social cognition Flashcards
(39 cards)
what is social cognition?
processes by which information about people / social events is processed and stored
“mental structures that organize knowledge about the social world (people, social roles, events)”
eg professor → assume they are liberal, absent-minded, knowledgeable, poorly dressed, wears glasse
schemas
what are the 2 ways that schemas help us in?
- categorization of objects
- predictability of objects and events
eg. poodles → friendly, okay to pet vs. bears → unfriendly, stay away, especially if cubs around
eg. schema for going to sit-down restaurant → how to behave
how is accessibility related to our schemas?
ease with which a schema becomes activated
- Priming produces greater accessibility - increases likelihood that schema will be activated again in the future
(think of the candy and red bench)
what happened in Risen & Critcher (2011)?
- asked to answer questionnaire outdoors and report global warming is a proven fact in higher temp.
- did study indoors
- group 1 in 81F room
- group 2 in 73F room
what were the results?
- Ps in warmer room expressed greater belief in in reality of global warming
- Conservatives in warm room expressed same concern as liberals in cold room
how does schemas affect our memory?
- can bias the way we remember things in moment
- Recollections often influenced / biased by our prior knowledge (schemas)
what happened in the example of schemas and memory of Brewer & Treyens (1981)?
- Ps waited in the experimenter’s office for 35 sec.
- Taken out, told study was about memory of office
- 9 in 30 falsely remembered a shelf full of books
memory became consistent with schema for prof’s offices)
how are schemas linked to confirmation bias?
Noticing and interpreting information consistent with a schema
We do not notice evidence that would contradict the schema (we see what we want to see)
- can lead to false and inaccurate beliefs distorting our schemas which are hard to change
what is a prime example of confirmation bias and what can it lead to>
Belief: When the moon is full, crimes and admissions to psychiatric institutions increase
Evidence: no such effect exists
leads to illusory correlation
what is illusory correlation and the study of Rotten and Kelly?
Believing that two variables are related to one another when in fact they are not
- confirmation bias when full moon and crimes happen
what is the study of Rosenthal & Jacobson (1968) in relation to confirmation bias resulting in self fulfilling prophecy?
- ps given IQ test and some teachers told that some students were intellectual bloomers (above avg)
- end of year students given another IQ test
results
- teachers expectations can influence student acheivement
- teacher could have made more time and took more initiative to help the student reach this title
what is the self fulfilling prophecy?
tendency for people to act in ways that bring about the very thing they expect to happen
“Whether you think you can or cannot, you are right either way”
eg. if think someone is unfriendly - offer cold shoulder to them first meeting and which then most likely elicits the coldness
what are the 2 modes of information processing and basic ideas?
automatic system (system 1)
- unintentional, unaware, efficient,
controlled processing (system 2)
- intentional, aware, elaborate
what is sometimes the issue with our system 1 processing?
- produces response that “seems right”… which you accept, without engaging System 2
- System 2 overrides system 1 if system 1 provides faulty, first impression
- we can fail to engage in system 2 after system 1 has given initial judgement
what is an example of this?
David’s father has three sons: Snap, Crackle and ? answer:
David → first thought produced by system 1 tends to be ‘Pop’
which system has activities related to….
making a disgusted face when seeing something gross
2. Answer to 2 + 2
3. Detect hostility in a voice
automatic processing
which system has activities related to…
- calculate 14x21 (in head!) = 294
- Park in a narrow space
- Compare three smartphones for overall value
- Monitor appropriateness of behavior in new social situation
- Engage in “counterfactual thinking”
controlled processing or effortful
what is counterfactual thinking?
tendency to imagine alternative events or outcomes that might have occurred, but did not
eg. “If only I had… asked that person out when they were single”
what are the 2 types of counterfactual thinking?
- upward counterfactuals
- downward counterfactuals
what are upward counterfactuals?
Reflecting on how things could have turned out better like when one falls short of a desired goal
- eg.If only I had studied harder, I would have passed the test
not helpful if improvement are not possible and person dwells on how outcome could have been different
- E.g., thinking about how friend’s death could have been avoided
what are downward counterfactuals?
Reflecting on how things could have turned out worse
- E.g., Flight got canceled, but at least I was able to catch a bus home
- elicit positive emotions
what was the main point of (Medvec, Madey, & Gilovich, 1995) and Roese & Summerville (2005)?
- Judges viewed Olympic medalists as they finished their events and while on medal podium
- Rated each athlete’s facial expression, ranging from agony to ecstasy
what were the results of both?
silver medalist - more likely to experience upward UCF thoughts and less happy (“second is the first to lose”)
bronze medalist - more likely to think DCF thoughts and be more happy
