Cognitive Perspective - The Self Flashcards
why did cog perspective come up?
in response to and against behaviourism.
2 key elements of cog perspective
- important to try + understand how we deal with info/stimuli competing for our attention
- constantly making decisions, both conscious + unconscious.
what is social cognition?
- study how ppl process information about the social world, particularly the self + other ppl.
key idea in cog?
schemas: mental organization that helps us process information
difference in personality + social psych
cog psych = more interested in mental structures themselves than in why.
what are schemas?
mental representations with which people interpret the objects and social situations in their world.
- knowledge structures made up of collections of attributes/features that have a “family resemblance” to each other
what is a prototype?
best example of construct/concept
why do schemas help?
help to make sense of new events by recognizing what they are like in terms of their similarity to the cognitive structures that already exist
assist in getting new info into memory
activation of schemas
- become activated when other thoughts that are associated with them become activated
- when activated, can influence what ppl “see”
important roles of schemas?
- compare to pre-existing schema
- remember info better when it fits a schema
- helps fill information
activation of schemas determined by 4 things?
- availability
- accessibility
- applicability
- salience
what is availability of schemas?
-whether it exists or not
what is accessibility of schemas?
how easy it is to access the schema
what is applicability of schemas?
whether the schema is applicable to the situation
what is salience of schemas?
degree to which a particular social object stands out compared to other social objects in a situation
what is priming?
process that increases temporary accessibility
- activation of one schema can make related schemas activate.
William James’s Self
- two meanings?
“I” = ontological self. mysterious entity that does observing and describing
the “Me”, epistemological self, sort of object that can be observed + described
central aspect of the self?
psychological self
- abilities, personalities
- may influence behaviour, organizes memories, impressions, judgements
two types of self-knowledge?
- declarative: facts, consciously aware of.
- procedural: expressed thru behaviour/action rather than words
what is the declarative self?
comprises all of your self-knowledge or opinions about your own personality traits
two sorts of the declarative self
- self-esteem: overall opinion about whether you are good or bad, worthy or unworthy
- self-schema: everything you know about traits/abilities
low self esteem?
bad
BUT too high can cause problems
- important to maintain realistic s-e bc too low = danger signal
low s-e + life outcomes?
dissatisfaction with life, loneliness, delinquency, crime, higher suicide rates.
– not fitting in
high s-e + life outcomes?
generally = success.
- accepted by social groups
- BUT, high s-e may fail to recognize when ppl dislike us = feel good but risking rejection/exploitation
- if too high + not based on reality = dont fix social relationships, become arrogant, abusive, narcissistic, criminal
video: self-esteem movement
- s-e courses aren’t good way to boost s-e.
- violence due to artificially high s-e.
- artificially inflated s-e =/= positive outcomes.
what is self schema?
includes all of one’s ideas about the self, organized into a coherent system
markus - IDing ppl who are schematic for traits
- if schematic for, responded quicker to those words.
- - self view/self conception can affect how we process information = quicker when relevant to self.
being schematic for trait = “expert” , pros and cons?
- easily process relevant info
- instantaneous plan of action
- narrows outlook/view of world
- if too rigid = fail to test things outside their area of expertise
what is self-complexity
the degree to which your self-schema is differentiated and compartmentalized.
high = compartmentalize, distinct
low = dont compartmentalize - on fail affects all areas.
self complexity study?
IV: global phrase “ I am X” or contextualized phrase “I am X when Y”
DV: response to failure =
global = spilled into other domains, vs contextualized = less emotional affect.
what is the self-reference effect?
enhancement of long-term memory that comes from thinking of how information relates to the self.
what is self discrepancy?
the interaction between 3 kinds of self-relevant schemas determines how you feel about life
– the discrepancies have diff consequences
3 kinds of self-relevant schemas?
- actual self: person you are
- ideal self: future possible self. who you could be at your best.
- ought self: who you should be vs who you could be.
studying M vs F mate preference?
- originally thought that F prefer males that are older + have resources + M want young, physically attractive
but, re-eval this Q found that both M+F prefer older + resources
discrepancy btw actual + ideal?
depressed
discrepancy btw actual + ought?
anxious
focus of ideal self?
reward, pursuit of pleasures + rewards
- promotion-focused
focus of ought self?
punishment based, avoid bad outcome
-prevention-focused
importance of accurate self-knowledge
can be right or wrong, but better when right.
- if see the world as it actually is = mentally/psychologically well adjusted.
model to make good choices?
Realistic Accuracy Model = RAM
- also use to gain accurate self-knowledge
what are 4 elements of RAM?
Relevance
Availability
Detection
Utilization
self-knowledge vs knowledge of others
knowing yourself might be more difficult than figuring out someone else.
- have better insight into personal experience
- but, diff picture when it comes to overt behaviour.
- fairly complicated to attend to self
what is the procedural self?
unique aspects of what you do
- ways of doing things, procedures.
- not consicous of knowledge itself + generally cannot explain it.
- – display of who you are
what is the relational self?
self-schema based on past experience that directs how we relate with each of the important people in our lives
what is the relational self theory?
many scripts for relating to others are set early in life
- well rehearsed, roots are deep.
what is the implicit self?
the part of the self that you may not be aware of.
how to measure Implicit self?
IAT - measure reaction time to various stimuli.
- if two words are closely assoc = quicker rxn time.
what is self-consciousness?
awareness of who one is and what one is doing
describe ppl who are more self- conscious?
more self-directed in their behaviour.
- more autonomous
self conscious elderly study
more self conscious = walk slower after test
– elderly words affected those high in self-consciousness
what are dual process models
cognitive models that contrast the roles of conscious + unconscious thought
what is Epstein’s cognitive experiential self-theory (CEST)
prominent dual process model
- seek to explain unconscious processing + the seemingly irrational, emotion driven sectors of the mind
RATIONAL VS EXPERIENTIAL
RATIONAL mind in Epstein’s CEST model?
more recent, takes effort/work, language, Freud’s secondary process thinking, logical, slow deliberate
EXPERIENTIAL mind of Epstein’s CEST model?
older, pre-human ancestors thought, quick + dirty, close to emotions,Frued’s primary process thinking
what is implicit egotism?
tend to prefer letters in our own names especially first + last initials
- extends to occupations + places we choose to live
pros of cognitive perspective?
helps to understand the mind, + the mind is related to personality
cons of cog perspective?
is anything gained by examining cognition with personality?
