Data

Copy and paste the text below. It is read-only. Select All

Affect our current feelings or moods Affective forecasts predictions about how we would feel about events we have not actually experienced Anchoring and adjustment heuristic a heuristic that involves the tendency to use a number of value as a starting point to which we then make adjustments Automatic processing this occurs when, after extensive experience with a task or type of information, we reach the stage where we can perform the task or process the information in a seemingly effortless, automatic and non-conscious manner Availability heuristic a strategy for making judgments on the basis of how easily specific kinds of information can be brought to mind Counterfactual thinking- the tendency to imagine other outcomes in a situation than the ones that actually occurred ("What might have been") Conditions of uncertainty where the "correct" answer is difficult to know or would take a great deal of effort to determine Heuristics simple rules for making complex decisions or drawing inferences in a rapid manner and seemingly effortless manner Information overload instances in which our ability to process information is exceeded Magical thinking thinking involving assumptions that don't hold up to rational scrutiny; the belief that things that resemble one another share fundamental properties Metaphor a linguistic device that relates or draws a comparison between one abstract concept and another dissimilar concept Mood congruence effects the fact that we are more likely to store or remember positive information when in a positive mood and negative information when we are in a negative mood Mood dependent memory- the fact that what we remember while in a given mood may be determined in part by what we learned when previously in that mood Optimistic bias our predisposition to expect things to turn out well overall Overconfidence barrier the tendency to have more confidence in the accuracy of our own judgments than is reasonable Perseverance effect the tendency for beliefs and schemas to remain unchanged even in the face of contradictory information Planning fallacy the tendency to make optimistic predictions concerning how long a given task will take for completion Priming a situation that occurs when stimuli or events increase the availability in memory on consciousness of specific types of information held in memory Prototype summary of the common attributes possessed by members of a category Representativeness heuristic a strategy for making judgments based on the extent to which current stimuli or events resemble other stimuli or categories Schemas mental frameworks centering on a specific theme that help us to organize social information Social cognition the manner in which we interpret, analyze, remember and use information about the social world Terror management our efforts to come to terms with certainty of our own death and its unsettling implications Unpriming refers to the fact that the effects of the schemas tend to persist until they are somehow expressed in thought or behavior and only then do their efforts decrease Social Cognition Definition Two fundamental axioms people create their own reality situations influence thoughts, feelings, and behavior How do people think about/organize information about their social worlds? How people pay attention to, process, remember, and use information about the social world Why is it important to understand how we make sense of our social world? we are interdependent, social beings Motivated to get along with others it's important to understand who provides important resources we attempt to make the world more predictable, if not controllable Controlled Processing Must have fully intentional control to exercise intent, a person must a) have options b) make the hard choice (i.e., the non-dominant alternative) c) pay attention What is automatic processing? Lack of awareness- "preconscious automaticity" Lack of intention Lack of control: "postconscious automaticity" Lack of effort: result of practice Heuristics Short cuts to thinking Representative heuristic Base-rate fallacy Priming: Process where recent experience increases the use of a concept or access to certain information Availability heuristic Factors that increase availability Emotionality of events Recency of events Ease of visualization Imagining events Vividness of events or testimonials representative heuristic 1. judge the probability of an event by finding event and assuming that the prabilities will be similar 2. base rate fallacy Negativity bias Pay more attention and give more weight to negative information E.g., Prospect theory (Kahneman, 1979) 1. make choices (involves risks) Editing 1. assume possible outcomes and how they relate Evaluation (loss or gain) Optimistic bias: It'll never happen to me! Positive outcomes are overestimated (especially with respect to oneself) Negative outcomes are underestimated sampling bias judgement on small sample (scued) planning fallacy idea that you can get more done than you actually can confirmation bais research- idea what think happens and find ideas that support own theory should:disprove info Counterfactual Thinking (what might have been; what could I have done different?) negative event-Imagine doing something different ("better") Enhances positive mood May allow for the development of new strategies for future use eg: grad activity- 87% satisfied; 89% not satisfied why? B+ feels hould have got an A 2 types of counterfactuals 1. Downward a. imagine could be worse -feel better -not motivating 2. upward a. imagine could be better -feel worse -more motivating Illusory correlation Associate random events to find significance a. miss bus; wake up late-doesnt mean everything is against you Illusion of control Idea than chance events are subject to our influence a. have influece over chance ("lucky charm") Regression to the mean a. if win once with rabbit foot doesnt increase chance of winning again Mood-congruent judgment effect when teacher evaluations come out tieacher gives you candy-makes you happy Mood-dependent memory Affect Infusion Model (AIM) Affect triggers (primes) similar cognitive categories Emotion acts as a shortcut (heuristic) to thinking a. good mood-good memories b. bad mood-bad memories Affect and Cognition Mood-congruent judgment effect Mood-dependent memory cognition and affect sight of oncoming car (perception of stimulus) ...leads to either.... 1. pounding heart (arousal) 2. cognitive lable (i am afraid) ...leads to Fear (emotion) Ironic processes Attempts to avoid thoughts makes thoughts more accessible 2 opposing mechanisms Monitoring Operating Self-fulfilling prophecies Teacher and student expectations Correlated with student achievement Behavioral confirmation Social expectations lead you to act in ways that cause others to confirm your expectations! "Pygmalion effect" Distortion of observations Creation of demand characteristics that elicit predicted behaviors Behavioral confirmation Social expectations lead you to act in ways that cause others to confirm your expectations! "Pygmalion effect" Distortion of observations Creation of demand characteristics that elicit predicted behaviors Organizing Social Information Problem: too much information course content my voice what I'm wearing what people around you are doing what you've got to do after class what you're missing on TV Schemas Specificity matters Provides clarity when faced with ambiguity Resistant to change Framework, or mental structure Helps to organize information Guides processing Influences memory processes Attention Encoding Retrieval Different Types of Schemas Schemas about objects Schemas about ourselves Schemas about other people e.g., trait schemas Schemas about groups of people e.g., stereotypes cognitive frameworks that are organized around characteristics we ascribe to people based on their social categories Schemas about events e.g., scripts Memories Reconstruction not perfect Combine fragments with moods and feelings Memories stored with associations Motivated to recall events in a better way see ourselves better off now, "fit" memories to new self-concept Schemas and behavior Physical attractiveness of female described to males -->Females did not know how they were described to males -->Females behavior was warmer and more friendly when they were described to the male as "attractive" Low-->Phone conversation with males high-->Males were warmer, more friendly, and used more humor when talking to the "attractive" female Schemas in summary schemas allow us to organize social information schemas aid our memory, provide clarity schemas are resistant to change, bias our information processing schemas take different forms Dealing with Social Cognitive Limitations Ways to become better thinkers statistical reasoning e.g., pay attention to the base rates law of large numbers a large sample size is better (i.e., more accurate) be critical consumers of information