Social Perception/Cognition

Question 1

What is social perception and cognition?

Answer 1

How we interpret, analyse, and remember information about our social world
- First step to being a social creature

Question 2

What kind of questions are social perception researchers interested in?

Answer 2

• How do we form impressions of others?
• How do we predict the behaviour of others?
• What role do schemas play in social cognition?
• What types of mental shortcuts do we use?
• How do we explain the causes of behaviour
(attribution theory)?
• What errors bias our social thoughts?
• How do our feelings influence our thoughts?

Question 3

Fiske says that…

Answer 3

Experience actually filtered through a psychological lens; we experience world as if it is a literal, unaltered copy, but each person passes reality through a different lens

Question 4

What do we need to measure accuracy of social perceptions?

Answer 4

Target, measure, criterion

Question 5

What did Landis (1924) do?

Answer 5

Landis created a variety of situations to evoke specific complexemotions
Eg
fish around in a bucket of water for different frogs -> disgust —>photographed —> target

Then people asked to identify emotions of targets

Question 6

Based on work of Darwin and William James, what did some scientists hypothesise?

Answer 6

That there should be a neurological basis for emotional basis as well if it is evolutionary

Question 7

Ekman’s study

Answer 7

Instructions for configuring face to represent different emotions
Found display of affective states influenced experience
Argued there is direct, bidirectional link

Question 8

Strack’s study

Answer 8

Extrapolated upon Ekman’s studies
Participants not aware of what emotions
'Motor coordination task'
Hold pen in mouth horizontally or pointing out
Horizontal - more positive emotions
Found cartoons funnier

Question 9

What did Cronbach propose regarding person perception accuracy?

Answer 9

There are different types of accuracy

• Psychological (stereotype) accuracy - type of person
• Differential accuracy - the ability to determine how a particular person is different from type

Question 10

What did Forgas et al., 1984 study on affect and person perception accuracy involve?

Answer 10

• Hypnotic mood induction
• Then watched videos of them interacting with other person
• Count number of times things that they did that were positive, and negative

Question 11

What did Forgas et al., 1984 study on affect and person perception accuracy find?

Answer 11

When induced into a good mood, saw more positive than negative qualities in themselves and in the others
Negative mood, partner ratings for negative and positive observations were similarly low

Question 12

Representativeness heuristic

Answer 12

Based on their resemblance to some already known type of information

Question 13

False consensus

Answer 13

Others must think like us

Question 14

Priming effects

Answer 14

Recent exposure affects behaviour

Question 15

Embodiment

Answer 15

Our physical internal sensations can become a part of the way we perform social judgements

Question 16

Kille DR et al. study?

Answer 16

• Physical instability (computer desk wobbly) —> judgements about future stability
• Physically stable condition had higher ratings of perceptions of social stability (economy, relationships, etc), lower ratings of preference for stability, than the physically unstable condition

Question 17

What are Holistic (Gestalt) models?

Answer 17

Traits don’t have permanent/stable value, unlike in Atomistic theories.

Question 18

What did Asch’s 1946 experiments suggest?

Answer 18

The outcome of an impression is not directly derivable from input information we start with.

There are central and peripheral traits. Some traits matter more than others.

Question 19

Central vs peripheral traits study?

Answer 19

Asch.

Form information of a person, given 7 personality traits (adjectives).

Found that certain words such as “warm, cold” are extremely influential in impression formation; these are central traits

Question 20

Kelly 1950 study was on…

Answer 20

central trait hypothesis.

Question 21

Kelly’s study found that

Answer 21

With a warm/cold adjective manipulation, 56% in ‘warm’ condition stayed behind for discussion, only 32% in cold condition

Expectations can play a very important role, produces self fulfilling prophecy

Question 22

Dion, Berscheid and Walster, 1972

Answer 22

Physical attractiveness a biasing factor in impression formation.
Physically attractive people deemed to have positive qualities; trustworthiness, success, popularity, intelligent, competent
‘Homely’ women had lower mean ratings

Question 23

Wilson 1968 study?

Answer 23

Study of halo effect of physical height.
Guest lecturer ‘from oxford’ or ‘macquarie’
After lecture, students asked to estimate physical height
‘Oxford’ lecturer estimated to be 2 inches taller than lecturer from ‘macquarie’

Question 24

McDavid & Harari, 1973 study?

Answer 24

• Same essays different names: Hubert/Elmer vs. John/David

- Popular names significantly higher marks received than unusual name

Question 25

Birmingham, 2000 study?

Answer 25

• 400 British psychiatrists given 1 page case summary to diagnose a 24 year old man who assaulted a conductor
• Man’s name manipulated: Matthew or Wayne
• Matthew (common middle class name) - schizophrenic; Wayne (lower class name) - lazy drug user with a personality disorder

Question 26

Luchins Study: The Jim Experiment?

Answer 26

• Jim described in 2 paragraphs
• Extrovert in first paragraph; introvert in second paragraph
• Order of two paragraphs are changed
• Rate Jim on extroversion
• First paragraph dominates

Question 27

Asch study on primacy effects?

Answer 27

• Participants form impression of John
  
  • Intelligent, industrious, impulsive, critical, stubborn, envious
  • OR critical, stubborn, envious, intelligent, industrious, impulsive
  • How likable is John?
• Found that first adjectives have more influence
• Asch theorised that this is because later traits are shifting meaning to be consistent with/fitting with meaning of earlier traits
  
  • Meaning Shift Hypothesis

Question 28

What is the Meaning Shift Hypothesis?

Answer 28

Primacy effect exists because later traits are shifting meaning to be consistent with/fitting with meaning of earlier traits.

Question 29

Jones et al. 1968 quiz show study?

Answer 29

• Intelligence of person in quiz show - 30 questions
• Conditions: Most of first half right, most of second half wrong; vice versa
• Intelligence rated as higher if he starts well (got first half mostly right)

Question 30

Forgas’ study on primacy?

Answer 30

• Modelled after Luchins’ Jim study
• People in a good mood are less thorough
  
  • Primacy effect stronger in positive mood
  • Happy group - large difference in extroversion ratings between the two (diff. order) conditions
  • Control group shows smaller difference
  • Least difference in sad mood group

Question 31

What are implicit personality theories?

Answer 31

A set of assumptions based on our own perceptions about which personality characteristics are associated with which others

Question 32

What are implicit personality theories based on?

Answer 32

• Based on personal experiences

- Individual & partly cultural

Question 33

When and why are person prototypes and stereotypes theorised to form?

Answer 33

• Cognitive economy - limited cognitive capacity
• Easily formed, often in childhood
• More uncertain world is, more you tend to categorise

Question 34

What are schemas/person prototypes?

Answer 34

• Influence social cognition (encoding, storage, retrieval)
  
  • Provides framework for new information
  • We tend to remember information consistent with schema
  • Acts as a cognitive filter during attention and encoding