PSYC 34B - Social Psychology Midterm 1 Study Guide

Please note: This is a conclusive list of all the topics that might appear in the
final. You are responsible to know the content of both, the lectures and the
textbook for these topics! Even if I talked about a topic extensively in the lecture,
just knowing the content of the lecture might not be enough; you also have to
know the content of the textbook, too. Most topics have been covered in the
lectures and the textbook, but some are unique to either one. I have marked the
topics mostly only covered by the textbook in red, so that you know to pay
special attention to the relevant passages in the textbook.
You dont have to know all the details of all the experiments most of them were
described to illustrate the respective concepts. However, please read those
experiments really carful that are listed below. Details about these experiments
(e.g. the general pattern of results, not the specific statistical values) can be
covered in the final.
Introduction What is Social Psychology?
Definition of Social Psychology
o Gordon Allports definition
o The ABC of Social Psychology
Social Psychology and Related Fields: Distinctions and Intersections.
Doing Social Psychology Research
Testing Ideas: Research Designs
o Descriptive Research: Discovering Trends and Tendencies
o Observational studies
o Archival studies
o Surveys
Experimental Research
o Dependent Variable
o Independent Variable
o Between-Subjects Design
o Within-Subjects Design
o Random Assignment vs. Random Sampling
o Comparison/Control Group
o Establishing causation
Correlational Research
o Correlation Coefficient
o positive/negative correlation
o Key features
o Causation
o Advantages and disadvantages

o Institutional review boards and informed consent: Protecting

research participants
o Debriefing: Telling all
The Social Psychology Toolkit
o Settings for social psychological research
o Internal validity Did the independent Variable cause the effect?
o External validity Do the results generalize?
o Compromise between control (Internal Validity) and External
Validity

The Social Self

Self-Concept
o The Self
o Self Awareness in humans and animals (the Mark Test)
o Levels of the Self
o Who knows better? The Self-Other Knowledge Asymmetry (SOKA)
Model
Self-esteem
o The need for self-esteem
o Sociometer Theory
o Possible Selves (ideal, actual, ought)
o Self Discrepancy Theory (Higgins et al.)
The self-awareness Trap
o State of self-awareness
o Trait of self-consciousness
o God: Like a Camera in the Sky?
Maintaining Self-Esteem (Mechanisms of self-enhancement)
o Self Affirmation
o Self-affirmation study (Critcher & Dunning, 2015)
o Self-serving bias
o Self-Evaluation Maintenance Theory
Individual vs. Collective Self
o Culture and Self-concept
o Culture Self Study (Chiao et al., 2009)
Perceiving Others
The Process of Social Perception Snap Judgments vs. deliberate
attributions
Automaticity
o Cognitive Miser
o Priming
o Associative networks
o Priming study (Bargh & Pietromonaco, 1982)

Snap Judgments
o Thin Slicing
Controlled Processing
Attribution Theories
o Definition
o Personal vs. Situational
o Correspondence Inference Theory
o Covariation Theory
Attribution Biases
o The Fundamental Attribution Error
o Heuristics
o The Confirmation Bias
o Self-fulfilling Prophecy

Self-control and its failure

Definition
Self-Regulation and its limits
o The resource model of self-control
o Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Muraven, & Tice (1998)
o The dual task paradigm
o Models of Ego Depletion
o The resource model & the shifting priorities model
o Strategies to cure and prevent depletion
Attitudes
What Are Attitudes?
o Definition
o What goes into an attitude?
o Possible Reactions to Attitude Object
o Explicit and Implicit Attitudes
Ways of Measuring Attitudes o Self-report
o Surveys
o The Bogus Pipeline
o Unobtrusive/ Covered measures
o EMG and other physiological measures
o Implicit measures (e.g. IAT)
The Link between Attitudes and Behavior
Theory of Planned Behavior
Affective forecasting Dunn, Wilson, & Gilbert (2003)
Attitude Change -Cognitive Dissonance (covered in Persuasion lecture)
o Theory Basics

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Festinger & Carlsmith (1959)

What is cognitive consistency and why is it important?
Dissonance an experiment
The reverse incentive effect
Post-decision dissonance
Importance of free choice
Lessons

Prejudice and Discrimination

Components of group based bias (Affective, behavioral and cognitive
component).
Prejudice
o Old Fashioned Racism vs. Modern Racism
o Explicit vs. Implicit Racism
o Dovidio, Kawakami, Johnson, Johnson, & Howard, 1997
Stereotypes
o Macrae, Milne, & Bodenhausen (1994)
o Egalitarian Ideologies and stereotyping Mendoza-Denton et al.
(1999).
o
Reasons for group biases
o Social Identity Theory
o Key Assumptions
o Key Components
o The Minimal Group Paradigm
o The minimal group paradigm - Tajfel & Turner (1979)
Consequences for targets of prejudice
o The Stereotype Content Model
o Harris & Fiske, 2006
o The Shooter Bias
o Stereotype Threat
o Steele & Aronson, 1995
o How to deal with and how to reduce stereotype threat? -Trust,
Belonging, and Reducing Stereotype Threat
Reducing Prejudice
o The Contact Hypothesis
o Benefits of Cross-Group Friendships
o Page-Gould, Mendoza-Denton, & Tropp, 2008
o Re-categorization (see Video on Cunningham and Van Bavels
research posted on LATTE)
Persuasion and Attitude Change
Persuasion

o Definition
o The Six Principles of Influence (video on Cialdinis research:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFdCzN7RYbw)
Compliance
o Definition
o Foot in the door
o Door in the face
o Low Ball
Conformity
o Relationship between Conformity, Compliance, and Obedience
(increasing pressure)
o Mimicry (Chartrand & Bargh, 1999)
o Conformity Definition
o Social Norms
o Sherif, 1936
o Kinds of Social Norms Descriptive vs injunctive norms
o Asch Experiments (See Video posted on LATTE and read The
Early Classics in textbook.
o Informational and normative influence
o Depth of conformity Private Acceptance vs. Public Compliance.
Obedience
o Definition
o Milgrams Experiment(s)
o Obedience to authority
o Limited sources of information
o Responsibility
o Need for consistency
o A change in self-perception
o Escalation of commitment
o Situational Factors that Affect Obedience
o Proximity of the victim
o Power of the Situation
o Authority Figure
o Social Identification as an alternative explanation for Milgrams
findings
o Reicher, Haslam, & Smith, 2013.

Group Processes
Groups
o Definition
o Types of Groups
Why and how do groups form

o Basic Needs that are fulfilled by groups

Characteristics of Groups
o Cohesiveness
o Social Norms
o Social Roles
o Factors that increase cohesiveness
o Culture and Cohesiveness
Deindividuation
o Factors that facilitate Deindividuation
o Deindividuation an experiment (Diener et al., 1976)
Influence of groups or collectives
o Effects of audience on performance (e.g.social facilitation, social
inhibition)
o Factors that determine performance in group settings
o Effects of other participants on performance (e.g. social loafing,
Culture and social loafing)
o Latan, Williams, & Harkins, 1979
o Factors that Decrease Social Loafing
Individual Decisions vs. Group Decisions
o Process gain vs. process loss
o Group vs. Average Member
o Groups use of shared and unshared Information
o Information Sharing and Biased Sampling
o Information Processing and Transactive Memory
Leadership style and decision making
o Participative vs. Directive Leaders
o Group Cohesiveness
o Group Polarization
o Groupthink (e.g. Antecedents, symptoms, prevention)

Close Relationships

Roots of Close Relationships

o Need for Affiliation
o Need for Intimacy
o The agony of loneliness
o Social pain = Physical pain (DeWall, et al., 2010)
How do I love thee? Counting the ways
o Triangular Theory of Love
o Passionate love
o Companionate love
Attraction

o Physical Attractiveness
o What is beautiful is good stereotype
o Self Perceptions of attractiveness
o The benefits and costs of beauty
Attraction and Similarity
o Actual or perceived similarity? an experiment
o Physical similarity
Beauty from an evolutionary point of view
o Mate selection
o Is attractiveness learned? Langlois, Roggman, Casey, RiesnerDanner, & Jenkins, 1987
o Symmetry
o Mate Selection Facial Cues
o Boothroyd, Jones, Burt, DeBruine, & Perrett, 2008
o Attracting a mate
o Sex ratio effects on conspicuous consumption
o The Sociocultural Perspective
Do we know what we want? Eastwick & Finkel, 2008
Intimate relationships
Martial satisfaction over time
The ten scientifically based wedding vows
o Positive Illusions
o Michelangelo effect
o Autonomy
o Responsiveness
o Sacrifices
o Secure and Insecure attachment styles
o Strange Situation Paradigm
o Attachment and adult relationships
o Being a secure base for exploration
o Self-expansion theory
o Commitment
o Communal orientation
o Social Exchange Theory
o Fairness in Relationships equitable vs. communal relationships
o Gratitude
o Culture, Attraction, and close relationships

Interpersonal Aggression
What is Aggression?
o Definition
o Levels and Types of Aggression
o Gender Differences in Aggression

Biological Explanations for Aggression

o Different Answers to the Why? Question o Evolutionary
Perspectives
o Ultimate Answers evolutionary perspective
o Violence Inhibition Mechanism
o Blair, Jones, Clark, & Smith, 1997
o Hormonal Influences
The Role of self-control in aggression
o Video on aggression and a lack in control
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvteZ_bq0nk)
o De Wall, Baumeister, Stillman, & Gailliot, 2005
o Alcohol and Aggression
o Kreuzer,Schneider, & Myatt, 1984
Culture and aggression
o Comparisons across societies
o Nonviolent cultures
o Culture of honor
o Cohen, Nisbett, Bowdle, & Schwartz, 1996

Altruism
Motives for Helping Behavior
o Altruism
o Empathy vs. Personal Distress
o The Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis
o Batson, 1990
o Personal Distress-Relief Model
o Cialdini, Schaller, Houlihan, Arps, Fultz, & Beaman, 1987
o Evolutionary Perspectives
o The selfish gene
Helping in Emergencies: 5 Stage Model
o 1. Noticing the Situation
o 2. Labeling the Situation as an Emergency
o 3. Assuming the Responsibility to Help
o Darley & Latan, 1968
o The Bystander Effect
o 4. Deciding How to Help
o 5. Implementing the Decision to Help
When do People Help?
o Cost of Helping and experiment (The good Samaritan
experiment)
o Mood and Helping
o Good moods and doing good
o Bad Moods and doing good

o Attributions of Responsibility
o Schmidt & Weiner, 1988
o Belief in a Just World
If you need help in an emergency
The Helping Connection Empathy
Emotional vs. Cognitive empathy
Neural Resonance (mirror neurons from video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvlqUj3MuEc)
Perceiving Emotions
Dimberg, Thunberg, & elmehed,2000
Perceiving emotions: Mimicry facilitates emotion perception (Neal &
Chartrand, 2011)
The limits of empathy an experiment (Gutsell & Inzlicht 2010)
The effects of perspective taking an experiment