Summary PSY 2510-103 Running Vocab List

self-concept

Answer: the overall set of beliefs that people have about their personal attributes

independent view of the self

Answer: a way of defining oneself in terms of one\'s own internal thoughts, feelings, and actions and not in terms of the thoughts, feelings, and actions of other people

interdependent view of the self

Answer: a way of defining oneself in terms of one\'s relationships to other people, recognizing that one\'s behavior is often determined by the thoughts, feelings, and actions of others

introspection

Answer: the process whereby people look inward and examine their own thoughts, feelings, and motives

self-awareness theory

Answer: the idea that when people focus their attention on themselves, they evaluate and compare their behavior to their internal standards and values

cognitive dissonance

Answer: the discomfort people feel when they behave in ways that threaten their self-esteem

post decisional dissonance

Answer: dissonance aroused after making a decision, typically reduced by enhancing the attractiveness of the chosen alternative and devaluing the rejected alternatives

lowballing

Answer: an unscrupulous strategy whereby a salesperson induces a customer to agree to purchase a product at a low cost, subsequently claims it was an error, and then raises the price; frequently, the customer will agree to make the purchase at the inflated price

justification of effort

Answer: the tendency for individuals to increase their liking for something they have worked hard to attain

external justification

Answer: a reason or an explanation for dissonant personal behavior that resides outside of the individual (e.g., to receive a large reward or avoid a severe punishment)

attitudes

Answer: evaluations of people, objects, and ideas

cognitively based attitude

Answer: an attitude based primarily on people\'s beliefs about the properties of an attitude object

affectively based attitude

Answer: an attitude based more on people\'s feelings and values then on their beliefs about the nature of an attitude object

classical conditioning

Answer: the phenomenon whereby a stimulus that elicits an emotional response is repeatedly paired with a neutral stimulus that does not, until the neutral stimulus takes on the emotional properties of the first stimulus

operant conditioning

Answer: the phenomenon whereby behaviors we freely choose to perform become more or less frequent, depending on whether they are followed by a reward or punishment

propinquity effect

Answer: the finding that the more we see and interact with people, the more likely they are to become our friends

mere exposure effect

Answer: the fining that the more exposure we have to a stimulus, the more apt we are to like it

halo effect

Answer: a cognitive bias by which we tend to assume that an individual with one positive characteristic also possesses other (even unrelated) positive characteristics

companionate love

Answer: the feelings of intimacy and affection we have for someone that is not accompanied by passion of physiological arousal

passionate love

Answer: an intense longing we feel for a person, accompanied by physiological arousla

prosocial behavior

Answer: any act performed with the goal of benefiting another person

altruism

Answer: the desire to help another person even if it involves a cost to the helper

kin selection

Answer: the idea that behaviors that help a genetic relative are favored by natural selection

norm of reciprocity

Answer: the expectation that helping others will increase the likelihood that they will help us in the future

empathy

Answer: the ability to put oneself in the shoes of another person and to experience events and emotions (e.g., joy and sadness) the way that person experiences them

aggression

Answer: intentional behavior aimed at causing physical harm or psychological pain to another person

hostile aggression

Answer: aggression stemming from feelings of anger with the goal of inflicting pain or injury

instrumental aggression

Answer: aggression that is done as a means to achieve some goal other than causing pain

challenge hypothesis

Answer: testosterone relates to aggression only when there are opportunities for reproduction

dual-hormone hypothesis

Answer: testosterone related to dominance-seeking behavior only when the stress hormone, cortisol, is not elevated

prejudice

Answer: a hostile or negative attitude toward people in a distinguishable group based solely on their membership in that group; it contains cognitive, emotional, and behavioral components

stereotype

Answer: a generalization about a group of people in which certain traits are assigned to virtually all members of the group, regardless of actual variation among the members

discrimination

Answer: unjustified negative or harmful action toward a member of a group solely because of their membership of that group

Implicit Association Test (IAT)

Answer: a test that measures the speed with which people can pair a target face with positive or negative stimuli reflecting unconscious (implicit) prejudices

self-fulfilling prophecy

Answer: an expectation of one\'s own or another person\'s behavior that comes true because of the tendency of the person holding it to act in ways that bring it about