PSYC 221 Fall 2013 Study Guide for Exam 2 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 6 7 8 9 and 10 Note The most recent unit of material on religion morality political psychology will NOT be included on this exam It will be covered on the final exam instead I Attitudes Attitude Change Functions of attitudes intra and interpersonal Attitudes function to sort things into good and bad They help us adjust to new situations seeking out things in our environment that reward us and avoiding things that punish us create bonds between people tell us how to act what to choose improve physical and mental health decision making Attitude formation a Learning theory rewards punishments observations modeling Classical and operant conditioning classical a type of learning in which through repeated pairing a neutral stimulus comes to evoke a conditioned response operant a type of learning in which people are more likely to repeat behaviors that have been rewarded and less likely to repeat behaviors that have been punished b Social comparison placebo effects observation People learn how to behave by observing and imitating others c Social networks relationships and attitude similarity d Mere exposure Repeated prolonged exposure to a stimulus person idea neutral inanimate object assumes initial neutral attitude the tendency for people to come to like things simply because they see or encounter them repeatedly familiarity breeds liking only works for positive or no attitude e Implicit vs explicit attitudes Implicit Association Test IAT purports to measure attitudes and beliefs that people are either unwilling or unable to report automatic attitudes are more difficult to measure than deliberate attitudes most often involves measuring reaction time to stimuli dual attitudes automatic implicit and deliberate explicit different evaluations of the same attitude Attitude behavior link it s weak why a Specificity of the behavior and relevance to the attitude Gap between general attitudes and specific behaviors is too big help people but wouldn t give blood because scared of needles b Stability vs change over time Attitudes and behaviors can be inconsistent aggregating behavior combining behaviors on different occasions c Reasoned Action Model Attitude thinking behavior planning and accessibility d Events subjective norms Subjective social norm individual attitude e Attitude strength Extremity of emotion degree of certainty vs ambivalence stronger attitudes are more consistent and higher linked with behavior increasing information and evidence direct personal experience and self interest Attitude change a Learning theory b Balance theory noted in your textbook Heider s P O X theory The idea that relationships among one person P the other person O and an attitude object X may be either balanced or unbalanced balanced states are preferred over and people who are unbalanced are motivated to change them c Equilibrium theory and Cognitive Dissonance what IS cognitive dissonance Inconsistency between attitude and behavior or a second attitude conflicting thoughts cause psychological discomfort how people rationalize their behavior so as to bring their attitudes in line with their actions balanced consistent 1 Ingredients necessary for cognitive dissonance to occur Feeling free of choice in decision minimal external justification can t go back and change behavior reverse decision being in public is another moderating factor I will NOT test you on irrational beliefs religious beliefs etc in chapter 7 II Social Influence Compliance Persuasion a Learning theory pair with positive negative affective stimulus Normative influence going along with the crowd in order to be liked and accepted Asch line test being accepted is more important than being correct Informational influence going along with the crowd because you think the crowd has more knows more than you do autokinetic affect experiment group norms b Norm of reciprocity and related techniques Foot in door Low ball requester gets a person to comply with a seemingly low cost request only to later reveal hidden additional costs Bait and switch draws people in with one thing then switches to something less attractive Labeling assigning a label to an individual then requests a favor that is consistent with the label Door in the face That s not all c Scarcity What is rare is good individualistic cultures value freedom as objects become scarce we lose our ability to obtain them d Commitment cognitive dissonance 1 Implications for initiation rites hazing e Source of message credible vs not credible 1 Similarity familiarity likability cooperativeness no conflict of interest authority figure celebrity expertise Expertise and trustworthiness likability and attractiveness f Audience 1 Personality motivation distraction fatigue intelligence age Private acceptance genuine inner belief that others are right vs public compliance outwardly going along with the group but maintaining a private inner belief intelligence receptivity and yielding need for cognition age and impressionable years cultural differences overheard messages are more enticing g Elaboration of Likelihood Model ELM noted in textbook Theory that posits two routes to persuasion via either conscious or automatic processing central route vs peripheral route h Resisting attitude change inoculation counter arguments etc Making a public commitment reduces reciprocation being tricked justifies an out accept initial favors but reject tricks distraction Obedience this appears in ch 9 a Types of social influence power 1 Sanctioned authority force 2 Threat to reputation stigma 3 Expertise charisma b Stanley Milgram experiment Would people be willing to inflict pain on another person if an authority figure told them to do so 62 5 went all the way up to the highest shock Conformity this appears in ch 9 a Normative informative social influence Asch line study Exhibit a strong desire to get along with others b Desire for consistency schemas for group cohesion c Autokinetic effect People see light move in a dark room but then conform their answers to fit the group range d Variables that influence conformity Large vs small groups having a partner with shared beliefs answering anonymously III Altruism prosocial behavior Pure altruism vs prosocial behavior with benefit Evolutionary perspective competition
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