2: Social Cognition Flashcards
What is social cognition?
The way we interpret, analyse, remember and use information about the social world
What is the main model for how we form impressions of others?
Asch’s configuration model
Who came up with the configuration model of how we form impressions of others?
Asch
What is Asch’s configurational model?
How we form impressions of others
Central traits: Have a strong influence over impressions
Peripheral traits: Have less of an influence over impressions
Some traits are more important than others.
What are central traits?
Asch’s configuration model:
Traits that have a strong influence over how we form impressions of others
What are peripheral traits?
Asch’s configuration model:
Traits that have a weak influence over how we form impressions of others
What biases do we have in forming impressions of others?
Primacy effect: Traits presented first have more influence over final impressions
Regency effect: Traits presented last have more influence over final impressions
Negativity: In the absence of negative information, we assume the best in others. But when given negative information, it has a strong influence
What is the primacy effect?
Traits presented first have more influence over final impressions
What is the regency effect?
Traits presented last have more influence over final impressions
What are personal constructs?
Our individual ways of organising and catergorising people such as by humour or intelligence
What is the halo effect?
We have better opinions of people who are physically attractive
What are some types of schemas?
Person
Role
Script
Self
Why do we catergorise and use schemas?
To save time and mental energy
To provide meaning for objects and reduce uncertainty
What are associative networks/memory?
Where ideas are linked by association. Recalling one idea makes it easier to recall those that are associated with it
What are stereotypes?
They are widely shared generalisations often used to describe whole groups
Slow to change
Ony change in response to wider social, political or economic changes
Aquired at an early age
Become stronger and more hostile when there is social tension
What is the accentuation principle of catergorising people?
We place people in catergories to accentuate certain traits
What is the stereotype content model?
The content of stereotypes reflects the social-structural relations between groups
(Eg: Old people having high warmth but low compentancy)
When a group stereotype is high warmth and low compentancy, what emotions do we associate with them?
Pity and sympathy
When a group stereotype is high warmth and high compentancy, what emotions do we associate with them?
Pride and admiration
When a group stereotype is low warmth and low compentancy, what emotions do we associate with them?
Contempt and disgust
When a group stereotype is low warmth and high compentancy, what emotions do we associate with them?
Envy and jealousy
How do stereotypes of old age affect old people?
Positive perceptions of age are shown to increase lifespan which shows that psychological state is important for our wellbeing
Bargh 1996: Measured how long it took to walk down a corridoor
What were the results of the 1996 Bargh study into old age?
When exposed to negative stereotypes of old age, they took longer to walk down a corridor
What is social encoding?
The process by which external stimuli are represented in the mind of the individual
What is the process of social encoding?
Pre-attentive analysis
Focal attention
Comprehension
Elaborative coding
What types of stimuli are there in social encoding?
Salient stimuli: Attention capturing and novel such as someone behaving oddly
Vivid stimuli: Emotionally attention grabbing and close to you in space and time such as a terrorist attack
Accessible stimuli: Accessibility of schemas we already have
What are accessible stimuli?
Accessibility of schemas we already have
What are vivid stimuli?
Emotionally attention grabbing and close to you in space and time such as a terrorist attack
What are salient stimuli
Attention capturing and novel such as someone behaving oddly
What are heuristics?
Time saving mental processes that reduce complex moral judgments to simple rules fo thumb
What are some types of heuristics?
Representatvieness: Making judgements based on how stimuli resemble other catergories or stimuli
Availability: Making judgements based on how easily specific information can be brought to mind
Anchoring: Making judgements based on the tendency to start at a certain value and make adjustments afterwards
What are representativeness heuristics?
Making judgements based on how stimuli resemble other catergories or stimuli
What are availability heuristics?
Making judgements based on how easily specific information can be brought to mind
What are anchoring heuristics?
Making judgements based on the tendency to start at a certain value and make adjustments afterwards
What are some cognitive errors and biases?
Regression to the mean
Illusory correlation
Cognitive miser
Heuristics
What are dual process theories?
They aim to provide a framework for social inferences processes
Dual process theory (Brewer 1988)
Continuum model (Fiske and Neuberg 1990)
What is dual process theory (Brewer 1988)?
Heuristic vs systematic
What is the continuum model (Fiske and Neuberg 1990)?
One extreme is heuristic and the other is systematic
People can be perceived anywhere along the continuum either as representatvie of a group or an individual
