lecture 5- social cognition and attributions

social cognition

the study of how people think a/b the social world and make decisions a/b socially relevant events

• mental processes used to understand and interact w/ others in a social setting (how we explain world, make decisions, etc)

  • social brain

biased brain

in order to make best possible decision → we need accurate, useful info and complete mental resources

• 2 conditions inhibit this

  1. no one is all-knowing

  2. even w/ adequate info, we do not have unlimited time and energy to analyze every problem

cognitive miser

people look for ways to conserve cognitive energy by attempting to adopt strategies that simplify complex problems

• seeking quick and easy solutions to problems, prioritizing cognitive efficiency over careful and reflective thinking

dual process theories

human thinking involves two distinct systems or processes

• system 1 → automatic processing (fast, intuitive, emotional)

  • intuitive system

• system 2 → controlled processing (slow, deliberate, logical)

  • rational system

system 1 (dual process theory)

automatic processing → fast, intuitive, emotional

• gut answers (uses heuristics)

• intuitive system

  • complex decisions; (Dijksterhuis, 2004) - decision studies

  • creativity

creativity

mind wandering promotes creative insight

system 2 (dual process theory)

controlled processing → slow, deliberate, logical

• rational system

  • unfamiliar tasks, tasks w/ clear right answer, solving unexpected problems, goal pursuit

availability heuristic

people make judgements on likelihood of events based on how easily they can recall similar events

• judging frequency/probability based on how readily instances come to mind

bad news bias

overestimation of frequency of dramatic events

• ex: plane crashes vs car crashes

representative heuristic

people categorize something/estimate likelihood of event based on how well it seems to match a particular prototype or stereotype

• reasons for falling for it → conjunction fallacy, base rate neglect, illusory correlations

conjunction fallacy

cognitive bias where people mistakenly believe that likelihood of two events occurring together (a conjunction) is greater than the likelihood of either event occurring alone

• we assume multiple things are more likely than occurring on their own

  • more likely to have one category than two categories fulfilled

base rate neglect

cognitive bias where individuals tend to disregard or undervalue statistical info (the base rate) and instead focus on specific or individuating info when making probability judgement

• ignoring statistical probability b/c we focus on either info when receiving it

  • ex: steve is shy, is steve a salesperson or librarian

    • greater percentage of salespeople, but we’re biased to choose librarian

illusory correlation

thinking that two variables are correlated b/c of both heuristics working together

• cognitive bias, mistakenly perceive relationship when none exists

snap judgements

large amount of what we conclude a/b people based on their faces is determined almost instantly

• we try to see trustworthiness, aggressiveness, confidence, dominance, etc

  • often some validity to snap judgements

halo effect

tend to generalize our broad impressions to specific qualities a/b a person

• causes people to make positive assumptions a/b someone or something based on a single trait

  • can lead to poor decision-making and prejudice

primacy effect

information presented first has most influence

• occurs when info is ambiguous

  • Asch (1946) - traits

recency effect

information presented last has most influence

• occurs when last item comes more easily to mind

framing effect

the way info is presented can “frame” the way its processed and understood

• primacy and recency effect = type of framing effect

• broader presentation (i.e., positive or negative language)

spin framing

varies the content of what is presented

• deliberately highlighting or downplaying certain aspects to evoke a desired emotional or cognitive response

  • ex: specifically manipulating presentation of info to favor particular outcome/viewpoint

positive/negative framing

negative info = more attention, greater psychological impact

pluralistic ignorance

individuals mistakenly believe their personal views on a topic differ from majority’s views when, in reality, they are more similar than they perceive

• mistakenly believe everyone else holds different opinion than your own

  • occurs b/c of concern for social consequences

self-fulfilling prophecies

tendency for people to act in ways that elicit behavior we expect

• study: elementary students → “who is going to become smarter”

  • expectation → action

  • “smart students” had higher IQ end of year b/c of treatment by teacher

ideological distortions

the desire to foster certain beliefs/behaviors

• an ideology can distort or misinterpret reality, often for purpose of maintaining power or promoting a specific agenda

bad-news bias

desire to entertain distorts the messages people receive through media