An Introduction to Social Psychology Chapter 3 Flashcards
What is the main topic of Chapter 3 in An Introduction to Social Psychology?
The main topic is Social Cognition, which refers to how we process, store, and apply information about others in social contexts.
What is social cognition?
Social cognition is the study of how people think about themselves and others in a social context, and how they make sense of their social world, including perceptions, judgments, and decisions.
How do we form impressions of others?
We form impressions of others through social perception, which involves interpreting cues such as facial expressions, body language, and verbal communication to make judgments about their characteristics.
What is the halo effect?
The halo effect is a cognitive bias where the perception of one positive trait (like attractiveness or friendliness) influences the perception of other unrelated traits, often leading to a general positive evaluation of the person.
What is cognitive load and how does it affect social cognition?
Cognitive load refers to the mental effort required to process information. When cognitive load is high, people tend to rely more on heuristics or mental shortcuts rather than carefully processing all information.
What are heuristics in social cognition?
Heuristics are mental shortcuts that help us make quick judgments and decisions, but they can lead to errors or biases. Common heuristics include the availability heuristic and the representativeness heuristic.
What is the availability heuristic?
The availability heuristic involves making judgments based on how easily information comes to mind, often influenced by recent experiences or media exposure, rather than considering all relevant facts.
What is the representativeness heuristic?
The representativeness heuristic is the tendency to judge something based on how closely it resembles a typical case or prototype, leading to errors when people overlook base rates or other important factors.
What is the fundamental attribution error?
The fundamental attribution error is the tendency to overemphasize dispositional factors (personality traits) and underestimate situational factors when explaining others’ behavior, often attributing their actions to internal causes rather than external influences.
What is the actor-observer bias?
The actor-observer bias occurs when people attribute their own behavior to external factors (situations) but attribute others’ behaviors to internal factors (personal traits), which can lead to biased perceptions of others.
What are schemas in social cognition?
Schemas are mental structures that organize and interpret information based on prior knowledge and experiences, allowing individuals to make sense of complex social situations quickly and efficiently.
How do schemas influence social perception?
Schemas influence what information we pay attention to, how we interpret it, and how we remember it. They guide our expectations and can lead to stereotypes when generalized to larger groups of people.
What is the concept of stereotyping in social cognition?
Stereotyping is the process of applying generalized beliefs about a group of people to individuals, often oversimplifying and distorting their characteristics. It can lead to biased judgments and discriminatory behavior.
How does self-fulfilling prophecy relate to social cognition?
A self-fulfilling prophecy occurs when someone’s beliefs or expectations about another person cause that person to behave in ways that confirm those beliefs, often reinforcing stereotypes or preconceptions.
What is the confirmation bias?
Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek, interpret, and remember information that supports one’s preexisting beliefs while ignoring or discounting information that contradicts those beliefs.
