SOCPSY 1Z03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 23: Fundamental Attribution Error, Cognitive Dissonance, Observational Learning

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Social Psychology
• Course: SOCPSY 1Z03
• Professor: Paul Galvin

Document Summary

Science as a means to overcoming cognitive biases that obstruct our understanding of the social world: personal experience cannot give us reliable and generalizable explanation beyond the situation. 70 mc questions (1 point each: cover material since midterm. 3 short-answer questions (10 points each: approx. 3/4-1 page: focused on second half of the course, but require knowledge of broad themes and frameworks of the course, graded on whether or not your are right, not much focus on writing quality. Relationships between attitude and behaviour: often think of attitude as the cause of behaviour - attitudes don"t always cause behaviour, cognitive dissonance and resolving it. Festinger and carlsmith studies and the results. Components of attitudes - a schema and a feeling. Attitude formation: reinforcement, classical conditioning, observational learning. Balance theory: what does the theory involve, what predictions does it make. Reasons for the weak link between attitudes and behaviour.