PSYC 221 Fall 2013 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 Social psychology the scientific study of how people affect and are affected by others It Aims from a broad understanding of the social factors that influence how human beings think act and feel Focuses on normal adult human beings some study children and mild mental illness Concerned with the effect of other people on our thoughts feelings and behaviors ABCS affect how people feel inside behavior what people do their actions and cognition what people think about Behaviorism theoretical approach that seeks to explain behavior in terms of learning principles without reference to inner states thoughts or feelings Freudian psychoanalysis theoretical approach that seeks to explain behavior by looking at the deep unconscious forces inside the person Why do they study social psychology Focus on scientific method Concerned about the effects of personal and situational influences Curiosity about people Experimental philosophy the pursuit of knowledge about fundamental matters such as life death meaning reality and truth Making the world better Advantages to research vs lay theories folk theories Basic Research research that focuses on a general understanding of basic principles that can be applied to many different problems Applied research research that focuses on solving particular practical problems Theories unobservable constructs that are linked together in some logical way Theoretical perspectives e g power of situation evolutionary psych positive psych Power of the situation situation matters affects includes color of walls seasons and setting temperature more than personality Evolutionary Psych survival of the fittest Positive psych we should be studying positive emotions not just anxiety and mortality rates Emotions joy and pride behaviors cooperation love and outcomes life satisfaction Theories vs phenomena Phenomena are the things that we have observed while theories are our interpretations or explanations of the phenomena Validity internal vs external II Social Cognition Internal Validity the extent to which changes in the independent variable caused changes in the dependent variable External Validity the extent to which the findings from a study can be generalized to other people other settings and other time periods Correlation vs causation Correlation the relationship or association between two variables Correlational approach a nonexperimental method in which the researcher merely observes whether variables are associated or related Causation changes in one variable they measured directly caused changes in the other Methods for studying behavior mental processes physical processes Conscious vs automatic mind also called rational associative Slow reasoning effortful taxing deliberate controllable flexible Conscious more able to control it and more able to change it Automatic Fast evaluations based on gut instinct effortless unintentional stable stubborn Automaticity a process that can be carried out rapidly and without effort Embodied cognition embodiment mind body connection sensitive to physical environmental cues Ex Sitting in hard chairs tough negotiation heavy backpack weighty decisions etc Priming spreading activation of related mental nodes Schemas what are they a Types of schemas cognitive structures representing ideas in the mind b Stability over time impact behavior thoughts emotional response c Impact on person perception impression how to behave in certain situations Behavioral confirmation self fulfilling prophesy A prediction that causes it to come true due to simple fact that the prediction was made beliefs influence our actions The cognitive miser perspective Faster judgments conclusions based on small amounts of information we form impressions about people within seconds of meeting them a Use of heuristics mental shortcuts to ease cognitive load b Systematic errors and biases e g gambler s fallacy Gambler s fallacy tendency to believe that a chance event is affected by previous events will even out randomness doesn t appear random we often see patterns that aren t really there Confirmation bias Motivated reasoning Confirmation bias the tendency to notice and search for information that confirms one s beliefs and to ignore information that disconfirms one s beliefs Motivated reasoning when weighing evidence we seek preferred conclusions confirm existing schemata and worldview Social comparison compare to other people especially in ambiguous situations goal to make self look good It is not possible for everyone to be above the mean a Positive illusions self serving bias optimistic bias Self serving bias a pattern in which people claim credit for success but deny blame for failure b Accuracy for perceiving others but not for self Reducing bias consequences i Metacognition mindfulness self referencing thinking about thinking reflecting on one s own thought processes Attributions what are they How we assign causes for behavior events and a Internal vs external stable vs unstable b Explanations for behavior events success failure c What variables increase likelihood of making an attribution Unexpected salient events painful events successes failures personalism d Fundamental Attribution Error the tendency for observers to attribute other people s behavior to internal or dispositional causes and to downplay situational causes e Actor Observer Bias the tendency for actors to make external attributions and observers to make internal attributions The specific effect of self awareness self awareness enables humans to develop elaborate sets of beliefs about themselves Self serving biases Self verification compared to self enhancement motivation to maintain self schema Self esteem appraisal of self as good bad Associated with a clear understanding of the self a Ingredients outcomes costs of pursuit mixed benefits High self esteem less distress mixed findings for academic achievement expresses opinions Low self esteem depression suicide eating disorders delinquency etc b Narcissism a self centered and self concerned approach toward others Self concept clarity A set of beliefs about oneself Benefits of adversity for self
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