Chapter 2: Social cognition and social thinking
Social cognition = cognitive processes and structures that influence and are influenced by
social behavior.
→ has taught us much about how we process and store information about people and how
this information affects how we perceive and interact with others.
Thought = the internal language and symbols we use; it is often conscious or at least
something we are or could be aware of
Cognition = also refers to mental processing that can be largely automatic; we are unaware
of it and only with some effort notice it, let alone capture it in language or shared symbols.
There was a shift away from studying internal (cognitive) events towards external, publicly
observable events, because psychologists felt that theories should be based on publicly
observable and replicable data.
Gestalt psychology = perspective in which the whole influences constituent parts, rather
than vice versa.
Cognitive consistency = a model of social cognition in which people try to reduce
inconsistency among their cognitions, because they find inconsistency unpleasant.
→ in the early 1970s a naive scientist model arose in its place
= model of social cognition that characterizes people as using rational, scientific-like,
cause-effect analyses to understand their world.
This model reinforces the attribution theories of behavior that dominated social psychology in
the 1970s. Attribution is the process of assigning a cause to our own behavior, and that of
others.
Cognitive misers = a model of social cognition that characterizes people as using the least
complex and demanding cognitions that generally produce adaptive behaviors.
→ The miser only uses full processing capacity when it is absolutely necessary
→ The miser uses processing shortcuts wherever possible. These shortcuts are often
unreliable.
Motivated tactician = a model of social cognition that characterizes people as having
multiple cognitive strategies available, which they choose from based on personal goals,
motives and needs.
The most recent development in social cognition is social neuroscience, sometimes called
cognitive neuroscience or social cognitive neuroscience.
= exploration of brain activity associated with social cognition and social psychological
processes and phenomena using fMRI.
Impression formation and person perception are important aspects of social cognition.
Solomon Asch’s configural model = gestalt-based model of impression formation, in which
central traits play a disproportionate role in configuring the final impression.
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, 1. forming first impressions we latch on to certain pieces of information → central traits
= traits that have a disproportionate influence on the configuration of final
impressions.
2. Peripheral traits have much less influence = traits that have an insignificant
influence on the configuration of final impressions.
Primacy effect = an order of presentation effect in which earlier presented information has a
disproportionate influence on social cognition.
Recency effect = an order of presentation effect in which later-presented information has a
disproportionate influence on social cognition.
In the absence of information, people tend to assume the best of others and form a
positive impression. However any negative information attracts our attention and looms large
in our subsequent impression.
1. Could be because the info is unusual and distinctive which attracts attention
2. Could be because the info indirectly signified potential danger, so its detection has
survival value for the individual and ultimately the species.
When flashing pictures of fearful and happy faces, through fMRI a red spot appeared →
amygdala activation which is responsible for emotion.
Personal constructs = idiosyncratic (distinct) and personal ways of characterizing other
people; develop over time as adaptive forms of person perception and so are resistant to
change.
→ we have different personal construct systems and therefore would form different
impressions of the same person.
Implicit personality theories = idiosyncratic (distinct) and personal ways of characterizing
other people and explaining their behavior.
→ general principles concerning what sorts of characteristics go together to form certain
types of personality.
Social categorization = Tendency to categorize objects (including people) into discrete
groups, based on shared characteristics common to them
→ can cause stereotypes
One of the most immediate appearance-based judgments we make is whether we find
someone physically attractive or not.
Stereotypes = widely shared and simplified evaluative image of a social group and its
members.
Socially judgeability = perception of whether it is socially acceptable to judge a specific
target.
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