Social Cognition

0What is social cognition? How is it different from social psych and cognitive psych?

0Effortful, then automatic, then motivated tactician0Then applied to different areas like relationships0Then social cog neuroscience0Priming and automaticity0Motivated social cognition0Controversies

Attribution theory

0 Jones and Davis (1965) correspondent inference theory

0Kelley (1967) covariation theory

Schemas

0When do people use schemas?0What do we have them on?0How do they differ from stereotypes?

Impression formation

0Warm vs. cold, intellective (compare to Fiske stereotype model)

0Anderson (1968) information integration model0Kenny (1987) SOREMO0Thin slices0Spontaneous trait inferences0Why does negative info have more weight?

Judgment

0Tversky & Kahneman (1973)0 Representativeness0 Availability0 Counterfactuals0 Anchoring and adjustment

0What are some reasons we make these mistakes?0Wegner thought suppression

Other areas covered elsewhere

0Self0Attitudes0Prejudice0Emotion

Automaticity

0What are automatic processes? 0How do they differ from controlled?0How is it measured? 0https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/0What are problems with these measures?0What effects do subliminals have?

Conscious thought

0What does conscious thought do for us? 0Baumeister four conclusions:

0 Lets us learn from the past0 Lets us take into account what is culturally appropriate0 Helps when we have several alternatives0 Works with unconscious processes to determine human

behavior

System Justification Theory

0What is some of the background behind this theory? 0Small group discussion0Six types of false consciousness beliefs—how do

people show these? 0 Denial of injustice0 Thinking there is no chance for change0 Rationalizing social roles0 Incorrect attributions of blame0 Identification with high status0 Resistance to social change.

0How does SJT differ from:0 Social identity theory0 Social dominance theory0 Belief in a just world0 Cognitive dissonance

0Would system justification occur outside the US? Would it differ by culture?

0Why do we have these tendencies for SJ? What motives do they serve?

0What individual level variables relate to more SJ?0Why do people justify instead of revolt? 0When can you get social change, according to SJ?0Does that fit with examples of social change we can

think of?

Postulates0 Motivated to defend status quo0 Motivation varies by situation and disposition0 More when status quo is 1) inevitable, 2) threatened, and 3)

when individual is dependent0 Satisfies 3 types of needs, so varies based on strength of

those needs0 Can take many forms (examples)0 Good for advantaged groups (self-esteem, etc.)0 Bad for disadvantaged groups0 Can be good in the short term for people0 Embrace change when 1) inevitable, and 2) keep some of

the old

0People rationalize status quo by thinking likely events are more desirable.

0We use stereotypes to rationalize group differences, especially when under threat.

0Explaining status differences will increase these effects, even post hoc.

0Low status groups will show outgroup favoritism, especially on implicit, and vice versa for high status. 0 Especially when system seen as more legit, SJ tendencies

increase, or conservatism increases0 Why?

0Low status feel less entitlement0Low status more ambivalence toward own group0Affects self-esteem, depression, neuroticism

0 Implications/examples of this?

0Low status groups show more SJ when low individual/group needs

0SJ higher in societies with more inequality0SJ higher when complementary stereotypes (poor but

happy, caring women)0Sometimes higher for low status group

0 Why?

System justification and motivated avoidance of info0Shepherd & Kay, 20120Compensatory control theory (Kay et al., 2008)—we

want to feel that things aren’t just random. So we can look for personal control, or substitute control from external sources like the government or religion0 So how does this relate to their hypotheses?

0Feeling stupid dependence trust avoiding info

Overview of studies

0Study 1: Canadian students read about energy—in complex condition self-reported more trust in govt to manage that area

0Study 2: Canadian students read about energy, rated pictures with dependency themes, rated trust in govt officials. Complex led to dependence led to trust

0Study 3: Americans (through mTurk?) rate how complex energy is, read about running out sooner or later. Said they wanted to avoid it more if urgent and complex

0 Study 4: More American mTurkers? Read simple or complex description of economy, rated how much the recession was affecting them, and rating their interest in articles about the economy and self-report. When complex, avoided negative articles more if more affected (otherwise more affected related to less avoidance)

0 Study 5: Online Canadians read complex or simple description of economdy and rated things they could do to get through recession (perceived helplessness), rated dependence on govt., trust in govt., and avoidance. All higher if complex and got mediation.

0 Are there other explanations for their effects or issues with the studies?

0 Do their predictions go beyond what cognitive dissonance theory would predict?

0 What if people don’t trust the government? 0 Implications for getting people to take action on social

issues? Would you expect similar effects for other issues? 0 Why are there so many issues in which people seem to not

trust the government? 0 What individual differences might relate to this tendency?

Does free will exist?

0Bargh—it’s all automatic0Wegner—we experience “will” because we have

intention, feedback loop, and retrospectivity 0 Doesn’t deal with whether it exists, just why we think it

does (but later said we overestimate)0Baumeister—we do have some controlled processes

—and maybe even free will!

Free will

0What is free will? 0What is its purpose?0 If a thought or behavior is automatic, can it be freely

willed? 0 Is free will a yes/no, or a continuum? 0Do animals have free will?

What does free will do for us?

0How to measure free will0 Free Will and Determinism Plus Scale0 Free Will and Determinism Scale

0What effects do beliefs in free will seem to have?0Why does decreasing FW seem to have stronger

effects than increasing it? 0Why would FW not affect moral judgments? 0What are correlates of FW?

Self-regulation

0What is self-regulation?0How does it relate to glucose?0 Is self-regulation a skill? 0What does ego depletion lead to?0Does it relate to alcohol use? PMS? 0What are elements of FW according to B&M?0How do these elements relate to your example of

FW??

Evidence provided

0 Imagining doing something makes it more likely you’ll do it

0Specific intentions make it more likely you’ll do something

0Anticipated emotions affect behavior0Reflecting on past events affects behavior0Logical reasoning requires conscious thought0Conscious thought may be especially important for

novices