2. Social Cognition Processes and Bias

Question 1

Knowledge activation

Answer 1

Retrieving an element of social knowledge from long-term memory

Question 2

Bottom-up

Answer 2

Data driven

Question 3

Top-down

Answer 3

Knowledge driven

Question 4

What can knowledge shape when activated?

Answer 4

Attention, construal, memory, behaviour

Question 5

What are the determinants of activation?

Answer 5

1. Schema (framing)
2. Applicability (given stimulus, can I apply a concept)
3. Accessibility

Question 6

Applicability

Answer 6

Overlap or fit between the features of a stimulus and the features of some stored knowledge (stimulus is strong and makes you think of a certain thing. ex. seeing a lab coat makes you think of a doctor)

Question 7

Accessibility

Answer 7

Activation readiness of stored knowledge; how ready is the schema to come to mind and have a top-down influence on your stimulus; prepared to thing something and then analyze

Question 8

Priming

Answer 8

To activate some social knowledge, to make it accessible for later info processing

Question 9

Spreading activation

Answer 9

Activation spreads from one concept to other related concepts in the associative network; source of chronic/temporary accessibility (ex. Likelihood of Sexually Harass Scale, perceiving something in terms of a specific concept)

Question 10

“Sub-liminal”

Answer 10

Below the subjective threshold of conscious awareness

Question 11

What are the characteristics of automatic processing?

Answer 11

It is: efficient(judgments while distracted), unintended (snap judgments of personality), difficult to control (prejudice), outside of awareness – ANY OF THE ABOVE

Question 12

Subjective threshold

Answer 12

Duration necessary for the subject to be aware of seeing stimulus

Question 13

Objective threshold

Answer 13

Duration necessary for stimulus to have an effect

Question 14

Controlled processing

Answer 14

It is: effortful, intentional, controllable, aware

Question 15

What is the Theory of “Lay Epistemics”?

Answer 15

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Theory of “Lay (regular people) Epistemics (coming to believe something)”

Question 16

What are the three parts of the theory of “Lay Epistemics”

Answer 16

1. Need for closure (wanna make a judgment)
2. Desire for validity (I need more info)
3. Motive for specific conclusions (wanting to feel good about the decision)

Question 17

What is need for closure in Lay Epistemics?

Answer 17

Motive to have some answer on a topic (rather than confusion)

Question 18

What does need for closure lead to?

Answer 18

“seizing and freezing”

Question 19

When does need for closure happen?

Answer 19

Need time and attention, need to act now

Question 20

What is desire for validity in Lay Epistemics?

Answer 20

Motivation to be accurate

Question 21

What does desire for validity do?

Answer 21

Makes your examination more careful

Question 22

What is the motive for specific conclusions in Lay Epistemics?

Answer 22

Get to enough evidence for a decision you like and stop thinking about it

Question 23

Disposition

Answer 23

Internal factor, such as belief, value, personality trait and ability that guide a person’s behavior

Question 24

Fundamental attribution error

Answer 24

The failure to recognize the situational influence on behavior along with overemphasizing the importance of dispositions on behaviour; Lee Ross 1977

Question 25

Construal

Answer 25

People’s interpretation or inference about the stimuli or situations they confront

Question 26

Declarative knowledge

Answer 26

Knowing “that” (types of people and social situations)

Question 27

Procedural knowledge

Answer 27

Knowing “how” (rules, skills, and habits for thinking and acting)

Question 28

What are examples of declarative knowledge?

Answer 28

• Schemas (knowledge structure, concept)
• About people (roles and stereotypes, significant other, self)
• About situations and events (scripts, relational, narratives)

Question 29

What is selective attention guided by?

Answer 29

• Schemas (looking for what you expect to see)

- Procedural knowledge (learned to focus attention for certain reason)

Question 30

What guides our construal of ambiguous situation?

Answer 30

Schemas

Question 31

Do people recall more when they are trying to remember or forming an impression?

Answer 31

When they are forming an impression because they can link this information to the schemas they already have

Question 32

Give an example of social construal

Answer 32

Donald Trump

Question 33

What is a script?

Answer 33

Event schema

Question 34

How is declarative knowledge represented?

Answer 34

Through associative networks, nodes and links; More observed = higher strength

Question 35

What are some of the effects of social knowledge?

Answer 35

• attention (selective)
• construal (situational inference)
• memory (attaching to schema)

Question 36

Why is having a schema a necessary condition?

Answer 36

Without knowing what something is, you cannot perceive it

Question 37

Chronic accessibility

Answer 37

Certain frame of mind (schema) readily available over a period of time

Question 38

Stroop test

Answer 38

Study using words of different colors to test how readily different concepts get activated

Question 39

How is automatic processing different from controlled?

Answer 39

Automatic: efficient, unintended, difficult to control, outside awareness
Controlled: effortful, intentional, controllable, aware

Question 40

Is conscious or not priming better?

Answer 40

Unconscious is better