Social cognition and research methods

Question 1

Social psychology is the scientific study of

Answer 1

the way people’s thoughts, feelings, and behavior are influenced by real or imagined presence of other people (or by the social situation).

Question 2

Social psychologists have to make the assumption that

Answer 2

people are the same

Question 3

Situations are better predictors than

Answer 3

perceived personality

Question 4

Attribution

Answer 4

deciding what explains behavior

Question 5

Fundamental attribution error

Answer 5

makes us think that people will always act the same (because of personality) - bias towards internal attribution

Question 6

Construal Definition and importance

Answer 6

The way in which people perceive, comprehend, and interpret the social world. Is especially important when making sense of social behavior

Question 7

Naive realism

Answer 7

we are overconfident in our interpretations

Question 8

Why do we interpret?

Answer 8

evolution!

1. We need accuracy and fast. We need to behave in an adaptive, predictive way
2. Need for self-esteem/ self-worth.
3. Need for closure fast: because uncertainty is unpleasant.

Question 9

Human-computer analogy is

Answer 9

not accurate, but it is useful

Question 10

Step wise model - 5 steps

Answer 10

Step wise model
Attention
Interpretation (biased)
Rehearsal
Storage
Utilization/Retrieva

Question 11

Step wise model

Attention

Answer 11

To respond to situations we need attention. Our social brains become habituated to knowing what is important and what can be ignored.

Question 12

Information overload and solutions while staying efficient

Answer 12

Humans have limited capacity per time, but we need to get accurate, self-esteem preserving, quick decisions
Solution: Automation, Schemas/chunking and Heuristics - are not always accurate

Question 13

Information overload and solutions - Automation

Answer 13

predict likely next inputs and processing requests

Automation allows information to be processed using nonconscious resource stores

Question 14

Information overload and solutions - Schemas/Chunking

Answer 14

Combining bits of information together. When we remember one of them, then all of them are subsequently retrieved. allows for efficiency

Question 15

Information overload and solutions - Heuristics

Answer 15

Are very simple rules that allow us to make decisions without considering all of the info that we could have access to. These are simple rules that guide decision-making. Usually accurate

Question 16

Schema (or schemata) meaning

Answer 16

Mental structures which chunk information together . Activating a concept will activate concepts that are associated with it
We expect schemas to be accurate although they are not

Question 17

Types of schema

Answer 17

Script - prediction of event/ event sequence
Self - predictions of our own behavior.
Role - Prediction of the appropriate social role
Stereotype
Trait: What is this person usually like (over time - prediction)?

Question 18

Types of heuristics

Answer 18

“take-the-best” heuristic for voting - 1 trait is needed
Status quo heuristic
Availability heuristic (+False consensus effect)
Representative heuristics

Question 19

Availability heuristic

Answer 19

basing judgment on how easily we can think of information. We see an event as more likely to happen based on how easy it is to bring it to mind.

Question 20

False consensus effect

Answer 20

an example of availability heuristic. Result: we overestimate the similarity of others’ attitudes/values to our own(because similar people are available to us)

Question 21

Automatic thinking

Answer 21

Automation, schemas and heuristics in decision making

Question 22

We rely on automatic thinking when

Answer 22

under time pressure, 
accuracy is not paramount, 
we’re not paying attention (unaware of bias), 
expending effort is too painful or
when situation/judgment is ambiguous.

Question 23

Controlled thinking

Answer 23

Often effortful, conscious, intentional

Question 24

We use controlled thinking when

Answer 24

Time is available, accuracy is critical, we are consciously aware of potential biases or we feel expending effort is worth the pain/discomfort

Question 25

Why is the distinction between automatic thinking and controlled thinking too simplified?

Answer 25

it is NOT accurate because our cognition is more of a mixture of both, and “automatic” can mean different things

Question 26

The 4 horsemen (or facets) of automaticity - Bargh 1994

Automatic processes possess at least one of the following

Answer 26

Unconscious
Unintentional - The brain activates schemas related to concept without trying
Uncontrollable - we can't change
Efficient (multitask)
Fast

Question 27

Distinguish social psychology from other disciplines

Answer 27

Social psychologists develop explanations of social influence through empirical methods. The goal is to discover universal laws of human behavior. it adopts the approach of evolutionary psychology