Unit 1 Flashcards
Heuristics
Cognitive shortcuts to reach a judgement
Automatic processing
Thinking which occurs quickly, without conscious effort
Information overload
When demands on cognitive processing exceed our capacity
Controlled processing
Thinking carefully and using logic- triggered by unexpected events
Overjustification effect
Tendency for extrinsic incentives to undermine intrinsic motivation
Explanation for overjustification effect
Self-perception theory: being rewarded for doing something leads us to believe we did it for the reward, not because we love it
Overjustification study
Kids who were given an expected reward to play with a marker spent less time playing with it the second time around than those who had no reward or an unexpected reward
Self schema
Cognitive framework of beliefs and information about the self, which influences processing of information
Self-schema study
8th graders were randomly assigned to write an essay imagining their best possible self and strategies they could take to get there. Students who did this exercise got better grades, took more initiative, and misbehaved less.
Role of culture in self schema
In more individualistic cultures, people’s self schema are more independent. In more interdependent cultures, the schema characteristics are more interdependent
Self schema study
When asked to write about who they were, a large portion US undergrads wrote about their personal characteristics and very few about group membership.
Same with Kenyan undergrads.
Kenyan city workers were much less likely to describe personal characteristics and more likely to describe group membership
Masai tribe members were least likely to describe their personal characteristics, and most likely to describe their roles in a group
Representativeness heuristic
Making a judgement on how something (a person, stimulus, or event) resembles another- a prototype comparison.
Prototype
Summary of attributes possessed by members of a category
Errors in representativeness heuristic
Judgements ignore base rate.
Availability heuristic
Judging frequency by the ease with which we recall instances
Errors in availability heuristic
Just because it is easy to recall an event doesn’t mean such things are frequent- dramatic things are easier to remember
Emotional judgements and availability heuristic
For emotional judgements, we are more likely to rely on ease of recall
Factual judgements or difficult tasks and availability heuristic
For factual judgements or difficult tasks, we are more likely to rely on the amount of information retrieved.
Anchoring and adjustment heuristic
Dealing with uncertainty by using a familiar starting point and making adjustments
Status quo heuristic
The assumption that a practice or product which has been around for a long time is better
Schema
A mental framework which helps us organize information- what to expect and how to behave.
3 processes influenced by schema
Attention, encoding, and retrieval
Attention and schema
We are more likely to notice information consistent with our schemas
Encoding and schema
We are most likely to encode information either consistent with our schema or very inconsistent
Retrieval and schema
People are more likely to report information consistent with schema, but may also recall inconsistent information strongly
When do we rely on schemas and why?
We rely on schemas when cognitive load is high because they help us process information efficiently
Priming
A recent instance activated a certain schema and influences our thinking
Unpriming
The effects of a primed schema decrease once it is expressed
Perseverance effect
A tendency for schema to remain unchanged in the face of contradictory information
How are schema self fulfilling?
We interpret the world in a way which affirms our schema
Stereotype priming schema
Stereotypes can trigger either behavior consistent with a schema or trigger preparation for interacting with the group that is the focus of the schema
Benefits of automatic processing
Unconscious, automatic thought may have a greater capacity to handle information and reflect real preferences more accurately
Optimistic bias
Predisposition to ignore risks and expect good outcomes
Reason for optimistic bias
When we consider the future we are thinking about our goals, plans, and hopes, not what might go wrong
Planning fallacy
Tendency to underestimate the amount of time a task will take or how much we will be able to accomplish in a given time period
Reasons for the planning fallacy
Thinking about the future, not how long it took in the past
Attributing past slowdowns to outside factors
We want to finish early or on time, so we predict that we will
Counterfactual thinking
Tendency to imagine outcomes other than what really happened
What effects emotional responses when engaging in general counter factual thinking?
How easy the circumstances are to mentally ‘undo’
Above average effect
On average, people think they are above average
Reasons for above average effect
Self-esteem protection
Impression management
Information
Above average effect and self esteem evidence
People with high self esteem are more likely to show this effect, and people with low self esteem are less likely
When self esteem is threatened, above average effect increases
Impression management and above average effect
We say we are above average because we want others to believe it. There is less above average effect when people are allowed to answer in private
Information and above average effect
We are above average based on our own definitions of a certain quality.
Evidence: there is more above-average effect for general categories
Dunning-Kruger Effect
The incompetent lack the ability to judge their competence
Self-handicapping
We place an obstacle in our own path to protect our self esteem.
Study: people halfway through a difficult intelligence test were more likely to take a drug that handicaps them, to convince themselves of their own skill
Upward counterfactual
Can cause feelings of dissatisfaction or envy
Downward counterfactual
When we imagine a downward counterfactual we experience greater satisfaction
How can counterfactual thinking be useful?
Counterfactual thinking can improve performance by helping us to imaging strategies to do better
Magical thinking
Thinking which results in judgements that don’t hold up to rational scrutiny
Terror management
The efforts to come to terms with our mortality and its implications
Mood congruence effect
Our current mood effects what information we notice and remember
Mood-dependent memory
Mood acts as a retrieval cue, and we are more likely to remember things encoded in a similar mood to our current mood
2-factor theory of emotion
We infer our feelings or attitudes from information in the outside world, I.e. interpreting a high arousal state based on context
Channels of nonverbal communication
Facial expressions, eye contact, body movements, posture, and touching
