behavior: what people do (i.e. helping others, working)
• Cognition: how people think (i.e. self-concept)

Question 13

What is the difference between applied and basic research?

Answer 13

Applied Research: focuses on solving particular practical problems (i.e. why people don’t wear seatbelts)
Basic Research: focuses on a general understanding of basic principals that can be applied to many different problems. (i.e. Studying memory processes).

Question 14

What are the basic steps listed in your textbook for the scientific method?

Answer 14

Slides: Research Question–> Research Literature-> Empirical Study–> Data Analysis–> Conclusions
Book:
1. States problem for study
2. Formulates testable hypothesis as tentative solution to problem.
3. Design a study to test hypothesis and collect data
4. A test is made of the hypothesis by confronting it with the data.
5. Researcher reports the study results to the scientific community
6. Article is published.

Question 15

Distinguish the difference between and independent and dependent variable in an example.

Answer 15

Independent variable:
* Any observable event that causes the person to do something
* Must contain at least two groups, or levels

Dependent variable
* Any observable behavior produced by the person
* Believed outcome depends on independent variable

Question 16

What is an operational definition? Learn how to identify it.

Answer 16

Observable operations, procedures, and measurements that are based on independent and dependent variable.
i.e. IV: Intelligence (operation def would be an IQ test)
DV: Job performance (operational def. would be # of sales)

Question 17

What is the difference between a true experiment and a quasi-experiment?

Answer 17

Experimental studies
* Participants are randomly assigned
Quasi-experiment
* No random assignment

Question 18

Please describe internal and external validity.

Answer 18

Internal validity
* Confidence that changes in the independent variable caused changes in the dependent variable

External Validity:
* The extent to which the findings from a study can be generalized to other people, other settings and other times periods.

Question 19

How is a correlation measured?

Answer 19

researcher merely observes whether variables are associated or related (non-experimental method)

Question 20

What is the difference between a negative, positive, and no correlation?

Answer 20

Examples
Positive correlation: Increase in smoking = increase chance of getting lung cancer [/]
Negative correlation: increased time playing video games = lower grades []
No correlation: no correlation between IQ and shoe size

Question 21

Why should we replicate studies?

Answer 21

Repeating the studies corrects false theories over time. Also determines whether the effect is reliable.

Question 22

What are some of the common issues in social psychology research?

Answer 22

• HARKing (Hypothesizing After the Results Are Known)
• Open Science: (Studies openly assessable but sometimes scientist post other things online).
• Reliance on student samples: can’t be generalized to other populations
• Cultural relativity: the United States and a few other Western countries dominate research. Cultural differences may be substantial and important. (WEIRD)

Question 23

When did Brenda start feeling “different”?

Answer 23

Never fit in; wanted to play rough games like the boys; became rebellious. Differences became more prominent as puberty hit.

Question 24

Define what psych is.

Answer 24

A broader term for mind, encompassing emotions, desires, perceptions, and all other psychological processes. To understand something you have to know what it’s designed to do. Both the unconscious and conscious mind

Question 25

In relation to evolutionary theory, how will men and women behave to increase the likelihood of passing on their genes (natural selection)?

Answer 25

Men generally seeking to mate with as many partners as possible to spread their genes widely, while women tend to be more selective in choosing partners who can provide resources and support for raising offspring

Question 26

Describe Social Brain Theory.

Answer 26

Animals with bigger brains tend to live in larger, more complex social groups, and people with bigger social networks have larger sizes in some brain areas * Conclusion: The human brain evolved to enable human beings to have rich, complex social lives. Humans cooperate more effectively and extensively than other animals

Question 27

How would you define “social animals” and “cultural animals”?

Answer 27

Social animals * People seek connections to others and prefer to live, work, and play with other people/members of their species. Cultural animals * The richness of culture is a defining characteristic of humans. Culture is the essence of what makes us human and differentiates us from other animals.

Question 28

Define culture as a praxis.

Answer 28

A practical way of doing things (i.e. value of money, borrowing money from the same bank)

Question 29

What is a cultural praxis in American and Japanese culture in relation to sleeping habits?

Answer 29

In Japan, people hardly ever sleep alone at any point of their life neither does he/she want to. Japanese children ages 11 to 15 sleep in the same bed as their parent or siblings. Meanwhile, Americans generally do not sleep with their children in the same room. It's looked down upon in America if a parent sleeps in the same bed as their teenage daughter/son.

Question 30

In contemporary human cultures, according to your textbook, how is homosexual behavior viewed?

Answer 30

It is viewed differently, in some cultures it is accepted and others it is not accepted.

Question 31

From a social psychologist perspective, what do people have to do to obtain social acceptance?

Answer 31

*Social acceptance:* people have to do a great deal of work to get along with others **Must develop many skills and capabilities:** * People can relate based on language, self-perception, sharing information. * Automatic processes prepare us for interactions with other groups * Even a uniquely human and cultural phenomenon like music fundamentally connects people to each other

Question 32

What does it mean by “Nature says go, culture says stop.”?

Answer 32

**Nature:** impulses, wishes, and other automatic reactions that predispose people to act in certain ways **Culture:** teaches self-control and restraint, often based on imposed moral rules Exceptions * Nature’s disgust reactions (stop) i.e. eat until belly is full. * Cultural timetable for meals (go) i.e. its lunchtime so must eat. We have a schedule for meals. Self-control enables people to live in culture and follow cultural rules

Question 33

What is the three-part structure of the self?

Answer 33

* **Self-knowledge** (self-concept)-- a set of beliefs about oneself * **Interpersonal self** (public self )-- the image of the self that is conveyed to others * **Agent self** (executive function)-- the part of the self involved in control, including both control over other people and self-control.

Question 34

Why is your “self” probably the most complex schema?

Answer 34

You gather information relevant to yourself all the time. Schemas tend to be resistant to change. We are especially resistant to changing our conceptions of ourselves

Question 35

What is the difference between a high complexity self and low complexity self?

Answer 35

**High complexity** : Aspects of the self are distinct from one another  Failure in one domain has smaller impact on one’s overall feelings about one’s self **Low complexity** : Aspects of the self overlap each other  You put all your eggs in one basket  Ex. What if you only saw yourself as a student?

Question 36

What is the difference between an independent and interdependent self-construal?

Answer 36

**Independent self-construal:** A self concept that emphasizes what makes the self different and sets it apart from others. (i.e. Independence, assertiveness, individuality) **Interdependent self-construal:** A self-concept that emphasizes what connects the self to other people and groups. (i.e. Attention to others, interpersonal harmony, doing what’s expected)

Question 37

Define the actual, ideal, and ought self.

Answer 37

* **Actual Self**: reality * **Ideal Self**: who we want to be * **Ought Self**: what we think others feel we should be

Question 38

What is self-discrepancy?

Answer 38

The gap between current self and that ought and ideal self.

Question 39

What is self-knowledge?

Answer 39

Information one processes about oneself. Evolutionary orgins

Question 40

What are the three reasons for wanting self-knowledge.

Answer 40

1. **Appraisal motive** - Learning the truth about oneself 2. **Self-enhancement motive** - Learning flattering aspects of oneself 3. **Consistency motive** - Getting feedback that confirms current beliefs about oneself

Question 41

Define and apply the concept of self-awareness

Answer 41

Attention directed at the self. It is necessary to distinguish at least two main kinds of self-awareness: public and private. Self-awareness usually involves evaluating the self, rather than just merely being aware of it.

Question 42

What is the difference between private and public self-awareness?

Answer 42

**Private self-awareness** * Looking inward at self’s inner states, including emotions, thoughts, desires, and traits **Public self-awareness** * Looking outward to understand the self and how you are perceived by others

Question 43

Why might self-awareness often make people feel unpleasant?

Answer 43

Self-awareness makes us more aware of our internal standards so when we don't meet those standards, it tends to make us feel bad.

Question 44

Why is self-awareness necessary?

Answer 44

it is vital for self-regulation, which we use to control and change our thoughts, behaviors, and feelings.

Question 45

What is the looking-glass self?

Answer 45

The idea that people learn about themselves by imagining how they appear to others.

Question 46

What are the three components of the looking-glass self?

Answer 46

1. Imagine how you appear to others 2. Imagine how others will judge you 3. Develop an emotional response to imagining how others will judge you

Question 47

Define introspection.

Answer 47

Examining your thoughts and feelings. Privileged access to our inner processes

Question 48

What did Nisbett and Wilson (1977) conclude about introspection?

Answer 48

People often don't know their own minds. People do not have much introspective access.

Question 49

What is the theory of social comparison?

Answer 49

Examining the difference between oneself and another person. * Most facts on oneself don't have much meaning, and become meaningful in comparison to others. * We get info we need, especially about ourselves, by focusing on other people.

Question 50

Explain the difference between downward and upward social comparison.

Answer 50

**Downward Social Comparison:** Comparison of the self to another who does less well than or is inferior to us. **Upward Social Comparison:** Comparison of the self to another who does better than or is superior to us.

Question 51

Explain self-perception theory.

Answer 51

People observe their own behavior to infer what they are thinking and how they are feeling, the same way they learn about others.

Question 52

Describe the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in relation to self-perception.

Answer 52

*Intrinsic motivation* is wanting to perform an activity for its own sake, versus *extrinsic motivation* is performing an activity because of something that results from it. i.e. (Intrinsic) painting because you really enjoy it so it's just a hobby for you vs. (extrinsic) Painting in order to make money from it.

Question 53

Describe the over-justification effect.

Answer 53

The tendency for intrinsic motivation to diminish for activities that have become more associated with rewards. Reward transfers play into work.

Question 54

How does being the minority in a room influence the working self-concept (aka phenomenal self)?

Answer 54

Whatever aspects of you stand out as unusual often become prominent in the phenomenal self. Therefore being the minority in a room can make you feel quite aware of the fact that you are a minority. Phenomenal Self is the image of self or portion of self-knowledge that is currently active in the person's thoughts.

Question 55

Define the self-reference effect and endowment effect. — How are they applied in everyday life?

Answer 55

**Self-reference effect** * Information relating to the self is processed more deeply and remembered better (we tend to remember things better if we connect them to ourselves. whether good or bad) **Endowment effect** * Items gain in value to the person who owns them (people start to like things more when they own them)

Question 56

Research suggests that if you really want to change your self-concept, you should do what?

Answer 56

Change how you think about yourself or change your behavior and a change in self-concept will follow

Question 57

How is self-enhancement and self-protection related to self-esteem?

Answer 57

Self-enhancement helps a person's self-esteem by claiming better standing on a characteristics, or highlighting positive aspects about oneself. Self-protection is trying to avoid loss of self-esteem which is often done by those with lower self-esteems.

Question 58

For the past 50 years, how have the patterns of self-esteem scores changed in the U.S.?

Answer 58

Self-esteem has been shown to have increased over the past 50 years in the U.S. Findings show that 90% of people who took the survey reported to be above average in self-esteem.

Question 59

What are some self-deception strategies and why are they used?

Answer 59

Mental tricks people use to help them believe things that are false. These are self-deception strategies to maintain a positive outlook. * Using self-serving bias * Being more skeptical of bad feedback * Remembering good things more * Making comparisons with those slightly worse * Skewing impressions of other people to highlight one’s own good traits as unusual * Choosing definitions wisely

Question 60

What is self-serving bias?

Answer 60

A pattern in which people claim credit for success but deny blame for failure. (i.e. getting one good grade = I'm really smart at this)

Question 61

Why might someone be more skeptical of bad feedback?

Answer 61

People tend to avoid having to revise their self-concept in light of failure, enabling them to keep their positive illusions intact. People will tend to blame external factor such as bad quality of sleep or test being poorly designed.

Question 62

Read the Social Side of Sex regarding Self Esteem and Saying No to Sex. What were the outcomes for both male and female 15-year-old adolescents?

Answer 62

Females with higher self-esteem were more likely to have sexual intercourse by the age of 15 meanwhile no difference was found between males and their self-esteem

Question 63

Describe Sociometer Theory

Answer 63

View of self-esteem as linked to social acceptance. In a sense self-esteem is a sociometer because it measures the traits you have according to how much they qualify you for social acceptance. * Sociometer: measure of how desirable one would be to other people

Question 64

Describe Terror Management Theory

Answer 64

Having high self-esteem helps shield people from fear of death * People seek out self-esteem as a way of avoiding a recognition that they are going to die * We are the only animals who know we will die.

Question 65

What are the two main steps to make a choice, according to research?

Answer 65

1. Whittle the full range of choices down to a few 2. Carefully compare highlighted options

Question 66

Explain what risk aversion, temporal discounting, and the certainty effect is in relation to deciding on things.

Answer 66

Risk aversion is when people are more affected by possible losses than by possible gains in decision making. Temporal discounting is when greater weight is given to the present than to the future. Most people choose the immediate reward. Certainty effect, the greater weight is given to definite outcomes than to probabilities.

Question 67

Describe Entity Theory.

Answer 67

Good and bad traits are fixed. People should not be expected to change; people dislike criticism or bad feedback. Those who believe that traits are fixed, stable things that are not subject to change.

Question 68

Describe Incremental Theory.

Answer 68

Traits can change and be improved. People can change and enjoy learning and challenges.

Question 69

Between Entity Theory and Incremental Theory, where would we see learned helplessness more?

Answer 69

In Enitity theorist, failure can be seen as proof that they are incompetent losers.

Question 70

What is error management theory?

Answer 70

Both men and women seek to minimize making costly errors, however, their goals are different. * From an evolutionary perspective, this is used on choosing a mate in heterosexual relationships.

Question 71

Error Managment Theory: Explain the gender differences between males and females.

Answer 71

Men * More likely to perceive friendly gestures as sexual advances than women. Women * More selective due to the risks they must consider when selecting a mate.

Question 72

What are status quo and omission biases?

Answer 72

**Status quo bias**: the preference to keep things the way they are rather than change. **Omission Bias**: the tendency to take whatever course of action that does not require you to do anything (also called the default option)

Question 73

What is self-determination theory?

Answer 73

The theory that people need to feel at least some degree of autonomy (which means that at least some of their activities must be motivated by their inner drives and choices, rather than by external factors) and internal motivation.

Question 74

What is the panic button effect?

Answer 74

A reduction in stress or suffering due to a belief that one has the option of escaping or controlling the situation, even if one doesn't exercise it. The false belief that one can exert control over events makes them more bearable.

Question 75

What is the purpose of goal shielding?

Answer 75

When a person starts working toward one goal, the mind automatically shuts other goals away from consciousness. The more committed a person is to the current goal, the more effectively the mind shields this goal by blocking thoughts of other goals.

Question 76

Describe planning fallacy

Answer 76

The tendency for plans to be overly optimistic because the planner fails to allow for unexpected problems.

Question 77

Why is pursuing immediate goals easier than pursuing distant goals?

Question 78

Describe self-regulation.

Answer 78

The self’s capacity to alter its own responses; self-control.

Question 79

What are the effective self-regulation components?

Answer 79

* **Standards**: ideas of how things might or should be * **Monitoring**: watching what you’re doing * **Strength**: willpower for change

Question 80

When are dieters most successful in losing weight?

Answer 80

In a period of low stress/pressure, stable relationships, and few demands for major decisions. Also limiting the amount of times you weigh yourself such as once a week.

Question 81

What is decision fatigue?

Answer 81

State of depleted willpower caused by making decisions, which can affect subsequent decisions by causing people to fail to think and choose carefully

Question 82

How does the textbook describe self-defeating behavior? — Why might it happen?

Answer 82

Any action by which people bring failure, suffering, or misfortune on themselves. Two main reasons: 1. Tradeoffs-- sometimes good and bad outcomes are linked, and in order to get the desired, good outcomes, people accept the bad ones too. 2. Faulty knowledge-- thinking that procrastination is good for you because the claim "I work best under pressure", when research shows otherwise.