psych unit 2 Flashcards
social cognition
This chapter focuses on social cognition, which
relates to the way that we behave in social
settings and also how we interpret the
behaviours of others. Social cognition involves:
1. the detection of facial expressions and
emotional responses (social perception)
2. understanding other people’s cognitive or
emotional states (social understanding),
and
3. carrying out behaviours that take into
consideration the goals and needs of
ourselves and others (social decisionmaking)
person perception
When we meet an individual for the first time we
make quick judgements, or form an impression, about
that person based on their overt (observable)
characteristics.
Person perception is the processes by which people
think about, appraise and evaluate other people. For
example, if a person is perceived as friendly, we are
more likely to help them when they are in need.
Conversely, if we perceive someone as aggressive or
dominant, we are less likely to choose them as a
group member for a collaborative project.
Person perception leads us to make judgements
about people based on limited information;
therefore, it is not always accurate. When making
these judgements we use physical cues, saliency
detection and social categorisation.
key concepts in person perception
physical cues- such as physical appearance, facial expressions and overall
manner serve as signals that allow us to draw conclusions about
a person.
saliency detection- refers to the tendency to notice physical features that are
unique, novel or stand out from the norm. People with salient
features capture our attention and we tend to spend longer
looking at people we perceive to be salient
social categorisation- is the process by which we group individuals based upon the
perceived social category they belong to; the most overt social
categories are sex, race and age.
external/ situational factors
External/Situational Factors
When a situational attribution is made, the cause of the
given behaviour is assigned to the situation (i.e. external
factor).
The person responsible for the behaviour may assign the
causality to the environment or weather.
For example:
* Someone must have just played with the baby
* He scored well because it was an easy test
* She tripped because of a crack in the path
attitudes defenition
Attitudes are learned ideas we hold about ourselves, others,
objects and experiences. Attitudes are not innate. They are
learned through exposure to the environment and can cause a
person to respond in a positive or negative way
attribution
is the process of assigning causes for our own behaviour,
behaviour of others and events we witness.
* is essentially concerned with how people make causal
explanations – usually for their own and others’ behaviour
* Humans have a need to understand why things happen,
that is, attribute causes to behavior
fundamental attribution error
overestimating the
personal causes for
other’s behavior while
underestimating the
situational causes
self-serving bias
attributing personal
success to internal
factors and personal
failure to external
factors
attitudes
As attitudes involves objects, people, groups, events or issues,
we can form an attitudes towards anything:
■ Death Penalty
■ Birth Control
■ Euthanasia
■ Global Warming
■ Pokie Machines
■ Co-education
■ School Uniforms
