3 - Social Beliefs & Judgements

Preconceptions

our _________ guide how we perceive and interpret information

Priming

Unattended stimuli can subtly influence how we interpret and recall events.

Priming

Activating specific associations in memory which influences subsequent thoughts

Priming

Teacher says:

👉 “NURSE”

Then asks you to complete:

👉 “DO _ _ _ _”

You’ll likely say DOCTOR, not DOUGH.

✔ Because “nurse” activated hospital/medical ideas.

Spontaneous Trait Transference (STT)

When you describe someone with a trait, people unconsciously think YOU also have that trait.

Spontaneous Trait Transference (STT)

You say:

👉 “Mark is very kind and generous.”

Later, people may think:

👉 “Oh, you’re kind too.”

Spontaneous Trait Inference (STI)

Automatically assuming a trait about someone

after seeing their behavior, without thinking about it.

Spontaneous Trait Inference (STI)

Seeing someone help an elderly person cross the street and instantly thinking, “They’re kind.”

Belief Perseverance

Persistence of one’s initial conceptions,

as when the basis for one’s belief is discredited

• but an explanation of why the belief might be true survives

Belief Perseverance

is when you keep believing something even after the evidence shows it’s wrong

Belief Perseverance

You read:

👉 “Coffee is bad for memory.”

Later research proves it’s false.

But you say:

👉 “I don’t care, coffee is still unhealthy for the brain.”

Misinformation Effect

Incorporating “misinformation” into one’s memory of the event,

after witnessing an event and receiving misleading information about it.

Misinformation Effect

happens when wrong or misleading information changes your memory of an event.

So later, you remember the wrong details as if they were true.

Misinformation Effect

a witness testimony changing after hearing others

Misinformation Effect

You see a car accident.

Later someone asks:

👉 “Did you see the broken headlight?”

There was NO broken headlight.

But later you say:

👉 “Yes, I remember the broken headlight.”

✔ The question planted false info.

• Controlled

• Automatic

Our thinking is partly:

Controlled

reflective, deliberate, and conscious

Automatic

impulsive, effortless, and without our awareness

Automatic Intuitive thinking

occurs not “on-screen” but off-screen, out of sight, where reason does not go

Illusory Thinking

is when we believe something is true even though it isn’t

Overconfidence Phenomenon

the tendency to be more confident than correct

• to overestimate the accuracy of one’s belief

Overconfidence Phenomenon

Being sure you got all exam answers correct, but actually missing several.

Confirmation Bias

A tendency to search for information that confirms one’s preconceptions.

Confirmation Bias

You believe a food is unhealthy, so you only read articles saying it’s bad and ignore articles saying it’s healthy.

• Prompt feedback

• Unpack a task

• Think of one good reason why one’s judgments might be wrong

Remedies for Overconfidence:

Counterfactual Thinking

Imagining alternative scenarios and outcomes that might have happened, but didn’t

Counterfactual Thinking

Imagining “what could have been” if things had happened differently.

Counterfactual Thinking

After failing a test, you think, “If I had studied one more hour, I would have passed.”

• Upward

• Downward

Counterfactual Thinking (2)

Upward Counterfactual Thinking

Silver medalist thinking "I could have won gold" (feels worse)

Downward Counterfactual Thinking

Bronze medalist thinking "At least I got a medal" (feels better). 

• Illusory Correlation

• Illusion of Control

Illusory Thinking (2)

Illusory Correlation

Seeing a relationship between two things that isn’t real or is exaggerated.

Illusory Correlation

Thinking people with tattoos are always rebellious, even though many aren’t.

Illusion of Control

Believing you can control events that are actually random or uncontrollable

Illusion of Control

Feeling like rolling the dice “just right” will make you win a game

Moods

Our ____ infuse our judgments

• We are not cool computing machines; we are emotional creatures.

 

Misattribution

Mistakenly assigning a behavior or feeling to the wrong source

Misattribution

Feeling scared after watching a horror movie but thinking it’s because of a dark room.

Attribution Theory

Explains how people interpret others’ behavior,

either as caused by internal traits or external situations.

Attribution Theory

Seeing someone yell and thinking, “They’re mean” (dispositional) or “They must be stressed” (situational).

Commonsense Psychology

In “__________”, when we observe someone acting intentionally, we sometimes attribute that person’s behavior to internal causes and sometimes to external causes

Dispositional Attribution

Attributing behavior to a person’s traits, motives, or personality.

• “She failed the test because she’s lazy.”

Situational Attribution

Attributing behavior to the environment or circumstances.

• “She failed the test because the classroom was noisy.”

Fundamental Attribution Error (Correspondence Bias)

The tendency to blame a person’s traits for their behavior

and ignore situational factors

Fundamental Attribution Error (Correspondence Bias)

Seeing someone trip and immediately thinking, “They’re clumsy,” instead of considering the floor might be slippery.

Fundamental Attribution Error (Correspondence Bias)

Think: “It must be them, not the situation.”

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

A belief or expectation that causes itself to come true.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

A teacher believes a student is talented, gives them more attention and encouragement

and the student actually performs better

Behavioral Confirmation

A type of self-fulfilling prophecy whereby people’s social expectations lead them to behave in ways that cause others to confirm their expectations

Behavioral Confirmation

When your expectations about someone make you act in ways that cause them to confirm your expectation.

Behavioral Confirmation

You expect a new student to be shy, treat them cautiously, and they act shy in response.

Behavioral Confirmation

Think: “My expectation → my behavior → their behavior matches expectation.”