Social Cognition

Question 1

what is social cognition

Answer 1

Cognitive processes/structures that influence are are influenced by social behavior

Question 2

Behaviorism

Answer 2

an emphasis on explaining observable behavior in terms of reinforcement schedules

Question 3

Gestalt Psychology

Answer 3

Perspective in which the whole influences constituent parts rather that the other way around

Question 4

Cognitive consistency

Answer 4

Social cognition model where people try to reduce inconsistencies in their cognitions because inconsistency is unpleasant

Question 5

Naive psychologist

Answer 5

social cognition model that characterises people as using rational cause and effect analyses to understand the world

Question 6

Attribution

Answer 6

process of assigning a cause to our own behavior and that of others

Question 7

cognitive misers

Answer 7

social cognition model that assumes people use the least complex cognitions that can produce generally adaptive behaviors, due to having a limited capacity to process information

Question 8

Motivated tactician

Answer 8

social cognition model that assumes people have several cognitive strategies available which they choose from based on their current goals/needs

Question 9

social neuroscience

Answer 9

exploration of brain activity associated with with social cognition and social psychological phenomena

Question 10

configural model

Answer 10

Asch’s Gestalt-based model of impression formation, in which central traits play a disproportionate role in configuring the final impression

Question 11

Central traits

Answer 11

traits with a disproportionate influence on the configuration of final impresions in Asch’s configural model of impression formation

Question 12

Peripheral traits

Answer 12

traits that have an insignificant influence on the configuration of the final impression, in Asch’s configural model of impression formation

Question 13

primacy

Answer 13

An order of presentation effect in which earlier presented information has a disproportionate influence on social cognition

Question 14

recency

Answer 14

an order of presentation effect in which later presented information has a disproportionate influence on social cognition

Question 15

personal constructs

Answer 15

Idiosyncratic personal ways of categorizing other people

Question 16

implicit personality theories

Answer 16

idiosyncratic and personal ways of characterizing other people and explaining their behavior

Question 17

Stereotype

Answer 17

widely shared and simplified evaluative image of a social group and its members

Question 18

social judgeability

Answer 18

perception of wether it is socially acceptable to judge a specific target

Question 19

cognitive algebra

Answer 19

Approach to a study of impression formation that focuses on how people combine attributes that have valence into an overall positive or negative impression

Question 20

summation

Answer 20

method of forming positive/negative impressions by averaging valence of all constituent attributes

Question 21

weighted averaging

Answer 21

method of forming positive/negative impressions by first weighting and then averaging the valence of all constituent person attributes

Question 22

Schema

Answer 22

cognitive structure that represents knowledge about a concept or type of stimulus, including its attributes and the relations among those attributes

Question 23

script

Answer 23

a schema about an event

Question 24

roles

Answer 24

patterns of behavior, that distinguish between different activities between different activities within the group and interrelate to one another for the greater good of the group

Question 25

types of schemas 5

Answer 25

person schemas: knowledge structures about specific individuals role schemas: knowledge structures about role occupants eg doctors Scripts: schemas about events are usually scripts content-free schemas: information on limited numbers of rules for processing information eg like or dislike tom self schemas: store of information about themselves

Question 26

fuzzy sets

Answer 26

categories are considered to be fuzzy sets of features organized around a prototype

Question 27

prototype

Answer 27

cognitive representation of the typical defining features of a category

Question 28

associative network

Answer 28

model of memory in which nodes or ideas are connected by associative links along with cognitive activation can spread

Question 29

accentuation principle

Answer 29

categorization accentuates perceived similarities within and differences between groups on dimensions that people believe are correlated with the categorization. effect is amplified where the categorization has subjective importance, relevance or value

Question 30

self identity theory

Answer 30

theory of group membership and intergroup relations based on self categorization, social comparison and the construction of a shared self-definition in terms of ingroup-defning properties

Question 31

self-categorization theory

Answer 31

Turner & associates theory of how the process of categorizing oneself as a group member produces social identity and group and intergroup behaviors

Question 32

accessibility

Answer 32

ease of recall of categories or schemas that we already have in mind

Question 33

bookkeeping conversion subtyping

Answer 33

bookkeeping: gradual schema change through accumulating bits of schema-inconsistent information Conversion: sudden schema change as consequence of gradual accumulation of schema-inconsistent information Subtyping: schema change as consequence of schema-inconsistent information, causing subcategory formation

Question 34

salience

Answer 34

property of a stimulus that makes it stand out in relation to other stimuli and attract information

Question 35

priming

Answer 35

activation of accessible categories or schemas in memory that influence how we process new information

Question 36

Normative models

Answer 36

ideal processes for making accurate social inferences

Question 37

behavioral decision theory

Answer 37

set of normative models for making accurate social inferences

Question 38

behavioral decision theory

Answer 38

set of normative models for making accurate social inferences

Question 39

regression

Answer 39

tendency for initial observations of instances from a category of instances from a category to be more extreme than subsequent observations eg be conservative when forming your opinion if its based on one instance

Question 40

Illusory correlation Associative meaning paired distinctiveness

Answer 40

illusory correlation: cognitive exaggeration of the degree of co-occurrence of two stimuli or events, or perceiving co-occurrence when there is none Associative meaning: Illusory correlation in which items seen as belonging together because they "should", on the basis or prior expectations paired distinctiveness: illusory correlation in which items are seen as belonging together because they share some similar features

Question 41

heuristics

Answer 41

cognitive shortcuts that provide adequately accurate inferences for most of us most of the time, three keys are: representativeness, availability and anchoring and adjustment

Question 42

representativeness heuritics Availability heuristic

Answer 42

representative heuristic: cognitive shortcut in which instances are assigned to categories or types on the basis of overall similarity to the category Availability heuristic: cognitive shortcut in which inferences are tied to initial standards or schemas

Question 43

affect-infusion model direct access motivated processing heuristic processing substantive processing

Answer 43

cognition is infused with affect such that social judgements reflect current mood. Direct access: directly access schemas or judgements stored in memory motivated processing: form judgement on the basis of specific motivations to achieve goal or repair existing mood heuristics processing: rely on various cognitive shortcuts or heuristics substantive processing: deliberately and carefully construct judgement from a variety of informational sources