Psych 115 Final Exam Study Guide with
Questions and Complete Answers
Aggression ✅behavior with the purpose of harming another
Frustration-aggression hypothesis ✅animals aggress when their desires are frustrated
Cooperation ✅behavior by two or more individuals that leads to mutual benefit
Group ✅a collection of people who have something in common that distinguishes them
from others
Prejudice ✅a positive or negative evaluation of another person based on their group
membership
Common knowledge effect ✅the tendency for group discussions to focus on
information that all members share
Group polarization ✅the tendency for groups to make decisions that are more extreme
than any member would have made alone
Groupthink ✅the tendency for groups to reach consensus in order to facilitate
interpersonal harmony
Deivinduation ✅when immersion in a group causes people to become less concerned
with their personal values
Diffusion of responsibility ✅the tendency for individuals to feel diminished responsibility
for their actions when they are surrounded by others who are acting the same way
Social loafing ✅the tendency for people to expend less effort when in a group than
alone
Bystander intervention ✅the act of helping strangers in an emergency situation
Altruism ✅behavior that benefits another without benefiting oneself
Kin selection ✅the process by which evolution selects for individuals who cooperate
with their relatives
,Reciprocal altruism ✅behavior that benefits another with the expectation that those
benefits will be returned in the future
Mere exposure effect ✅the tendency for liking to increase with the frequency of
exposure
Compassionate love ✅an experience involving affection, trust, and concern for a
pattern's well-being
Passionate love ✅an experience involving feelings of euphoria, intimacy, and intense
sexual attraction
Social exchange ✅the hypothesis that people remain in relationships only as long as
they perceive a favorable ratio of costs to benefits
Comparison level ✅the cost-benefit ratio that people believe they deserve or could
attain in another relationship
Equity ✅a state of affairs in which the cost-benefit ratios of two partners are roughly
equal
Social psychology ✅study the causes and consequences of sociality
Social influence ✅the ability to control another person's behavior
Normative influence ✅another person's behavior provides information about what is
appropriate
Norms ✅customary standards for behavior that are widely shared by members of a
culture
Norm of reciprocity ✅unwritten rule that people should benefit those who have
benefited them
Door-in-the-face technique ✅an influence strategy that involves getting someone to
deny an initial request
Conformity ✅the tendency to do what others do simply because others are doing it
Obedience ✅the tendency to do what powerful people tell us to do
Attitude ✅an enduring positive or negative evaluation of an object or event (tell us
what we should do)
, Belief ✅an enduring piece of knowledge about an object or event (tell us how we
should do it)
Informational influence ✅when another person's behavior provides information about
what is true
Persuasion ✅occurs when a person's attitudes or beliefs are influenced by a
communication from another person
Systematic persuasion ✅the process by which attitudes or beliefs are changed by
appeals to reason
Heuristic persuasion ✅the process by which attitudes or beliefs are changed by
appeals to habit or emotion
Foot-in-the-door technique ✅making a small request and then following it with a larger
request
Cognitive dissonance ✅an unpleasant state that arises when a person recognizes the
inconsistency of his or her actions, attitudes, or beliefs
Social cognition ✅the process by which people come to understand others
Stereotyping ✅the process by which people draw inferences about others based on
their knowledge of the categories to which others belong
3 things wrong with stereotypes ✅1) inaccurate
2) overused
3) self-perpetuating
Self-fulfilling prophecy ✅the tendency for people to behave as they are expected to
behave
Stereotype threat ✅fear of confirming the negative beliefs that others may hold
Subtyping ✅the tendency for people who receive disconfirming evidence to modify
their stereotypes rather than abandon them
Perceptual confirmation ✅the tendency for people to see what they expect to see
Attributions ✅inferences about the causes of people's behaviors
Covariation model ✅we can distinguish between situational and dispositional
attributions by considering consistency, cosensuality, and distinctiveness of the action
Questions and Complete Answers
Aggression ✅behavior with the purpose of harming another
Frustration-aggression hypothesis ✅animals aggress when their desires are frustrated
Cooperation ✅behavior by two or more individuals that leads to mutual benefit
Group ✅a collection of people who have something in common that distinguishes them
from others
Prejudice ✅a positive or negative evaluation of another person based on their group
membership
Common knowledge effect ✅the tendency for group discussions to focus on
information that all members share
Group polarization ✅the tendency for groups to make decisions that are more extreme
than any member would have made alone
Groupthink ✅the tendency for groups to reach consensus in order to facilitate
interpersonal harmony
Deivinduation ✅when immersion in a group causes people to become less concerned
with their personal values
Diffusion of responsibility ✅the tendency for individuals to feel diminished responsibility
for their actions when they are surrounded by others who are acting the same way
Social loafing ✅the tendency for people to expend less effort when in a group than
alone
Bystander intervention ✅the act of helping strangers in an emergency situation
Altruism ✅behavior that benefits another without benefiting oneself
Kin selection ✅the process by which evolution selects for individuals who cooperate
with their relatives
,Reciprocal altruism ✅behavior that benefits another with the expectation that those
benefits will be returned in the future
Mere exposure effect ✅the tendency for liking to increase with the frequency of
exposure
Compassionate love ✅an experience involving affection, trust, and concern for a
pattern's well-being
Passionate love ✅an experience involving feelings of euphoria, intimacy, and intense
sexual attraction
Social exchange ✅the hypothesis that people remain in relationships only as long as
they perceive a favorable ratio of costs to benefits
Comparison level ✅the cost-benefit ratio that people believe they deserve or could
attain in another relationship
Equity ✅a state of affairs in which the cost-benefit ratios of two partners are roughly
equal
Social psychology ✅study the causes and consequences of sociality
Social influence ✅the ability to control another person's behavior
Normative influence ✅another person's behavior provides information about what is
appropriate
Norms ✅customary standards for behavior that are widely shared by members of a
culture
Norm of reciprocity ✅unwritten rule that people should benefit those who have
benefited them
Door-in-the-face technique ✅an influence strategy that involves getting someone to
deny an initial request
Conformity ✅the tendency to do what others do simply because others are doing it
Obedience ✅the tendency to do what powerful people tell us to do
Attitude ✅an enduring positive or negative evaluation of an object or event (tell us
what we should do)
, Belief ✅an enduring piece of knowledge about an object or event (tell us how we
should do it)
Informational influence ✅when another person's behavior provides information about
what is true
Persuasion ✅occurs when a person's attitudes or beliefs are influenced by a
communication from another person
Systematic persuasion ✅the process by which attitudes or beliefs are changed by
appeals to reason
Heuristic persuasion ✅the process by which attitudes or beliefs are changed by
appeals to habit or emotion
Foot-in-the-door technique ✅making a small request and then following it with a larger
request
Cognitive dissonance ✅an unpleasant state that arises when a person recognizes the
inconsistency of his or her actions, attitudes, or beliefs
Social cognition ✅the process by which people come to understand others
Stereotyping ✅the process by which people draw inferences about others based on
their knowledge of the categories to which others belong
3 things wrong with stereotypes ✅1) inaccurate
2) overused
3) self-perpetuating
Self-fulfilling prophecy ✅the tendency for people to behave as they are expected to
behave
Stereotype threat ✅fear of confirming the negative beliefs that others may hold
Subtyping ✅the tendency for people who receive disconfirming evidence to modify
their stereotypes rather than abandon them
Perceptual confirmation ✅the tendency for people to see what they expect to see
Attributions ✅inferences about the causes of people's behaviors
Covariation model ✅we can distinguish between situational and dispositional
attributions by considering consistency, cosensuality, and distinctiveness of the action
