social cognition Flashcards
define schemas
mental structures we use to organise knowledge about everything in the world
schemas is the mental clusters of knowledge we have about what?
- ourselves
- others
- social categories (stereotypes and features about groups/things)
- social events (scripts - what is supposed to happen in a restaurant)
what 4 knowledge/concepts do we have under the umbrella of schemas?
- self
- others
- stereotypes
- scripts
what is the function of schemas?
- ORGANISE info we alr know
- INTERPRET unfamiliar situation
- ANTICIPATE / PREDICT future
schemas influence the info we notice, focus on and anticipate through 3 different ways, which are?
- expectations
- evaluations
- comparisons
scripts help us determine what to do in an _________ situation and provide a mental frame for recalling the _______.
like stereotypes, we feel surprised, awkward or offended when a script is _________.
unfamiliar; past; violated
give 2 examples of violations of scripts.
- paying $400 in coins at the vet
- wearing PJs and slippers to a wedding
state 2 properties of schemas.
hints:
mental guide
overtime
perceptual pilots
- mental guides to past and future
- affect perceptual processes (what we see/hear)
overtime, schemas typically become
- more substantial in content
- more abstract
(sammi talks alot / sammi volunteers alot / sammi smiles alot = sammi is a warm girl) - more resistant to change (even in face of contradictory evidence)
schemas related to ourselves are even more:
1.
2.
3.
- substantial in content
- complete
- accessible
how does the mind decide which schema to use in a specific situation? the operation of our mind follows a very important cognitive principle called accessibility.
define accessibility.
accessibility refers to the extent to which a concept is at the forefront of our mind. the more accessible a concept is, the more likely it will be used to make judgements at hand.
a concept becomes accessible for 3 reasons. what are they?
ans format: ___________ accessible due to _____________
- chronically accessible due to repeated experience
(raised in abusive home, concepts of insecurity active in mind all the time)
- temporarily accessible due to need to achieve goal
(suspect someone is lying, that someone stuttering looks like “evidence” to you)
- momentarily accessible due to recent experience
(walking out from a horro movie at night)
accessibility due to _______ forms the backbone of priming.
momentary accessibility due to recent experiences
define priming
process by which recent experiences increases accessibility of a schema
priming can also be known as a
reminder
fill in the blanks to this description of an experiment related to accessibility, priming and judgment by _______, _______ & ________ (19___):
- participants who memorised negative words formed a much more ___________ impression of Donald.
- the words have __________ to do with Donald.
- demonstrates the powerful effect of __________ on subsequent (even unrelated) social ____________.
Higgins, Rholes & Jones (1977)
- negative
- nothing
- accessibility; judgments
schemas and accessibility shape 2 kinds of social cognition. what are they?
system 1: automatic thinking
- no conscious deliberation of info
- unconscious mind and unintentional
- quick & effortless
- in response to intuition
- associative & spontaneous
system 2: controlled thinking
- deliberate evaluation of info
- conscious and intentional
- slow & effortful
- in response to rules
- systematic & step by step
schemas and accessibility shape 2 kinds of social cognition, systems 1 and 2.
state 3 differences between these 2 systems.
system 1: automatic thinking
system 2: controlled thinking
a) system 1 happens quickly and effortlessly while system 2 happens slowly and effortfully
b) system 1 is in response to intuition while system 2 is in response to rules of logic & reason
c) system 1 occurs in the unconscious mind / unintentionally while system 2 occus in the conscious mind / intentionally
d) system 1 involves no conscious deliberation of info while system 2 involves deliberate evaluation of info.
e) system 1 is associative & spontaneous while system 2 is systematic & step by step.
a property of system 1 (auto thinking) is that it relies on mental heuristics. define heuristics.
shortcuts that allow us to process info quickly and effortlessly with reasonably accuracy
why is our mind inclined to use mental heuristics when we deal with info?
- we don’t have pre-existing schemas for everything
- too much info available for use
- don’t have resources like time to think slowly or deliberately
- cannot be bothered enough to think
what are the 2 mental heuristics we use that are mentioned in the slides?
- availability heuristics
- representative heuristics
define availability heuristic
The availability heuristic involves making judgments based on how easily specific information comes to mind.
what is the mental heuristic that is related to accessibility?
availability heuristic
the availability heuristic leads to ____________ errors in judgments about probability or likelihood.
predictable
define representative heuristic
mental shortcut we use to classify something according to how similar it is to a typical case
*generates templates for inferences aka stereotyping
*tendency to use this heuristic is so strong that people tend to ignore base rate info when making judgments
when is system 1 (auto thinking) is more likely to take over?
- tired
- not motivated to be accurate
- under time pressure
list some ways we use system 2 (controlled thinking) for.
- solving math problems
- evaluating pros and cons
- prioritizing tasks
- cooking while following a recipe
define counterfactual thinking
mentally undoing some aspects of the past and imagining what might have been
“if only i had run instead of walk to the bus stop and caught the bus, i would have been on time for class”
“if only i had answered 2 more MCQs correct, i would have passed the exam”
the _________ it is to mentally ____ an outcome, the stronger the emotional reactions we have.
easier; undo
give an example of counterfactual thinking in the psychology of tragedy
the more easily people could mentally reverse the tragedy, the more distressed they were
child drowned in pool because dad was looking at phone for 3 minutes vs child dies from 5 year long fight with cancer
when system 1 is at work, many decisions/judgments are made based on which 2 heuristics?
availability and representative
