4-Social Cognition (Social Psyche)

Social cognition: The study of how people combine intuition and logic to process social information.”

dual processing: the ability to process information using both intuition and logic (Bargh & Williams, 2006; DeNeys, 2006; Kahneman, 2003; Schneider & Shiffrin, 1977; Sherman, Gawronski, & Trope, 2014; Simon, 1990).”

Intuition: The ability to know something quickly and automatically; a “gut feeling” that takes little mental effort.

• crucial to survival

• only requires minimum cognitive effort

• “risks sometimes making a hurried, catastrophic decision without really considering all of the logical choices and consequences”

Logic: The ability of humans to use reason, think systematically, and carefully consider evidence about possible futures.

• “relying on slow, thoughtful logic helps us understand what is happening from an objective point of view”

• “risks being attacked or missing opportunities through indecision because we are so busy analyzing information”

Cognitive load: The amount of information that an individual’s thinking systems can handle at one time.

Cognitive load shifting: When an individual’s two thinking systems interact by smoothly shifting back and forth between intuition and logic.

Memory structures/mental structures: The cognitive structures that form the mind and organize and interpret social information, namely, schemas, scripts, and stereotypes.”

Memory structures example: why don’t you have to relearn how to read every time you pick up a book? Because you have developed memory structures that maintain your ability to read”

3 types of memory structures (also called mental structures) that organize and interpret social information:

1. schemas

2. scripts

3. stereotypes.

Schemas Label and Categorize

Schema: A cognitive and memory structure for organizing the world.

• Schema example: labeling ppl based on gender, relgiion, etc.

• two types of Schema: scripts and sterotypes

Scripts create expectations about what happens next

Script: A memory structure or type of schema that guides common social behaviors and expectations for particular types of events; scripts provide individuals with an order of events for common situations and expectations for others’ behavior.

Script example: don’t have to relearn how to behave every time we go to a sit-down restaurant, mental script for the expected order of events: (a) waiting to be taken to a table, (b) being seated, (c) reviewing the menu, (d) ordering the meal, (e) eating the meal, (f) paying the bill, and (g) leaving the restaurant. ”

Stereotype: A type of oversimplified and overgeneralized schema that occurs when an individual assumes that everyone in a certain group has the same traits.

Outgroup homogeneity: The perception that all members of a particular outgroup are identical to each other.”

mental overload

ex. ads everywhere, constant stimulation,

why we take mental shortcuts, usually lead to mental errors

“TMI”

Cognitive miser: The tendency for humans to take mental shortcuts to minimize cognitive load.

Satisficing: A practical solution to the problem of information overload that occurs when an individual takes mental “shortcuts to make decisions; criteria are not exhaustively examined but are deemed “good enough” under the circumstances.

Satisficing example: some students study only until they believe their knowledge is good enough to achieve whatever grade they desire; they satisfice. Satisficing enables you move on to the next thing demanding your attention.

Maximizer: An individual who engages a heavier cognitive load by exhaustively examining criteria when making decisions.

“Satisficers, by the way, seem to be happier than maximizers (Snyder & Miene, 1994). Several studies (Polman, 2010; Schwartz et al., 2002; Sparks, Ehrlinger, & Eibach, 2012) suggest that trying to gather all available information for every decision is associated with lower levels of happiness, optimism, life satisfaction, and self-esteem—and with higher levels of depression, perfectionism, and regret.”

Magical thinking: Beliefs based on assumptions that do not hold up to reality, such as “if only” thinking, counterfactual thinking, and optimistic bias.

Counterfactual thinking: The tendency to imagine alternative facts or events that would have led to a different future; imagining “what might have been.

Downward counterfactuals: Imagined outcomes that are worse than reality

Upward counterfactuals: imagined outcomes that are better than reality

Optimistic bias: The unrealistic expectation that things will turn out well.

Planning fallacy: The unjustified confidence that one’s own project, unlike similar projects, will proceed as planned.”

Principle of parsimony: The tendency for individuals to prefer the simplest answer that explains the most evidence.

Mental accessibility: The ease with which an idea comes to mind.

Mental availability: The information already salient in one’s mind.

Semantic network: A collection of mental concepts that are connected by common characteristics.

Priming: Initial activation of a concept within a semantic network that allows related ideas to come more easily to mind.”

Heuristic: A mental shortcut that makes it easier for an individual to solve difficult problems by facilitating the mental accessibility of certain ideas. Examples include the anchoring and adjustment heuristic, the availability heuristic, and the representativeness heuristic.

Algorithm: A systematic, logical method of searching for a solution to a problem or question.

Anchoring and adjustment heuristic: Occurs when an individual makes a decision using information within a problem that unduly influences his or her final answer. The tendency to adjust little when a plausible estimate, or anchor, has been provided, despite not knowing whether the information is reliable.

“For example, answer the following question by choosing either (a) or (b) below. Then write down your most precise estimate.

“On average, how many full-time college students in the entire United States drop out before graduation?”

___ More than 200 students

or

___ Fewer than 200 students

Now indicate your own most precise estimate here: _______

When making your own estimate of how many students drop out, you probably fell victim to this heuristic. Why? Because your most honest answer to this question is probably, “I have no idea how many college students drop out before graduating, but it’s probably much higher”

“We inflate the frequency and importance of famous people and events.”

Napoleon not famous to you if you dont know him

Availability heuristic: The tendency to overestimate the frequency or importance of information based on how easily it comes to mind. Occurs when an individual makes a decision using the most easily available information.

“For example, when you need a store clerk, you probably would not use the algorithmic method of approaching everyone in the store and saying, “Do you work here?” Instead, you would more likely substitute the easier-to-answer (and much more efficient!) heuristic of looking for someone wearing a uniform or a nametag (Kahneman & Frederick, 2005; Shepperd & Koch, 2005)

Representativeness heuristic: Occurs when individuals make a decision based on how closely their observations resemble the “typical” case. The tendency to classify observations according to a preexisting, typical case and using that process to come to a conclusion.

“Our mental shortcuts are rapid and automatic, and they can operate simultaneously—that is, in parallel. When these mental shortcuts all come up with the same false intuition, they can be extremely persuasive.”

Confirmation bias: Occurs when individuals only search for evidence that confirms their beliefs while ignoring evidence that contradicts their beliefs.

Hindsight bias: Occurs when individuals believe they could have predicted the outcome of a past event but only after

Negativity bias: The automatic tendency to notice and remember negative information better than positive information.