PSY 331Social Psychology – Exam II Miura Ang09/30 Wednesday – SOCIAL COGNITION & PERSON PERCEPTIONSOCIAL COGNITION – How we think about social world- The way in which we interpret, analyze, rmb and use info about the social worldo We interpret events in our world and makes sense of them by using 2 types of thinking: Automatic and relatively effortless thinking Deliberate and relatively effortful thinking2 ways:- 1) Explicit Processingo Conscious – We are aware that we are doing ito Typically effortfulo Typically intentionalo E.g. Complex math problemExplicit cognition involves judgments or decisions that are under the control of automatically activated evaluations occurring w/o our awareness.- 2) Implicit Processingo Non-conscious – Not necessarily aware that we are doing it, but we’reaware of the end resulto Effortlesso Automatic – Hard to suppress ito E.g. Understanding languageImplicit cognition involves judgments or decisions that are under the control of automatically activated evaluations occurring w/o our awareness. Explicit Vs. Implicit- Both: Pluses and minuses- Implicit: Fast and easy, Inflexible- Explicit: Takes effort, Flexible e.g. walking, driving a carBeing unintentional and consuming few cog resources, implicit cog operates quickly, while explicit cog is generally a slower process. - When we are cognitively busy (i.e. Engaged in explicit)?2o Implicit OK, explicit interruptedo Explicit processing only interferes w explicit processing, NOT implicitTHOUGHT SUPPRESSION: Attempting to prevent certain thoughts frm entering consciousnesso Actively trying not to think about something - Good example of BOTH implicit and explicit cognition working in tandem to prevent unwelcome thoughts from entering consciousness. o Involves … An automatic “early warning” monitoring process (implicit cog) for unwanted thoughts, and  A conscious “active prevention” operating process (explicit cog)to distract attention away from unwanted thoughts. - Plays a critical role in keeping us focused so that we can accomplish goals, there can be physical and emotional costs to this aspect of self-regulation. o Can take a physical and mental toll on our health, esp during times of stress. Ø Wegner (1987)- Report stream of consciousness for 5 mins aloud to a tape recorder- Within-subjects manipulation: Expression vs. Suppressiono Expression: try to think of a white bearo Suppression: try to not think of a white bear (counter-balanced)- Resultso Suppressing the though for the 1st 5mins caused it to “rebound” even more prominently into participants’ minds later Rebound effecto Self-regulation – Hard to control our own thoughts!o Suppression leads to obsession – Important topics magnified3- Examples: Dieting (suppressing thought of hunger), Thinking about an exØ Explanation- 2 Part process: o 1) Implicit monitoringo 2) Explicit correction- When conscious suppression stop… Implicit search continueso More likely to think about it- Cognitively busy? ONLY interferes w explicit!- How to avoid?- Paradoxically, stop trying! E.g. Falling asleep vs. staying awake Research: Encouraging insomniacs to stay awake helps sleep- Trying to think about smt … Easier than trying to not think about smto Study 2: “Think of a red Volkswagen instead” NO rebound effect Breakup example: Meet smo newREASONING FALLACIESØ How we think- Short story:o People are cognitive misers We try to think as little as possibleo Use time/effort saving strategies E.g. Restaurant script – a set of ideas telling you about how a typical event occurs E.g. “Spend the night”4 … usually work… but not always - Leaves us open to …Ø 2 Types of Reasoning Fallacies- 1) We see what we expect- 2) We see what we wantA B 2 3- Each card has letter on 1 side, number on other - Your task: Turn over only the cards necessary to determine whether all cards w a vowel on 1 side have an even # on the other- Correct answer: A and 3  Why?o Most pick A & 2 (Watson, 1966)o 2 can only confirm hypo, not disprove!8 – 10 – 12- Task: write down the rule- First: “ask” me sets of 3 #s  I’ll tell you if they fit- Finally: only guess the rule when you’re sure- Correct answer: 3 Increasing #s1) WE SEE WHAT WE EXPECT- Seek confirmatory info – Desire for hypothesis to be true? Not necessary!- Confirmatory Seeking – Synder & Swann (1978)o Task: Determine if partner is… Manipulation: Introvert or Extrovert5o Participants generated own questions Typically introvert: “What do u like about being alone”, “What is the worst part of being at a larger party?” Typically extrovert: “What do you do to get to know ppl?”, “How do we liven things up at a party?”o Notice anything? Leading questions!o What happened? Leading qns elicited corresponding answers!SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECYØ Pygmalion in the Classroom (Rosenthal & Jacobsen, 1968)- Teachers were told some students would be “bloomers”- Those students end up doing better over the school year- Tricky part: “bloomer” label given out randomly!- What happened?o Teacher explanations affected how they treated students… More attention, encouragement etc.o … which helps learning- Our expectations …o Shape our behavioro Shape other’s behavioro Confirming our expectationso Interview example in a real world settingØ Expectations- Pre-existing knowledge- SCHEMA: Organized structure of knowledge that guides info processingo 1) Provide theories about how the social world operates6 Schemas enrich our udsing of the world because they provide a theory abt the category of interest.o 2) Hasten info processing and decision-makingo 3) Influence what info is rmbed and recalledo Implicit cog allows us to grp objects, ideas, or events into categories and also to develop theories about those categories. The theories we have about categories are called schemas.  Schema: an organized structure of knowledge about a stimulusthat is built up from experience and that contains causal relations; it is a theory about how the social world operates- This stimulus could be a person, an object, a social grp, a social role, or a common event.-Representation, a way we classify info about smto Schema activation... Prompts us to think about and evaluate other and ourselves in terms of these organized structures of knowledge Prompt us to physically behave in ways consistent w themo Once schemas are formed,