Intro To Social Cognition

Question 1

Social cognition

Answer 1

The study of how people think, feel, and make sense of others and themselves.

Question 2

People are not things because they are:

Answer 2

• intentional causal agents
• can perceive and be perceived
• adjust themselves after being perceived
• have many attributes (traits) and those must be inferred (non-observed)
• we frequently change and are complex beings

Question 3

Phenomenology

Answer 3

To describe how people SAY they experience their world. The study of human consciousness and self-awareness.
Ex: car breaks down = the answer is based on subjective reality

Question 4

Naive psychology

Answer 4

Common sense theories people make about each other. Tendency to see the world around us objectively, and that people who disagree must be uninformed, irrational, or biased.

Question 5

Solomon Asch

Answer 5

He conducted research on perception
The difference of the words “warm” vs “cold” in judging a person
Warm: a wise person
Cold: a calculating person
He developed two models for person perception

Question 6

Algebraic Model

Answer 6

• created by Asch
• adding in the pros and cons of a person in subsequent order
• trait inferences

Question 7

Configural Model

Answer 7

• Asch’s model
• grabbing all the traits of a person and making it fit a particular context
• if it does not fit, find a way to justify it

Question 8

Gestalt Psychology

Answer 8

Studies how people’s experiences are influenced by subjective perceptions.
Introduced the idea that perception is influenced by motivations and expectations
We perceive the whole rather than the sum of parts

Question 9

Lewin’s person-situation field theory

Answer 9

• influence of social environment as perceived by the individual
• behaviour is determined by the a. Person in the environment and b. Cognition and motivation
• ex: a motivated student will definitely study if he’s in the library, but he will less likely study if he is in the tv room (even if he’s motivated to study, the tv will make it hard for him)

Question 10

Information processing

Answer 10

Mental operations can be broken down into sequential steps

Question 11

Social thinker

Answer 11

• Mental processes shaped by the social environment
• involved thinking and emotion, to simplify a complex problem and identify causes of behaviour (attributions)

Question 12

Mentalism

Answer 12

Cognitive representations such as general knowledge
THE WHAT

Question 13

Cognitive processes

Answer 13

Cognitive mechanisms such as attention, memory and inferences.
THE HOW

Question 14

Cross-fertilizations

Answer 14

Sharing with cognitive science such as neuro-imaging
FROM WHERE

Question 15

Real-world issues

Answer 15

social problems like mental health, prejudice
THE WHY