Social Cognition Flashcards
(126 cards)
1
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Social Cognition
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Involves how we interpret, analyse, remember and use information to make judgements about others in different social situations
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Person Perception
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Refers to the mental processes that we use to form impressions and draw conclusions about the personal characteristics of the other people
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Halo Effect
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A cognitive bias in which the impression that we form about one quality of a person influences our beliefs and expectations about the person in other qualities
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Body Language
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Communicating inner aspects of ourselves through facial expressions, eye gaze, posture, gestures and other bodily movements
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Attribution
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The process by which people explain the causes of their own and other people’s behaviour
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Personal Attribution
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An explanation of a behaviour due to the personal characteristics of an individual involved, such as their personality, ability, attitude, motivation, mood or effort
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Situational Attribution
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An explanation of a behaviour due to factors external to the person involved, such as the actions of another person, some aspect of the environment, the task, luck and fate
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Fundamental Attribution Error
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The tendency to overestimate the influence of personal factors and underestimate the impact of situational factors on other peoples behaviour
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Actor-Observer Bias
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Refers to the tendency to attribute our own behaviour to external or situational causes, yet attribute others’ behaviour to personal factors
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Self Serving Bias
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When judging ourselves, we tend to take credit for our successes and attribute our failures to situational factors
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Individualist Culture
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Achieving personal goals is considered to be more important that achieving group goals (being independent is valued)
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Collectivist Culture
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Achieving group goals is considered to be more important that the achievement of individual goals
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Attitude
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Is a learned, relatively enduring, favourable or unfavourable evaluation of a person, object or idea, that can affect an individual’s behaviour
14
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Tri-Component Model of Attitudes
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Affective = the emotions/feelings toward an attitude object
Behavioural = the actions toward an attitude object
Cognitive = the beliefs/thoughts/ understanding about an attitude object
The model proposes that the three components must be present, before it can be said that an attitude exists
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Limitations of the tri-component model
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Some psychologists do not support the tri-component model, believing that A,B and C can be inconsistent or non-existent
Psychologists prefer to say that attitudes can have up to three components
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Cognitive Dissonance
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The discomfort or tension that is felt when our behaviour is not consistent with our attitudes
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Factors that influence whether attitudes and behaviour match
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- Perceived control over the behaviour
- Accessibility of the attitude
- Strength of the attitude
- Social content of the attitude
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Perceived control over the behaviour
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People are more likely to act on their attitude if they believe that they are free to perform or not perform the behaviour and a belief that then can actually perform the behaviour
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Accessibility of the attitude
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Attitudes and behaviour are more likely to be consistent if the attitude is well known and effectively stored in memory
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Strength of the Attitude
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Stronger Attitudes are more likely to influence behaviour
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Social Content of the Attitude
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Whether it is appropriate to express the behaviour in a particular content
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Factors that Influence Attitude Formation
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- Classical Conditioning
- Operant Conditioning
- Repeated Exposure
- Observational Learning
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Classical Conditioning
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A simple form of learning that occurs through the repeated association of two or more different stimuli or events
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Components of Classical Conditioning
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Unconditioned Stimulus Unconditioned Response Neutral Stimulus Conditioned Stimulus Conditioned Response
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Unconditioned Stimulus
Any stimulus that produces an UCR
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Unconditioned Response
The response that occurs automatically as a result of the UCS
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Neutral Stimulus
Stimulus to be associated with the UCS so that is produces the response. The NS is presented before the UCS
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Conditioned Stimulus
Stimulus which is neutral at the start of classical conditioning and does not normally produce the UCR, but eventually becomes associated with the UCS
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Conditioned Response
The learned or acquired response to the conditioned stimulus; occurs after CS, has been associated with the UCS
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Key Processes in Classical Conditioning
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Acquisition
Extinction
Spontaneous Recovery
Stimulus Generalisation
Stimulus Discrimination
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Acquisition
The overall process during which the organism learns to associate two events (CS and UCS)
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Extinction
The gradual decrease in the strength or rate of a response, which occurs over time when the UCS is not presented
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Spontaneous Recovery
The re-appearance of a CR after its apparent extinction
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Stimulus Generalisation
The tendency for similiar stimulus to produce the same but not necessarily identical response
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Stimulus Discrimination
The ability to distinguish between two or more different stimuli even if the stimuli are similiar
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Operant Conditioning
A kind of learning for which the consequence of an action (reward or punishment) determines the likelihood that it will be performed again in the future
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Reinforcement
An environmental event that increases the probability that a response will occur
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Positive Reinforcement
A response is followed by the addition of a positive stimulus
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Negative Reinforcement
A response is followed by the removal of a negative stimulus
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Punishment
An environmental event that decreases the probability that a response will occur
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Positive Punishment
The addition of a negative stimulus following a response
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Negative/ Response Cost Punishment
Removal of a positive stimulus following a response
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Factors that influence the effectiveness of reinforcement and punishment
- order of presentation
- timing
- appropriateness
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Three Phase Model of Operant Conditioning
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Antecedent = what precedes and prompts a particular response
Behaviour = the response that occurs (voluntary and active)
Consequence = what happens after the response
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Repeated Exposure
Attitudes can form by being exposed to an object, person, group, event or issue repeatedly
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Mere Exposure Effect
We can develop a positive attitude toward objects, people, events, issues if we are exposed to them repeatedly (no reward necessary)
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Observational Learning
A learning process where an individual learns to reproduce a behaviour exhibited by another individual (model)
We are more likely to imitate attitudes from a model if we observe that the attitudes have positive consequences
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Factors that Influence Observational Learning
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Attention
Retention
Reproduction
Motivation
Reinforcement
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Attention
Person must actively watch the model
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Retention
Person must hold a mental representation of the behaviour and remember it in order to imitate it later
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Reproduction
Person must have the motor skills to be able to reproduce the behaviour
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Motivation
Person must be motivated to demonstrate what has been learned
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Reinforcement
Reinforcement influences the motivation to reproduce the observed behaviour and increases the likelihood of reproduction
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Vicarious Conditioning
The individual watches a model's behaviour being reinforced (desirable) or punished (undesirable)
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Vicarious Reinforcement
Increases the likelihood of the observer behaving in a similiar way to the model whose behaviour is reinforced
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Vicarious Punishment
The likelihood of the observer behaving in a similiar way is decreased as a result of seeing the model's behaviour being punished
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Stereotyping
The process of grouping individuals into a particular social or cultural group
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Stereotype
A collection of beliefs that we have about the people who belong to a particular social group, without taking into account the individual differences of its members
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Ingroup
The group you belong to or identify with
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Outgroup
Any group that you do not belong to or identify with
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Prejudice
An unfavourable or negative attitude towards members of a particular group, solely based on their membership to the group
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Characteristics of Majority Prejudice (Blumer 1961)
- believe that they are superior to the minority group
- believe that the minority is different from them and do not belong
- believe that they are more powerful and more important than the minority group
- fearful that the minority group may become more powerful or more important than the majority group
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Old-fashioned Prejudice
Members of the majority group openly express their prejudicial attitude toward minority groups
explicit, conscious and deliberate
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Modern Prejudice
A more subtle, hidden and expressed in ways which are socially acceptable
implicit, unconscious and hidden
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Discrimination
Is the positive or negative behaviour toward members of a particular group that expresses the prejudiced attitude
Discrimination is the behaviour
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Direct Discrimination
When someone is treated unfavourably based on a personal characteristic
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Indirect Discrimination
When treating everybody the same way disadvantages someone because of a personal characteristic
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Compare Prejudice and Discrimination
Prejudice is an attitude whereas discrimination is the behaviour arising from a prejudice attitude
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Methods that May Reduce Prejudice
Intergroup Contact
Superordinate Goals
Quality of Status
Cognitive Interventions
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Intergroup Contact
Sustained Contact = contact between groups or individuals must be maintained over a period of time
The Contact Hypothesis = certain types of direct contact between groups can reduce prejudice. This leads to a re-evaluation of incorrect stereotypes
Mutual Interdependence = Rivalry and prejudice will reduce if groups are mutually dependent on one another. This leads to a breakdown in stereotypes
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Superordinate Goals
A goal that cannot be achieved by any one group alone and override other existing goals that a group may have
Valued by both groups
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Quality of Status
Status of a Group = the importance or standing of the group when compared to other groups
When status between groups is not equal, group members view other group member differently - often negatively
Reducing inequity between groups can reduce prejudice
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Cognitive Interventions
Involve challenging and therefore changing the way someone thinks about prejudice
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Devine (1989)
Proposed 3 steps in cognitive interventions to reducing the prejudiced attitudes of an individual
1. The individual must decide that their prejudiced attitude is wrong
2. They must hold to their non prejudiced beliefs and incorporate them into their sense of self
3. The individual must suppress prejudice reactions from conscious awareness and deliberately replace them with non prejudiced responses
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Group
Two or more people who influence or have the potential to influence each other and who are working towards a common goal or have a common interest or purpose
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Collective/Aggregate
Two or more people who exert minimal influence on each other and do not interact with each other
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Status
The level or importance of a group member's position in that group
- real or imagined
- relative (to other people) and fluid (can change)
- formal or informal
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Power
Individual's ability to control or strongly influence the thoughts, feelings and behaviours of another person or group
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Types of Power
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Coercive
Expert
Informational
Legitimate
Referent
Reward
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Coercive Power
Ability to mediate and administer punishments
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Expert Power
Specialist knowledge or expertise
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Informational Power
has useful information that cannot be gained elsewhere
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Legitimate Power
has a right to prescribe behaviour for another
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Referent Power
try to identify with, or idolise a person perceived to have power
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Reward Power
Ability to give positive or remove negative consequences in response to certain behaviour
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Zimbardo's Prison Experiment
Research suggested power, status and role expectations are powerful influence on group and individual behaviour
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Obedience
Occurs when we follow the commands of someone with authority or the rules or laws of our society
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Compliance
Involves changing your own behaviour in response to a request - it does not necessarily involve an authority figure
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Stanley Milgram Experiment
- 40 male participants aged 20-50
- aim = whether individuals would obey an authority figure who was instructing them to inflict pain on another person when they answered incorrectly on a memory task
- all participants delivered an intense electric shock
- of 40 participants, 65% administered the shocks to 450 volts (lethal shock), prior only thought that psychopathic minority would
- they didnt enjoy it, but they did it
- experiment is quite reliable
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Stigma
An entire social group is negatively evaluated by others (caused by stereotyping)
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List the factors that influence obedience
Social Proximity
Legitimacy of authority figure
Group Pressure
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Social Proximity
The closer the social contact between the participants and the authority figure, the high the obedience
eg. the closer the subject is to receiving the shocks, the less obedience
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Legitimacy of Authority Figure
The greater the status of the authority figure, the higher the obedience
Obedience linked to Obedience Power
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Group Pressure
People are far more likely to disobey if someone else can be seen to disobey also
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Conformity
Is the tendency to adjust one's thoughts, feelings or behaviour to accommodate the standards of peers or groups
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Solomon Asch Study
- participant and 5 confederates asked to match line to the standard
- confederates answered incorrectly for the majority
- 75 % agreed with the confederates' responses at least once
- all participants report feeling self-doubt about their opinion
- all participants who conformed stated they were aware the answers were wrong but did not wish to cause conflict within the group
"the participants who did not conform said they felt conspicuous and crazy, like a misfit when they gave answers and disagreed with those of the rest of the group
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List the Factors Affecting Conformity
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Normative Influence
Social Loafing
Deindividuation
Culture
Unanimity
Informational Influence
Group Size
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Normative Influence
Individuals' tendency to 'follow the pack' and comply with social norms, so they will gain approval and fit in with other group members
- Social Norms
If individuals want to impress their group members, the likelihood of conformity increases
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Social Norm
Society's unofficial rules and expectations regarding how we ought to act. Most people unconsciously follow them
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Social Loafing
The tendency for individuals to reduce their effort when working in a group compared with when they are working alone
- this is eliminated when max effort from individual members of a group is essential for the group goal to be attained
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Deindividuation
The loss of individuality or sense of anonymity that can occur in group situations
- Anonymity in a group
- Shift in Attention
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Anonymity in a group
When we feel 'invisible' in a large group, we may behave in ways that are 'out of character'
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Shift in Attention
Individuals in a large group are more likely to focus on the behaviour of the group and are less likely to reflect on the appropriateness of their own actions
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Culture (Conformity)
Studies have shown that there is a higher rate of conformity in collectivist cultures (emphasis on uniformity and fitting in for the good of the wider group) compared to individualistic cultures (emphasis placed on individual goals and being independent from the larger group)
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Unanimity
Participants are more likely to conform if the group unanimously agreed on a particular response
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Informational Influence
Individuals are more likely to conform when they are uncertain. They may look to others who they perceive as more knowledgeable for guidance. Conformity is more likely when people feel incompetent or when the task at hand is difficult.
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Group Size
Asch's results demonstrated that conformity increased with group size up to 4
4-9 = ideal
10-15 = decrease in conformity
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Pro-social Behaviour
Involves acts of helping behaviour that involve personal cost to the helper
- intentional
- the outcome benefits someone in some way
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List the Factors Influencing Helping Behaviour
- Situational Factors (noticing the situation, interpreting the situation, taking responsibility for helping)
- Social Factors (Reciprocity norm, Social responsibility norm)
- Personal Factors (Empathy, Mood, Competence)
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Situational Factors
3 situational factors that influence helping behaviour involving the following (Latane and Darley)
- Do we notice the situation?
- Do we interpret the situation?
- Are we prepared to take responsibility for helping a given situation?
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Noticing the Situation
Research has shown that when individuals are on their own, they are quicker to notice something different or unusual than when they are in a group
Noticing that someone is in need of help is the first step in making a helping response
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Interpreting the Situation
Often situations are ambiguous and this can make it difficult to judge whether or not a helping response is needed
Research shows that the less ambiguous the situation, the more likely that help will be given
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Taking Responsibility for helping
The presence of onlookers can influence an individual's sense of responsibility to take action - perceiving others as equally or more responsible to help (diffusion of responsibility)
- Bystander Effect
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Bystander Effect
Individuals are less likely to assist individuals if other bystanders are present (or believed to be present)
The greater number of bystanders, the less likely one of them is to help
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Social Factors
Include 'social norms' - standards that govern what people should or should not do in different social situations
- not always explicit/ unwritten rules
- social norms are determined by our culture and our society
- reciprocity norm
- social responsibility norm
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Reciprocity Norm
An unwritten rule that we should give what we receive or expect to receive
- prescribes that we should help others who help us
- expectation is reasonable and socially acceptable
- not giving help in return breaks the norm, especially if the help is given voluntarily and involving some sacrifice
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Social Responsibility Norm
Prescribes that we should help those who need help because it is our responsibility and duty to do so
- we are more likely to help if we feel that the person is in need is not responsible for their hardship
- we are less likely to help if we feel that the person in need is responsible in some way for their hardship
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Personal Factors
Whilst environmental factors (situational and social) can influence helping behaviour, the unique characteristics of an individual, including their past experiences and disposition, can also play a role in pro-social behaviour
- Empathy
- Mood
- Competence
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Empathy
The ability to identify with and understand another person's feelings or difficulties. We are more likely to help others if we feel empathy for them
- the more distressed a person is, the more distressed the bystanders become and more likely they are to help
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Mood
We are more likely to help a person in need if we are in a good mood
Being in a bad mood can increase OR decrease the likelihood of helping behaviour
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Competence
We are more likely to help someone if we feel that we have the skills and expertise required - intellectual and physical
- Direct Help / Indirect Help
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Attruism
A type of helping behaviour where the motive to help is totally selfless
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Influences on reluctance to help
Diffusion of Responsibility (Social Influence)
Audience Inhibition (Social Influence)
Cost-Benefit Analysis (Personal Factor)
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Diffusion of Responsibility
Is the belief that in a situation where help is required and others are present, one or more other people will or should take responsibility for helping
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Audience Inhibition
The presence of others at the scene provides an audience and this increases the chance of being embarrassed or feeling foolish - these aspects can inhibit someone from helping
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Cost Benefit Analysis
Involves the individual weighing up the personal and social costs of helping against the personal and social benefits
If the anticipated costs of helping outweigh the benefits, we are less likely to help
