Week 3 - Social Cognition Flashcards
How does William James describe “the self”
“I-self” - knower, experiencer, present-tense
And
“Me-self” - known, experienced, past-tense, SELF-CONCEPT
Self=concept is made up of “_______ - ________”
Self schemas
What is a self-schema?
Beliefs about ONESELF that guide processing of self-relevant information
How do we know ourselves?
1) projective tests
Unconscious self can be probed via LATERAL methods
Ex) first word to come to mind after “short”
How do we know ourselves?
2) introspection
Where people looks INWARDS and examines own thoughts, feelings and motives
What did Nisbett and Wilson suggest about introspection?
We CANT look inside
Feelings may be wrong and based on COMMON NAIVE THEORIES related to these experiences
How do we know ourselves?
3) affective forecasting (predicting our feelings)
“Imagine” forecasters
“Actually happens” experiencers
People are often INACCURATE or WRONG about predicting own feelings (intensity and duration)
What’s a reason to why we are so bad at predicting our own emotions?
“Psychological immune system”
rationalizing, discounting, forgiving, and limiting emotional trauma
We get over it the BAD and GOOD
How do we know ourselves?
4) self-perception theory
When internal cues are difficult to INTERPRET people gain INSIGHT by observing their OWN behaviour
ONLY in absence of compelling situational pressures
What is self -perception of emotions?
What is self-perception of motivations?
Facial feedback hypo- changes in expression = changes in emotion
Intrinsic (within a person) and extrinsic (outside the person) motivation
What is the overjustification effect?
TENDENCY for intrinsic motivation to DIMINISH when associated with reward or other extrinsic factors
How do we know ourselves?
5) social context (two-factor theory of emotion)
social comparison theory
RECALL cognitive appraisal theory of emotions
Two-factor theory of emotion:
1) must feel physiological arousal
2) must make cognitive interpretation explains source of arousal
= when UNCLEAR about emotional state we might turn to interpretation by watching OTHERS
Aspects of North American/western cultures?
Individualism
Independent selves
Context independent
Analytic reasoning
Internal attributes
Aspects of Eastern cultures?
Collectivism
Interdependent selves
Context dependent
Holistic reasoning
External attributes
Is narcissism on the rise?
Yes
Anxiety and depression on the RISE
Generation ME?
What can narcissism include?
Online aspect
Selfie aspect
What is self-control?
Over-ride’ a prepotent IMPULSE to enact a more appropriate/focal goal
Self-control works on what part of the brain?
Right-lateral PFC
What does it mean as self-control as a muscle?
Muscles get TIRED
Ego DEPLETION
EXERCISING can make this WILL stronger
Muscles need ENERGY, glucose?
What is the criticism of the muscle metaphor?
Glucose DOESNT work like that in the brain
How does self-control work as a motivation process?
Reduce motivation (cooling sensation) INCREASES self-control
Reframing the rewarding features
Sensitivity to the “stop” signal is KEY
Emotion regulation can be “________ Or ___________”
Conscious
Or
Unconsciousnes
What is cognitive reappraisal?
Cognitively CHANGE a stimulus to alter EMOTIONAL response in a DESIRED way
Ex) think of winter in terms of Christmas
Or
Ex) think of winter in terms of the freezing weather
HOWEVER some people are better than others
What is a stressor?
Stimulus that THREATENS animal’s physiological homeostasis
What does the stress response include?
FIGHT or FLIGHT
Sympathetic nervous system
***HPA axis
Hypothalamus —> anterior pituitary—> adrenal cortex
NEGATIVE feedback
What can happen to a chronically stressed animal? (Negative)
Pronlonged/repeated exposure to stressor
Maladaptive consequences
Chronic stress —-) endocrine change
What can happen or a chronically stressed animal? (Positive)
Stressors and coping—-> GENETIC background changes
Coping and resilience
Can make a resistant typology
What is learned helplessness?
What did the dogs learn in this experiment?
Stressor that are inescapable or escapable
DOGS learned that punishment is NOT contingent on behaviour
What would make someone resilient in learned helplessness?
When they would FOCUS on the escapable stressor rather than inescapable
Learned RESILIENCE
What part of the brain controls the stressor-control resilience signal?
Ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC)
VmPFC—> Hypothalamus —> anterior pituitary—> adrenal cortex
NEGATIVE feedback
HPA axis
vmPFC doesn’t just detect controllability it “________” it
Learns
Depressed people shows a “___________” response b/w vmPFC and amygdala
Positive
DISPUTED control over emotions
What is abstract control?
(Primary and secondary)
Primary: I HAVE CONTROL
Secondary: THE SITUATION IS UNDER CONTROL, possibly via a powerful agent
Ex) religious faith after earthquakes
What are some traits in the resilient typology?
Secure people…. (Attachment style)
Find support, reduces stress, increase vmPFC activation
What is the theory of lay epistemology? (Arie Kruglanski)
What are the 3 motives?
Forming an impression or how we feel about a political figure, there is always MORE info we can consider..
1) the need to be accurate
2) the need to reach closure quickly
3) the need to confirm to already held beliefs
What is the difference between implicit attitude and explicit attitude?
Implicit: autonomic associations that make up the experiential system (bottom-up)
explicit: consciously make using the cognitive system (top-down)
What are the 3 conditions needed to override to experiential system? (Bottom-up)
1) aware that controlled processes are needed to override autonomic processes
2) motivated to have control over behaviours
3) ability to consider thoughts at a more conscious level
How is the unconscious mind smart?
1) the motives that guide it are unconscious
2) memory consolidation occurs during sleep
3) wandering = creative ideas
4) intuition = found decisions
5) unconscious emotional = beneficial decisions
What is the somatic marker hypothesis?
Certain somatic changes (bodily) that people experience as an EMOTION
Become automatically associated
What are chronically assessed schemas?
Schemas that represent IMPORTANT information for individuals
May use frequently
