SIS
What three factors are used in the BPS approach to analyze and describe behavior?
Biological, psychological, and social
What term describes the form of social influence in which an individual responds to a direct order, often from an authority figure?
Obedience
In Pavlov’s experiment with dogs, what stimulus eventually caused the dogs to salivate without the presence of food?
Name that stimulus
The sound of a bell (unconditioned / conditioned stimulus).
What is the test that can be used to measure unconscious thoughts of participants
Implicit Association Test (IAT)
What is the term for the phenomenon where a response is triggered by a stimulus similar to the conditioned stimulus in classical conditioning?
Stimulus generalization.
What are three common methods used to generate data in qualitative investigations?
focus groups
delphi technique
interviews
This type of social influence leads people to conform in order to be accepted and avoid rejection.
Normative social influence
What is the primary reason reinforcement is generally preferred over punishment in behavior modification?
Reinforcement encourages positive behavior, while punishment can lead to fear, resentment, and avoidance behaviors.
How does the strength of an attitude impact the likelihood of it influencing behaviour?
Strong attitudes are more likely to guide behavior consistently because they are deeply held and resistant to change.
Why did Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment face ethical scrutiny under current guidelines?
It potentially encouraged aggression in children without fully addressing consent or long-term effects.
List all ethical concerns we covered
Voluntary participation
Informed consent
no harm done
confidentiality and privacy
accurate reporting
right to withdraw
debrief
What is the ‘foot-in-the-door’ strategy, and why is it effective in influencing behavior?
strategy where a small initial request is followed by a larger request to increase compliance.
Why is biological preparedness important in understanding phobias and taste aversions?
Some associations, like taste and nausea, are more easily learned due to evolutionary adaptations for survival.
Why are high self-monitors more likely to use social media extensively for self-presentation?
High self-monitors adjust their behavior to fit social expectations and thus frequently use social media to craft a desirable public image.
How does response cost differ from aversive punishment in operant conditioning?
What's similar between them
Response cost involves removing a pleasant stimulus to decrease behavior, while aversive punishment applies (gives) an unpleasant stimulus to discourage behavior.
both discourage / weaken behaviour
What is a standard deviation?
Standard deviation is a measure of dispersion or scatter in a data set relative to the data's central mean value.
Explain why the perceived prestige of an authority figure may have a stronger influence on obedience compared to proximity alone.
Prestige reinforces legitimacy, making individuals more likely to see the authority’s demands as justified and follow orders, even without close proximity.
What are mirror neurons
What evidence suggests that mirror neurons are involved in observational learning?
Mirror neurons are brain cells that activate when observing actions.
Brain imaging shows that mirror neurons activate when individuals observe actions, indicating a neural basis for imitation.
Describe how schemata, primacy, and recency effects play a role in impression management on social media.
Schemata provide a framework for interpreting social information,
primacy and recency effects emphasize the importance of first and last impressions, making social media users curate content to maximize positive impressions.
What is one advantage and one disadvantage of using behavioral counts in observational studi
Advantages
provide objective, quantifiable data on observed actions, reducing bias in measuring aggressive behavior.
Disadvantages
inter-rater reliability issues - different observers may interpret and count behaviour differently
over-simplification of behaviours
observer bias
limited context
Describe two advantages and one disadvantage of observational quantitative design
Advantages
- naturalistic data collection, more ethical, reduced demand characteristics
Disadvantages
– Cannot infer such a strong cause and effect relationship because there is a greater chance of other variables affecting the results. This is due to the lack of random assignment to groups.
– Cannot replicate the findings as the same situation will not occur naturally again
– Q.O. does not allow generalisation of findings to the general population
– Observer bias may influence the results
Compare and contrast stereotypes and prejudice.
Stereotypes involve the formation of a specific belief or assumption about individuals based solely on their membership in a group, regardless of their individual characteristics.
Prejudice is when negative attitudes (beliefs and feelings) based solely on an individual’s membership in a particular group.
Describe how systematic desensitization is used to treat phobias based on principles of classical conditioning.
- psychological intervention
- using principles of classical conditioning
- relaxation technique taught
- hierarchy of fears
- pairing relaxation technique with a fear situation (low on the list)
- until that fear is extinguished
- move on to the next fear
How is tokenism different from other forms of explicit discrimination
Provide an example
Tokenism involves superficial acts of inclusion that aim to avoid accusations of discrimination but do not truly challenge underlying biases.
e.g. - hiring a minority person for diversity, hiring a woman in a male-dominated role, school celebrates diversity just on harmony day
Compare the central and peripheral routes of persuasion
The central route is effective in changing attitudes if the issue is important to us and the quality of the persuasion is good.
The peripheral route relies on a persons association with positive/negative qualities in the stimulus that aren’t related to its quality.
Both can be effective but it depends on the concept or product, delivery of persuasion, and the target audience.
Central route tends to lead towards lasting changes in attitudes.