PSYCH 280 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Fundamental Attribution Error, Gestalt Psychology, Naturalistic Fallacy
Document Summary
Social psychology - the scientific study of feelings, thoughts, and behaviors of individuals in social situations. Dispositions - internal factors, such as beliefs, values, personality traits, and abilities, that guide a person"s behavior. Fundamental attribution error - the failure to recognize the importance of situational influences on behavior, and the corresponding tendency to overemphasize the importance of dispositions on behavior. Channel factors - situational circumstances that appear unimportant on the surface but that can have great consequences for behavior - facilitating it, blocking it, or guiding it in a particular direction. Construal - an interpretation of or inference about the stimuli or situations people confront. Schema - a knowledge structure consisting of any organized body of stored information. Stereotype - a belief that certain attributes are characteristics of members of a particular group. Natural selection - an evolutionary process that molds animals and plants so that traits that enhance the probability of survival and reproduction are passed onto subsequent generations.
