PSYC 2100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Fundamental Attribution Error, Hindsight Bias, Situation Two
16 Sep 2016
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Document Summary
Scientific study of how our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are shaped by the real or imagined presence of others & other environmental cues. Differs from related fields, like personality, developmental, sociology, etc. Is social psych. common sense: no; while some results in seem obvious, it"s not always the case. Common adages: birds of feather flock together vs. opposites attract, look before you leap vs. he who hesitates is lost. Hindsight bias: events appear obvious after the fact. Some important topics in social psychology: power of situation, social cognition subjective construction of reality, factors affecting thoughts, emotions, behaviour, motivational desires, hopes, wishes, cognitive mental processes. Fundamental attribution error: tendency to overestimate extent to which ppl"s behaviour stems from internal factors & underestimate role of external factors. Examples: kiss at end of date, question of how you"re doing. Motivational: desire to feel good about self (self-enhancement, rose-coloured glasses) Cognitive: heuristics (mental shortcuts or rules of thumb )
