PSY403 Glossary

PSY403 · Glossary ·  Acceptance

Conformity that involves both acting and believing in accord with social pressure.

 Actor-observer difference

We observe others from a different perspective than we observe ourselves; in some experiments this has led to differing explanations for behavior.

Physical or verbal behavior intended to cause harm. In laboratory experiments, this might mean delivering electric shocks or saying something likely to hurt another's feelings.

 Altruism

A motive to increase another's welfare without conscious regard for one's self-interests; see also helping norms.

 Arbitration

Resolution of a conflict by a neutral third party who studies both sides and imposes a settlement.

 Attitude

A favorable or unfavorable evaluative reaction toward something or someone (often rooted in one's beliefs, and exhibited in one's feelings and intended behavior); see also prejudice.

 Attitude inoculation

Exposing people to weak attacks upon their attitudes so that they will have refutations available when stronger attacks come.

 Attribution theory

The theory of how people explain others' behavior; for example, by attributing it either to internal dispositions (enduring traits, motives, and attitudes) or to external situations.

 Authoritarian personality

A personality that is disposed to favor obedience to authority and intolerance of outgroups and those lower in status.

 Benevolent sexism

A seemingly favorable attitude that puts women on a pedestal but sometimes conveys an assumption that women need men's protection.

 Bio-psycho-social

The interplay of biological, psychological, and social influences.

 Brainwashing

Coercive persuasion that aims to change beliefs; see also compliance.

 Bystander effect

The finding that a person is less likely to provide help when there are other bystanders.

 Central nervous system (CNS)

The part of the nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal cord.

 Cerebellum

The region of the brain attached to the brain stem that controls motor coordination, posture, and balance as well as the ability to learn control of body movements.

 Cerebral cortex

The outer surface of the cerebrum.

 Cerebral hemispheres

The two halves of the cerebrum, connected by the corpus callosum.

 Cerebrum

The region of the brain that regulates higher cognitive and emotional functions.

 Closure

A perceptual organizing process that leads individuals to see incomplete figures as complete.

 Cognitive dissonance

Tension that arises when one is simultaneously aware of two inconsistent cognitions. For example, dissonance may occur when we realize that we have, with little justification, acted contrary to our attitudes or made a decision favoring one alternative despite reasons favoring another.

 Cognitive map

A mental representation of physical space.

 Cohesiveness

A "we feeling"; the extent to which members of a group are bound together, such as by attraction for one another factor in groupthink.

 Collectivism

Giving priority to the goals of one's groups (often one's extended family or work group) and defining one's identity accordingly.

 Companionate love

The affection we feel for those with whom our lives are deeply intertwined.

 Compliance

Conformity that involves publicly acting in accord with an implied or explicit request while privately disagreeing; see also brainwashing; foot-in-the-door phenomenon.