Social cognition

Social Psychology

The scientific study of how the thoughts, feelings, and behavior of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others.

Social Cognition

The structures and processes involved in perceiving, interpreting, and acting on social information, with a focus on people's choices of which social events to pay attention to, how to interpret these events, and how to store these experiences in memory.

Impression Formation

The process of assigning characteristics to other people based on limited information or first impressions.

Nativist View

The belief that some knowledge is innate and emphasizes evolution and genes as the basis for acquiring knowledge.

Empiricist View

The belief that all knowledge comes through the senses and emphasizes experience, learning, and reflection based on experience.

Kantian Synthesis

The belief that knowledge is acquired through experience, but experience is structured through innate schemata.

Asch's Configural Model

The idea that people make holistic judgments based on specific information rather than simply adding up impressions, with central traits being disproportionately influential in impression formation.

Asch's Warm-Cold Study

A study in which impressions are rated on a scale in terms of bipolar pairs of traits, such as generous-ungenerous or humane-inhumane.

Primacy Effect

The phenomenon where earlier information has a stronger influence on impression formation than later information.

Negativity Bias

The tendency for negative information to have a stronger influence on impression formation than positive information, especially in the domains of sociability and morality.

Halo Effect

The assumption that someone with known positive (or negative) qualities also possesses additional undisclosed positive (or negative) qualities.

Schema

A mental framework that organizes and synthesizes information about the way the world works, influencing the information we attend to and remember.

Group Schemas

Prejudice, stereotype, and discrimination, which are emotional, cognitive, and behavioral aspects, respectively, towards members of a social group.

Stereotype Suppression

The attempt to suppress stereotypical thoughts, which can lead to a rebound effect where the link between a group and stereotype becomes stronger.

Self-Knowledge

The understanding of oneself, which can be acquired through self-fulfilling prophecies, self-perception theory, and social-comparison theory.

Attribution Theory

An explanation of how people develop a causal understanding of human behavior, distinguishing between situational factors (external causes) and dispositional factors (internal causes).

Kelley's Covariation Theory

Attributions are made based on three principles:covariation, consensus, and distinctiveness, which help determine whether behavior is attributed to the person, the stimulus, or a combination of factors.

Circumstance

A special place or time that influences a situation.

Attribution

The process of assigning causes or explanations to behavior.

Distinctiveness

The degree to which a behavior is unique or unusual.

Consensus

The extent to which others share the same opinion or interest.

Consistency

The frequency or regularity of a behavior.

Combination Attribution

The attribution of behavior to a combination of factors.

Actor-Observer Effect

The tendency to attribute one's own behavior to situational factors and others' behavior to personal dispositions.

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency to overestimate the influence of personal dispositions and underestimate the impact of situational factors when explaining others' behavior.

False Consensus

The tendency to believe that one's own behavior and opinions are more common or widely shared than they actually are.

Self-Serving Bias

The tendency to attribute one's successes to personal characteristics and failures to external factors.