3.4 Cognitive Control Through Effort - Study Notes

Controlled processing is intentional and requires focus. It uses a lot of mental resources, so we can only handle a limited amount of information at once.
Automatic processing is fast, unconscious, and effortless, allowing us to process lots of information quickly without much mental effort.
Both processing types affect how we judge others.

Psychologists explain social judgments using two-stage theories.
First stage: rely on quick, automatic thinking to handle the large amount of information we receive daily.
Second stage: use slower, controlled thinking to adjust any errors made in the first stage.
These theories describe how we balance speed and accuracy in social judgments.

Stage 1: fast and automatic; leads to a biased judgment based on the observer's goal.
- If the goal is to judge the person, the action is attributed to the person (personal attribution).
- If the goal is to judge the situation, the action is attributed to the situation (situational attribution).
Stage 2: slower and can correct these biases; however, this correction only happens if the person has enough mental resources and motivation.

Stereotypes are automatic shortcuts triggered without conscious thought, even if people do not agree with them.
Both high and low prejudice groups have the same automatic reactions to stereotypes.
Low prejudice individuals use controlled thinking to suppress these stereotypes and avoid acting prejudiced.
When mental energy to suppress stereotypes is lacking (e.g., fatigue, distraction), individuals may act in prejudiced ways.
Example: students made more stereotypical judgments when tired or distracted than when fully focused.

We tend to make biases and errors (e.g., the fundamental attribution error) because we often don’t have enough mental energy for the deeper thinking needed to correct them.
When tired, distracted, or not fully focused, we are more likely to behave in biased ways.

Fatigue and divided attention can increase biased judgments and prejudiced behavior.
The ability to correct biases depends on having sufficient mental energy and motivation.
Real-world relevance includes expectations for fairness in everyday judgments (e.g., classrooms, workplaces, social interactions).
Ethical and practical implications: reducing bias requires ensuring individuals have adequate cognitive resources and incentives to engage in controlled processing; otherwise automatic biases may dominate.

Direct ties to dual-process theories in cognitive psychology: automatic (fast, heuristic) vs. controlled (slow, effortful) processing.
Related to attribution theory (how we explain others' behavior) and prejudice literature (automatic vs. controlled processes in stereotyping).

The transcript contains no numerical data, statistics, or formulas. No explicit equations or LaTeX-based mathematical expressions are provided in the source.