Introduction

Question 1

SOCIAL COGNITION

Answer 1

• dissects schema processes concerning others
• info on social world (qualities, inferences, judgements, predictions, reaction plans, etc.)

Question 2

REAL LIFE SOCIAL EXAMPLES

Answer 2

• key personality traits appear in 5 min of small talk
• disturbing race divide in cancer patients’ wait times in England
• unconscious bias leads to harsher grading of “inferior” kids
• lies told about mental health that aren’t visible without psych education
• anti-vaxxer families speaking out about their deaths

Question 3

NAÏVE REALISM

Answer 3

• social reality/expectancy construction
• oft unconscious
• ones perception is affected by how the subject wants to be perceived, and we seek info that supports this initial showcase
• failure to acknowledge subjectivity and the false obsession with objectivity

Question 4

OBJECT VS PERSON PERCEPTION

Answer 4

• “… the most ubiquitous and primitive cognitive activity…” (Bruner, 1957)
• we seek above the given info to marry the stimulus with meaning, objects and people alike, BUT…
• objects have immutable features (ie. a chair is a chair); lack subjectivity unlike people
• affected by prior experiences/beliefs/expectancies

Question 5

NAÏVE REALISM: FACTORS

Answer 5

CONTEXT
CONSTRUCTED NATURE OF PERCEPTION (THE ROLE OF THE PERCEIVER)
THE POWER OF THE DATA

Question 6

NR-F: CONTEXT (ILLUSORY EXAMPLES)

Answer 6

• illustrations from classic perceptual psych include:
• Mueller-Lyer illusion; two lines of equal length, one arrowed (“shorter”), the other pronged (“longer”)
• Pragnanz; optic illusion of an elderly lady appearing like a young woman

Question 7

NR-F: CONTEXT (FIELD EXAMPLES)

Answer 7

• field theory = every action has a specific background by which it is determined
• MILGRAM (1963); context of it being “OK” to electrify others
• LATANE & DARLEY (1968); the more bystanders present, the less likely one is to help
• ASCH (1952); “Asch effect”; line length perception distortion

Question 8

NR-F: THE CONSTRUCTED NATURE OF PERCEPTION

Answer 8

• subjectivity as perceivers affects perceptions of others
• norms/goals/stereotypes/expectancies/culture/prior info/mood/needs affect what we THINK we see
• the brain constantly compares new info to existing schemas

Question 9

PREDICTION AND THE MIND

Answer 9

• NOT passive absorption but active construction
• MACKNIK & MARTINEZ-CONDE (2011); incoming info is oft fragmentary and ambiguous; cortical hierarchy areas analyse the data stream to see if its what’s expected after the last experience, or if gaps are necessary

Question 10

PERCEIVER SUBJECTIVITY X PERSON PERCEPTION

Answer 10

• HALO EFFECT; positive goes w/positive assumption
• HASTORF & CANTRILL (1954); same person can be perceived differently depending on the observer (ie. dirty US football)
• LORGE (1936); spreading evalutation; we like what people we like say more
• ASCH (1946); trait centrality; impressions made by trait relations

Question 11

NR-F: THE POWER OF THE DATA

Answer 11

• we’re affected by data features that make it stand out
• it’s important which properties specifically grab out attention

Question 12

SALIENCE

Answer 12

• causal perception substantially decided by directed attention in the environment
• attention is a tool of salience in info; perceptually salient info is the over-present in the future causal explanations

Question 13

SALIENCE (ILLUSTRATIONS)

Answer 13

• causal weight = selective attention
• natural prominence of data = attention spotlight; stimuli novelty; info negativity; unit formation
• relative distinctiveness of data = comparative distinctiveness (ethnicity/gender/age)