exam 1 - social cognition

Question 1

system 1 processing

Answer 1

fast, automatic, frequent, emotional, stereotypic, unconscious

Question 2

system 2 processing

Answer 2

slow, effortful, infrequent, logical, calculating, conscious

Question 3

top-down processing

Answer 3

“theory-driven” mental processing, in which an individual filters and interprets new info in light of preexisting knowledge and expectations

Question 4

bottom-up processing

Answer 4

“data-driven” mental processing, in which an individual forms conclusions based on stimuli encountered in the environment

Question 5

representativeness heuristic

Answer 5

process whereby judgments of likelihood are based on assessments of similarity between individuals and group prototypes or between cause and effect

Question 6

base-rate neglect

Answer 6

tendency to ignore statistical info in favor of dramatic or vivid case histories

Question 7

regression fallacy

Answer 7

misunderstanding the statistical tendency for extreme behavior to return toward one’s average

Question 8

availability heuristic

Answer 8

used to evaluate the frequency or likelihood of an event on the basis of how quickly examples are readily available in your memory

Question 9

anchoring and adjustment

Answer 9

tendency for numerical estimates to be biased by an initial, even arbitrary, starting point, or “anchor”

Question 10

fluency

Answer 10

the feeling of ease (or difficulty) associated with processing information

Question 11

assimilation

Answer 11

interpreting new info in terms of existing beliefs

Question 12

confirmation bias

Answer 12

tendency to test a proposition by searching for evidence in support of it

Question 13

self-fulfilling prophecy

Answer 13

our expectations lead us to act in ways that cause others to confirm our expectations

Question 14

belief perseverance

Answer 14

persistence of one’s initial conceptions, even in the face of opposing evidence

Question 15

illusory correlation

Answer 15

belief that 2 variables are correlated when in fact they are not

Question 16

construal level theory

Answer 16

relation between psychological distance and the extent to which people’s thinking is abstract or concrete

Question 17

pluralistic fallacy

Answer 17

phenomenon whereby people act in ways that conflict with their true attitudes or beliefs because they believe others don’t share them

Question 18

change blindness

Answer 18

failure to notice an obvious change

Question 19

inattentional blindness

Answer 19

failure to notice the existence of an unexpected item

Question 20

cognitive misers

Answer 20

people act as untrained scientists, objectively looking at behaviors and making accurate judgments

Question 21

false-consensus effect

Answer 21

persuasive cognitive bias that causes people to see their own behavioral choices and judgments as relatively common and appropriate to existing circumstances