exam 1 Flashcards
(49 cards)
what is social psychology?
scientific study of how people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by real or imagined presence of others
at heart of social psychology is…
social influence
what is social influence?
the effect that words, actions, or mere presence of other people have on our thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and behavior
what are empirical questions?
questions that can be answered by observation or real-world experience
what is folk wisdom and common sense?
folk wisdom = common sense
how is folk wisdom and common sense different from social psychology?
social psychologists predict behavior by forming hypotheses and test them scientifically
why can’t we rely on folk wisdom and common sense?
hindsight bias
what is the fundamental attribution error?
tendency to explain our own and other people’s behavior entirely in terms personality traits
what is hindsight bias?
tendency people have to assume they knew the outcome of the event after it has already been determined
what happens when we fail to take into account the power of the situation
we oversimplify complex situations
decrease our understanding of the true causes of behaviors
blame the victim when people are overpowered by social forces
what is a hypothesis similar to?
a hunch
what is behaviorism?
understanding human behavior by focusing on the effects of their environment
an objective worldview
ignores construals/definitions of a situation
does not look at situation from viewpoint of people in it to see how they construe the world around them
what does a scientist do if they think someone else’s research is flawed?
replicate study to verify findings
Why did Latane and Darley think no one helps out in an emergency?
diffusion of responsibility (Kitty Genovese)
What is observational research?
researcher observes people and records behavior, used to describe behavior
What are observational method limitations?
certain behaviors are hard to observe (rarely occur, in private)
archival analysis (original sources may not have all needed info)
does not allow prediction and explanation (only limited to description)
What does a schema encompass?
our knowledge and impression of others, ourselves, social roles, specific events
How can a schema become accessible? (3 reasons)
chronically accessible due to past experience
it is related to a current goal
temporarily accessible because of our recent experience
What is/are the downside(s) to
using schemas?
seen as stereotypes, can affect perception
what is social cognition?
how people think about themselves and the social world
how people select, interpret, remember, and use social information to make judgements and decisions
What happens when people encounter a new situation?
automatic thinking - relate it to past experiences, use schemas
What is automatic thinking?
thinking that is nonconscious, unintentional, involuntary, and effortless
How does automatic thinking differ from controlled thinking?
automatic = quick, no conscious deliberation of thoughts, perceptions, assumptions
controlled = effortful, deliberate, thinking about self/environment, carefully selecting right course of action
What is the self-fulfilling prophecy?
people have an expectation about what another person is like, influencing how they act toward that person
causes that person to behave consistently with people’s original expectations - makes expectation come true
