AP Psychology Unit 4 Study Guide 2

Explains how individuals interpret and explain the causes of their own and others' behaviors.

When reflecting on own behaviors, individuals attribute success to internal factors and failure to external factors.

Tendency to use situational attribution to explain our own actions, but dispositional attributions to explain the actions of someone else.

The tendency to overemphasize internal factors when judging others' behaviors while underestimating the importance of situational factors.

The way an individual explains or rationalizes different events or situations in life.

Who or what an individual believes has power or control over the events in their life.

How an individual forms impressions of other people and themselves.

Repeated exposure to a stimulus leads to increased liking of that stimulus due to familiarity.

When a person's expectations influence their behavior in a way that causes those expectations to come true, creating a cycle where actions fulfill initial thoughts.

A specific type of self-fulfilling prophecy where higher expectations of a person lead to improved performance.

Teachers were led to believe randomly chosen "bloomer students" had high potential. These students significantly improved their IQ scores, demonstrating how teacher expectations (more attention, feedback, opportunities) positively impacted student outcomes.

Humans constantly evaluate themselves by comparing their circumstances, skills, abilities, and characteristics to other people.

The feeling that an individual is missing out on resources/opportunities or is generally worse off than others.

The tendency for people to believe that the world is just and fair, and that things happen for a reason—essentially, people get what they deserve.

A relatively stable, learned evaluation (positive, negative, or mixed) of a person, object, idea, or situation.

The tendency to perceive members of an out-group as more similar to each other than they actually are.

The tendency to favor and support people in one's own in-group, while being more critical of those outside of it.

Generalized beliefs about a group of people that serve as heuristics for quick categorization and judgment. They can be positive or negative and often lead to selective attention.

Preconceived negative attitudes towards a group and its members, which can lead to discriminatory behavior (unfair treatment based on group membership).

The tendency to maintain a belief even when presented with new information or evidence that clearly contradicts it.

The tendency to focus on information that confirms pre-existing views and to dismiss conflicting information, allowing individuals to support their current perspective without confronting contradictory evidence.

The mental discomfort or tension experienced when an individual holds two conflicting beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors. This discomfort arises from a human desire for consistency and stability in one's life.

Explains how individuals' thoughts, behaviors, or beliefs are changed due to social interactions.

Unwritten rules and expectations that guide people in a society, dictating what is considered acceptable or unacceptable behavior.

The tendency of a person to align their behaviors, beliefs, or attitudes with the norms or standards of a group.

A societal state where multiple cultures coexist, focusing on diversity and leading to greater openness for other ideas.

How individuals respond to authority figures.

A famous obedience experiment where participants were instructed by an authority figure to administer what they believed were painful electric shocks to another person (a confederate) to test their willingness to obey.

A psychological study that examined the psychological effects of perceived power, focusing on the dynamic between randomly assigned guards and prisoners in a simulated prison environment.

Explains how people process persuasive messages through two main routes: the central route (deep, thoughtful analysis) or the peripheral route (shortcut processing).

A cognitive bias where our overall impression of a person influences how we feel and think about them, often used in Peripheral Route to Persuasion.

Your next best option if a negotiated agreement cannot be reached.

A phenomenon where a group prioritizes consensus over critical evaluation, leading to poor decision-making.

The tendency to overestimate how much others share one's own beliefs, values, attitudes, and behaviors, assuming one's perspective is more common than it truly is.

The tendency for individuals' opinions, thoughts, and/or actions to become more extreme in a group setting due to constant support and lack of opposing views.

When an individual in a group loses their sense of self-awareness or personal accountability, often feeling more anonymous in the group.

When an individual feels less personally accountable and responsible for taking action or helping in situations where others are present.

A phenomenon where individuals are less likely to offer help in a situation when other people are present.

A field that specializes in understanding how human behavior in work settings influences individuals.

Situations in which individuals or groups act in their own short-term interests, disregarding the long-term negative consequences.

When an individual does a selfless act for the well-being of others without expecting any personal gain or reward.

A societal expectation that individuals should help those in need and contribute to the greater good, without expecting personal reward, by acting prosocially and ethically for community welfare.

The expectation that if a person does something positive for someone, they should receive a positive action back.