The scientific study of how a person's thoughts, feelings, and behvaior are influenced by the real, imagined, or implied presence of others
Social Influence
The process through which the real or implied presence of others can directly or indirectly influence the thoughts, feelings, and behavior of an individual.
Conformity
Changing one's own behavior to match that of other peoples
Groupthink
Kind of thinking that occurs when people place mroe importance on maintining group cohesiveness than on assessing the facts of the problem with which the group is concerned
Consumer Psychology
Branch of psychology that studies the habits of consumers in the marketplace, including compliance
Compliance
Changing one's behavior as a result of other people directing or asking for the change
Foot-in-the-door technique
Way to gain compliance - asking for a small commitment and, after gaining compiance, asking for a bigger commitment
Door-in-the-face technique
Way to gain compliance - asking for a large commitment and being refused, and then asking for a smaller commitment
Norm of reciprocity
Assumption that if someone does something for a person, that person should do something for the other in return.
Lowball technique
Way to gain compliance - getting a commitment form a person and then raising the cost of that commitment
That's-not-all technique
Way to get compliance - a sales technique in which the persuader makes an offer and then adds something extra to make the offer look better before the target person can make a decision
Obedience
Changing one's behavior at the command of an authority figure
Milgram study
"teacher" administered what they thought were real shocks to a "learner"
Social facilitation
The tendency for the presence of other people to have a positive impact on the performance of an easy task
Social loafing
The tendency for people to put less effort into a simple task when working with others on that task
Attitude
A tendnency to respond positively or negatively toward a certin person, object, idea, or situation
Three components of an attitude
Affective (emotional) component, behavioral component, and cognitive component
Formation of attitudes
Direct contant with the person, situation, object, or idea
Direct instruction from parents or others
Interacting with other people who hold a certain attitude
Watching the actions and reactions of others to ideas, people, objects, and situations
Persuasion
The proces by which one person tries to change the belief, opinion, position, or course of action of another person through argument, pleading, or explanation
Key elements of persuasion
Source of the message, the message itself, and the target audience
Elaboration likelihood model
Model of persuasion stating that people will either elaborate on the persuasive message or fail to elaborate on it, and that the future actions of those who do elaborate are more predictuable than those who do not.
Central-route processing
Type of information processing that involves attending to the content of the message itself
Peripheral-route processing
Type of information processing that involves attending to factors not involved in the message, such as the appearance of the source of the message, the length of the message, and other noncontent factors
Cognitive dissonance
Sense of discomfort or distress that occurs when a person's behavior does not coreespond to that person's impression formation the forming of the first knowledge that person has concerning another person
Social cognition
the mental processes that people use to make sense of the social world around them
Impression formation
Forming of the first knwoledge a person has about another person
Primacy effect
the very first impression one has about a person tends to persist even in the face of veidence to the contrary
Social categorization
the assignment of a person one has just met to a category based on characteristics the new person has in common with other people with whom one has had experience in the past
Stereotype
A set of characteristics that people believe is shared by all members of a perticular social category
Implicit personality theory
Sets of assumptions about how different types of people, personally traits, and actions are related to each other
Schemas
Mental patterns that represent what a person believes about certain types of people. schemas can become stereotypes
Attribution
The process of explaining one's own behavior and the behavior of others
Attribution theory
The theory of how people make attributions
Situational cause
Cause of behavior attributed to external factors, such as delays, the action of others, or some other aspect of the situation
Dispositional cause
Cause of behavior attributed to internal factors such as personality or character
Fundamental attribution error (actor-observer bias)
The tendency to overestimate the influence of internal factors in determining behavior while underestimatin situational factors
Prejudice
Negative attitude held by a person about the members of a particular social group
Discrimination
Treating people differently because of prejudice toward the social group to which they belong
In-groups
Social grous with whome a person identifies: "us"
Out-groups
social groups with whome a person does not identify: "they"
Realistic conflict theory
Conflict between groups increases prejudice and discrimination
Scapegoating
Tendency to direct predjudice and discrimination at out-group members who have little social power or influence
Social cognitive theory
Views prejudice as an attitude acquired through direct instruction, modeling, and other socail influences
Social identity theory
Theory in which the formation of a person's identity within a particular social group is explained by wocial categorization, social identity, and social comparison
Social identity
The part of the self-concept including one's view of self as a member of a particular social category
Social comparison
The comparison of oneself to others in ways that raise one's self-esteem
Stereotype vulnerability
The effect that people's awareness of the stereotypes associated with their social group has on their behavior
Self-fulfilling prophecy
The tendency of one's expectations to affect one's behavior in such a way as to make the expectation more likey to occur
Equal status contact
Contact between groups in which the groups have equal status, with neither groups having poer over the other
"Jigsaw classroom"
Educational technique in which each individual is given only part of the information needed to solve a problem, causing the separate individuals to be forced to work together to find the solution
Interpersonal attraction
Liking or having the desire for a relationship with another person
Proximity
Physical or geographical nearness
People like people who are......or .......
Similar to themselves or different from themselves (complementary)
Reciprocity of liking
Tendency of people to like other people who like them in return
Love
A strong affection for another person due to kinship, personal ties, sexual attraction, admiration, or common interestes
Three components of love according to sternberg
Intimacy, passion, and commitment
Romantic love
Type of love consisting of intimacy and passion
Companionate love
type of love cinsisting of intimacy and commitment
Aggression
Behavior intended to hurt or destroy another person
Biological influences on aggression
genetics, amygdala and limbic system, and testosterone and serotonin leves
Social role
The pattern of behavior that is expected of a person who is in a particular social position
Prosocial behavior
Socially desirable behavior that benefits others
Altruism
Prosocial behavior that is done with no expectation of reward and may involve the risk of harm to oneself
Bystander effect
Referring to the effect that presence of the other people has on the decision to help or not help, with help becoming less likely as the number of bystanders increases
Diffusion of responsibility
Occurring when a person fails to take responsibility for actions or for inaction because of the presence of other poeple who are seen to share the responsibility
Five steps in making a decision to help
Noticing
Defining an emergency
Taking responsiblitiy
Planning a course of action
Taking action
People who tend to join cults...
under stress, unhappy, unassertive, gullible, dependent, want to belong, idealistic.
Young people are likelier to join cults than older people
Cults use.... to keep new recuits from questioning and critical thinking
Love-bombing, isolation, rituals and activities
Therapy
Treatment methods aimed at making people feel better and function mroe effectively
Psychotherapy
Therapy for mental disorders in which a person with a problem talks with a psychologicval professional
Insight therapies
Psychotherapies in which the main goal is helping people to gain insight with respect to their behavior, thoughts, and feelings
Action therapy
Psychotherapy in wich the main goal is to change disordered or inappropriate behavior directly
Biomedical therapy
therapty for mental disorders in which a person with a problem is treated with biological or medical meothds to relieve symptoms
Philippe Pinel
Demanded fair treatment for the mentally ill
Person-centered therapy
A nondirective insight therapy based on the work of Carl Rogers in which the client does all the talking and the therapist listens
Four elements of person centered therapy
Reflection- therapy technique in which the therapist restates what the client says rather than interpreting those statements
Unconditional positive regard- Referring to the warmth, respect, and accepting atmosphere created by the therapsit for the client in person-centered therpay
Empathy- The ability of the therapist to understand the feelings of the client
Authenticity- The genuine, open, and honest response of the therapist to the client
Gestalt therapy
Form of directive insight therapy in which the therapist helps clients to accept all parts of their feelings and subjective experiences, using leading questions and planned experiences such as role-playing
Behavior therapies
Action therapies based on the principles of classical and operant conditioning and aimed at changing disordered behavior without concern for the original causes of such behavior
Behavior modification or applied behavior analysis
The use of learning techniques to modify or change undesirable behavior and increase desirable behavior
Systematic desensitization
Behavior technique used to treat phobias, in which a client is asked to make a list of ordered fears and taught to relax while concentrating on those fears
Counterconditioning
Replacing an old conditioned response with a new one by changing the unconditioned stimulus
Aversion therapy
Form of behavioral therapy in which an undesirable behavior is paired with an aversive stimulus to reduce the frequency of the behavior
Flooding
Technique for treating phobias and other stress disorders in which the person is rapidly and intensely exposed to the fear-provoking situation or object and prevented from making the usual avoidance or escape response
Modeling
Learning through the observation and imitation of others
Participant modeling
Technique in which a model demonstrates the desired behavior in a step-by-steph, gradual process while the client is encouraged to imitate the model
Reinforcement
The strengthening of a response by following it with a pleasurable consequence or the removal of an unpleasant stimulus
Token economy
The use of objects called tokens to reinforce behavior in which the tokens can be accumulated and exchanged for desired items or privileges
Contingency contract
A formal, written agreement between the therapist and client (or teacher and student) in which goals for behavioral change, reinforcements, and penalties are clearly stated
Extinction
the removal of a reinforcer to reduce the
frequency of a behavior.
Time out
an extinction process in which a person is removed from the situation that provides reinforcement for undesirable behavior, usually by being placed in a
quiet corner or room away from possible attention and reinforcement opportunities.
Cognitive therapy
Therapy in which the focus is on helping clients recognize disortions in their thinking and replace distorted, unrealistic beliefs with more realistic, helpful thoughts
Arbitrary inference
distortion of thinking in which a person draws on conclusion that is not based on any evidence
Selective thinking
Distortion of thinking in which a person focuses on only one aspect of a situation while ignoring all other relevant aspects