Chapter 6 Interpretive Competence 03 01 2011 Semiotics understanding symbols and signs words are symbols Sign can be any word color sound etc Ex White pure green fertility black evil o Signifier the symbol or code a book o A code is a collection of symbols words o Signified the concept of what a book is represents Syntagmic analysis where signs are placed order Paradigmatic analysis the value of sign includes absence in relation to other signs Denotative dictionary meaning Conotative what you interpret Myth idealized abstract vague Codes Figure ground o Figure the sign symbol that stands out o Ground not as important just adds to meaning Proximity use of space Continuity how we assume things will continuously flow Closure we see something as being whole continuous we automatically fill in the holes Perception The perceptual trio o Emotion effects how you see things o Motivation if you re motivated to understand info you have a better chance of knowing what s going on o Social Cognition How you interpret things based on what s stored in your head Emotion and Perception o The same race advantage We are more fearful of people of different races than us and more comfortable with people of the same race o Contact Hypothesis members of a minority group have more contact and experience interacting with members of minority populations o The Mood Congruity Hypothesis When you re in a happy mood you think of happy memories and when you re in a bad mood you think of bad memories o Motivation and Perception when you re automatically processing information o Social Cognition and Perception o Schema a cognitive structure that helps us process and organize information a cluster of abstract knowledge Types of Cognitive Structures o Personal constructs Allows us to describe things in greater detail and make judgments about them o Person and group schemas Stereotypes don t put a lot of thought into judgments o Role and Relational schemas Role Schema an internal representation of the rules norms and behavioral expectations associated with social roles such as occupations gender age etc Relational Schemas cognitive representations of typical interaction patterns and indicate interpersonal expectations as opposed to expectations based exclusively on one person s role or personality Self schemas information about ourselves that is organized linked and includes abstractions values attributes preferences and behavioral routines Event schemas refer to scripts and episodes Cognitive Schemas and Perceptions o Na ve realism seeing what you want to believe make up your own world o Dual Processing we process things in two ways Automatic Mindful interactions putting a lot of effort into understanding something o Impression Formation Attention and identification if you want to understand something you need to pay attention Controlled categorization you pay more attention to things you don t know you have to pay a little more Personalization takes a lot of effort you have to think attention specifically What is involved in Interpersonal Perception Sizing up situations Orienting ourselves episode identification Try to recall different situations to figure out a new situation Using scripts to guide interaction o Open episode there s no social rules or norms Can talk do wear anything o Closed episode very regulated certain rules o Defined episode when we have an open episode and we are so frustrated we try to create some rules Be mindful Sizing up people Using personal constructs to judge others 4 different types of contructs o Physical constructs tall short beautiful ugly o Role constructs buyer seller teacher student If a teacher is sarcastic it is weird but if a friend is it s not weird o Interaction constructs friendly hostile polite rude o Psychological constructs motivated lazy kind cruel Implicit personality theory The belief on our part that certain individual traits are related to other traits the halo effect Primacy vs Recency Effect o Primacy effect the tendency for first impressions to be o Recency effect when more recent observations change our lasting ones initial impression Recency vs Frequency o Storage Bin Model Recently primed concepts are strongest Info that is most recent in our history will be the info we recall first o Storage Battery Model Frequently stored concepts Concepts we store again and again If we don t use them eventually theyre going to go away o Synapse View Model Focus on time The longer ago things happened the least likely you will Sizing up relationships remember them Self monitoring deciding who we want to be Idea of face The impact of relational schemas Defining relationships Master contract what you have figured out that works well for your relationship Explaining behavior attribution theories Attribution Bias 1 The Anchoring Effect o We know something about somebody and we attribute other traits about them Attribution Bias 2 Overestimating personality o The idea that after having a bad first impression you have to work harder Attribution Bias 3 Underestimating the situation o Thinking you re going to connect with someone and not connecting with them o Not knowing someone s situation and judging them for it Attribution Bias 4 Perspective matters o Looking at yourself in a higher light than everyone else o If you fail a test it s because the teachers boring the class is stupid the study guide was bad etc Another person failed because they re lazy Discounting Rule we know somebody s situation and discount their Augmenting Rule your overestimation of the problem gets bigger You attribute any personality flaw to that person Not knowing the behavior person s situation Listening Interpreting verbal and nonverbal messages Different than hearing 5 steps to listening Receiving we receive all sorts of stimuli Attending we pay attention to what s important Understanding you pay attention to things and then cognitively interpret or analyze them Responding we respond to things after understanding Remembering remembering the info Types of listening Discriminatory listening to one thing over and over Appreciative when you appreciate something you listen to Comprehensive listening to something to understand it class Evaluative when you listen to something to see if you agree or disagree Empathic when you listening to comfort another person Chapter 7 Role Competence 03 01 2011 Social Control Social Roles Roles sets of expectations that govern how people holding a given position should