Section 4: Social Cognition Flashcards
Social cognition:
the process through which people think about and make sense of themselves and others
deals with the fact that the same subjective reality can be seen in different ways
4 reasons why we see social reality in different ways?
- Selective attention
- Interpretation
- Judgement
- Memory
-Cognitive misers:
stingy/ do not want to give more than have to (Scrooge)
Only use when absolutely necessary
- Self-fulfilling prophecies
: when an initial inaccurate expectation leaves the perceiver to act in ways that cause the other person to react in ways that fulfill the stereotype
o 1. When people with inaccurate expectations are in control of situation
o 2. When the targets of that expectation give into control.
dispositional inferences (internal), situational (external)
- judgement that their behavior is due to their personality
- Fundamental attribution error (FAE): more likely to dispositional attribution over situational attribution over judgement of behaviors
o Also known as correspondence Bias
Cognitive heuristics:
Representative heuristic
Availability heuristic
False consensus effect:
Anchoring and adjustment
Representative heuristics:
mental shortcut classifying someone belonging to a certain category to the extent that it is similar to a typical case from that category
Availability heuristics:
over estimate of the likelihood of events that come to mind more easily
False Consensus effect:
assumptions is we tend to have others agree with us
Anchoring and adjustment:
have new judgment, rough estimate as an anchor Ex. Millikin major less than 25 or more
Actor-observer bias:
how we judge ourselves vs other people
Illusion of control:
believing that we have control – enhance self-control and desired outcomes
Attribute others into cause, self-serving attributions
Need for structure:
Extend to which people are motivated to organize their mental and physical worlds in simple ways
Engage in cognitive characters
Need for cognition:
enjoy thinking, analyzing, examining
- Less likely to use cognitive characters
Cultural differences:
Individualistic societies: are more likely to believe characters and personality are strong causes for behavior
Collective societies: strong appreciation for the situation can influence our behaviors
Two conditions lead to wanting accuracy:
- Special desire to have control over one’s life
2. Want to avoid making mistakes
How to increase accuracy?
Listening, asking questions, paying attention to inconsistencies, working harder to increase the understanding/causes of other people’s behaviors
Correspondence Theory:
4 questions: Yes = dispositional attributions
1. Was the behavior intentional?
2. Was behavior freely chosen?
3. Were the consequences for seeable?
4. Did the person act this way despite counter veiling forces?
Ex. Jack loves Jill, Jill gets knocked up, or Jack was forced into marrying Jill?
Co-variation theory:
Sheila’s story: coworker calls into work on a snowy day, is she calling in because of weather or she just using an excuse? Usually on time, and everything else, and two others called in because of weather.
3 factors: 1. Is the person’s behavior consisting across time in this type of situation? (Consistent)
- Yes = dispositional
- 2. Is the person’s behavior unusual or distinctive across situation? (distinctiveness)
- No = depositional
- 3. Do other people behave in the same way? (Consensus)
- No = dispositional
- Situational attribution is concluded – behavior unknown across time, behavior unusual, other people act same way
Other factors of covariation theory:
People make internal/Person attribution when consistency is high, and consensus and distinctiveness is low.
People make external/Situation attribution when consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency are all high.
Person x Situation attributions are made when consensus is low, distinctiveness and consistency is high.
3 additional factors motivate us to be accurate:
mood
unexpected events
social independence
