©THEBRIGHTSTARS 2024
Psy 252 midterm terms and concepts
Actor-observer bias: - answer✔✔Diff in attribution based on who is making the casual
assessment: the actor who is relatively inclined to make situational attributions or the observer
who is relatively inclined to make dispositional attributions
BIRGing - answer✔✔Basking in reflected glory
People go to great lengths to announce their affiliation with a certain group when the group is
doing well
Boosts self esteem
Confirmatory Hypothesis Testing (aka confirmation bias) - answer✔✔We seek out info that will
be consistent with out schema
Focusing on data that fits our theory
Male v. female investing
conformity - answer✔✔Changing behavior and/or attitudes to align with perceived social
consensus (social norms)
Social norms always perceived but our perception may not be correct
descriptive norms - answer✔✔What people are doing in a given situation , what is commonly
done in a given situation
Motivate behavior by informing us what is likely effective
Can be good , get people to engage in more of the desirable behavior
external justification - answer✔✔A reason for doing something that came from
someone/something else
Doing something because you got paid for it?
focus theory of normative conduct - answer✔✔Two types of norms have unique effects on
behavior
- descriptive and injunctive norms
Norms shape behavior if they are salient (or focused on)
, ©THEBRIGHTSTARS 2024
heuristics - answer✔✔Simplification , schemas , cognitive shortcuts ?
Intuitive mental operations, performed quickly and automatically, that provide efficient answers
to common problems of judgment
Mental shortcuts that give answers that feel right ,, not as effortful
informational social influence - answer✔✔Conforming b/c you don't know what to do in the
situation , so using other people to figure out what to do
Do this when situation is ambiguous
Others are experts
Leads to private acceptance
Public compliance and private acceptance ,, conformity is deep !
internal validity - answer✔✔How confident can we be in the study's findings/conclusions
Confidence that only the manipulated variable could have produced the results
mediator variable - answer✔✔A variable that explains how or why two variables are related
Explains relationship between independent and dependent variable
So like being in love leads to less depression ,, why are A and B related ,, ppl in love are more
likely to engage in fun daily activities
naive realism - answer✔✔The belief that we see the world directly, without any complicated
perceptual or cognitive machinery doctoring the data
Most people believe they see the world in a reasonable, objective fashion
obedience - answer✔✔Engaging in or changing behavior in response to an authority figures
orders
Milgram studies
post decision dissonance - answer✔✔When good choices get even better
Spreading of alternatives ,, have more positive attitudes to things you choose and negative
towards those you reject
schemas - answer✔✔Organized set of knowledge about a concept , attributes, relationships,
perceived idea of something
Event schemas ,, going into an interview : knowing how to behave
Help speed up processing of ingo
Psy 252 midterm terms and concepts
Actor-observer bias: - answer✔✔Diff in attribution based on who is making the casual
assessment: the actor who is relatively inclined to make situational attributions or the observer
who is relatively inclined to make dispositional attributions
BIRGing - answer✔✔Basking in reflected glory
People go to great lengths to announce their affiliation with a certain group when the group is
doing well
Boosts self esteem
Confirmatory Hypothesis Testing (aka confirmation bias) - answer✔✔We seek out info that will
be consistent with out schema
Focusing on data that fits our theory
Male v. female investing
conformity - answer✔✔Changing behavior and/or attitudes to align with perceived social
consensus (social norms)
Social norms always perceived but our perception may not be correct
descriptive norms - answer✔✔What people are doing in a given situation , what is commonly
done in a given situation
Motivate behavior by informing us what is likely effective
Can be good , get people to engage in more of the desirable behavior
external justification - answer✔✔A reason for doing something that came from
someone/something else
Doing something because you got paid for it?
focus theory of normative conduct - answer✔✔Two types of norms have unique effects on
behavior
- descriptive and injunctive norms
Norms shape behavior if they are salient (or focused on)
, ©THEBRIGHTSTARS 2024
heuristics - answer✔✔Simplification , schemas , cognitive shortcuts ?
Intuitive mental operations, performed quickly and automatically, that provide efficient answers
to common problems of judgment
Mental shortcuts that give answers that feel right ,, not as effortful
informational social influence - answer✔✔Conforming b/c you don't know what to do in the
situation , so using other people to figure out what to do
Do this when situation is ambiguous
Others are experts
Leads to private acceptance
Public compliance and private acceptance ,, conformity is deep !
internal validity - answer✔✔How confident can we be in the study's findings/conclusions
Confidence that only the manipulated variable could have produced the results
mediator variable - answer✔✔A variable that explains how or why two variables are related
Explains relationship between independent and dependent variable
So like being in love leads to less depression ,, why are A and B related ,, ppl in love are more
likely to engage in fun daily activities
naive realism - answer✔✔The belief that we see the world directly, without any complicated
perceptual or cognitive machinery doctoring the data
Most people believe they see the world in a reasonable, objective fashion
obedience - answer✔✔Engaging in or changing behavior in response to an authority figures
orders
Milgram studies
post decision dissonance - answer✔✔When good choices get even better
Spreading of alternatives ,, have more positive attitudes to things you choose and negative
towards those you reject
schemas - answer✔✔Organized set of knowledge about a concept , attributes, relationships,
perceived idea of something
Event schemas ,, going into an interview : knowing how to behave
Help speed up processing of ingo
