Social Cognition

Question 1

affective component

Answer 1

refers to the emotional reactions or feelings an individual has towards an object, person, event or issue

Question 2

ambivalence

Answer 2

refers to the idea that one can have both positive and negative responses towards the same thing

Question 3

attitude

Answer 3

an evaluation a person makes about an object, person, group, event or issue

Question 4

behavioural component

Answer 4

refers to the actions that we do in response to an object ect.

Question 5

central route of persuasion

Answer 5

route of persuasion which uses the content of the message to make the audience think carefully about the message and evaluate it (high elaboration).

Question 6

cognitive component

Answer 6

refers to the beliefs we have about an object ect.

Question 7

cognitive dissonance theory

Answer 7

suggests that if a person persists in behaving in a way that causes cognitive discomfort, the person tends to change their beliefs or attitudes to the behaviour

Question 8

ego-defensive function

Answer 8

a function of attitudes which helps people to protect themselves from admitting negative things or the harsh realities of the world

Question 9

impression formation

Answer 9

process by which people form an overall impression of someone’s character and abilities based on available information about their traits and behaviours

Question 10

impression management

Answer 10

process by which people attempt to manage the impression of themselves that they present to others

Question 11

knowledge function

Answer 11

a function of attitudes that operates because people need to have knowledge to give structure and order to the world in which they live

Question 12

likert scale

Answer 12

a type of questionnaire that allows a subject to nominate a category of choice in their response. this might be a number (e.g. 1-6) when those numbers represent intensities of agreement or disagreement (e.g strongly agree - strongly disagree)

Question 13

non-verbal communication

Answer 13

the ways that we present information without using verbal language

Question 14

peripheral route of persuasion

Answer 14

involves persuading the audience of the message by using peripheral cues. it requires little deliberation and elaboration by the audience.

Question 15

persuasion

Answer 15

process in which communicators try to convince other people to change their attitudes or behaviors regarding an issue through the transmission of a message

Question 16

prejudice

Answer 16

prejudice is an unjustified negative attitude towards an individual based solely on the individual’s membership of a social group

Question 17

social cognition

Answer 17

a branch of social psychology that examines our ability to gather information about and understand the processes, rules and concepts that govern our social interactions

Question 18

social comparison

Answer 18

people’s tendency to make assessments of themselves by comparing themselves to others

Question 19

downward social comparison

Answer 19

when we compare ourselves to someone who is slightly worse off than ourselves

Question 20

similar social comparison

Answer 20

when we seek out similar people with whom to compare our perceptions and attitudes

Question 21

upward social comparison

Answer 21

when we compare ourselves with someone who is more fortunate, happier or better at a task than ourselves

Question 22

stigma

Answer 22

social stigma is a sign of moral blemish, a censuring characterisation or a target of negative discrimination

Question 23

verbal communication

Answer 23

the content of what someone says

Question 24

adapative function

Answer 24

means that the attitude is useful in some way, as it helps to maximise rewards/advantages or minimise punishments/disadvantages.

Question 25

self-expressive function

Answer 25

means that the attitude helps us to express information about ourselves to other people, including our beliefs, values and self-image. It helps establish identity.

Question 26

stereotype

Answer 26

a fixed over-generalised belief about a particular group or class of people.

Question 27

semantic differential scale

Answer 27

a rating scale used for measuring the meaning of things and concepts.

Question 28

visual analogue scale

Answer 28

a measurement instrument that tries to measure a characteristic or attitude that is believed to range across a continuum of values and cannot easily be directly measured.