Unit 2 AOS1 Social Cognition

The cognitions involved in the way that we behave in social settings and how we interpret the behaviours of others

The process by which people think about, appraise and evaluate other people.

The components that contribute to person perception include:

- Physical cues (used to draw conclusions about people based on their physical appearance, facial expressions and overall manner)

- Saliency detection (refers to the tendency to notice physical features that are unique, novel or stand out from the norm)

- Social categorisation (the process by which we group individuals based upon the perceived social category they belong to)

The cognitive process of attaching meaning to behaviour by looking for a cause or causes to explain the behaviour

Refers to factors within the person that shape their behaviour e.g. personality characteristics, motivation, ability and effort

Refers to environmental factors that are external to the individual e.g. their location or the people around them

The tendency of people to overestimate the role of internal factors and underestimate the role of external factors

Learned ideas we hold about ourselves, others, objects and experiences, they are not innate

It proposes that attitudes contain 3 main components (the ABC of attitude):

- Affective component (feelings or emotions towards the object or person)

- Behavioural component (the actions towards various people, objects or institutions)

- Cognitive component (the belief about an object or person)

• It does not indicate the strength of an attitude.
• The way a person thinks and feels can often be inconsistent with the way they behave which is known as cognitive dissonance e.g. a person may have negative views on a religion but not express these views when around others of that religion.

Generalised views about the personal attributes or characteristics of a group of people

Placing people in categories based on perceived similarities

They help form attitudes, can be positive and help make quick judgements.

However, even positive stereotypes can lead to prejudice (e.g. people with glasses are smart) and although they are quick, they are are often also flawed judgements as they don't take individual factors into consideration beyond just the stereotype.

Discomfort experienced when our behaviours do not align with our attitudes

Systematic errors that occur in our decision-making

The tendency to rely on the first piece of information offered (the 'anchor') when making decisions. Judgements are shaped by the anchor.

Tendency to focus on particular stimuli while overlooking or ignoring other relevant pieces of information

When a person focuses on and favours information that supports them while ignoring contradictory information or views

Tendency for people to assume that their attitudes, beliefs and behaviours are relatively common and are more widely shared by others than is the case

When the positive evaluation we hold about one quality of a person influences our beliefs and expectations regarding other qualities of that person

When a person believes an outcome to have been more predictable than they did before it occurred

Occurs when a person demonstrates poor recall of events following exposure to additional information after the event took place

Our inclination to overestimate our likelihood of experiencing positive events and underestimate our likelihood of experiencing negative events

A tendency for a person to attribute a positive outcome to internal (dispositional) factors, yet attribute negative outcomes to external (situational) factors

Occurs when people with low ability at a task overestimate their own skill set, and people with high ability at a task underestimate their own skill set

Mental shortcuts we use to make quicker, more efficient decisions

A mental shortcut in which we use the information that we first think of to make a judgement

• The availability heuristic:
• - uses information which is readily available or easy to imagine

- is often influenced by information that is recent, frequent, vivid or emotionally significant

- assumes that information that can be recalled easily must be significant or lead us towards a satisfactory response

A mental shortcut in decision-making where we estimate the likelihood of something occurring or being true based on its similarity to our existing understanding and expectations

The representative heuristic:

- allows us to quickly categorise information

- can lead to a biased or inaccurate estimation of probability, often for scenarios that we couldn’t know the answer to

When decision making is influenced by an individual’s current emotional state or mood

The affect heuristic:

- is useful as it allows for decisions to occur quickly and efficiently

- can lead us to make decisions without taking the time to weigh up all relevant information

- leads us to make judgements about certain words, images and objects because of the emotional response they prompt

A negative preconceived notion that we hold towards individuals due to their membership to a particular group. It is an attitude that can lead to discrimination or the unequal treatment of people who should have the same rights as others.

Treating others in an unfair manner based on the negative attitude held about that person or the group to which they belong. It is action based on prejudice.

When a person or a group is treated less favourably than another person or group because of their background or certain personal characteristics

An unreasonable rule or policy that is the same for everyone but has an unfair effect on a particular group

Frequent experiences of prejudice and discrimination leads to increased psychological distress, significantly worse mental health outcomes and increased risk of mental health conditions (depression and anxiety)

• They include:
• - Intergroup contact
• - Sustained contact
• - Superordinate goals
• - Mutual interdependence
• - Equality of status
• - Changing social norms

When intergroup contact is increased between the people who hold the stereotype and those who are the target of the stereotype, prejudice is reduced. This occurs when contact is sustained, equality exists and when meeting the goals for each group requires mutual interdependence.

For maximum benefit, intergroup contact should be prolonged and involve cooperative activity

Shared goals which individuals cannot achieve without the cooperation of others. They help reduce conflict by encouraging people in opposing groups to see themselves as members of a single, larger group.

When individuals must rely on one another to meet each person’s goals, prejudice and discrimination is reduced

Involves social interaction that occurs at the same level, without obvious differences in power or status. Members of the in-group and outgroup interact with each other, but without one group exerting power over the other.

Social norms are rules, standards or behaviours that are generally understood or accepted within society. Norms can be changed through the passing of legislation, awareness campaigns and spending time with out-groups.