helen fishers studies, psychology homework help

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First, what did you find most interesting about this chapter's text reading? Then please tell us what you found interesting, or ask an interesting question regarding each of the videos?

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http://www.ted.com/talks/helen_fisher_studies_the_...

https://www.ted.com/talks/sam_richards_a_radical_e...


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Social Cognition A. Attribution—Attributions are explanations for behaviors or events that make us feel safer and more in control. The basic question is whether our actions are due to internal dispositions (derived from our own traits and motives) or external situations (derived from the environment or situation). Attribution is subject to several forms of error and bias. The fundamental attribution error reflects our tendency to overestimate internal, personality influences and underestimate external influences when judging the behavior of others. The saliency bias is the tendency to focus on the most noticeable factors when explaining the causes of behavior. The self-serving bias occurs when we attempt to find reasons for our own behavior, as we tend to take undue credit for positive outcomes and attribute negative outcomes to external causes. Both fundamental attribution error and self-serving bias may be partially an artifact of Western society due to the strong emphasis on the self and individuality. More collectivist cultures (such as Asian and certain Native American societies) do not define themselves as much in terms of individual traits. B. Attitudes—Attitudes are learned predispositions to respond to objects, people, and events in a particular way. The three components of all attitudes are affect (feelings), behavior (actions), and cognitions (thoughts and beliefs). We sometimes change our attitudes because of cognitive dissonance, which is a feeling of discomfort caused by a discrepancy between two conflicting cognitions or between an attitude and a behavior. This mismatch and tension motivate us to change our attitude to restore balance. Cognitive dissonance may reflect a particular way of evaluating the self that is distinctively Western. Social Influence Conformity–Social Influence—Conformity refers to changes in behavior in response to real or imagined pressure from others. Asch's classic study of conformity demonstrated that people will often conform to group opinion even when the group is clearly wrong. People conform for approval and acceptance (normative social influence), out of a need for more information (informational social influence), and to match the behavior of those they admire and feel similar to (their reference group). People also conform because it is often adaptive to do so. Obedience—Obedience involves following a direct command, usually from an authority figure. Milgram's experiment with obedience to authority demonstrated that a large number of people will follow orders even when another human being is physically threatened. Four factors determine the likelihood of obedience: legitimacy and closeness of the authority figure, remoteness of the victim, assignment of responsibility, and modeling and imitating others. Social psychologists also emphasize socialization, foot-in-the-door technique, and relaxed moral guard as influential to obedience. Group Processes —Group membership is the basic relationship members of a group immediately recognize and share. As a member of a group we then play various roles. The importance of these roles in determining and controlling behavior was dramatically demonstrated in Philip Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Study. College students who were assigned to play the role of either a prisoner or guard in a simulated prison became so completely and dangerously immersed in acting out their roles that the experiment was prematurely ended. Deindividuation occurs when one is less self-conscious and less inhibited, and less personally responsible as a member of a group than when alone. Group decision making is often considered to be conservative and “middle of the road,” but research on the risky-shift phenomenon shows that sometimes groups support riskier decisions. This is influenced by how group discussions affect individual opinions (group polarization) and how group membership affects access to information (group-think). Sharing ideas with "like-minded" others often reinforces the group's preexisting and dominant tendencies, resulting in group polarization. Groupthink is a dangerous type of thinking that occurs when the group's desire for agreement overrules its tendency to critically evaluate information. Social Relations Prejudice and Discrimination—Prejudice is a generally negative attitude directed toward specific people solely on the basis of their membership in an identified group. It contains all three components of attitudes (cognitive, affective, and behavioral elements). Discrimination is not the same as prejudice. It refers to the actual negative behavior directed at members of a group. People do not always act on their prejudices. The major sources of prejudice are learning (classical and operant conditioning and social learning); personal experience (negative experiences and getting attention from others); limited resources; displaced aggression (scapegoating), and mental shortcuts (in-group favoritism and out-group homogeneity effect). Cooperation and common goals, intergroup contact, cognitive retraining, and cognitive dissonance are four major methods for reducing prejudice and discrimination. Aggression—Aggression is any behavior intended to harm someone. Research points to both internal and external factors leading to aggression. In the search for internal factors leading to aggression, some researchers have focused on inborn instinctual factors and the role of genetic predispositions toward aggression. Biological investigations have also explored the role of hormones (elevated levels of testosterone) and neurotransmitters (lowered levels of serotonin and GABA), as well as aggression circuits in the brain. Psychosocial factors also play a role in aggression. Substance use, particularly alcohol, is related to aggressive behavior. Aversive stimuli, frustration (and displaced aggression), social learning (observation of models who are rewarded for aggression), and media violence may be the most important external factors. Releasing aggressive feelings through violent acts or watching violence has not been shown to be an effective way to reduce aggression. More effective ways are to produce incompatible responses (such as humor) and to improve social and communication skills. Altruism—Altruism refers to actions designed to help others with no obvious benefit to oneself. Why do we help? Evolutionary theorists believe altruism is innate and has survival value. Psychological explanations for altruism emphasize the egoistic model, which suggests that helping is motivated by anticipated gain, or the empathy-altruism hypothesis, which proposes that helping is activated when the helper feels empathy for the victim. Why don't we help? Whether or not someone helps depends on a series of interconnected events, starting with noticing the problem and ending with a decision to help. Altruism is inhibited by the fact that many emergency situations are ambiguous and the potential respondent is unsure of what to do. Inhibition also comes from not taking personal responsibility and assuming someone else will respond (the diffusion of responsibility phenomenon). To increase the chances of altruism, we should reduce ambiguity by giving clear directions and assigning responsibility to those who may be watching, providing altruistic models, and reducing legal liability. Interpersonal Attraction—The degree of positive or negative feelings we have toward each other account for a variety of social experiences including admiration, liking, friendship, intimacy, lust, and love. Three factors influence interpersonal attraction—physical attractiveness, proximity, and similarity. Physical attractiveness is very important to initial attraction. Physically attractive people are often perceived as more poised, interesting, cooperative, achieving, sociable, independent, intelligent, healthy, and sexually warm than less attractive people. Standards for attractiveness are consistent across cultures, while what is considered beautiful varies across cultures. People tend to select partners with physical attractiveness levels similar to their own. Proximity is also very important to initial attraction. People who are in the same place at the same time are more likely to become friends just due to mere exposure. Similarity is the most important factor in holding together long-term relationships over time. There are two ways in which this factor acts. One is need compatibility; we need others who are like us to share interests, attitudes, and so on. Another is by need complementarily; we also need others who have very different qualities, and so each provides important resources for the other. Loving others is more of a mystery. Sternberg’s triarchic theory of love suggests that intimacy, passion, and commitment make up consummate love, the fullest form of love. Romantic love has intrigued people throughout history and has been found in many societies throughout the world. Companionate love relies on mutual trust, respect, and friendship and seems to grow stronger with time.
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Front the chapter’s text readings on Helen Fisher, what I found interesting in this lecture is why
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