PSYC 221 Spring 2012 Study Guide for Exam 1 A word of advice read the textbook chapters thoroughly but you can skip over any section that I tell you to skip see below The chapters that will be covered are 1 3 4 and 5 I The Science of Social Psychology The basics what is social psychology designed to do What are social psychologists interested in studying how people affect and are affected by others Basic knowledge for its own sake Knowledge that is useful or enriching Illuminate an important issue phenomenon i Applications treatments interventions ii Public policy iii Question preconceptions Advantages to research vs lay theories folk theories lay theories average persons conception of how things are important distinction between scientific objective knowledge than mere anec dotes and speculation some things that are intuitive are incorrect research can show counterintuitive findings measures claims by effect size and significance something that was significant may be very small Theoretical perspectives e g power of situation evolutionary psych positive psych situation can often matter more than personality i ex wall color season setting temperature social context broader than situation socialization i ex time period geography culture government learning theory conditioning pairing stimulus modeling reinforcement evolutionary natural selection adaptation noticing things in other animals or cross cultural research can show biological ties i ex behavior is purposeful solved ancestors problems nothing has inherent value or quality sky isn t blue differs by species biological social neuroscience genes and heredity physiology heart rate hor mones personality inner processes differences between people separate field blurred line i ex trend for most people except based on high low of a certain trait positive emotions behaviors outcomes i joy pride cooperation love life satisfaction Theories vs phenomena phenomena demonstration of what something is or what an effect is theory explains phenomena tells us the reason for some occurrence can predict behavior and guide research II theory development inductive vs deductive inductive making a generalization from a specific observation deductive thinking about behavior generally then making specific observations Validity internal vs external construct validity of cause independent variable is a good representation of the theoretical stimulus i ex butting someone in line a valid way to define frustration construct validity of effect dependent variable is a good representation of the theoretical response i ex pushing someone a valid way to define aggression internal changes in independent variable caused changes in dependent variable external findings are representative of true life sample findings could be applied to population Correlation vs causation correlation association between two variables not an indication that one causes the other causation dependent variable is caused by ind variable in a true experiment Methods for studying behavior mental processes physical processes Social Cognition Conscious vs automatic mind also called rational associative cognitive psychology information processing senses input behavior output info is filtered and biased i conscious a Explicit b Slow c Reasoning d Effortful Taxing e Deliberate controllable f Flexible ii automatic a Implicit b Fast c Evaluations based on gut instinct d Effortless e Unintentional f Stable stubborn Automaticity Most psychological processes occur automatically 5 of behaviors governed by conscious control Supported by different theoretical perspectives relatively uncontroversial which is rare stroop test Embodied cognition embodiment Mind body connection Sensitive to physical environmental cues Sitting in a hard chair leads to tough negotiation wobbly chair leads to uncer tainty Heavy backpack leads to guilty feelings Heavy objects leads to weighty decisions Hot cold beverage leads to 1st impressions and generosity Priming spreading activation of related mental nodes Priming activates related concepts ideas in the mind s network Automatic uncontrollable Tied to specific brain regions often tested with reaction time tasks People associate brands with personality and goal pursuits i Apple nonconformity innovation creativity ii IBM traditional responsible smart Apple logo higher performance on creativity tests and express more creativity motivation Embedded words and anagrams i Reading comprehension word scramble word pair memory test ii Impolite words leads to interruption rates iii Aging frailty words leads to walking slower a Types of schemas b Stability over time impact behavior thoughts emotional response c Impact on person perception impression how to behave in certain situa Memory Facilitation Schemas what are they Cognitive structures representing ideas in the mind i Schema Mind Neuron Brain tions a Concept i Ex computers college relationships Specific person Group i stereotypes Self i fluctuates across situations Event i stand alone Procedure Sequence of Events i scripts Behavioral confirmation self fulfilling prophesy Male female phone conversation study i Attractive unattractive photos ii Men s expectations rating treatment iii Men s expectations females behavior in response iv Coded by blind observers In the classroom Teachers expectations Students performance The cognitive miser perspective Leads to Reluctance to question what we think we know or think deeply Faster judgments conclusions based on small amounts of information Heuristics Errors biases Randomness doesn t appear random we often see patterns that aren t really there a b Use of heuristics mental shortcuts to ease cognitive load Systematic errors and biases e g gambler s fallacy heuristic definition example representativeness judge likelihood of something based off of resemblance to typical case availability judge likelihood of something based off of how easily rele vant instances come to mind in coin toss more likely to guess HTHTHT than HHHHH but both are equally likely Tom seemed like a professor but there are way more truck drivers than professors people overestimate fre quency of dramatic deaths plane crashes why we may believe in ESP heuristic definition example simulation judge likelihood of something based off of how easily you can imagine the event anchoring and adjust ment judge likelihood of something based off a starting point then making adjustments up and down from this point bronze medalists are
View Full Document
Unlocking...