What is social psychology?
Social psychology studies how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others.
Watch episode 24-26 evangelion for example.
What are snap judgements and the fundamental attribution error?
Snap judgements are immediate perceptions made about others. The fundamental attribution error is the tendency to attribute others’ behaviors to their character while underestimating situational factors.
What are actor/observer bias and self-serving bias?
Actor/observer bias is when people attribute their own actions to external factors and others' actions to dispositional/personal factors. Self-serving bias is the tendency to credit success to personal factors and blame failures on external factors.
What are stereotypes?
Stereotypes are generalized beliefs about a group of people where specific traits are assigned to almost all members of the group, regardless of actual variation among the members
Explain how stereotypes lead to prejudice and then to discrimination.
Stereotypes can form biases (prejudice) against a group, which can lead to unfair treatment or discrimination of individuals from that group based on their perceived group membership.
What is the difference between in-groups and out-groups?
In-groups are social groups to which an individual feels they belong, while out-groups are those to which the individual does not belong and may feel antagonism towards.
Differentiate between simple and complex attitudes.
Simple attitudes are consistent and predict behavior accurately, whereas complex attitudes may be conflicted or inconsistent, predicting behavior less accurately.
What is the mere exposure effect?
The phenomenon by which people tend to develop a preference for things merely because they are familiar with them.
Compare explicit and implicit attitudes.
Explicit attitudes are conscious beliefs that can guide decisions and behavior, while implicit attitudes are unconscious beliefs that can still influence responses and behaviors.
What is cognitive dissonance?
A state of tension that occurs when a person holds conflicting attitudes or beliefs or behaves in ways that are inconsistent with their beliefs.
What is social facilitation?
The tendency for people to perform differently when in the presence of others than when alone, typically improving on simple tasks and performing worse on complex tasks.
What is social loafing?
Reduced effort in groups compared to individual work.
What is groupthink?
A psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people, where the desire for harmony or conformity results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome.
What is deindividuation?
The loss of self-awareness in groups, which can lead to disinhibited and irrational behavior, often negative.
How does being in a group affect individual decision-making?
Groups often make riskier decisions than individuals; the presence of others can lead to increased boldness and minimized personal responsibility.
What is conformity and how are social norms involved?
Conformity is adjusting one's behavior or thinking to align with group standards. Social norms are the implicit or explicit rules a group has for the acceptable behaviors, values, and beliefs of its members.
What are normative and informational influences?
Normative influence is conforming to gain approval or avoid disapproval, while informational influence is conforming based on the information or evidence presented by others as correct.
What are the "foot in the door" and "door in the face" techniques?
"Foot in the door" involves getting a person to agree to a large request by first setting them up by agreeing to a modest request. "Door in the face" involves asking for a large request that is likely to be refused so that the person will agree to a much smaller request later.
What is the frustration-aggression principle?
The theory that frustration—the perception that you are being prevented from attaining a goal—increases the probability of an aggressive response.
What is the bystander effect?
The phenomenon in which individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim when other people are present. The greater the number of bystanders, the less likely it is that any one of them will help.
What is the function of memory in the nervous system?
Memory allows the nervous system to retain and utilize past experiences and information to influence future actions and behavior.
What are the three stages of memory?
The stages are encoding, where information is transformed into a form that can be stored; storage, the maintaining of the information over time; and retrieval, the process of getting the information out of storage.
What roles do selective attention and change blindness play in memory?
Selective attention allows us to focus on what is important while ignoring distractions; change blindness is a failure to notice large changes in one's environment, showing the limits of attention.
Describe the different memory storage systems.
Sensory memory holds information for a few seconds or less; short-term memory retains information temporarily for analysis and either discards it or transfers it to long-term memory, where it can be stored indefinitely.
What is chunking and how does it relate to short-term memory decay?
Chunking is the process of organizing parts of items into familiar, manageable units or chunks, which helps prevent decay by making the information more manageable and memorable.
Explain the primacy and recency effects in memory.
What are the types of long-term memory?
Explicit memory, which is conscious and includes facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare, and implicit memory, which is without conscious recall, such as skills and routine procedures.
Which brain regions are associated with memory?
Key regions include the hippocampus, which is crucial for the formation of new memories, and the amygdala, which plays a role in emotional memories.
What is long-term potentiation?
It is a long-lasting enhancement in signal transmission between two neurons that results from stimulating them synchronously; it is one of the major cellular mechanisms that underlies learning and memory.
What is memory consolidation?
It is a process that stabilizes a memory trace after its initial acquisition. It is thought to be powered by the hippocampus, transforming short-term memories into a more permanent form.
How are memories retrieved?
Memories are retrieved through cues that can trigger the recollection of the information. Retrieval can be enhanced if the context or state during retrieval matches the context or state during encoding (context-dependent and state-dependent memory).
What is prospective memory?
It is remembering to perform a planned action or recall a planned intention at some future point in time. Tools like sticky notes or alarms are often used to support this type of memory.
What is memory distortion?
Memory distortion occurs when the recall of memories is less accurate due to various factors like biases, misinformation, or misattribution. It reflects the reconstructive nature of memory.
What is the nervous system?
The nervous system is a complex network of nerves and cells that carry messages to and from the brain and spinal cord to various parts of the body
What are neurons and neurotransmitters?
Neurons are the basic working unit of the brain and nervous system which transmit information. Neurotransmitters are chemicals that carry signals across the synapse from one neuron to another.
How do neurotransmitters influence our behavior?
Neurotransmitters like serotonin affect emotional states and dreaming, dopamine is involved in reward and motor control, and endorphins play a role in pain reduction and reward.
What are the main divisions of the brain?
The forebrain/cerebrum (associated with complex cognitive, emotional, sensory, and motor functions), midbrain/brainstem (associated with vision, hearing, motor control, sleep/wake, arousal (alertness), and temperature regulation), and hindbrain/cerebellum (regulates autonomic functions, relaying information between the brain and the body, balance, and coordination).
How do the right and left hemispheres of the brain differ?
The left hemisphere is more involved with tasks that involve logic, language, and analytical thinking, while the right hemisphere is more involved with spatial abilities, face recognition, visual imagery, and music.
How does the brain communicate with the body?
Through the nervous system, which includes the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) and the peripheral nervous system (all other neural elements), allowing for rapid communication.
What are the differences between the somatic and autonomic systems?
The somatic nervous system controls voluntary movements and conveys sensory information to the central nervous system. The autonomic nervous system controls involuntary body functions like heartbeat and digestion, and includes sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions.
How does the endocrine system influence behavior?
The endocrine system uses hormones to communicate between organs and tissues for physiological regulation and behavioral activities, affecting everything from mood, growth and development, to the way organs operate.
What is the current definition of psychology?
Psychology is the scientific study of behavior (what we do) and mental processes (inner thoughts and feelings).
Why is psychology considered important?
Psychology helps us understand human behavior, emotions, and mental processes, leading to better mental health treatments, improved understanding of interpersonal dynamics, and enhanced self-awareness.
What is the function of memory in psychology?
Memory serves to retain information, skills, and experiences, which influences future behavior and decision-making processes.
What are the three stages of memory according to your study guide?
The stages are encoding (converting external information into a neural code), storage (keeping the information over time), and retrieval (accessing the stored information).
What types of attention are critical for memory?
Selective attention (focusing on relevant stimuli), limited attention (inability to process all stimuli at once), and change blindness (failing to notice changes in the environment).
What are the three memory storage systems?
Sensory memory (brief retention of sensory information), short-term memory (temporary storage for active processing), and long-term memory (long-term storage of information).
What is working memory?
Working memory is an active processing system that maintains and manipulates information needed for complex cognitive tasks like learning, reasoning, and comprehension.
What is "chucking" in the context of memory?
Chucking is a memory technique where information is grouped into meaningful units or chunks, making it easier to remember larger amounts of data by reducing cognitive load.
Describe the primacy and recency effects.
The primacy effect is the better memory people have for items presented at the beginning of a list. The recency effect is the better memory people have for the most recent items, usually at the end of a list.
How is information organized in long-term memory?
Long-term memory is organized based on meaning, using schemas and networks of association to facilitate the storage and retrieval of information.
What are the types of long-term memory mentioned?
Explicit memory, which includes conscious memories that can be described, and implicit memory, which includes unconscious memories such as skills.
Memory consolidation is the process by which temporary memories are transformed into a more permanent state, involving strengthening neural connections.
What are context-dependent and state-dependent memories?
Context-dependent memory refers to better recall of information if the context at retrieval matches the context during encoding. State-dependent memory refers to better recall when the physical or mental state matches the encoding state.
What tools might help with prospective memory?
Tools like sticky notes, alarms, or digital reminders (smartphones or apps) help individuals remember future tasks and appointments.
What are the different types of memory distortions?
Memory distortion includes memory bias (altering memories to fit current beliefs) and memory construction (rebuilding memory based on new information or assumptions).
What roles do specific neurotransmitters play in mental activity and behavior?
Serotonin is linked with emotional states and impulse control, dopamine with reward and motivation, and endorphins with pain reduction and pleasure.
What are the specific functions of the brain's divisions?
The forebrain is involved in complex thought processes, emotions, and motivations; the midbrain in movement and arousal; and the hindbrain in survival functions like breathing and heart rate.
How does the brain communicate with the rest of the body?
The brain communicates through the nervous system, using the central and peripheral systems to send signals to and from different body parts.
How does the endocrine system affect behavior?
The endocrine system influences behavior by secreting hormones that impact various bodily functions, including growth, metabolism, and mood.
What are the ABCs of psychology and how do they contribute to understanding human behavior?
The ABCs of psychology consist of Affect, Behavior, and Cognition:
Affect refers to the feelings or emotions an individual experiences.
Behavior includes all observable actions by an organism in response to its environment or internal states.
Cognition involves the mental processes like thinking, knowing, remembering, and problem-solving. These components are fundamental in analyzing how emotional states, observable actions, and mental processes interact to influence overall behavior in various psychological contexts.
How do the concepts of affect, behavior, and cognition (ABCs of psychology) apply to social psychology?
In social psychology:
Affect (Emotions): Studies how our feelings are affected by interactions with others and how these emotions in turn influence our attitudes towards others.
Behavior: Examines how we act in social settings, influenced by the presence of others, and how groups can influence individual behaviors through norms and roles.
Cognition: Explores how we think about and perceive others, including forming stereotypes and attributions in social interactions.
How does the cognitive component of the ABCs of psychology relate to the study of memory in Chapter 7?
Cognition encompasses mental processes involved in gaining knowledge and comprehension, including memory functions:
Encoding, Storage, Retrieval: These stages of memory are cognitive processes that deal with how information is processed, stored, and recalled, highlighting the cognitive underpinnings of memory.
Connect the concept of affect to cognitive dissonance as discussed in social psychology.
Cognitive dissonance often leads to uncomfortable emotions (affect) when there is a contradiction between two beliefs or between a belief and an action. These negative emotions motivate the individual to resolve the dissonance, usually by changing an attitude or a belief to reduce the emotional discomfort.
How does behavior interconnect with social learning and group dynamics as discussed in social psychology and Chapter 12?
Behavior in social contexts is often influenced by observing and modeling the actions of others (social learning). Group dynamics like social facilitation and social loafing also demonstrate how individual behavior is modified in group settings, emphasizing the behavioral component of psychology in social interactions.
Connect neurotransmitters to the ABCs of psychology.
Neurotransmitters play a crucial role in:
Affect: Influence emotions and mood (e.g., serotonin impacts emotional states, endorphins are linked with pain reduction and pleasure).
Behavior: Affect how we act, with neurotransmitters like dopamine influencing reward-seeking behaviors and motivation.
Cognition: Impact our mental processes such as learning, memory, and decision-making.
How does the endocrine system interact with the ABCs of psychology to influence human behavior?
The endocrine system, through hormone release, affects:
Affect: Hormones can alter mood and emotions, impacting how we feel.
Behavior: Hormones influence various behaviors such as stress responses and aggression.
Cognition: Hormonal changes can affect cognitive functions and mental clarity.
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