Social Perception/Cognition Flashcards
What is social perception and cognition?
How we interpret, analyse, and remember information about our social world
- First step to being a social creature
What kind of questions are social perception researchers interested in?
• 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?
Fiske says that…
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
What do we need to measure accuracy of social perceptions?
Target, measure, criterion
What did Landis (1924) do?
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
Based on work of Darwin and William James, what did some scientists hypothesise?
That there should be a neurological basis for emotional basis as well if it is evolutionary
Ekman’s study
Instructions for configuring face to represent different emotions
Found display of affective states influenced experience
Argued there is direct, bidirectional link
Strack’s study
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
What did Cronbach propose regarding person perception accuracy?
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
What did Forgas et al., 1984 study on affect and person perception accuracy involve?
- 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
What did Forgas et al., 1984 study on affect and person perception accuracy find?
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
Representativeness heuristic
Based on their resemblance to some already known type of information
False consensus
Others must think like us
Priming effects
Recent exposure affects behaviour
Embodiment
Our physical internal sensations can become a part of the way we perform social judgements
Kille DR et al. study?
- 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
What are Holistic (Gestalt) models?
Traits don’t have permanent/stable value, unlike in Atomistic theories.
What did Asch’s 1946 experiments suggest?
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.
Central vs peripheral traits study?
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
Kelly 1950 study was on…
central trait hypothesis.
Kelly’s study found that
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
Dion, Berscheid and Walster, 1972
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
Wilson 1968 study?
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’
McDavid & Harari, 1973 study?
- Same essays different names: Hubert/Elmer vs. John/David
- Popular names significantly higher marks received than unusual name
Birmingham, 2000 study?
- 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
Luchins Study: The Jim Experiment?
- 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
Asch study on primacy effects?
- 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
What is the Meaning Shift Hypothesis?
Primacy effect exists because later traits are shifting meaning to be consistent with/fitting with meaning of earlier traits.
Jones et al. 1968 quiz show study?
- 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)
Forgas’ study on primacy?
- 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
What are implicit personality theories?
A set of assumptions based on our own perceptions about which personality characteristics are associated with which others
What are implicit personality theories based on?
- Based on personal experiences
- Individual & partly cultural
When and why are person prototypes and stereotypes theorised to form?
- Cognitive economy - limited cognitive capacity
- Easily formed, often in childhood
- More uncertain world is, more you tend to categorise
What are schemas/person prototypes?
- 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
