AND MELANIE PATALANO
First Period
Vocabulary Slides
Social Psychology
 Shallow: the scientific study of how we think about,
influence, and relate to one another
 Deep: why we do what we do
 O&E:


Psychologist studying how people relate to one another.
Objective 2
Attribution Theory
 Shallow: we explain someone’s behavior by crediting
either the situation or persons disposition
 Deep: Melanie being extremely negative towards me
and I wonder if she just has a negative personality or
if it a reaction to stress at home
 O&E:


A teacher may wonder whether a student’s hostility reflects an
aggressive personality or a reaction to stress or abuse
Objective 1
Central Route to Persuasion
 Shallow: Attitude change path in which interested
people focus on the arguments and respond with
favorable thoughts.
 Deep: A central route is the fastest path, allowing
people to focus on what’s most important.
 Example: In the Socratic seminar, I listened to the
Conner’s point and responded with my thoughts.
 Objective:4
Peripheral Route to Persuasion
 Shallow: Attitude change path in which people are
influenced by incidental cues.
 Deep: Your peripheral vision doesn’t focus on the
important details, such as the argument, and focuses
on other cues.
 Example: A speaker’s attractiveness may influence
the listeners attitude.
 Objective: 4
Foot-in-the-door Phenomenon
 Shallow: Tendency for people who have first agreed
to a small request to comply later with a larger
request.
 Deep: By getting your foot in the door initially, you
will later be able to open bigger doors.
 Example: I first helped Danielle with her
homework, later I agreed to help her murder
someone.
 Objective: 3
Fundamental Attribution Error
 Shallow: the tendency for observers, when analyzing another’s
behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to
overestimate the impact of personal disposition
 Deep: Danielle was extremely talkative in class while Conner
didn’t say a word. It seems that Danielle is outgoing and
Conner is quiet and does not like to share
 O&E:
- A classmate may be quiet in class, while another is
constantly raising their hand. Causing you to make the
assumption that classmate one is shy while classmate two is
outgoing. However, put the classmates in different
environments, in which classmate one is the lead role in a play,
and classmate two is at coffee and says only a few words
- Objective 1
Attitude
 Shallow: feelings, often influenced by our beliefs,
that predispose us to respond in a particular way to
objects, people and events
 Deep: think about 3 different people and the way you
act around them each
 O&E:
- After a loss in a game, you feel anger towards a
friend that was on the other team, causing you to be
rude towards them afterwards
- Objective 4
Role
 Shallow: a set of expectations about a social position,
defining how those in position ought to behave.
 Deep: Think of an actor and the role/character they
take on. How must they act and behave?
 O&E: DECA students often take on the role of a
professional acting adult. Objectives (3,4)
Conformity
 Shallow: Adjusting ones behavior or thinking to
coincide with a group standard.
 Deep: Think of conforming to the pressures of high
school that make you do something you might not on
your own.
 O&E: When everyone dresses spirited at the liberty
football games you're more inclined to also dress
spiritedly. Objectives (2,3,4)

Social Psych Vocab
Normative Social Influence


Definition: a type of social influence leading to
conformity or the influence of other people that leads us
to conform to the rules in order to be liked and accepted
by them.
Example:
 Fashions styles lean heavily on normative social
influence and is seen in religious, and political beliefs
along with other situations of persuasion.

Informational Social Influence
Definition: when you look at the behaviors of others who
are also in the same or similar situation to see how to act in
order to be accepted

Example:
 The situation is ambiguous. We have choices but do not
know which to select We have no time to think and
experiment and a decision is required now, others are
experts. If we accept the authority of others, they must
know better than us.

Social Facilitation
Definition: Stronger responses on simple or welllearned tasks in the presence of others

Objectives: Predict impact of others on a person’s
behavior.
Social Loafing
Define: The tendency for people in a group to exert
less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a
common goal than when individually accountable.
Objectives: Predict the impact of the presence of others
on a person’s behavior.

Deindividuation

Definition: The loss of self-awareness and selfrestraint occurring in group situations that foster
arousal and anonymity.
 Deep: To Kill a Mockingbird
Objective: Describe the structure and function of
different kinds of group behavior
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
 The theory that we act to reduce the discomfort we
feel when two of our thoughts are inconsistent.
 Objective: Discuss attitude formation and change,
including persuasion strategies and cognitive
dissonance.

Group Polarization
Definition: Tendency for groups to take more extreme
positions in the direction they were already inclined
Example: A discussion occurs between people mildly
in favor of gun control and mildly opposed to gun
control. After the discussion, the people that were
initially mildly in favor of gun control are now more
strongly in favor of gun control.
Groupthink
Definition: phenomenon in which people strive for consensus within a
group. In many cases, people will set aside their own personal beliefs or adopt
the opinion of the rest of the group.
 •Tends to occur in isolated groups, especially in groups with no clear rules
for decision making and where all of the people involved have similar
backgrounds.
 Example: The Bay of Pigs Invasion- The invasion was planned by the
Eisenhower administration but accepted by the Kennedy Administration
without question when they took over. The administration ignored
questions and accepted stereotypes about the Cubans.
 Objective: explain how individuals respond to expectation of others,
including groupthink, conformity and obedience to authority.

Prejudice
 Shallow: Negative , usually unjustified attitude toward
people because they are members of a certain group
 Deep/Examples: For instance, people in the club don’t
like Tyler because they don’t like his hair
Stereotype
 Shallow: a fixed way of thinking about people you classify
in a certain group
 Deep/Examples: All Asians are good in math
Discrimination
• Unjust treatment of certain types of
people, backed by prejudicial views.
• Example: People in da club be treatin’
Tyler like poo cause he’s white
Outgroup
 People who are outside of one’s own ingroup, who
are considered to be inferior; A group that is seen as
different from one’s own
 Example: Jonathan doesn’t value the company of his
tablemates because none of them are Fillipino.
In group Bias
 Shallow meaning – The tendency of people to
favor others of the same group.
 Deep meaning/Example – People of the same
religion tend to relate better to eachother than
people of different beliefs.
In group
 Shallow meaning – A group a person identifies as
being a member of.
 Deep meaning/Example – Josh played Football
at liberty high school, and because of this he
Identified as fitting in with the other football players.
Norm
 Something that is seen as common, not unusual or
standard within a group of people.
 A norm is something that isn't seen as out of the
ordinary to someone in a specific group of people.
For example, here in the United States, it’s normal
to find a television in someone’s house. You
wouldn’t walk into a united states citizen’s house
and be shocked to find a TV.
Culture
 “The customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of
a racial, religious, or social group; also : the characteristic
features of everyday existence (as diversions or a way of
life) shared by people in a place or time.”
 Culture is the lifestyle shared by a group of people, such as
food, clothing, religious practice and social practices. For
example, in the mainland of the United States, most people
wear shoes, but in Hawaii, a lot of people rarely do. It’s an
example of how the social practice of wearing shoes in
public is practiced in some cultures, but not in others. This
applies to so many other aspects of life.
Objectives
 2) Having an ingroup to relate to, and an outgroup to




distance yourself from causes group behaviors like group
polarization where members of a group gains
3)
5)
6)
7)
Group 4: Social Influence
Scapegoat Theory
 Definition: Is the theory that prejudice offers an
outlet for anger by providing someone to blame.
 Example: Throughout history people of Jewish
background have been blamed for many things like
famine, drought and other misfortunate things.
 Objective 6 applies to the Scapegoat Theory because
you are treating cultures differently based on one’s
own prejudices to find someone to blame.
Other Race Effect
 Definition: It is the tendency to recall faces of one’s
own race more accurately than faces of other races.
 Example: If you are African American you can more
accurately recall the face of your African American
friend than the face of your Asian American friend.
 Objective 7 can apply to the Other-Race Effect
because different race backgrounds effects the way
you remember their face.
Just-World Phenomenon
 Definiton: The tendency for people to believe the
world is just and that people therefore get what they
deserve and deserve what they get
Examples:
• Saying a girl was sexually abused as a
result of revealing clothing or saying the
wrong things
• Saying domestic abuse was provoked by
the spouse
“Blaming the victim”
Enables the reasoning that those who succeed must be good and those who suffer
must be bad
Objectives:
• Describe processes that contribute to differential treatment of group members
--People can see others as inferior using this theory
• Describe the variables that contribute to altruism, aggression, and attraction
Aggression
 Definition: A person who passes along a vicious rumor
about you, the person who verbally assaults you, and the
attacker who mugs you are aggressive.
 Neural Influences: Animal and human brains have
neural systems that, when stimulated, either inhibit or
produce aggressive behavior
~ Ex. A mild mannered woman had an electrode
implanted in her brain’s limbic system (in the amygdala)
by neurosurgeons seeking to diagnose the disorder. Since
the brain had no sensory receptors, she was unable to
feeling anything. But, something snapped in the brain
and snarled at the doctor, “Take my blood pressure. Take
it now,” she stood up and decided to strike the doctor.

Aggression cont…
 Biochemical Influences: Hormones, alcohol, and other substances
in the blood influence the neural systems that control aggression.
~ Ex. People who have been drinking commit 4 in 10 violent crimes
and 3 in 4 acts of spousal abuse
Social and Cultural Influences: Our reactions are more likely to be
aggressive in situations where experience has taught us that
aggression pays.
~ Children whose aggression successfully intimidates other children
may become more aggressive
~ Ex. Social influences also appears in high wilence rates among
cultures and families that experiences minimal father care.
 9. Describe the variables that contribute to altruism, aggression,
and attraction
 7. Articulate the impact of social and cultural categories (e.g.,
gender, race, ethnicity) on self-concept and relations with others.
Frusteration-Aggression Principle
 Definition: something that can occur when someone recognizes
that they are being prevented from achieving a goal; their
attitudes/behaviors go from frustrated to aggressive.
 Example: When the Seahawks start to fall behind in a game, the
fans at the game become frustrated and then become aggressive,
jumping up and down and yelling at the other team’s fans.
 Objectives: 4-Attitudes & how they change. Application-Feeling
doubtful goes to frustration, frustration goes to aggression and
anger.
 5- Impact from the presence of others. Application-A person
preventing another person from achieving a goal.
 9- Variables that contribute to altruism, aggression, and
attraction. Application- Being prevented or thinking that you’re
prevented from achieving a goal causes aggression.
Social exchange theory
Shallow: The theory that our social
behavior is an exchange process, the aim of
which is to maximize benefits and
minimize costs.
Deep: When deciding to donate clothes to
the local goodwill you will weigh the
negatives (losing that fly shirt from 1986)
against the positives (letting a new person
experience your amazing sense of style). If
the positives outweigh the negatives then
you donate the clothes.
Social exchange theory
Shallow: The theory that our social behavior is an
exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize
benefits and minimize costs.
Deep: When deciding to donate clothes to the local
goodwill you will weigh the negatives (losing that fly shirt
from 1986) against the positives (letting a new person
experience your amazing sense of style). If the positives
outweigh the negatives then you donate the clothes.
Reciprocity norm
Shallow: The expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who
have helped them.
Deep: If I helped you get out of a bar fight I would expect you not to
try to cut me with your broken bottle.
Social-Responsibility Norm






Shallow Definition: An
expectation that people will
help those dependent upon
them.
Deep Strategy Definition:
Helping an old lady cross the street even though you
will not get anything in return.
Conflict







Shallow Definition: A perceived
incompatibility of actions, goals,
or ideas.
Deep Strategy Definition: One
parent has a different way of
raising their child than the other
parent.
Social Trap
 Definition: A situation in which the conflicting
parties, by each rationally pursuing self interest,
become caught in mutually destructive behavior. 688
 Example: A person chooses to buy himself a regular
car, and save money because its not his personal car
that contributes to the greenhouse gases. When in
reality when enough people begin to think like that
the collective result brings global climate change and
other environmental damage.
Mirror- Image Perceptions
Definition: Mutual views often held by conflicting
people, as when each side sees itself as ethical and
peaceful and views the other side as evil and
aggressive.
 Example: Mary thinks John is annoyed by her,so she
ignores him and John responds by ignoring her as
well justifying her original perception.

Superordinate Goals

Shallow: Shared goals that override differences among
people and require their cooperation.
Deep: We’re all in this together, the enemy of my enemy is
my friend


Example: Remember the Titans
GRIT

Shallow: Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in
Tension-Reduction a strategy designed to decrease
international tensions.

Deep: United Nations conferences

Overall objectives
3. Explain how individuals respond to expectations of
others, including groupthink, conformity, and obedience to
authority.
4. Discuss attitudes and how they change (e.g., central
route to persuasion).
8. Anticipate the impact of behavior on a self-fulfilling
prophecy.
