Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
definition
an information based system that includes shared ideas and common ways of doing
things
human universals
group living
language
theory of mind
cultural differences
adaptability
independent vs interdependent
kim and Markus pen study (1999)
interdependent- choose identical pen
independent- choose different pen
evolution and gender roles
marriage
financial interests
taking care of children
parental investment
naturalistic fallacy
claim that the way things are is the way they should be
methods
cohen and nisbett (1997) study
applicant convicted of felony
employers in south were more cooperative
attitudes towards violence the same between northerners and southerners
differences in response to threats to home and family
research questions
what happened (descriptive)
why did it happen like that? (causal)
steps
decide what to study
hypothesis to test theory
hypotheses and theories
hypothesis - creative idea as to how a scientific event or entity came to be, ba
sed on a number of logical assumptions
no scientific basis for hypothesis
enough data supports hypothesis, becomes a theory
theory
idea that results when a hypothesis is supported by observation and scientific i
nquiry
how to study it
descriptive research
what is the state of X
collection of data
observational
survey data
random sample vs convenience sample
archival data
correlational research
are X and Y related
a measure of whether a change in X also means a change in Y
correlation coefficient
strength and direction
requires
representative sample
2 measurements or variables
benefits
cheap, easy, fast
shows relationship between groups
drawbacks
correlation is not causation
3rd variable problem
experimental research
does X cause Y
intentionally causing a change in some variable in order to test the effects on
an outcome
independent variable vs dependent variable
requires
representative sample
2 similar groups prior to manipulation
control over confounding variables
benefits
shows causal relationship
allows control of extraneous variables
drawbacks
hard, expensive
impossible in some cases
issues in psychological research
validity
is research actually meaningful
external- accurately predict real-world behavior?
field experiment
internal- measure what you think it measures
random assignment
set up realistic experiment
debriefing
social cognition
study of how people
think about social world
arrive at judgments
interpret the past
understand the present
predict the future
traditional model of cognitive schemata
computer
sensory input > translation > storage
but we arent objective stimulus processors
information available for social cognition
judgments are only as effective as the quality of the information on which they
are based
but information available isnt always accurate or complete
minimal info
willis and todorov (2006)- judgments based on snapshots
snap judgments predict consensus opinion
misleading firsthand info
info based on personal experience or observation
personal experiences may be unrepresentative
pluralistic ignorance
individual motivations not to deviate form group norms can create misperceptions
about those norms
misleading second hand info
info that comes from other sources- gossip, news, books, agazines, internet, etc
ideological distortions
desire to foster certain beliefs or behaviors into others
overemphasis on bad news
effects of bas news bias
differential attention to positive and negative information
how information is presented
availability heuristic
used to judge frequency or probability of events
judgments made based on ease of bringing examples to mind
representativeness heuristic
judgments based on how similar something is to a prototypical example
base rate info
how many members of category in question are there relative to members of all ot
her categories
social cognition, sources of error in judgment about social world
judgments only as effective as quality of info on which theyre based
information available is not always accurate or complete
way information is presented can affect judgments we make
dont just passively take in information
preexisting knowledge, expectations, mental habits can influence construal of ne
w info, influence judgment
2 mental systems - intuition, reason
underlie social cognition
complex interplay determines judgments we make
social attribution
attribution theory
set of theoretical accounts of how people assign causes to events around them
effects that peoples causal assessments have
inferring causes of behavior
causal attribution
process people use to explain both their own and others behavior
linking event to a cause
importance of causal attributions
type of attribution made will influence how you respond to situation
explanatory style
persons habitual way of explaining events
explanatory dimensions
internal vs external
degree that cause is linked to the self or to the external situation
stable vs unstable
degree that the cause is seen as fixed or as something thats temporary
global vs specific
degree that cause is seen as affecting other domains in life or is restricted to
affecting one specific domain
how do we attribute cause
person x situation = our attribution dispositions x the circumstances
disposition
pessimistic attribution style
internal, stable, global attributions
pessimistic attribution styles predict lower grades, poorer physical health late
r in life
hong et al 1999
ability attributions vs effort attributions
situation
covariation principle
behavioral attributions are made by weighing information about potential causes
of behavior
processes of causal attribution
consensus
what would most people do in the given situation
distinctiveness
whether an individuals behavior is unique to a given situation or whether that pe
rson would behave the same way in a different situation
consistency
whether an individual acts the same way in similar situations