Vivid Cases

Question: Prejudice

Answer: A mixture of beliefs, emotions and predispositions to actions.

Question: Blame the victim dynamic

Answer: If circumstances of poverty breed higher crime rate, someone can then use that crime rate to justify discriminating against those in poverty.

Question: Social identities

Answer: We associate ourselves with certain groups and contrast with others.

Question: Scapegoat theory

Answer: Finding someone to blame when things go wrong.

Question: Cognitive roots of prejudice

Answer: Categorization, vivid cases, the just-world phenomenon.

Question: Other race effect

Answer: An example of categorization--the tendency to recall faces of own race more accurately than that of another race.

Question: Jennifer Eberhart

Answer: People are more willing to give the death penalty to defendants with the most stereotypically "Black" features.

Question: Kent Harber

Answer: Unconscious patronization--evaluators expect less of black students vs. white, gave less criticism and higher grades.

Question: Ronnie Janoff-Bulman

Answer: Hindsight bias--people hearing a story ending in a rape perceived the woman as "asking for it." With rape deleted, this wasn't perceived.

Question: Just world phenomenon

Answer: The tendency for people to believe that the world is just and that people get what they deserve and deserve what they get.

Question: Aggression

Answer: Any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt/destroy.

Question: Frustration-aggression principle

Answer: Frustration (blocking of an attempt to reach a goal) creates anger which leads to aggression.

Question: Social scripts

Answer: Mental tapes for how to act, provided by our culture.

Question: Mere exposure effect

Answer: Repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them,

Question: Reward theory of attraction

Answer: We will like those whose behaviors are rewarding to us; we will continue relationships that offer more reward vs. cost.

Question: Dolf Zillman, Jennings Bryant

Answer: Repeatedly watching x-rated films makes sexual aggression seem less serious.

Question: Craig Anderson, Karen Dill

Answer: University men who play violent videogames tend to be more physically aggressive.

Question: Passionate love

Answer: Physical arousal + cognitive appraisal.

Question: Compassionate love

Answer: Deep, affectionate attachment.

Question: Self-disclosure

Answer: The revealing of intimate details about ourselves.

Question: Altruism

Answer: Unselfish regard for the welfare of others.

Question: Diffusion of responsibility

Answer: More people share responsibility for helping so are less likely to act on their own.

Question: Bystander effect.

Answer: Any particular bystander is less likely to give aid with another bystander present.

Question: Social exchange theory

Answer: Soical behavior should maximize benefits, minimize costs.

Question: Reciprocity norm

Answer: We should return help, not harm, to those that have helped us.

Question: Social responsibility norm

Answer: We should help those that need it even if the costs outweigh the benefits.

Question: Social traps

Answer: Harming collective wellbeing by pursuing personal goals.

Question: Mirror Image perceptions

Answer: Mutual views often held by conflicting people; each side views itself positively, the other side negatively.

Question: Superordinate goals

Answer: Shared goals that override differences and can only be achieved through cooperation.

Question: Vivid cases

Answer: Estimating the likelihood of events basedon their availability in memory. If instances come readily to mind, we presume they are more common.

Question: Confirmation bias

Answer: Tendency to notice and recall instances that confirm our beliefs and ignore instances that disconfirm.

Question: Belief perseverance

Answer: Clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited.