Chapter 4 - Social Cognition Flashcards
Social cognition
the processes of perception, interpretation, belief and memory with which we evaluate and understand ourselves + other people.
What does social cognition affect, to do with relationships?
How we think about our relationships
How long does research suggest that our initial encounters with someone influence how we feel about them?
10 weeks of continual contact
How long does research suggest that our initial encounters with someone influence how we feel about them?
10 weeks of continual contact
How long does it take us to judge a stranger’s attractiveness, trustworthiness or status?
0.33 milliseconds
How long does it take to judge how extraverted, conscientious, intelligent a person is?
5 seconds
What are snap judgements based on?
based on info we have about people we’ve met who resemble them/their categories (ex. male/female, old/young, etc.).
Primacy effect
Tendency for the first info we receive about others to carry special weight.
Confirmation bias
When we want to test our first impression of someone, we’re more likely to pursue information that we think will confirm that belief than to prove it wrong.
What is the problem with confirmation bias?
elicits one-sided info that fits our preconceptions, meaning we rarely confront evidence that shows our first impressions are wrong.
overconfidence
Thinking we’re more accurate than we really are and making more mistakes than we realize.
Does confirmation bias increase or decrease as we get to know someone?
Confirmation bias increases overtime.
Who is the best to judge how long a relationship will last?
roommates > parents > the individual
fWHR - Facial width-to-height ratio
narrower faces are more trustworthy, wider faces have higher sex drives.
Positive illusions
construction of generous perceptions of our partners that emphasize their virtues + minimize their faults.
Do we ignore faults to construct positive illusions?
No, we just minimize them.
Disillusionment
fooling ourselves into believing in qualities our partner does not even possess.
What is a positive outcome of disillusionment?
more likely to commit to maintaining a relationship as you view them positively.
How can we influence our partners to become more how we see them/want to see them?
Positive reinforcement
How do we modify our standards as we get to know our partners?
we modify our ideal standards to better fit the partners we have.
Attributional process
identifies cause of an event, emphasizing and minimizing the effect certain influences.
What are the internal influences of attributional processes
personality, ability, effort.
What are the external influences of attributional processes
the situation or the circumstances they faced.
What are the stable influences of attributional processes?
lasting, such as our abilities.
What are the unstable influences of attributional processes?
transient, such as moods.
How does the positivity or negativity of an event affect our attributional processes?
We are more likely to notice internal influences if a positive thing occurred, and more likely to notice external influences if a negative thing occurred.
What are the patterns of attribution (2)
-Relationship enhancing
-Distess maintaining
Actor-observer effects
We generate diff info for our own behaviour vs. that same behaviour in our partner.
Actor-observer effects
We generate diff info for our own behaviour vs. that same behaviour in our partner.
How does actor-observer effect change how we attribute causes in our relationship?
We notice our own internal influences, but notice our partner’s external influences.
Self-serving bias
Readily take credit for our own success, avoid the blame for our own failures.