Social cognition Flashcards
Cognition
mental processing, largely automatic, mostly unconscious
Thinking
based upon internal language and symbols, often conscious
Configurational model (Asch 1946)
certain pieces of information are used to form an impression, central vs peripheral traits
study: warm, cold or polite, blund led to different attributions of traits, therefore prove it
Primacy effect
earlier information has more impact (central cue, more attention, …)
Recency effect
later information has more impact (when distracted or not fully engaged)
What is assumed in absence of information: the best or worst?
best, but biases exist towards negativity
Why do biases exist towards negativity?
unusual or distinct information attracts attention, potential danger
Personal constructs (Kelly 1955)
personal ways of characterizing people with own priorities
Implicit personality theory
personal ways of characterizing people and finding explanations for behavior, general expectations that are built after seeing central traits (happy person is friendly,…)
Social judge ability
perception of who should or should not be judged, if acceptable: more polarised judgement
Schemas
cognitive structure, serve as templates for interpretation of stimuli, represent and organize knowledge, fill possible gaps, information on how to behave
Types of schemas
personal, self, role, situational, content-free
Wiener’s attribution theory
attribute someone’s task achievement depending on:
- locus (internal or external)
- stability (stable or unstable)
- controllability (future performance under control)
Correspondence bias (Jones and Davis)
tendency to see behavior as reflecting stable underlying personality traits
example: freely chosen, non-common, high in personalism, low desirability
Fundamental attribution error
attributing another’s behavior to internal causes, own behavior to external causes
