Social Psychology

Question 1

Norman Triplett

Answer 1

Known for publishing the first study of social psychology in 1898. He studied the effects of competition on performance (found that people perform better in the presence of others)

Question 2

McDougall and Ross

Answer 2

Each independently published the first textbooks on social psychology

Question 3

Verplank

Answer 3

1950s experimenter who demonstrated that people alter their behavior based on social approval (which helped to later establish reinforcement theory)

Question 4

Reinforcement Theory

Answer 4

Theory which suggests that human behavior is motivated by anticipated rewards

Question 5

Role Theory

Answer 5

Theory that people know their expected social roles, and that their behavior is attributed to taking on these roles.

Question 6

Attitudes

Answer 6

Cognitions/beliefs, feelings, and behavioral predisposition

Question 7

Consistency Theories

Answer 7

Theory which suggests people prefer consistency, and either change or resist changing attitudes regarding preference

Question 8

Fritz Heider’s Balance Theory

Answer 8

A consistency theory. If three elements are related, balance exists when all three are harmonious. Generally, balance happens if there is 1 or 3 positive attitudes in the trio. Now, considered overly simplistic.

Question 9

Cognitive Dissonance

Answer 9

The conflict one experiences when their attitudes are not in sync with their behaviors.

Question 10

Free Choice dissonance

Answer 10

Situations where a person makes a choice between several desirable alternatives

Question 11

Post-Decisional Dissonance

Answer 11

When dissonance arises after a person’s choice.

Question 12

Spreading of Alternatives

Answer 12

When one changes attitudes to reduce dissonance by altering the relative worth of the two alternatives

Question 13

Forced-Compliance Dissonance

Answer 13

When a person is forced into acting in a way that is inconsistent with their attitudes. Force comes from anticipated punishments or rewards

Question 14

Festinger and Carlsmith

Answer 14

Ran experiments asking participants to lie about their belief for either $1 or $20. Most subjects lied, but those in the $1 group reported their belief was consistent with their lie (in order to justify their lie), Those in the $20 group didn’t adjust their beliefs (since they justified their lie by the money they earned).

Question 15

Minimal Justification Effect/Insufficient Justification Effect

Answer 15

If there is no external justification, people reduce their dissonance by changing their internal cognitions.

Question 16

Festinger’s Cognitive Dissonance Theory Principles

Answer 16

1. If pressured to act in opposition to personal attitudes, people tend to change those attitudes
2. The greater the pressure, the less their attitude will change (attitude change occur most if behavior is induced with minimum pressure)

Question 17

Daryl Bem’s Self-Perception Theory

Answer 17

If one’s attitudes are weak or ambiguous, they observe their own behaviors, and then assign themselves an attitude which corresponds to their behavior

Question 18

Overjustification Effect

Answer 18

If someone is rewarded for something they already enjoy, they may change their attitudes about it to be less positive (since they mistakenly attribute the behavior to an external cause)

Question 19

Carl Hovland’s Model of Attitude Change

Answer 19

Hovland’s model addresses attitude change as a process of communicating messages with the intent to persuade someone. The more credible a source is perceived to be, the greater impact it has on one’s attitudes.

Question 20

The Sleeper Effect

Answer 20

Over time, the persuasive impact of a high credibility source decreases, while the persuasive impact of a low-credibility source increases.

Question 21

Two Sided Messages

Answer 21

Arguments which contain facts both for and against a position are seen as more persuasive due to the perception of a “balanced” communication.

Question 22

Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion

Answer 22

A model which suggests there are two routes to persuasion: (1) the central route, and (2) the peripheral route. The central route occurs if the issue is important to us, if it is not, it is a peripheral route. If it is the central route, then our ability to be persuaded is based upon the strength of the message. If it is the peripheral route, the ability to be persuaded is based upon the situation surrounding the argument (who is making it, where, how, etc).

Question 23

Analogy of Inoculation

Answer 23

Developed by William McGuire, he proposed that people can be inoculated against the attack of a persuasive communication (in the same way one can be inoculated to be immune to a disease)

Question 24

Cultural Truisms

Answer 24

Beliefs which are seldom questioned in society. Since people have no exposure to arguments against cultural truisms, people are more susceptible to attacks against them (bc the person has no practice defending the truism)

Question 25

Refuted Counterarguments

Answer 25

When one presents an argument and then refutes it.

Question 26

Belief Perseverence

Answer 26

When someone maintains a belief even after it has been shown to be false

Question 27

Reactance

Answer 27

If you try too hard to persuade someone of something, that person will reassert their sense of freedom by believing the opposite of the position.

Question 28

Festinger's Social Comparison Theory

Answer 28

Theory which suggests we affiliate with others based on a tendency to evaluate ourselves in relationship to others. Overall, it proposes that people need to self-evaluate, and that it then becomes linked to one's need to affiliate with groups. Three main principles: 1. People prefer to evaluate themselves by objective (non-social) means. BUT if this is not possible, people evaluate their opinions/abilities by comparing them to others. 2. The less similar of opinions/abilities people share, the less likely someone is to make a comparison. 3. If a discrepancy exists, people tend to change their positions to reflect the group's.

Question 29

Stanley Schachter

Answer 29

Conducted research which demonstrates that the greater anxiety one experiences, leads to a greater desire to affiliate with groups. However, those with increased anxiety typically prefer the company of others with increased anxiety. Therefore leading to the perception of increased similarity to

Question 30

Reciprocity Hypothesis

Answer 30

We [humans] tend to like people who have indicated that they like us (and the inverse).

Question 31

The Gain-Loss Principle

Answer 31

Proposed by Aron son and Linder, it states that a change in a person's evaluation of us will have more impact on our evaluation of them, than an evaluation which remains constant.

Question 32

Social Exchange Theory

Answer 32

Assumes that people weigh the rewards/costs of interacting with another. The more that the rewards outweigh the costs, the greater attraction people have to another.

Question 33

Equity Theory

Answer 33

Assumes that we consider not only the costs/rewards we will experience, but also the costs/rewards the other person will experience. We prefer to interact with people who have an equal ratio of costs/rewards (if we feel we are getting less or more out of the relationship, it will lead to instability)

Question 34

Need Complementarity

Answer 34

People choose relationships so that they mutually satisfy each other's needs. We like to be similar to people we affiliate with, but also want complementary in our relationship (The talkative person is paired with the listener, etc)

Question 35

The Attractiveness Stereotype

Answer 35

The tendency to attribute positive qualities to attractive people

Question 36

The Mere Exposure Hypothesis

Answer 36

Developed by Robert Zanjonc. People develop a greater liking for someone based upon familiarity. (ie the more you see something/someone, the more you like it)

Question 37

Darley and Latane

Answer 37

Developed bystander intervention theories in response to the Kitty Genovese case. (Social Influence and Diffusion of Responsibility)

Question 38

Pluralistic Ignorance

Answer 38

A part of social influence, when someone ignores a potentially dangerous situation (or assumes it's a non-emergency) since others around them are ignoring it.

Question 39

Diffusion of Responsibility

Answer 39

If multiple people are present in a situation where someone needs help, they are less likely to help since they will not take 100% of the blame for not helping

Question 40

Empathy

Answer 40

Ability to vicariously experience the emotions of another, it is thought to be a strong influence on helping behavior.

Question 41

Baston's Empathy-Altruism Model

Answer 41

An explanation for the relationship between empathy and helping behavior. Suggests that when faced with a situation in which others need help, people will feel distress and/or empathy. While increased empathy can predict helping behaviors, increased distress does not incite helping behavior.

Question 42

Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis

Answer 42

A proposed explanation for aggressive behavior, suggests that the strength of frustration experienced by an individual is correlated with the level of aggression observed.

Question 43

Bandura's Social Learning Theory

Answer 43

Most influential theory on social aggression. Suggests that aggression is learned through modeling and/or reinforcement. (The Bobo Doll Studies)

Question 44

Muzafer Sherif's Conformity Study

Answer 44

Used the auto-kinetic effect (an illusion that a single light is moving in a dark room). He found that individuals changed their estimates regarding the light movement to converge with the group norm

Question 45

Solomon Asch Conformity Study

Answer 45

Asked subjects to compare line lengths in a room with confederates. If the confederates all gave an incorrect (and obviously wrong) answer, subjects would give the wrong answer to conform with the group, despite there being no explicitly group pressure to conform.

Question 46

Stanley Milgram's Obedience Experiment

Answer 46

Famous electroshock experiment with a confederate testing the willingness of someone to hurt others if encouraged by the experimenter. 100% of people administered shocks at 300v hurting the participant, and 65% were completely obedient and went to the highest level of shock (marked XXX). Results indicated that the desire to obey was stronger than the drive to not hurt someone against their will. Notable variations: Holding the experiment in a run down building rather than the fancy lab (same results); other confederates who defied the experimenter (led to more people refusing to participate); people would pull a lever rather than directly shock the confederate (92% went to the end)

Question 47

Foot in the Door Effect

Answer 47

If someone complies with a small request, it increases the likelihood they will comply to a larger request.

Question 48

Door in the Face Effect

Answer 48

If someone refuses an initial large request, they will later be more likely to agree to a smaller request later.

Question 49

Clark + Clark Doll Preference Study

Answer 49

A famous study which studied ethnic/racial self-concept among white and black children. Children were asked if they preferred a white or black doll and were asked about their beliefs towards each doll. Every child preferred the white doll, demonstrating the negative effects of racism and how it effects the self-concept of children of color. This study was used to argue against school segregation in 1954 Brown v. Board of Education.

Question 50

Self-Efficacy

Answer 50

Proposed by Bandura, it is an individual's belief in their ability to organize and execute a certain task. One's self-efficacy is judged based on their previous accomplishments, vicarious experiences, social persuasion and their psychological/emotional state. Research has demonstrated that individuals with strong self-efficacy exert more effort on challenging tasks than those with low self-efficacy.

Question 51

Primacy Effect

Answer 51

Refers to occasions in which the first impression is considered to be more important than any subsequent impressions.

Question 52

Recency Effect

Answer 52

Refers to occasions in which the most recent information we have is the most important in forming our impression.

Question 53

Attribution Theory

Answer 53

Founded by Heider, it is the tendency for individuals to infer the causes of other people's behaviors. Dispositional causes relate to the features of the person whose behavior is being considered. Situational causes are external and relate to the features surrounding an individual.

Question 54

Fundamental Attribution Error

Answer 54

The tendency for people to be biased towards making Dispositional Attributions (rather than situational ones)

Question 55

The Halo Effect

Answer 55

Tendency to allow a general impression of a person to influence other, more specific, evaluations regarding that person.

Question 56

Belief in a Just World

Answer 56

Researched by MJ Lerner, is when people believe good things happen to good people, and bad things to bad people. Increases victim blaming in society.

Question 57

Theodore Newcomb's Study

Answer 57

Demonstrates the influence of group norms at Bennington. Newcomb found that while most students started out republican, as the years progressed the became more and more liberal to fit the norms of the Bennington environment. After college, if students maintained a social group of liberals, they stayed liberal, but if they reverted to a social group of republicans, their beliefs returned to how they originally felt.

Question 58

Edward Hall and Proxemics

Answer 58

Suggests that cultural norms dictate how far away we stand from the people we are speaking to. Proxemics (vocab) is the study of how individuals space themselves in relation to others.

Question 59

Zajonc's theory

Answer 59

Suggests that the presence of others increases our arousal, and therefore enhances the emission of dominant responses. (if someone is inclined to make mistakes, they will make more mistakes if observed, and if they are inclined to perform well, they will be more likely to not make a mistake if observed)

Question 60

Social Loafing

Answer 60

A group phenomenon referring to the tendency for people to put forth less effort if a part of a group than when acting individually.

Question 61

The Prison Simulation

Answer 61

A simulation study where 24 college students were divided into prisoners and guards. Within 36 hours the guards were acting abusively, and the prisoners were having breakdowns. Zimbardo hypothesized this behavior to deindividuation.

Question 62

Deindividuation

Answer 62

The loss of self-awareness and personal identity.

Question 63

Irving Janis

Answer 63

Known for studying group-decision making (and how these decisions go awry). Studied historical group blunders (ie bay of pigs), named the judgement fails of groups to be "groupthink".

Question 64

Groupthink

Answer 64

Coined by Irving Janis, it refers to the tendency of decision-making groups to attempt to find consensus by ignoring opposing information.

Question 65

Risky Shift

Answer 65

The tendency for a group to make a much more extreme/risky decision than what any of the people would have decided individually.

Question 66

The Value Hypothesis

Answer 66

A possible explanation for Risky Shift occurrences, suggests that risky decisions are often seen as culturally valuable (ie business venture risks).

Question 67

James Stoner

Answer 67

Conducted experiments in the 60s where couples had to make decisions in controversial situations. Found Risky Shifts, when couples were making decisions to always choose the riskier option.

Question 68

Group Polarization

Answer 68

The tendency for a group discussion to enhance a group's initial tendency towards being risky or cautious. Leads to decisions that are more extreme on either end than what an individual would have chosen

Question 69

Key to Leadership Perception

Answer 69

Research has found that leaders of groups engage in more communication than non-leaders. Additionally, if one artificially increases the amount someone speaks, they are perceived to be a leader

Question 70

Kurt Lewin

Answer 70

Studied the effects of different leadership styles. Tested in after-school program three leadership styles (autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire). Found that autocratic groups worked more than any other groups, but that work motivation/interest/cohesion were all best in democratic groups.

Question 71

The Prisoner's Dilemma

Answer 71

Method used to investigate competition/cooperation. Optimal results for an individual occur if the other person cooperates and they compete, but the worst results for the individual are if they cooperate and the other competes. Fine results occur if they both would just cooperate.

Question 72

Robber Cave's Experiment

Answer 72

Run by Muzafer Sherif, the study took place at a boys camp in which two groups first created group cohesion (through cooperative activities), then they competed (and competition got intense), to later reduce competition they tried to provide contact between groups, but that didn't work. To reduce hostility they had to create opportunities to cooperate due to super-ordinate goals

Question 73

Superordinate goals

Answer 73

Goals which are best obtained through inter-group cooperation. Can work to improve inter-group relations.

Question 74

Eagly

Answer 74

Suggested that gender differences in conformity were due to social roles, not actual gender.

Question 75

Heider

Answer 75

Developed Balance Theory, attribution theory (divided into dispositional and situational attributions)

Question 76

Cacioppo and Petty

Answer 76

Developed the elaboration likelihood model of persuasion (central vs peripheral routes to persuasion).