Social Cognition Terms & Concepts
Mental representations that influence how we perceive others.
What are schemas?
This term explains an outcome by looking within the individual.
What is internal attribution?
This phenomenon can be described by the mere presence of others improving performance on well-practiced tasks.
What is social facilitation?
Shaquille O'Neal endorsing Icy Hot is an example of this particular persuasive technique.
What is the peripheral route of persuasion?
The bystander effect is a social phenomenon in which people are _____________ likely to provide needed help when there are others present than when they are alone.
What is less likely?
This is the concept that if people first agree to a small request, they are more likely to comply with a larger request later.
What is the foot-in-the-door request?
This particular concept refers to this: As long as we do not initially dislike a person, each time we have contact with them, our liking of them will increase.
What is the mere-exposure effect?
Schemas help us to quickly respond to people we encounter, which may result in these dark elements of human nature.
What are narrow-mindedness and prejudice?
This term explains an outcome by looking outside the individual.
What is an external (situational) attribution?
This phenomenon can be described by the mere presence of others impairing performance on tasks that one is not particularly good at to begin with.
What is social inhibition?
This can be defined as the tension resulting from the lack of consistency in a person's attitudes or beliefs and behaviors.
What is cognitive dissonance?
In Milgram's (1963) classic study on obedience, participants were more likely to do this to the fake participant ("learner") when an authority figure was nearby.
What is administer shocks?
This is a concept demonstrating that if people are asked for a large favor first (which they deny), they are more likely to comply with a subsequent smaller request.
What is the door-in-the-face effect?
This defines the matching hypothesis of interpersonal attraction: People seek partners and friends who are _________ to themselves in attractiveness.
What is similar?
The tendency to judge the membership of a person or object based on how closely the person or object fits the prototype of a given category.
What is the representative heuristic?
This term describes overestimating internal (personal) influences and underestimating external (situational) influences when judging the behavior of others.
What is the fundamental attribution error?
This phenomenon can be described by people exerting less effort when individual contributions are not possible to identify.
What is social loafing?
According to the cognitive dissonance theory proposed by Leon Festinger, dissonance causes aversive arousal, which Festinger thought we are motivated to ______.
What is reduce?
This term refers to obeying a direct request.
What is compliance?
Behavior that affects members of a targeted group.
What is discrimination?
Any behavior, whether physical or verbal, intended to hurt another.
What is aggression?
These can be characterized by both positive and negative judgments about people, objects, events, and thoughts.
What are attitudes?
This term is defined by attributing one's own behavior to external (situational) causes and the behavior of others to internal (personal) factors.
What is actor-observer bias?
This particular concept claims that behavior is influenced by the number of people available to intervene.
What is the bystander effect?
Provide an example of cognitive dissonance theory where someone rationalizes a behavior which is inconsistent with a particular attitude:
Judge's call.
In Solomon Asch's (1956) classic study on conformity, this concept is characterized by other people giving the wrong answer on line length before the participant replied, resulting in the participant being more likely to agree to give the incorrect answer.
What is normative social influence?
This is the cognitive component of prejudices and discrimination.
What is a stereotype?
Results from frustration and is not necessarily intended to produce benefits.
What is Hostile Aggression?
These are the three components of attitudes.
What are affective, cognitive, and behavioral?
This term is defined by the tendency to attribute success to internal (personal) factors and failures to external (situational) factors.
What is self-serving bias?
This concept is defined by the following: "You're watching your favorite show on television. All of a sudden it pauses and a message about an approaching tornado flashes on the television screen. You don't leave your house because when you look out your window, you notice that no one else is leaving."
What is pluralistic ignorance?
We learn to be prejudiced through classical conditioning and instrumental conditioning. Describe the difference below, and use the Bobo Doll study as example in your response.
Judge's call.
On certain political issues, this concept refers to an individual siding with someone who is well informed on politics of these issues (e.g., a political commentator) rather than with someone who is less informed about these issues.
What is informational social influence?
This is a positive or negative (generally negative) attitude formed about others because of their membership in a group.
What is prejudice?
Aggression used to gain some personal benefit.
What is Instrumental Aggression?