Download Forming Impressions (3-1)

Forming Impressions (3-1)
Objective:
Identify sources of information that people use to form impressions of others.
Describe key differences between snap judgments and systematic judgments.
Define attributions and explain when people are likely to make them.
Describe how expectancies distort people’s perceptions and influence others’
behaviors.
Describe how four cognitive distortions operate
Describe four key themes in person perception
I. Person perception:
The process of ______________________________________________
The study of how we _____________________ impressions about others
The processes by which we come to know about and think about others –their
characteristics, qualities, inner states.
II. Key sources of information
1. Appearance:
in impression formation we tend to believe ____________________________
2. _____________________ – what people say about themselves and others will
influence our impression of them
3. actions – in impression formation, we tend to follow the adage
“_________________________________________________”
4. ____________________ – facial expressions, eye contact, body language, gestures
5. situations – we pay particular attention to behaviors that are
_________________________________________________
III. Snap jugments vs systematic judgments
1. snap judgments may not be accurate.
2. when accuracy is not important, we tend to make snap judgments based on
__________________________________
3. BUT… SNAP JUDGMENTS ____________________________________
(ATTENTION, MEMORY, SPECULATION, ETC). WE G O INTO
“___________________________” --- Langer calls this “_____________”
4. systematic judgments are made when forming impressions of people who can
_______________________.
-Systematic judgments (in contrast to snap judgments) are based upon
_________________________________________________________
IV. Attributions: why do people do what they do?
-_______________________________________________________
-Inferences that people draw about the causes of their own behavior, others’
behavior, and events.
1. Internal/external attributions
a. Internal attributions: when we attribute other’s behavior to
______________________________________.
b. External attributions: when we attribute other’s behavior to
_______________________________.
2. Types of attributions we make about others can have major impact on
________________________.
a. we are selective about making attributions; most likely to make
them in specific cases:
i. _______________________________________
ii. _______________________________________
iii. _______________________________________
V. Perceiver expectations:
1. ______________________: tendency to behave toward others in ways
that confirm your hypothesis about them:
-our hypotheses about what a person is like influences our
____________________________________
-You hone in on those things that will confirm your hypotheses.
2. self-fulfilling prophecies: process whereby expectations about
a person cause the person
_____________________________________________________
a. three steps involved in a self-fulfilling prophesy:
i.
person has initial impression of someone
(_______________________)
ii.
perceiver behaves toward target person ina way that is
consistent with expectations.
iii.
Target person adjusts behavior to perceiver’s beliefs?
b. Person mistakenly attributes target person’s behavior to
_______________________________
c. Limits on self-fulfilling prophesies:
i.
Target person can work to
_________________________________
ii.
Target persons who
________________________________________are less
likely to be influenced by perceiver’s beliefs
VI. Cognitive Distortions:
1. Categorizing
a. we tend to perceive those who are similar to us as members of the
“____________” (us) and those who are dissimilar to us as members of the
“____________” (them).
b. Categorizing has three important consequences:
a. Attitudes tend to be more favorable toward __________ members
b. We tend to see ____________ members as being more similar to each
other than they really are
c. Heightens visibility of ______________ members when only a few of
them are in a large group
i. ________________ members are viewed as more distinct, seen
as having more influence
ii. Distinctiveness makes it more likely that stereotypes will be
invoked.
VII. Stereotypes: wide-held beliefs that people have certain characteristics because of their
membership in a particular group
1.most prevalent kinds involve
______________________________
2.also based on appearance (what is good is beautiful
stereotype)
VIII. _____________________________________________: the tendency to explain other
people’s behavior to internal, personal factors, rather than situational factors
IX. _______________________________________________: the tendency to blame victims for
their misfortune, so that one feels less likely to be victimized in a similar way.
a. helps people maintain their belief in a “___________________”
b. allows people to unfairly attribute undesirable traits to victims (e.g. incompetence,
foolishness)
X. Key themes in perception
1. _________________________
i. Tend to make judgments quickly\
ii. Errors occur with quick judgments
2. ____________________________
i. Expectations influence perceptions of others
ii. Ambiguous behavior in others increases influence of expectations
3. ________________________________
i. _______________________occurs when initial information carries
more weight than subsequent information
ii. Reasons for potency of primacy effect:
1. people tend to see __________________________
2. _______________________ may lead people to discount late
information.