Midterm 1 - reading Flashcards
(144 cards)
name the three broad themes we care about so far
processing principles
motivational principles
general axioms
what are processing principles and name them
processing - thinking, cognitions; how we take in and deal with information
- conservatism
- accessinility
- superficiality vs depth of processing
what is conservatism
a persons thoughts, beliefs, and opinons are slow to change and tend to perpetuate themselves
what is accessibility
information that is most accessible generally has the most impact on thoughts, feelings and behaviours
what is superficiality vs depth of processing
people typically put little effort into dealing with infromation, but at times are motivated and/or able to consider information more in depth
what are motivational principles and name them
motivation - what drives people to think, feel and act
- need to feel good about ourselves and what is ours (people want to see themselves and things connected to themselves in a positive light
- Need to be accurate and to understand and make sense of the world; strive for mastery: we seek to understand and predict events in the social world around us in order to obtain rewards and a sense of control; we need to know
- Need to seek connectedness: people seek support, liking, and acceptance from people and groups they care about and value
name the three general axioms
interaction of the person and the situation
social influence is very persuasive
we construct / construe our own reality
explain interaction of the person and situaiton
both an individual’s personality/internal characteristics and environment/situational characteristics interact to influence feelings, thoughts, and behavior
explain social influence is very pervasive
people influence virtually all of our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, whether these people are present or not, real or imagined, or whether or not we are aware of their influence
we construct / construe our own reality
ach person’s view of reality is a subjective, unique construction, shaped both by cognitive processes (the ways our minds work) and social processes (input from others either actually present or imagined); the world looks different from someone else’s eyes
define social psychology
the scientific study of the feelings, thoughts and behaviours of individuals in social situations
Abu Ghraib
Iraqi prisoner mistreatedment by american soldiers
torture and sexual abuse
30 years previous = zimbardo
who is jurt lewin
founder of modern social pscy
jewish berliner, fled nazi germany
behaviour of people like objects is a function of the field of forces in which they find themselves (in humans force = social situation, persons attributes are important but they always interact with the situation to produce the resulting behaviour)
explain Zimbardo
24 Stanford undergrad men - good character and mental health
random assignment to prisoner or guard
study ended after 6 days as went too brutal
balance of power so unequal, prison = brutal unless guards observe strict regs curbing their worst impulses
Milgram
learning and memory at yale (first done on just men then replicated with women)
participant = teacher administering shocks for mistakes, confederate = pupill recieving shocks
participant shocked way beyond safe levels
Teacher felt 45 v so knew it hurt but was told wasn’t causing any lasting damage
was egged on by experimenter who said he had to continue
key quesiton - why people conform
shock levels in milgram
80% past 150 v (heart problem and screamed let me out)
62.5% past 450 v (the whole way)
average = 360 v (learner had let out an agonised scream and had become hysterical0
what did milgram claim was key as to why people confromed
the step by step nature
if did 200 v then why not administer 225 v etc then suddenly we are at 450 v and we haven’t stopped
seminarians vs samaritans experiment
seminarians only stopped to help a man groaning, coughing and in need of help if they weren’t in a rush
- had just been reminded of their faith!
what factors govern people most
situational (in a hurry or under pressure) > internal (kind of person someone is)
define dispositions
internal factors such as beliefs, values, personality traits, and abilities, that guide a persons behaviours
define fundamental attribution error
the failure to recognize the importance of situational influences on behaviour, along with the corresponding tendency to overemphasise the importance of dispositions on behaviour
what are channel factors and the study about it (healthcare)
nudges
preventative helthcare - get yale students to get a tetnus shot
read scary material or
others got a map with health centre circled and asked to review their schedule for a convinient time
the map approach worked way better - used in obama campaign
define gestalt psych
form or figure
an approach that stresses the fact that people perceive objects not by means of some sutomatic registering device but by active, usually nonconscious interpretation of what the object represented as a whole
define construal
ones interpretation of or inference about the stimuli or situations that one confronts`