Levels of Analysis
(LoA)
BIOLOGICAL
COGNITIVE
SOCIOCULTURAL
Biological LoA
 Focuses on physiology and genetics
 Gender differences via genetic makeup
 XY
and XX chromosomes
 Gender differences from the impact of hormones
 testosterone and estrogen
Cognitive LoA
 Focuses on mental processes
 Memory
 Thinking
 Perception
 Attention
 Gender differences via gender schema theory
 Social cognition
 Gender stereotypes
Sociocultural LoA
 Focuses on how environment and culture
impact behavior and thinking
 Impact of cultural definitions and roles for our
mental representations of each gender
 Gender differences explained through social
learning theory
 Watching individuals of the same sex for
behavior cues
Biological Level of Analysis
PHYSIOLOGY AND GENETICS
Biological LoA: Physiology & Behavior
 Biology can affect cognition and cognition can affect
biology…relationship is bidirectional
 Physiological factors that impact behavior:




Brain processes
Neurotransmitters
Hormones
Genes
 Physiology does not work alone since environmental
stimuli influence our behavior



Stressful experiences
Attractive person passing by
Brain damage caused by trauma
Goal of IB Psychology
 Taking a holistic approach to human behavior
 Interactionist Approach: Both sides of nature
(biology) vs. nurture (environment) argument.
Principles of Human Behavior (Biological LoA)
Behavior can be innate since it is genetically
based
Evolution…key role in behavior
2. Animal research can provide insight to human
behavior
Much research done with animals
3. Biology correlates with behavior
Links between specific biological factors and
specific behaviors
1.
Reductionist Approach
 Micro-level research; breaking down
complex human behavior into simple parts.
 Criticized for being over simplistic but
allows us to gain detailed knowledge of
human behavior
 Important because it allows understanding
of several factors that influence one behavior
Impact of Neurotransmitters on Behavior
 Influences mood, memory, sexual arousal, and
mental illness
 Acetylcholine

Muscle contraction, helps with development of memory in
hippocampus
 Dopamine
 Voluntary movement, learning, feelings of pleasure
 Norepinephrine (noradrenalin)
 Arousal, alertness, stimulation of sympathetic nervous system
 Serotonin
 Sleep, arousal levels, emotion
Affect of Serotonin on Behavior
 Tokyo University (Kasamatsu and Hirai, 1999)
 Aim: How sensory deprivation affects the brain
 Buddhist monks deprived of food, water, no
communication, and exposure to cold weather
 48 hours, hallucinations
 Blood samples before and right after hallucinations
(serotonin levels increased which activated the
frontal cortex and hypothalamus)
 Conclusion: Sensory deprivation released
serotonin which altered monks experience.
Drugs
 Stimulate the production of neurotransmitters
 Block receptor sites if too much is produced
Technology and the Brain & Behavior
 Technology gives researchers the ability to monitor
and discover the “map” of the brain’s activity
 Previously, case studies were used; usually
situations that would be unethical to reproduce in
the lab.
 Case studies of brain damaged patients carried
out over a long period of time (longitudinally)
Phineas Gage, Paul Broca, Carl Wernicke
 Allows for observation of short-term and longterm effects
Localization of Brain Function
 The idea that specific parts of the brain are
responsible for specific functions
 When a behavior is localized in the brain, it is
possible to trace the origin of the behavior to a
specific part of the brain.
 Does not explain ALL human behavior but is a major
step forward in brain research
Research on the role of the nucleus accumbens
(pleasure center)
Robert Heath (1950s)
James Old (1950s)
 Electrically stimulated parts
 Rats would receive electrical
o f the brain in depressed
patients=experienced
pleasure
 One patient (B-19)
electrically stimulated
himself 1,500 times in 3
hours
 Experienced euphoria and
elation and was eventually
disconnected against his will
stimulation to the nucleus
accumbens when a lever was
pressed
 Crossed over electrified grids
and preferred pleasure lever
over food and water
Brain Functions and Ethical Considerations
 Electrical stimulation of the nucleus accumbens is
based mainly on dopamine (desire) and serotonin
(satiety and inhibition)
 Via animal studies, all drugs increase the
production of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens
and reduce serotonin.

Cocaine and nicotine
 Frequent use of drugs increase the amount of
dopamine in the nucleus accumbens.

Why drug addicts have an obsessive drive to seek more drugs
even though they know its not good for them
Spiders on Drugs
 http://www.trinity.edu/jdunn/spiderdrugs.htm
Technology vs. Invasive Techniques
Technology
 Study the active brain
 EEG, PET, fMRI
 More ethical
 May be misleading
Invasive Techniques
 Ablation (removing) &
leisoning (scarring)
techniques on animals
 Harm cannot be
reversed


Ethical?
Pain?
Jig-Saw Activity Slides…
Biological LoA: Genetics & Behavior
 Behavioral genetics: Understanding how both genetics
and the environment play a role to individual
variations in human behavior.
 Rhesus macaque monkeys & humans

93% genes are shared, the 7% makes a large difference
 Complexity of genetics:
 Inheritance contributes to behavior and acts
as a building block however, it is not probable
that one specific gene is responsible for complex
behaviors:

Intelligence, criminal behavior, attachment, altruism
Biological / genetic
predisposition
+
Stress
(environment)
= DISORDER
The diathesis-stress model
The model looks at the genetic/biologic vulnerability to a
disorder/disease and the stress or traumatic environmental
stimuli that may trigger a disorder (such as depression)
The diathesis-stress model uses the analogy of a "walking time
bomb" to help explain why, for example, not 100% of identical
twins both get depression. It also helps to explain why a large
percent of people in traumatic situations (post 9/11, rape, etc.)
never develop PTSD.
The model further talks about a balance -- the greater the
diathesis or predisposition, the less the stress required for the
disorder to "appear" and visa versa.
Last years notes on genetics and evolution…
I hope you didn’t lose them!
If you did, in your hours of
free time, check these out
on the wiki 
Inheritance
 Genes that are passed down from parents to their
off-spring
 Humans are composed of 24 pairs of chromosomes
 20,000-25,000 genes
 James Watson: Human Genome Project
 1990-2003
 Mapped human genes
 Regardless of this amazing accomplishment, the
role of specific genes are still unknown
Genetic Research
 Based off of correlation studies
 Independent variable is not manipulated, so
no cause and effect can be determined.
 Three types:
 Twin Studies
 Family Studies
 Adoption Studies
Twin Studies
Dizygotic (DZ)
Monozygotic (MZ)
 Identical: one egg split
in two
 Share 100% of genes

Same sex
 Fraternal: Formed
from two separate eggs
 Share 50% of genes
just like any other
siblings

Same or different sex
Used as basis for hypotheses since they show the different degrees of
genetic relationship. In twin studies the correlation found is
known as concordance.
Family Studies
 More representative of the general population
 Different degree of relatedness is compared with
behavior to determine the impact of genes.
Child
Mother
(50%)
Father
(50%)
Grandparent
(25%)
Grandparent
(25%)
Adoption Studies
Used to determine how great of an impact
environment plays in behavior since the child
does not share any genes with foster parents.
Often criticized because of selective
placement

Agencies tend to find adoptive parents that are
similar to their biological parents which cause a
difficulty in determining separating genetic
inheritance from environment influences. This
process is known as selective placement.
Evolution
 Another principle of the biological LoA is that the
environment presents obstacles & challenges for
each individual.
 In essence, those that adapt have a better chance of
survival & having offspring which allows their genes
to be passed down.
Theory of Natural Selection
 Members of a species acquire adaptive behaviors to
survive the ever-changing environment (those better
suited for environment will breed and pass on
characteristics)
 http://youtu.be/Pt2gHpqfZNA
 Adaption: Species develop characteristics that make
it more competitive in its environment
 Charles Darwin (Galapagos Island, finches, beaks)


On the Origin of Species (He didn’t yet know of the biological
process through which traits are inherited)
Descent of Man
The Descent of Man findings
 We humans share several behaviors with
other animals
 Mate selection
 Love of mother for offspring
 Self-preservation
 Similar facial expressions as apes
 Similar feelings as animals
Monkeys vs. Humans
 Tetsuro Matsuzawa (2007)
 Looked at spatial memory in young chimps
 Used 3 chimps that were taught to recognize the
numbers 1-9 on a computer
 Humans and chimps saw number flashed on a touch
screen monitor and then the numbers were covered
with blank squares and then were asked to touch the
squares in sequential order.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf3_JrTEGW0
Findings
 Humans had more errors and less accuracy as
numbers were flashed and replaced by squares
quicker


As agriculture developed, spatial memory skills aren’t as
important for finding food
Perhaps this skill was replaced by the ability to develop
language
 Chimps had astonishing memory; no difference in
their recall in relation to the amount of time that the
numbers were replaced with squares.

Adaption for survival skills such as remembering where food
and danger is located in the rain forest
Ethical Considerations
 Because research in human genetics looks to
identify certain genes involved in hereditary
diseases there can be some negative outcomes:
 May pose risks to participates due to the link
between genetic heritage and people’s life
 Information obtained may cause stress to
participants family
 If misused, information can be stigmatizing
which could lead the inability to get a job or
health insurance.
Once again, notes last year over confidentiality
should be revisited 
 Aboriginal people may object to genetic studies
 Eugenics and other forms of discrimination is the
cause.
 Consent and speaking to community leaders are a
must for many aboriginal and ethnic groups.
Intelligence
 During the beginning of the 20th century,
governments and schools became very interested in
one’s intellectual potential and the role genetics play
in IQ
 Alfred Binet developed an intelligence test to help
understand this concept better within the French
educational system
 Research has shown that poverty plays a major role
in the development of a child’s intelligence
The Bell Curve
 Book published in 1994 by Harvard professor
Richard J. Herrnstein
 The debate about the role of genes and environment
have to do with ethnic difference in intelligence is
not yet resolved
 Media discussed the idea that there may be
intergroup differences in intelligence, thus
conferring the idea that the root of intelligence in
debatable
The “g” factor
 Argued by Charles Spearman, there is a general
intelligence factor that is the basis of all intelligence
 Rather than looking a specific educational subjects
(history, math, etc.) Spearman’s intelligence test
measures the following:




Spatial ability
Reasoning
Divergent Thinking
Verbal Fluency
Meta-analysis in Relation to IQ Tests
 Bouchard & McGue (1981) used 111 studies of IQ
correlations between siblings from research around
the world
 Found that the closer the kinship the higher
correlation of IQ
Meta-analysis: statistical synthesis of the
data from a set of comparable studies of a
problem that yields a quantitative summary
of the pooled results
Minnesota Twin Study
 (Bouchard et al.) Longitudinal study, been going on




since 1979
Most cross-cultural study to date (participants from
across the world)
Compares MZAs (identical twins raised apart) to
MZTs (identical twins raised together)
Mean age of MZAs was 41 (start of study), until this
study most research was done with adolescents
Twins completed 50 hours of testing and interviews
Findings
Same person tested
twice
Identical twins reared
together
Identical twins reared
apart
Fraternal twins reared
together
Biological siblings reared
together
87%
86%
76%
55%
47%
Conclusions
 70% of intelligence can be attributed to genetics
inheritance, the other 30% is due to other factors
 Much research has supported the MTS
 The size and nature of the sample has made it one of
the most impressive study ever conducted
Criticisms of the MTS
 Relied on media cover for participants
 Ethical concerns about how twins were reunited
 No adequate control to establish the frequency of
contact between the twins prior to the study
 “Equal environment assumption”

Cannot assume twins raised together experience the exact
same environment (different friends, teachers, exposure to
stimuli, etc.)
Adoption Studies for Intelligence
 Scarr & Weinberg (1977) and Horn et al. (1979)
 Researched parents that raised adopted and natural
children
 Any significant differences in IQ between the
adoptive and biological children would be attributed
to genes
 No significant difference in IQ correlations were
found
 Parents were wealthy, white, middle class and high
IQs & adopted children were poor, lower-class
backgrounds, and lower IQs
Environmental Role on IQ
 Wahlstein (1997) found that intelligence has a lot to
do with environment and genetics
 Found that transferring an infant from a low SES to
a home where parents had a high SES improved
childhood IQ scores 12-16 points (about one
standard deviation)
 Enriched environment may raise IQ in children

Strong interaction between genes and the environment to
produce intelligence level
Less Effort Hypothesis
 Hainer et al. (1988) used PET scans to see how much
energy was used in solving problems vs. data recall

Helped decipher what intelligence is (based on knowledge or
ability to solve problems)
 Those with higher IQs had lower metabolic rates
when solving a reasoning problem in comparison to
those with a low IQ

No difference in data recall
 Those with a higher IQ use less energy to think than
those with lower IQs
IQs Change over Time
 Plomin & Petrill (1997) found that correlations
between parent and child IQs change over time



Ages 4-6, 40% correlation
Early adulthood, 60% correlation
Older adults, 80% correlation
 Our genetic disposition pushes us towards
environments that accentuate that disposition, thus
leading to increased heritability throughout life
 SES seems to the most important environmental
factors in IQ development
Flynn Effect
 James R. Flynn noticed a rise in average scores on
intelligence tests in most parts of the world over the last
century
 Ulric Neisser (1997) The America Scientist, average mean
scores are going up about 3 points every decade (increase
is even higher in abstract reasoning)





Better nutrition
Improved schooling
Different child-rearing practices
Increase in technology in modern life
Living a higher visual environment plays an important role in IQ
scores
 Does this prove a real increase in IQ or just better
understanding of intelligence and tests?
Cognitive Level of Analysis
MENTAL PROCESSES
Cognitive Psychology
 Cognition (cognoscere) “to know”
 Ulric Neisser (1967)
 “all the processes by which the sensory input is transformed,
reduced, elaborated, stored, recovered, and used.”
 Includes the structure and function of the mind
 How the human mind comes to know things about
the world and how this knowledge is used
 Cognitive neuroscience: Combines the
knowledge about the brain and knowledge about
cognitive processes.
Cognitive Processes
 Cognitive Processes:






Perception
Thinking
Problem-Solving
Memory
Language
Attention
 Cognition is based on an individual’s mental representations
of the world



Words
Images
Concepts
 Different experiences influence our mental representations
Principles of Cognitive Psychology
 1.) Mental processes guide behavior
 Bottom-up
Top-down Output (behavior)
 2.) The mind can be studied scientifically
 Developing theories and using scientific research
methods
 3.) Cognitive processes are influenced by social and
cultural factors
 Schemas
Mental processes guide behavior (Principle 1)
 The mind is a complex “machine” using hardware
(brain) and software (mental images or
representations)
 Information input via bottom-up processing
(from the senses)
 Information is processed in the mind via topdown processing (pre-stored
information/memory)
 Output (behavior)
Cognitive Theories and Models in the Real World
 Subtle relationships between how people
think about themselves and how they
behave
 A person’s mindset is important to
predicting his/her behavior
 People have fixed ideas about other people
(stereotyping) which can lead to
discrimination
Are memories infallible?
 The reconstructive nature of memory
 We
do not store exact copies of experiences; we
outline events which are filled out with
information when it is recalled
 The brain can fabricate illusions which seem so
realistic we believe they are true
 False Memory:
 We cannot distinguish between what we have
experienced and what we have heard about an
event
Perception
 Interpretation and organization of information from
the senses to produce some meaningful experience of
the world
 Perception of an ambiguous object or event is
influenced by:



Context
Frequency
How recent
 What we think we objectively experience may in fact
be a result of the brain’s interpretation of that object
or event
The Mind Can Be Studied Scientifically (Principle 2)
 New findings can adjust original theories/models or
they can also be rejected if empirical evidence no
longer supports it
 Psychologists study cognition in laboratory settings
as well as daily context



Previously, the experimental was assumed to be the most
scientific method
In the 1960s, Ulric Neisser suggested that cognition cannot be
isolated from our everyday experiences
Experimental tasks did not always resemble what people did in
their daily lives
Studying the Mind
 Traditionally, controlled experiments were favored

Controlled variables
 Experimental research might suffer from artificiality
 Data is used to support/refute cognitive models
 Today more methods are used:
 Case studies


Incredible memory patients
Brain damaged patients (Localization functions)
 Imaging technology

Which areas of the brain are active when making decisions, how
cognitive processes can be disruptive by brain damage (amnesia or
Alzheimer patients)
Cognitive Processes are Influenced by Social & Cultural Factors
(Principle 3)
 Frederic Bartlett coined the term schema (mental
representation of knowledge)
 Interested in cultural schemas and how they impact
remembering
 Discovered that people have difficulties
remembering a story from another culture and they
adjusted the story to fit in with their own cultural
schemas
 Memory in not a tape recorder and we remember in
terms of meaning and what makes sense to us, thus
memory is subject to distortions
Mental Representations & Memory
 How we store images and ideas in memory
 We use mental representations to think, make plans,
imagine, & daydream
 Self-representation: How you perceive who you
are and how you look
 Mental representations are organized in categories
which are stored in your memory
 Manipulating mental representations allows us to
think about situations & predict possible outcomes

Make plans, calculate risks, create
Schemas and Schema Theory
 Schemas describe how specific knowledge is organized




and stored in memory so it can be accessed and used
when needed
Schema theory: Cognitive theory about information
processing
Suggests that what we already know will influence the
outcome of information processing because we humans
are active processors of information
We interpret and integrate information to make sense of
experiences even if we are unaware of it
When information is missing we fill in the blanks based
on existing schemas or inventing information leading to
mistakes (distortions)
Cognitive Schemas
 Networks of knowledge, beliefs, and expectations
about particular aspects of the world
 Pre-stored mental representations
 Allows us to have expectations of what will happen

Imagination allows us to picture characters in book book >
movie
 What we already know affects the way we interpret
events and store knowledge in our memory
Points to Remember About Cognitive Schemas
 Organize information about the world with fixed and




variable slots; if slot is unspecified it is filled in by a
“default value” (best guess)
Can be related to form systems
Active recognition devices (pattern recognition)
Help predict future events based on the past
Represent general knowledge rather than definitions
Schema Theory & Memory Processes
 Schema processing can affect memory at all stages
 Encoding: Transforming sensory information into
meaningful memory
 Storage: Creating a biological trace of the encoded
information in memory, which can be consolidated
or lost
 Retrieval: Using stored information
ENCODING
Put into
Memory
STORAGE
Maintain in
Memory
RETRIEVAL
Recover from
Memory
Evaluation of Schema Theory (Support)
 Research supports the idea that schemas affect
cognitive processes such as memory
 Useful in understanding how people categorize
information, interpret stories, & make inferences
 Contributed to understanding of memory distortions
as well as social cognition
 Social psychologists use social schemas to help
explain stereotyping and prejudice
Evaluation of Schema Theory (Limitations)
 It is not entirely clear how schemas are acquired and
how they actually influence cognitive processes
 Cohen (1993) said that the concept of schemas is too
vague to be useful yet researchers use it to explain
cognitive processing
 Daniel Gilbert argues that the brain is a “wonderful
magician but a lousy scientist” by looking for
meaningful patterns but does not check for accuracy
Multi-Store Model
 Atkinson & Shiffrin (1968) created the most
influential information processing model thus far
 Based off of two assumptions:
 1.) Memory consists of a number of separate
stores/types

The memory stores are seen as components that operate in
conjunction with permanent memory through processes
 2.) Memory processes are sequential; one must
happen before another
Memory Storage Processes
 Attention:
 Pay
attention to sensory input in order to
remember it
 Coding:
 Give material a form that enables you to
remember it
 Rehearsal:
 Keeping material active in memory via repetition
until it can be stored
Steps of the Multi-store Model
 1. Sensory memory: information from the world
 Stays here only for seconds and only a small portion will
transfer to STM
 Modality specific: related to different senses (hearing & vision)
 2. Short-term memory (STM) store:
 7 item limit for a duration of 6-12 seconds
 Quickly lost if not given attention
 3. Rehearsal is necessary for long-term memory
Long-term Memory (LTM)
 Storehouse of information
 Since we do not know how much info can be
stored, LTM is believed to have unlimited
capacity and for an indefinite duration
 Material is not exact (outline) and memory
can be distorted due to schemas “filling in
gaps”
Working Memory Model
 Baddeley & Hitch (1974) based their model off
of the multi-store model
 Challenged the idea that STM is a single store
 STM includes several components
 Central executive
Episodic buffer
Phonological loop
Visuospatial sketchpad
Central Executive
 Controlling system which monitors and coordinates
the operations of the other components (slave
systems)
 Most important part of the working memory model
 Limited capacity and is modality free (can process
any sensory information)
 Attentional control is the most important job of
the central executive
Attentional Control
 Happens in two ways:
 1.) Automatic level:
 Based on habit and controlled automatically by stimuli in the
environment
 Includes routine procedures
 2.) Supervisory level:
 Deals with emergencies or creates new strategies when old
ones are no longer sufficient
 Reactions
Episodic Buffer
 Consciously trying to remember details
 Acts as a temporary and passive display store until
the information is needed (similar to a TV screen)
 Processing of the information takes place in other
parts of the system
Here’s your picture 
Phonological Loop
 Divided into 2 components
 1.) Articulatory control system:



Inner voice which holds information in verbal form
Remembering a telephone number and repeating it
Holds words until you are ready to speak
 2.) Phonological store:



Inner ear which holds speech-based material in phonological form
Memory only lasts 1.5-2 seconds if it is not refreshed by the
articulatory system
Receives info. directly from sensory memory in the form of auditory
material and from LTM in the form of verbal information and the
articulatory control system
Visuospatial Sketchpad
 Inner eye
 Deals with visual and spatial information from the
sensory memory or LTM
Evidence of Working Memory
 Most contemporary research accepts the idea of
working memory
 Experiments using dual-task
techniques/interference tasks support the model

Participants were asked to carry out a cognitive task that used
most of the capacity of their working memory


Telling a story to a person while also trying to learn a list of
numbers
If the two tasks interfere with each other so that one or both
are impaired, it is assumed that both tasks use the same
component in the STM
Working Memory Model vs. Multi-store Model
Working Memory Model
 More satisfactory explanation of
storage and processing than the
STM component of the multistore model
 Include active storage and
processing which helps
understand all sorts of cognitive
tasks (reading comprehension
and mental math)
 Explains the idea of multitasking (performing different
cognitive tasks at the same time
without disruption)
Multi-store Model
 Assumes that mental
processes are passive
Working Memory in Children
 Pickering & Gathercole (2001) used the Working




Memory Test Battery for Children
Found that there is an improvement in performance in
working memory capacity from the age of 5 until about
15
Working memory during childhood varies widely across
individuals of the same age
Provides evidence that problems with working memory is
associated with problems in academic performance
Problems with the phonological loop have been linked to
math and reading abilities
Visual and Spatial Memory Linked to Math Skills
 Holmes et al. (2008) studied the association
between visuospatial sketchpad capacity and math
attainment in relation to age
 Samples: Ages 7-8 and 9-10
 Studied age differences in relationship between
visual and spatial memory and the range of math
skills
 Findings: Math performance could be predicted
based off of the performance on the visual patterns
test
SOCIOCULTURAL
Level of Analysis
Principles of Sociocultural LoA
Since humans are social animals, we have the
basic need to “belong”
2. Culture influences behavior
3. Since humans are social animals, we have a social
self
 Not only do we have an individual identity, but
also a collective/social identity
4. People’s views of the world are resistant to
change (ideological immunity)
1.
Research: Sociocultural LoA
 Goal: To see how people interact with each other
 Usually it doesn’t make much sense to use
experiments
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Majority is in qualitative methods
 Want to study the behavior of “participants” in
realistic ways
 Naturalistic, “as it really is”; in environments in
which the behavior is likely to occur
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Participant observation
Interviews
Focus groups
Thoughts Worth Mentioning About Research
 In the past, laboratory experiments were used
because they were considered the most
scientific way of collecting data
 Although modern techniques are more “real”
they are descriptive data therefore they
cannot explain cause-and-effect
(causation) relationships
 Participant observation is most common to “see
the world through the eyes of the people being
studied.”
Participant Observation
Overt
Covert
 Researcher does not inform
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participants that they are being
observed
Deceit is used to gain “trust” of
members of the group
Intentions are not disclosed and
behaviors are recorded without
obtaining informed consent
Can’t take notes which causes
researcher to rely on memory
leading to distortion of data
Interviews can’t be used for fear
of being discovered

Example: Leon Festinger et al’s When
Prophecy Fails (1956)
 Participants know they
are being observed
 Gain trust of the group
being observed
 Can use interviews to
gather more
information

Example: O’Reilly (2000)
Attribution Theory
 Fritz Heider The Psychology of Interpersonal
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Relations (1958)
Attribution: How people interpret and explain
casual relationships in the social world
We have a desire to understand why things happen
By observing behaviors we try to make inferences
about intentions and responsibility
Actor-observer effect: Making attributions about
behavior depending on whether they are performing
it themselves or observing someone else doing it
Answering that “WHY” Question
Situational
 Discussing own behavior
 Blaming the situation
 Analyzing the person’s
action with regards to the
situation he/she is in
 Ex: Late work/missing
assignments= genuine
issue such as a
family/personal issue
Dispositional
 Observing someone
else’s behavior
 Blaming the person
 A person’s behavior is
influenced by internal
characteristics
 Ex: Late work/missing
assignments= Lazy &
irresponsible and never
finishes work on time
Errors in Attributions
Fundamental Attribution
Error
 Overestimating the role
of dispositional factors
and underestimating
the role of situational
factors in an
individual’s behavior
Self-serving Bias (SSB)
 When people take
credit for their success,
attributing them to
dispositional factors
and dissociate
themselves from their
failures, attributing
them to situational
factors
A Deeper look into Fundamental Attribution
Error
 Reasons why this error is common:
 Reason
 People
#1:
tend to view themselves as adaptable, flexible,
and ever-changing
 We don’t like to view ourselves as that “type” of person
but when we look at others we don’t have enough
information about them to make a rash decision about
them so we attribute their behavior to disposition
(that’s just who they are)
 Looking at our own behavior we believe we would have
acted differently under different circumstances
Western Culture Influence
Reason
 Placing
#2:
blame is part of Western culture
 So is people being held accountable for their
action
Evil actions are more acceptable when blamed
on evil than to refer to environmental factors as
explanations
The judicial system is looking for a satisfactory
motive in order to convict someone of murder
Basics of Lee et al. (1977)
 Aim: Will student participants make the fundamental
attribution error even when they knew actors were
playing a role

Roles: Host, contestant, audience
 Findings: Role was not attributed to the person’s
situation and attributed the person’s performance to
dispositional factors (intelligence)
 Concerns: Sample (student participants)
1.
2.
Professors seen as authorities
Not representative of greater population
 Conclusion: People with social power usually initiate
and control conversations; makes them seem
knowledgeable and ideas are not challenged
Reasons why we use the self-serving bias:
 #1: Serves as protection (Greenberg et al., 1982):
 Attribute success to dispositional factors  boosts our selfesteem
 Attribute failures to situational factors  protect our self-esteem
 #2: Cognitive factors play a role (Miller & Ross, 1975):
 Expect to succeed and do skills and ability
 Expect to succeed and fail  bad luck/external factors
 Expect to fail and do well  external factors/good luck
 Expect to fail and we do  dispositional factors

Exception to the above rules: Severely depressed individuals
make more dispositional attributions thus blaming themselves for
feeling miserable
Cultural Differences in SSB
 Modesty Bias: Explaining failures in terms of lacking ability
 Kashima and Triandis (1986):
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Show slides of scenes from unfamiliar countries
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Americans attributed success to ability
Japanese attributed failures to their lack of ability
 Chandler et al. (1990)
 Also observed modesty bias in Japanese students
 Watkins & Regmi (1990)
 Same held true for Nepalese students
 Bond, Leung, & Wan (1982)
 Chinese students that showed modesty bias rather than SSB were more
popular with peers
 Kashima & Triandis argue this is due to collective societies which derive
self-esteem from group identity as opposed to individual accomplishments
Social Identity Theory
 Social Identity Theory (Henri Tajfel): Assumes that
individuals strive to improve their self-image by trying to
enhance their self-esteem, based on either personal
identity or various social identities
 Promotes self-esteem through achievement & affiliation
with successful groups
 Indicates the importance of social belonging
 Based off of social categorization: Putting people into
groups
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In-group (us)
Out-group (them)
 Causes prejudice, discrimination, stereotyping,
ethnocentrism, in-group favoritism, and conformity to
in-group norms
Studies for Social Identity Theory
 Cianldini et al. (1976)
 Football supporters supporting teams after victories
 Tajfel (1978)
 “establishment of positive distinctiveness”
 Tajfel et al. (1971)
 Kandusky vs. Klee
Limitations of the Social Identity Theory
 #1: Describes but does not predict human behavior
 #2 : Using it in isolation is reductionist which
doesn’t allow for consideration of how the
environment interacts with the “self”

Cultural expectations, rewards as motivators, and societal
constraints (poverty) may play more of role in behavior that
one’s own sense of in-group identity
Social Representations
 Social representations (Moscovici, 1973): The
share beliefs and explanations held by society in
which we live or the group in which we belong
 They are the foundation of social cognition which
help us make sense of the world and master is; they
also allow communication to take place among
members of a community by providing social codes
for social exchange and naming a classifying
unambiguously the various aspects of their world
and their individual and group history
Social Representations=Cultural Schemas
 A group may have its own representation of success,
beauty, or intelligence
 Adler (1990) Meaning of “share”
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Russian mother’s explanation of sharing  children playing
together with a toy at the same time
American mother’s explanation of sharing  children taking
turns to play with the same toy
Howarth (2002)
 Social representations of Brixton and their impact
they have on the identity of adolescents females
 Those not living in Brixton had negative
representation of Brixton
 Those who lived there saw Brixton as “a diverse,
creative, and vibrant” community

These ideas impacted the girls in their friend choice, sports
teams, relations with police, and their employment
opportunities

Illustrates the impact of social representations as the basis of
stereotypes (negative and positive) and how they contribute to
social identity
Stereotyping
 Stereotype: A social perception of an individual in
terms of group membership or physical attributes
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Generalization of a group and then attributed to everyone in
that group
A form of social categorization that affects the behavior of
those that hold the stereotype, and those labeled by the
stereotype
A result of schema processing
Can be negative of positive
Stereotype Threat
 Occurs when one is in a situation where there is a threat of being
judged or threatened stereotypically, or a fear of doing something that
would inadvertently confirm that stereotype
 Steele & Aronson (1995)
 Method & Aim: Experiment to see the effect of stereotype threat on
performance
 Sample: African American and European American students
 Procedure: 30 minute verbal test w/ difficult multiple-choice
questions. Two groups were used, each with both types of pariticipants
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“Genuine test of their verbal abilities” (AA scored lower than EA)
“A laboratory task that was used to study how certain problems are generally
solved “(AA were higher than AA in first group and their scores matched the EA)
 Additional studies: Women (math) and lower social class
 Conclusions: Stereotype threat can impact members of any social of
cultural group
 Helps explain why some racial & social groups believe that they are
more/less intelligent than others; harms performance of these groups
Spotlight Anxiety
 According to Steele (1997), stereotype threat leads to
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spotlight anxiety (emotional distress and pressure that
undermines performance)
Leads to underperformance which naturally limits
educational prospects
Spencer et al. (1997):
Gave students that are strong in math a difficult math
test
Predicted women would do worse and they did (due to
stereotype that women are not as skilled in math)
When same concept was demonstrated with literature
skills both groups performed equally well
Formation of Stereotypes
 Social categorization
 Campbell (1967) argues there are 2 key sources:
 1.) Personal experiences
 2.) Gatekeepers (media, parents, other members of our culture
 Argues that stereotypes have a basis in some reality
 Grain of truth hypothesis: an experience with an
individual from a group will then be generalized to
the group

Criticized due to errors in attribution
Illusory Correlation
 Hamilton & Gifford (1976):
 People forming false associations between memberships
of a social group and specific behaviors

women’s abilities in math
 Cause people to overestimate a link between two
variables
 Come in many forms and culturally-based prejudice
about social groups can to some extent be classified as
illusory correlations
 An example of cognitive bias: a person’s tendency
to make errors in judgment based on cognitive
factors
 Attribution errors are a examples of cognitive bias
Confirmation Bias
 People tend to seek out or remember information that
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supports relationships (caused by illusory correlation)
Overlook information that contradicts what they already
believe
Makes stereotypical thinking resistant to change
Snyder & Swann (1978):
Sample: Female college students
Procedure: Meet introvert or extrovert. Asked to prepare
questions to ask the person they were about to meet
Conclusion: Questions confirmed their
perceptions/stereotypes of introverts/extroverts
 Introverts: “What do you dislike about parties?” or “Are
there times you wish you were more outgoing?”
 Extroverts: “What do you do to liven up a party?”
In-group’s Influence on Stereotypes
Social Desirability Effect
Social and Cultural Norms
 Norm: Set of rules based on socially or culturally
shared beliefs of how an individual ought to behave
 Regulate behavior within the group
 Deviants are punished, marginalized, stigmatized
 Can be seen as a positive if creative and affective
change takes place in society
 Leads to conformity since we are social animals
that need to belong
Social Learning Theory (Albert Bandura)
 Assumes that humans learn behaviors through
observational learning (learning by watching
models and imitating their behavior)
 Indirect (not intentionally trying to impact
behavior) or direct models (teachers)
Factors of Learning
 Attention
 Paying attention to model
 Retention
 Observer remembers behavior that was observed
 Motor reproduction
 Observer is able to replicate the behavior
 Motivation
 Observer wants to demonstrate behavior/what they learned
Factors of Motivation
 Consistency:
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Imitation is more likely if model has consistent behaviors
 Identification with the model:
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If models are similar to observer (age or gender) than replication of
behaviors are more likely
 Rewards/punishment
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Vicarious reinforcement (we can learn from observing and we
don’t have to experience consequences ourselves) takes place by
watching people around us---in reality and movies; observational
learning
 Liking the model:
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Warm and friendly models are more likely to be imitated as opposed
to cold, uncaring models
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Yarrow et al. (1970)
Bandura’s Bobo Doll Experiment (1961)
Explanation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCo33v3Fwc4
 Video footage with Bandura’s explanation:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YclZBhn40hU
 BBC video:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zerCK0lRjp8
Social Learning Theory in Real Life
 Does watching violence on television cause
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people to become violent?
Studies are consistent in proving that watching
aggression shows children how to be aggressive in new
ways and also draw conclusions about whether being
aggressive to others will bring rewards or punishment
Huesmann & Eron (1986):
15 year longitudinal study found a positive correlation
between the number of hours of violence watched on TV
and the level of aggression demonstrated when being a
teenager
8 year olds that watched TV violence were more likely to
be arrested and prosecuted for criminal acts as adults
Not all Television is Bad!
 Evidence supports shows like Sesame Street teaches
positive behaviors and academic & social skills such as
sharing, empathy, and academic curiosity
 Soap operas/radio dramas use the Sabido
method/social learning theory in order to effect change
in society
 We can learn from role models, especially people we can
identify with
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Unwanted teen pregnancies, reduce the spread of HIV, promote
literacy, and empower women in developing countries
Researchers found exposure to Tanzania’s Twende na Wakati (Let’s
Go with the Times) showed an increase in safe sex, women’s status,
and family planning (1993-1996)
Evaluation of Social Learning Theory
 Helps explain:
 Why behaviors are passed down in a family or within cultures
 Why children can acquire behaviors through trial-and-error
learning
 Criticism: Though a behavior is acquired it is not
always demonstrated (behaviors may lie dormant)
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Because of this, it is hard to say if the behavior is a 100% result
of observing the model
 The theory doesn’t explain why some people never
develop the behavior even though they are exposed
to it
Social Learning TheorySocial Cognitive Theory
& Self-Efficacy Theory
 Both are based on social learning theory but the
focus is on beliefs and how they influence behavior
 An important elaboration of social learning theory to
explain why people are motivated not by the role
models but also by their own beliefs and previous
experiences
Social Influence: Compliance
 Robert Cialdini (leading researcher in the
psychology of persuasion)
 The result of direct pressure to respond to a request
even though the direct pressure may not always be
apparent to the individual
 Compliance techniques: ways in which individuals
are influence to comply with the demands or desires
of others
 Advertising and marketing
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Sales tactics are always examined on the basis of what would
most likely persuade consumers to buy specific products
Factors that Influence Compliance
 1.) Authority: Compliance with people of authority;
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famous people wearing basketball shoes
2.) Commitment: Agreement through behavior or by
statements, they are more likely to comply with similar
requests
3.) Liking: People comply with people they like
4.) Reciprocity: The need to “return a favor”
5.) Scarcity: Opportunities are more favorable when
they are less readily available; “last chance” & “limited
time” sales
6.) Social proof: View behaviors as correct if they see
others performing it
Reciprocity
 One of the most widespread and basic norms in human
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culture
Creates confidence among people in what is given to
another is not lost but a sign of a future obligation that
enables development of various types of relationships
and exchanges
We learn this in childhood
Feelings o guilt plays a key role
Companies offer free gifts, free travel, free hotel rooms,
etc.
Lynn & McCall (1998): Mint with bill, tip increases
Door-in-the-face Technique
 1st request (turned down) leads to smaller 2nd request
 2nd request is accepted because they believe the
request was lowered to accommodate them
 Cialdini et al. (1975):
 1st group: Chaperone juvenile delinquents on a day
trip to the zoo: 83% refused to volunteer
 2nd group:
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1st request: work as counselors for 2 weeks for 2 years: 0%
2nd request: Chaperone juvenile delinquents on a day trip to
the zoo: 50% agreed
How to Avoid Manipulation in Daily Life
 Scenario: Salesperson lowers the price of a product
because the costumer thinks it is too expensive:
 Make a compromise
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Don’t reject totally what is being offered by others but accept
initial favors in good faith and in some cases be prepared to
view them as tricks
If it is a trick don’t feel the need to respond with a favor unless
you really want to
Commitment
 Being consistent with previous behavior
 People make a decision to take a stand and they will
encounter personal and interpersonal pressures to
behave consistently with the commitment (even is
appears illogical to an outsider)
 Kurt Lewin (1951): Claims this behavior is motivated
by goal gradients
Foot-in-the-door Technique
 Dickerson et al. (1992)
 University students conserving water; Santa Cruz,
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CA
1.) Sign a poster: “Take shorter showers. If I can do
it, so can you!”
2.) Take survey that made them think about the
amount of water they used
Shower time decreased by 3.5 minutes
Consideration: They signed the poster because they
were already committed to the cause
Low-balling
 Ciadelni et al. (1974)
 Sample: 1st year psychology students
 1st group: Volunteer to be part of study on cognition
at 7 a.m. (24% participation)
 2nd group: Same favor, but told no time. 56% agreed,
then told the time and also could back out, no one
did

On the day of the meeting, 95% of the students (of the 56%
that agreed) showed up
Hazing
 Common amongst sports teams & fraternities
 Old School Video Clip
 Many universities stopped the practice but it still
exists due to deaths
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Extreme temperatures
Drinking themselves into comas
Digging their own graves
 Similar to initiation rites seen in other cultures:
 African societies have initiation rites (rites of passage) to
indicate their entrance into adulthood
 Boot camp: teach recruits how to do their job but also
overcoming difficulty and humiliation
Thought Process of Enduring Hazing
 1.) Person chooses to join the group, recognizing
initiation is involved
 2.) Rationalization that it is “worth it”
 3.) Upon completion there is a sense of
accomplishment
 Young (1963):
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54 tribal cultures
Those with the most extreme ceremonies had the strongest
group solidarity
Is Hazing Necessary?
 Aronson & Mills (1959):
 Aim: Will enduring trouble or pain to join a group cause
them to value the group more vs. those that do not
 Sample: Female college students
 Procedure: Join a sex discussion group
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Embarrassing initiation and no initiation
Attend a meeting (made up of confederates; acting bored and
uninterested)
 Conclusions:
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Initiation Found the meeting extremely valuable
No initiation “worthless and uninteresting”
 Gerard & Mathewson (1966) follow-up study:
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Women received electrical shocks during initiation found their group
interesting, intelligent, and desirable
Social Influence: Conformity