2) SOCIAL COGNITION AND ATTITUDES

What is the dual process model of cognition?

• Our behaviour is guided by two systems:

  • Controlled processing 

  • Automatic processing 

Describe controlled processes

• Deliberate and intentional behaviours 

  • Potentially limited 

  • Goal-dependent 

  • Requires awareness of behaviour 

• Dependent on motivations 

  • Self-determination theory 

  • Internal vs external motives 

Describe automatic processes

• Uncontrollable or unconscious processes 

• e.g gut reactions, knee jerk responses 

• Influenced by the environment, priming, attitudes 

Gilbert and Hixon (1991) 

• Had people watch a video of experimenters doing something

• One was asian american one was white

• When ppt are distracted they couldn’t engage in controlled processing

!!

What does ‘cognitive misers’ refer to?

Tendency to conserve energy by using shortcuts to inform choices

How are ‘cognitive misers’ facilitated?

• Use of automatic processing

• Pre-existing attitudes

Why may ‘cognitive misers’ occur?

Because controlled processes require attention we may not always have

What is an attitude?

A cognitive representation that summarises evaluation of an attitude object

What is an attitude object?

• The self

• Other people

• Things

• Actions

• Events

• Ideas

• … anything

What 2 characteristics do attitudes have?

• Direction (positive or negative)

• Intensity 

What is the function of attitudes?

• Help people navigate the environment

• Provide shortcuts to guide behaviour

• Reduce cognitive effort needed to make decisions

• Automatic processing

What are the 3 sources of attitudes?

We build up information about an attitude object through:

• Affective information

• Behavioural information

• Cognitive information

What is affective information?

• Feelings and emotions about the object 

• Feelings

What is behavioural information?

• Information about past, present, or future interactions with the object

• Behaviours

What is cognitive information?

• Facts and beliefs about the object

• Thoughts

What does self-perception theory suggest?

Observing our own actions as a basis for our attitudes

Repeated behaviours with positive outcomes = ? valence

Positive

Behaviours with negative consequences = ? valence

Negative

What happens if we engage in behaviours which contradict attitudes?

May trigger cognitive dissonance to resolve discrepancy

How can cognitive information be contaminated?

• Biased media coverage

• Withheld information during education

What does the Associative-Propositional Evaluation (APE) model suggest about attitude formation?

Our attitudes develop through:

• Associative learning

• Propositional learning

What model does associative learning rely on?

Semantic Network Model

What does the Semantic Network Model suggest?

• Mental links form between concepts based on shared properties

• Nearby concepts also activated → spreading activation

According to the Semantic Network Model: 

Shorter path between concepts = ?

Stronger association in memory 

How does associative learning explain the semantic network model?

• When two stimuli are frequently paired together 

• Creates a semantic link in memory 

  • ‘Neurons that fire together, wire together’

• Classical conditioning

How does associative learning explain attitudes?

• The co-occurrence of stimuli can influence attitudes 

  • e.g flowers → pleasantness 

• Associative learning via media 

  • e.g Black Americans → violence 

What is priming?

Activated information which informs automatic processing (conscious or unconscious) 

How does priming influence attitudes and decisions?

• Concepts closely linked to ‘prime’ can impact decisions

• e.g semantic network model, spreading activation

How does priming work?

What is propositional learning?

• Mental links are elaborated upon, requires controlled processes 

• Create causal relations between associations 

• In an attempt to validate associations 

Associative vs propositional learning

• Associative = CREATES simple links in memory

• Co-activation of concepts

• Can be rejected (if you have the ability to use controlled processes)

• e.g spiders → disgust

• Propositional = EXPLAINS simple links in memory

• Validation and explanation of associations

• Associations further strengthened (if validated, requires controlled processes)

• e.g spiders are dangerous and should be avoided

How may associative and propositional learning conflict?

• Associative information can be activated regardless of whether you believe the response as appropriate

• Propositional information may override if the response is inconsistent and you have the motivation (and resources)

How can associative processing use automatic processing?

Triggered automatically via exposure to primes the the environment 

How can associative processing use controlled processing?

Purposefully triggered via controlled processing 

How can propositional processing use automatic processing?

Generating propositional information requires controlled processes to reflect on associations 

How can propositional processing use controlled processing?

• Once propositional information is generated, they are stored in memory similar to associative information

• Triggered via priming/spreading activation

How can the APE model be used to reject stereotypes?

• Propositional processes invalidate associative information such as ‘Black Americans are violent’ 

• Instead suggesting ‘Treating individuals belonging to stigmatised groups negatively is wrong’ 

What external influences impact associative information?

• Personal experience

• Daily interactions/habits

• Observation of others

• Media exposure

What external influences impact propositional information?

• Self-generation via reflecting on our behaviour

• Can be learned from others, media, and education

How does confirmation bias influence APE?

• We like to maintain stable attitudes

• So we discount the validity of propositional information which contradicts our attitudes

• e.g during COVID individuals sought information which supported their pre-existing beliefs about vaccine effectiveness

How can attitudes be measured?

• Self-report on attitude scales

• Observation of behaviour

• Physiological measures (e.g EEG, heart rate, skin conductance)

• Reaction time measures

• Implicit Association Test

What are explicit attitudes? Automatic or controlled processing? Automatic or propositional reasoning?

• Typically reflect behaviour when using controlled processes 

• Capture propositional reasoning 

• Validate or reject associative processes with social norms 

What are implicit attitudes? Automatic or controlled processing? Automatic or propositional reasoning?

• Typically reflect behaviour when using automatic processes (not always)

• Capture ‘gut’ reactions driven by activated associative and propositional information stored in memory

Are explicit or implicit measures more accurate? Why?

• Explicit measures (self-report) are influenced by social desirability

• But implicit measures aren’t necessarily more accurate 

• Each measure taps into different kinds of information 

• Likely predict unique types of behaviour 

What is the Implicit Association Test (IAT)?

• Common assessment of attitudes

• Captures associations in memory

• Assumption these are automatic

What does the IAT measure?

The strength of automatic associations between concepts

• e.g flower (attitude object) = pleasant (evaluation)

• vs insect (attitude object) = unpleasant (evaluation)

• The ease of responding to pairings of two concepts measures the association between them

How do we respond to concepts closely associated in memory?

• Easy to respond quickly and correctly when categorising  

• Leads to faster responses to these pairings 

How do we respond to concepts that are NOT associated in memory?

• Difficult to respond quickly and correctly when categorising

• Leads to slower responses to these pairings

What is the D-score?

• Measure of bias from IAT data

• Strength of associations in memory 

What does a positive D-score value indicate?

• Congruent bias

• e.g white = good, black = bad

Does a positive D-score mean someone is racist or sexist?

• They may still have a positive attitude toward other social groups

• This just may not be as positive as attitudes towards their own social groups

What does a negative D-score value indicate?

• Incongruent bias

• e.g black = good, white = bad

How is the D-score calculated?

Estimated by subtracting reaction times (RTs) between congruent and incongruent pairings, divided by SD of RTs

What are some issues with the IAT?

• Makes assumptions about groups

• Forces categorisation

• May prime participants with stereotypes, rather than assess them

• Some targets may not have appropriate comparisons

  • e.g alcohol vs water?

• Participants can ‘fake’ IAT performance (De Houwer et al, 2007)

What does a faster RT on the IAT indicate?

Stronger associations in memory 

What does a slower RT on the IAT indicate?

Weaker or conflicting associations

What is an alternative implicit measure?

Approach avoidance task (AAT) 

How is liking of an attitude object linked to proximity?

• If we like something, we tend to place it closer towards us

• If we like someone, we tend to sit nearer to the person

What does the approach avoidance task (AAT) assess?

Innate impulses to be close to things we like 

What component of attitudes (ABC) does the AAT capture?

Behavioural

What response do pleasant stimuli produce?

Approach

What response do pleasant stimuli produce?

Avoidance

What action is an approach response associated with?

Pulling objects closer

What action is an avoidance response associated with?

Pushing objects away

Describe Rinck & Becker’s (2007) study using the AAT

• Participants told to push or pull joystick in response to stimulus

• Avoidance = push joystick away

• Approach = pull joystick towards them

• Participants first sort neutral blocks to train participants

• Landscape block = push away

• Portrait block = pull towards them

• Then the neutral blocks are replaced with emotional vs neutral stimuli

• e.g alcohol, cigarettes, water, guitar

What did Rinck & Becker’s (2007) study using the AAT find?

• If participants have a positive attitude towards an object they accidentally pull rewarding stimuli towards them when they are meant to push it away based on the orientation of the image

• Quicker to pull joystick towards them (and slower to push it away) when sorting rewarding stimuli 

• !

Strengths and weaknesses of EEG

• Good temporal resolution

• Poor spatial resolution

Why does EEG have poor spatial resolution?

• Shows instant neural activity 

• But we have no idea where it is coming from 

What does an EEG measure?

• Most EEG data is noise

• Combined electrical activity from many neurons 

• Summations of electrical activity following many action potentials

• Measured from the surface of the cortex (scalp) using electrodes

• Detects changes in emotions, motivation, or arousal

How is negative voltage detected at the scalp during EEG?

• Excitatory potentials cause an influx of positively charged ions into the neuron

• Causing negative voltage to be detected at the scalp

How is positive voltage detected at the scalp during EEG?

• After action potential, the neuron depolarises 

• Releases positive ions

• Causing a positive voltage to be detected 

What kind of neurons make up the majority of the EEG signal?

Pyramidal neurons

What are pyramidal neurons? How are they arranged? 

• The major projection neurons in the cortex 

• Uniformly orientated with dendrites perpendicular to the surface 

How is EEG data (neural activity) measured?

Hertz (Hz)

The greater Hz = ?

The more frequency of ‘events’ 

What are the 5 types of EEG frequencies?

• Delta

• Theta

• Alpha

• Beta

• Gamma

Describe delta waves

• 0.5-4 Hz

• Very slow wave

• Present during dreamle

Describe theta waves

• 4-8 Hz

• Slow wave 

• Present during ‘dream’ sleep 

• Associated with learning/attention

Describe alpha waves

• 8-12 Hz

• Relaxed, but awake (brain at rest)

• Used to determine what part of the brain is active

More alpha waves = ?

That part of the brain is NOT being used

Less alpha waves = ?

That part of the brain IS being used

Describe beta waves

• 13-30 Hz

• Fast waves

• Represent directed attention and mental engagement

• The ‘thinking’ wave

Higher frequency of beta waves = ?

More complex thought 

What Hz are gamma waves?

30-100 Hz

What the the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT)?

• Used to analyse EEG data

• Converts time-domain signals to frequency-domain signals

• Allows researchers to identify patterns in brain activity

What is frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA)?

• Difference in activity between the left and right frontal lobes 

Lower alpha frequency in left frontal lobe = ?

Approach

Lower alpha frequency in right frontal lobe = ?

Avoidance

What are some limitations of EEG frequencies?

• Subject to a lot of noise and require filtering

  • Electrical noise, overhead lighting, movements/breathing

• Questions of what FAA actually measures

  • It is linked to positive emotions AND approach tendencies

• Handedness of participant may influence data

  • Left-handed people may not demonstrate typical left vs right asymmetry