chapter 9

Question 1

social cognition

Answer 1

involves how we interpret, analyse, remember and use information to make judgments about others in different social situations

Question 2

person perception

Answer 2

refers to the mental processes we use to form impressions and draw conclusions about the personal characteristics of other people.

Question 3

impressions from physical appearance

Answer 3

Physical appearance is an important characteristic of first impressions, especially attractiveness.
- benefit from the halo effect

Question 4

Halo effect

Answer 4

The halo effect is a cognitive bias in which the impression we form about one quality of a person influences our beliefs and expectations about the person in other qualities

Question 5

impressions from nonverbal communication

Answer 5

A person’s body language is an expression of behaviour that enables us to make quick and often accurate judgments about them.
- facial expressions, body language, posture

Question 6

impressions from non verbal communication. EYE CONTACT

Answer 6

Eye contact is one of the most influential forms of non-verbal communication.
There are cultural differences with the use of eye contact.
Asain cultures = bad
western cultures = good

Question 7

Impressions from non-verbal communication: FACIAL EXPRESSIONS

Answer 7

Paul Ekman used cross-cultural studies to investigate whether facial expressions associated with certain emotions are common among all people, regardless of their cultural backgrounds.
After many studies, Ekman (1980) concluded that ‘all people speak and understand the same facial language’.

Question 8

Attribution

Answer 8

is the process by which people explain the causes of their own and other people’s behaviour.
- can be grouped into two categories — personal and situational

Question 9

Personal attribution

Answer 9

sometimes called dispositional, is an explanation due to the characteristics of the person involved, such as their personality, ability, attitude, motivation, mood or effort.
- If we attribute behaviour to internal factors, we tend to blame the person for causing the behaviour.

Question 10

Situational attributional

Answer 10

is an explanation due to factors external to the person involved, such as the actions of another person, some aspect of the environment, the task, luck and fate.

Question 11

Fundamental attribution error