Mcat Psychology Ch. 10 Social Thinking

Interpersonal Attraction refers to what makes people like each other, influenced by various factors such as physical attractiveness, similarity of attitudes, self-disclosure, reciprocity, and proximity.

Aggression is defined as behavior with the intent to cause harm or assert dominance, contrasting with the incorrect answers that emphasize positive interactions and conflict avoidance.

Attachment specifically pertains to the emotional bond between individuals, particularly between a child and their primary caregiver. It is not related to physical connections, biological processes, or digital files.

Secure Attachment is an important concept in child development where the child feels secure with a consistent caregiver, enabling them to confidently explore their surroundings. This attachment style promotes healthy emotional development and the ability to form secure relationships in the future.

Avoidant Attachment is marked by a lack of responsiveness from the caregiver, leading the child to show indifference towards the caregiver and strangers alike.

Ambivalent/Anxious Attachment is characterized by inconsistent responses from the caregiver, leading to mixed emotions in the child when the caregiver leaves or returns.

Disorganized attachment refers to a relationship where the caregiver's behavior is erratic or abusive. The child shows no clear pattern of behavior in response to the caregiver's presence or absence, and may exhibit repetitive behaviors like rocking back and forth.

Social support refers to the feeling or reality that one is cared for by their social network, which can include friends, family, and community. It may involve emotional, practical, or informational support and is important for overall well-being.

Social support can be categorized into different types that serve various needs and aspects of an individual's life. Emotional support involves providing comfort and empathy, while esteem support focuses on boosting one's self-confidence and self-worth. Material support refers to tangible assistance such as financial aid or help with daily tasks. Informational support entails providing advice, guidance, and useful knowledge. Network support involves access to social connections and resources.

Emotional support involves actively listening to someone, acknowledging their feelings, and showing empathy towards their emotions. It is about providing a safe space for the individual to express themselves without fear of judgment or ridicule. Giving advice, ignoring emotions, or making fun of vulnerabilities are not examples of effective emotional support.

Esteem Support focuses on acknowledging and recognizing the positive attributes and abilities of an individual, rather than providing financial aid, emotional comfort, or physical help with tasks.

Material Support involves tangible contributions such as physical or monetary resources to assist an individual, rather than emotional or mental support.

Informational Support refers to providing information or guidance to help a person make informed decisions or solve problems. It is different from other types of social support like Physical, Emotional, or Financial support.

Network Support in terms of social support is primarily focused on fostering a sense of belonging and connection for individuals, rather than providing financial, physical, or emotional support.

A mating system refers specifically to the organization of a group in terms of sexual behavior, such as monogamy, polygamy, polygyny, polyandry, or promiscuity.

Altruism specifically refers to helping behavior where the individual intentionally benefits others at their own expense, distinguishing it from selfish acts, kind acts without personal sacrifice, or manipulation for personal gains.

Game theory is a mathematical framework for analyzing situations in which participants may make decisions that affect each other's outcomes. It attempts to explain decision-making processes in various scenarios by modeling them as games with rules, strategies, and outcomes.

Inclusive Fitness is a measure of an organism's success in a population and is based on various factors related to reproduction and genetic relatedness, explaining behaviors like altruism.

Social perception, or social cognition, is the way in which we form impressions about people based on various factors. It involves the perceiver, the target, and the situation in which the perception occurs. It is not about mind-reading, an innate ability, or manipulation.

Implicit Personality Theory refers to the tendency of individuals to form specific assumptions and beliefs about the correlation between different traits and behaviors in people.

The Primacy Effect refers to the psychological phenomenon where first impressions carry more weight and influence than later impressions. It highlights the significance of initial encounters in shaping perceptions and judgments.

The Recency Effect refers to the phenomenon where the most recent information we have about an individual holds more weight in shaping our impressions of them compared to older or more distant information.

Reliance on Central Traits refers to the tendency to form perceptions of others based on traits and personal characteristics that are important to the perceiver, rather than relying on stereotypes, physical appearance, or actions alone.

The Halo Effect refers to the tendency of people to allow one positive trait to overshadow other negative traits or characteristics when forming an overall impression of an individual.

The Just-World Hypothesis suggests that individuals believe in a cause-and-effect relationship between a person's actions and the outcomes they experience, leading to the belief that good or bad things happen to people based on their moral worthiness.

Self-Serving Bias is a psychological phenomenon where individuals tend to attribute their successes to internal factors such as their own abilities or efforts, while attributing their failures to external factors such as luck or circumstances. This bias is often characterized by a tendency to protect one's self-esteem and self-image.

Attribution Theory is a psychological theory that focuses on how individuals interpret and make sense of the behavior of others.

Correspondent Inference Theory is a concept in social psychology that focuses on how we tend to attribute the behavior of others to their personalities, especially when the behavior is unexpected or goes against the usual norms.

The Fundamental Attribution Error refers to the bias towards making dispositional attributions rather than situational attributions when interpreting the actions of others. This tendency leads individuals to attribute behavior to the inherent qualities of a person rather than considering external factors that may have influenced their actions.