SOA 223 1st EditionExam # 2 Study Guide Lectures: 8-13Lecture 8Understanding & Perceiving OthersWe often make snap judgments. Based on…- Physical features- Expression of emotions- Many other identity cues (clothes, facebook posts…)How good are snap judgments? - Compare snap judgments w/ judgments that occur by others or w/ more time. High Correspondence!- Examine whether snap judgments actually match what people are like. Evidence is mixedJudgments & Impressions- People often judge faces along dominance and trustworthiness dimensions- Judge baby face adults differently than mature faced adultsHalo effect of Physical Attractiveness- Found that attractive people are judged to be more sexually warm & responsive, kind, strong, modest, outgoing, nurturing, sensitive, interesting, poised, sociable, exciting…- Better futures, more prestige, more competent in marriage, happier marriage, more fulfilling, more professional successPeople have beliefs (“scripts”) about certain situations- Scripts influence perceptionso We see what we expect to seeo We use our scripts to help explain causes of human behaviorPerceptions based on nonverbal behavior- Nonverbal communication is the way people communicate, intentionally or unintentionally, w/o words- Nonverbal communication includes facial expressions, tone of voice, gestures, body position & movement, use of touch & eye gazeNonverbal behavior may…- Repeat or complement verbal behavior- Replace or be a substitute for verbal behavior- Contradict verbal behaviorFacial expressions- Revealing emotions6 Primary emotions: happiness, fear, sadness, anger, surprise, disgustDecoding is not always accurate: People display affect blends.- Context info needed- People sometimes try to suppress emotional responses- Certain people are better at decoding- extroverts & women- Rules about expression can vary across culturesGazing Behavior: Powerful form of nonverbal communication- Gazing communicates interest; people in love spend more time looking into eyes. - Also reflects dominanceWe have difficulty detecting deception- Mismatch between cues that signal deception & the ones we use to detect deception- Voice quivers & body movement- lying. Face is controllable. Words can’t be trusted.Lecture 9 Attribution- We try to understand others and predict their future behaviorFritz Heider’s contributions to study of attributions- Claimed we’re all scientists, who try to understand others- Make either an internal (personal) or external (situational) attribution- Usually make more internal attributionsJones’ Correspondent Inference Theory- Internal attributions are more common when…- Appears that the person freely chose the behavior- Behavior is unexpected (goes against norm)- Behavior results in a small number of unique, desirable outcomesHarold Kelley’s Covariation Theory- Focuses on how people decide whether to make an internal or external attribution- Applies to multiple observations of behavior, often across time & situations- Covariation Principle- In order for something to be a cause of behavior, has to be present when behavior occurs & absent when behavior does not occur3 types of Covariation Information- Concensus: what most people would do in the situation- Distinctiveness: what the individual does in other situations- Consistency: what the individual does in a given situation in different situationsConsensus Distinctiveness Consistency Type of AttributionHigh High High ExternalLow High High InternalThe Fundamental Attribution Error- People are more likely to make internal attributions about others’ behaviorsIdentified by Ross (1977)Examples: Pro/Con Castro papers, jeopardy Explanations for Fundamental Attribution Error- Perceptual salience: Often attribute things to what appears to be most obvious cause. Person is more salient than context- Automatic Cognitive Processing: Dispositional attributions are often made automatically. Situational attributions require more cognitive thoughtTwo Step Attribution Process- (Gilbert & Malone 1995)Step 1.) Internal attribution automaticallyStep 2.) Adjust by taking into account the situation (takes effort)Actor-Observer Differences- The actor’s tendency is to explain behavior as due to the situation- The observer’s tendency is to explain behavior as due to dispositional qualities of the actor- Also due to Perceptual Salience and lack of info about another’s situationOther Biases & Influences on Attributions- Influence of imagined outcomes: People’s attributions are influenced not only by what happenedbut also by what almost happened or could have happenedo Counterfactual thoughts- Thoughts about what might have, could have happened “If only…”- Motivational Biases- Ways which our personal needs, wishes & preferences after the way we make attributions and perceive situationsWishful Seeing- People have a tendency to see what they want to see- Original studies not done very wello Methodology was plagued with confoundso Contemporary researchers have returned to the concept with improved methods- Example: Thirsty students perceived water on table closer than quenched studentsThe Need for Self- Esteem- False Consensus Effect applies here: We assume that others share our beliefs & valuesThis affects behaviors- We are more likely to favor people who are similar to us- Ideological Motives affect our attributions of othersBelief in a Just World- We view the world as a place where we “get what we deserve”- If we cannot help a victim, we tend to blame them to preserve this view- Helps us cope with stress & affirms the belief that our investments will be rewarded. Personal Contact- The more threatened we feel by a situation, the more likely we are to blame the victimCulture & Attribution Biases- Collectivistic cultures are more likely to make external attributionsLecture 10From Inferring Dispositions to Forming Impressions- How do we combine all personal attributions and judgments? (summation or averaging?)- Averaging but not weighted- Anderson’s (1981) information integration theory, impressions are formed of others based on weighted averaging of their personal dispositionsEffects on Impressions- Perceiver characteristics- Different standards, mood- Priming effects- Frequently or recently used trait words to influence impressions- Target characteristics- People most agree