Week 3 Tut Flashcards
(7 cards)
What is Self-fulfilling prophecy
A self-fulfilling prophecy occurs when an individual’s expectations about a person lead that person to behave in ways that confirm those expectations, thus reinforcing the original belief.
What did Snyder and Swann (1978) find about confirmation bias in interviews?
Snyder and Swann found that participants who interviewed others to test a hypothesis about their personality tended to ask questions that confirmed their initial beliefs, leading to biased evidence and confirmation of the hypothesis.
What is confirmation bias?
Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek out or interpret information in a way that confirms one’s preexisting beliefs or hypotheses, leading to skewed evidence and distorted perceptions.
What example of a self-fulfilling prophecy did Robert Merton (1948) describe?
Merton described a bank that was financially sound but went bankrupt because a rumor of insolvency led people to withdraw their money, causing the bank’s failure.
What was the “Pygmalion in the Classroom” study by Rosenthal and Jacobson (1969)?
Rosenthal and Jacobson told teachers that certain students were on the verge of an intellectual growth spurt. These students, who were actually randomly selected, showed greater IQ improvement and were evaluated more favorably by teachers, demonstrating the Pygmalion effect.
What is the Pygmalion effect?
The Pygmalion effect, also known as the Rosenthal effect, is a self-fulfilling prophecy where an individual’s expectations lead to behaviors that confirm those expectations, often seen in educational settings.
What are the implications of confirmation bias and self-fulfilling prophecies?
These phenomena can lead to distorted perceptions, reinforce stereotypes, and perpetuate inaccurate beliefs, affecting both personal judgments and interactions with others.
