SOCIAL
PSYCHOLOGY
(PYC3701) SUMMARY
2014
,Chapter One
Social Psychology: SCIENTIFIC FIELD THAT seeks to understand the nature and causes of
individual behaviour and thought in social situations.
Core values of „scientific‟: Accuracy, objectivity, scepticism and open mindedness
Factors affecting social behaviour
Behaviour and appearance of others
Cognitive processes – memories and inferences
Physical environment
Cultural context
Biological factors – evolutionary psych. Role of genetic factors in inheriting
predispositions that may become reality, depending on environment and social
setting
Social Neuroscience – neural foundations of social thought and behaviour
Use of deception: researchers withhold info. about purposes / procedures of a study from
persons participating = ETHICAL ISSUES
INFORMED CONSENT – provide as much info. as possible before participating (or not)
Debriefing at conclusion is important
Chapter Two: Social Cognition
How we think about the social world, try to understand it and ourselves and our places in
it.
1. SCHEMAS:
Mental frameworks centring on a specific theme that help us to organise social
information (large amounts of info)
Once formed, they exert a strong effect on social thought
Built up through past experiences
Shared culture leads to shared schemas
May vary due to unique life experiences
Once formed, they play a role in determining what we notice about the social
world, what info we remember and how we use and interpret that info.
The impact of schemas on social cognition; They influence:
Attention – what we notice – schemas acts as a filter
Encoding – processes through which info is stored in memory. Info consistent with
schema is encoded
Retrieval – Processes through which we retrieve / recover info. From memory in
order to use it
Info that is inconsistent with our schemas does not agree with our expectations, and
may be encoded in a separate memory location and marked with a unique ‗tag‘.
It forces our attention to make a note
Retrieval of info that is consistent with schemas to a greater extent than inconsistent
info. BUT info. Inconsistent with schemas present in memory
Effects of schema on social cognition strongly influenced when:
, Schema strong and well developed
When cognitive load (mental effort expended) is high rather than low – try to
handle lots of info at one time – rely on schema which help us process info
efficiently
PRIMING: which schemas guide our thoughts?
Priming: a situation that occurs when stimuli / events increase the availability in memory or
consciousness of specific types of info held in memory
Transitory increases in the ease which specific schemas can be activated
produced by experiences relevant to the schemas.
i.e. experience activates your schema for aggression – see action as aggressive.
Recent experiences make some schemas more active than they would otherwise
be. Therefore exert stronger effect on current thinking
Priming has long lasting effect once it occurs
Unpriming: the effects of the schemas tend to persist until they are somehow expressed in
thought/behaviour and only then do their effects decrease if it finds expression – it then
dissipates.
The automatic processing of social information involves combining affective state with
schemas and cognitions
Schema is primed: activated by experience /event /stimulus Schema is NOT
expressed in thought / behaviour effects persist and schemas influence social thought /
behaviour
Unpriming – Schema is expressed somehow in behaviour / thoughts effects of schema
dissipate – the schema no longer influences social thought / behaviour
Schema persistence = Schema based on past experience
Have important downside – by influencing what we notice and remember they can
produce distortions in our understanding of the social world.
Once formed – they are resistant to change and show PERSEVERANCE EFFECT -
tendency for beliefs and schemas to remain unchanged even in face of
contradictory info.
i.e: encounter info inconsistent with schema – mechanic who sews well – we don‘t
alter our schema for mechanics, but rather place person in a sub type.
Schemas can be SELF-FULFILLING : they influence our responses to the social world
in ways that make is consistent with the schema
Building the science: Beliefs shape reality – our schemas shape and reflect the social
world – self-fulfilling.
Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson – concern that teachers belief system for social
groups (minority children) causing them to treat these children less favourably, resulting in
them falling behind
They administered IQ test to all students
Told teachers that some students scored high and were about to bloom
academically (not true)
They predicted that info might change teachers expectations and schemas about
these children (who were randomly selected)
They returned 8 months later
Children who were ‗bloomers‘ showed significantly larger gains on IQ tests than the
control group.
, Therefore teachers beliefs operated in a self-fulfilling effect: gave these students
more attention, more challenging tasks, more feedback.
Sadker and Sadker 1994 – teacher‘s lower expectations for success by minority
students undermined the confidence and contributed to poorer performance.
2. HEURISTICS:
Simple rules for making complex decisions or drawing inferences in a rapid and
seemingly effortless manner – to avoid info. Overload
The reduce cognitive effort
Affect: our current feelings and mood. People have diff. cognitive frameworks
(expectations) for same situation, therefore understand them differently.
REPRESENTATIVENESS: Judging by resemblance – can lead to errors in thinking
Make a judgement based on the extent to which current stimuli / events resemble
other stimuli or categories. i.e. the more similar an individual is to typical members of
a given group, the more likely they belong to that group
Judgements based on representativeness are WRONG – they ignore BASE RATES:
the frequency with which given events / patterns occur in the total populations
AVAILABILITY: A strategy for making judgements on the basis of how easily specific
kinds of info can be bought to mind
Because we can easily bring info to mind – suggests it must be frequent / important
and therefore influences our judgement and decision
If judgement is involving emotion / feelings – we rely on EASE RULE
If involving facts / info – we rely on ‗amounts of info we can bring to mind‘ rule
ANCHORING & ADJUSTMENT: Tendency to deal with uncertainty by using something
we do know as a starting point and then making adjustments to it.
Very powerful in social situations
i.e. put a car up for sale at a specific price, expecting to lower it
experienced legal experts learned sentences passed on criminals – their own
proposed sentences were influenced by these anchors
Tendency to allow initial anchors to influence our judgements stems from tendency
to avoid effortful work involved in making adjustments to this anchor.
INFORMATION OVERLOAD: Instances when our ability to process information is
exceeded – demands on our cognitive system are greater than its capacity
Strategy to stretch our cognitive resources – let us to more with less effort - heuristics.
AUTOMATIC AND CONTROLLED PROCESSING
CONTROLLED PROCESSING – Systematic, logical, careful and effortful manner. Relies
on thinking / logical processes
Involves portions of prefrontal cortex
AUTOMATIC PROCESSING – Occurs when, after extensive experience with task /
info, we reach the stage where we can perform that task / process the info in a
seemingly effortless, automatic and non-conscious manner.
Relies on schema and heuristics
Limbic system – amygdala
, Once schema activated, exerts important effect on social thought and behaviour
Bargh, Chen, Burrow –
Study One
- 1st activated either schema for trait of rudeness of politeness by priming –
participants unscrambled sentences containing works related to either trait
- Exposure to words related to schemas primes mental frameworks
- People in control gropu unscrambled unrelated words
- Afterwards – participants were engaged in conversation with accomplice
- Researcher ‗took over‘ conversation, ignoring the participant
- Those primed for rudeness interrupted!
Study Two
- Primed the stereotype for the elderly (or didn‘t in the control group) – those primed
walked slower
- Therefore activating schemas (and stereotypes) exert automatic effects on
behaviour – individuals think and behave in terms of that mental framework
- Schema – once activated – may also trigger motivated efforts to prepare for
interacting with people / groups who are focus of schema
The benefits of automatic processing / unconscious thought
Dijksterhuis and Van Olden 2006 research
- Participants who made their decisions while being prevented from thinking about
them consciously were more satisfied with the decision made (unconscious
conditions) than those who could engage in careful, systematic thought
(conscious) or those who chose immediately.
- Unconscious thought has greater capacity while conscious thought has limitations
on amount of info that can be handled.
Potential sources of error in social cognition
Tilts in social thought: NEGATIVITY BIAS: We show greater sensitivity to negative information
than to positive information
Evolutionary perspective on this: negative info reflects features of external world that may
be threatening to us, therefore important for us to be sensitive and responsive to stimuli.
Negativity bias is NOT universal – and can be overcome by situational factors and can be
reduced / eliminated
Smith et al research 2006
- Participants were positively and negatively primed
- Using neuroscience, brain activity for attention measured
- Negative bias was eliminated when positive stimuli had been frequent – when
positive reactions were primed
- Social thought is adaptable and flows along channels that help us deal effectively
with complex social world.
THE OPTIMISTIC BIAS: our predisposition to expect things to turn out well - overall
People believe they are more likely than others to experience positive events
PSYCHOLOGY
(PYC3701) SUMMARY
2014
,Chapter One
Social Psychology: SCIENTIFIC FIELD THAT seeks to understand the nature and causes of
individual behaviour and thought in social situations.
Core values of „scientific‟: Accuracy, objectivity, scepticism and open mindedness
Factors affecting social behaviour
Behaviour and appearance of others
Cognitive processes – memories and inferences
Physical environment
Cultural context
Biological factors – evolutionary psych. Role of genetic factors in inheriting
predispositions that may become reality, depending on environment and social
setting
Social Neuroscience – neural foundations of social thought and behaviour
Use of deception: researchers withhold info. about purposes / procedures of a study from
persons participating = ETHICAL ISSUES
INFORMED CONSENT – provide as much info. as possible before participating (or not)
Debriefing at conclusion is important
Chapter Two: Social Cognition
How we think about the social world, try to understand it and ourselves and our places in
it.
1. SCHEMAS:
Mental frameworks centring on a specific theme that help us to organise social
information (large amounts of info)
Once formed, they exert a strong effect on social thought
Built up through past experiences
Shared culture leads to shared schemas
May vary due to unique life experiences
Once formed, they play a role in determining what we notice about the social
world, what info we remember and how we use and interpret that info.
The impact of schemas on social cognition; They influence:
Attention – what we notice – schemas acts as a filter
Encoding – processes through which info is stored in memory. Info consistent with
schema is encoded
Retrieval – Processes through which we retrieve / recover info. From memory in
order to use it
Info that is inconsistent with our schemas does not agree with our expectations, and
may be encoded in a separate memory location and marked with a unique ‗tag‘.
It forces our attention to make a note
Retrieval of info that is consistent with schemas to a greater extent than inconsistent
info. BUT info. Inconsistent with schemas present in memory
Effects of schema on social cognition strongly influenced when:
, Schema strong and well developed
When cognitive load (mental effort expended) is high rather than low – try to
handle lots of info at one time – rely on schema which help us process info
efficiently
PRIMING: which schemas guide our thoughts?
Priming: a situation that occurs when stimuli / events increase the availability in memory or
consciousness of specific types of info held in memory
Transitory increases in the ease which specific schemas can be activated
produced by experiences relevant to the schemas.
i.e. experience activates your schema for aggression – see action as aggressive.
Recent experiences make some schemas more active than they would otherwise
be. Therefore exert stronger effect on current thinking
Priming has long lasting effect once it occurs
Unpriming: the effects of the schemas tend to persist until they are somehow expressed in
thought/behaviour and only then do their effects decrease if it finds expression – it then
dissipates.
The automatic processing of social information involves combining affective state with
schemas and cognitions
Schema is primed: activated by experience /event /stimulus Schema is NOT
expressed in thought / behaviour effects persist and schemas influence social thought /
behaviour
Unpriming – Schema is expressed somehow in behaviour / thoughts effects of schema
dissipate – the schema no longer influences social thought / behaviour
Schema persistence = Schema based on past experience
Have important downside – by influencing what we notice and remember they can
produce distortions in our understanding of the social world.
Once formed – they are resistant to change and show PERSEVERANCE EFFECT -
tendency for beliefs and schemas to remain unchanged even in face of
contradictory info.
i.e: encounter info inconsistent with schema – mechanic who sews well – we don‘t
alter our schema for mechanics, but rather place person in a sub type.
Schemas can be SELF-FULFILLING : they influence our responses to the social world
in ways that make is consistent with the schema
Building the science: Beliefs shape reality – our schemas shape and reflect the social
world – self-fulfilling.
Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson – concern that teachers belief system for social
groups (minority children) causing them to treat these children less favourably, resulting in
them falling behind
They administered IQ test to all students
Told teachers that some students scored high and were about to bloom
academically (not true)
They predicted that info might change teachers expectations and schemas about
these children (who were randomly selected)
They returned 8 months later
Children who were ‗bloomers‘ showed significantly larger gains on IQ tests than the
control group.
, Therefore teachers beliefs operated in a self-fulfilling effect: gave these students
more attention, more challenging tasks, more feedback.
Sadker and Sadker 1994 – teacher‘s lower expectations for success by minority
students undermined the confidence and contributed to poorer performance.
2. HEURISTICS:
Simple rules for making complex decisions or drawing inferences in a rapid and
seemingly effortless manner – to avoid info. Overload
The reduce cognitive effort
Affect: our current feelings and mood. People have diff. cognitive frameworks
(expectations) for same situation, therefore understand them differently.
REPRESENTATIVENESS: Judging by resemblance – can lead to errors in thinking
Make a judgement based on the extent to which current stimuli / events resemble
other stimuli or categories. i.e. the more similar an individual is to typical members of
a given group, the more likely they belong to that group
Judgements based on representativeness are WRONG – they ignore BASE RATES:
the frequency with which given events / patterns occur in the total populations
AVAILABILITY: A strategy for making judgements on the basis of how easily specific
kinds of info can be bought to mind
Because we can easily bring info to mind – suggests it must be frequent / important
and therefore influences our judgement and decision
If judgement is involving emotion / feelings – we rely on EASE RULE
If involving facts / info – we rely on ‗amounts of info we can bring to mind‘ rule
ANCHORING & ADJUSTMENT: Tendency to deal with uncertainty by using something
we do know as a starting point and then making adjustments to it.
Very powerful in social situations
i.e. put a car up for sale at a specific price, expecting to lower it
experienced legal experts learned sentences passed on criminals – their own
proposed sentences were influenced by these anchors
Tendency to allow initial anchors to influence our judgements stems from tendency
to avoid effortful work involved in making adjustments to this anchor.
INFORMATION OVERLOAD: Instances when our ability to process information is
exceeded – demands on our cognitive system are greater than its capacity
Strategy to stretch our cognitive resources – let us to more with less effort - heuristics.
AUTOMATIC AND CONTROLLED PROCESSING
CONTROLLED PROCESSING – Systematic, logical, careful and effortful manner. Relies
on thinking / logical processes
Involves portions of prefrontal cortex
AUTOMATIC PROCESSING – Occurs when, after extensive experience with task /
info, we reach the stage where we can perform that task / process the info in a
seemingly effortless, automatic and non-conscious manner.
Relies on schema and heuristics
Limbic system – amygdala
, Once schema activated, exerts important effect on social thought and behaviour
Bargh, Chen, Burrow –
Study One
- 1st activated either schema for trait of rudeness of politeness by priming –
participants unscrambled sentences containing works related to either trait
- Exposure to words related to schemas primes mental frameworks
- People in control gropu unscrambled unrelated words
- Afterwards – participants were engaged in conversation with accomplice
- Researcher ‗took over‘ conversation, ignoring the participant
- Those primed for rudeness interrupted!
Study Two
- Primed the stereotype for the elderly (or didn‘t in the control group) – those primed
walked slower
- Therefore activating schemas (and stereotypes) exert automatic effects on
behaviour – individuals think and behave in terms of that mental framework
- Schema – once activated – may also trigger motivated efforts to prepare for
interacting with people / groups who are focus of schema
The benefits of automatic processing / unconscious thought
Dijksterhuis and Van Olden 2006 research
- Participants who made their decisions while being prevented from thinking about
them consciously were more satisfied with the decision made (unconscious
conditions) than those who could engage in careful, systematic thought
(conscious) or those who chose immediately.
- Unconscious thought has greater capacity while conscious thought has limitations
on amount of info that can be handled.
Potential sources of error in social cognition
Tilts in social thought: NEGATIVITY BIAS: We show greater sensitivity to negative information
than to positive information
Evolutionary perspective on this: negative info reflects features of external world that may
be threatening to us, therefore important for us to be sensitive and responsive to stimuli.
Negativity bias is NOT universal – and can be overcome by situational factors and can be
reduced / eliminated
Smith et al research 2006
- Participants were positively and negatively primed
- Using neuroscience, brain activity for attention measured
- Negative bias was eliminated when positive stimuli had been frequent – when
positive reactions were primed
- Social thought is adaptable and flows along channels that help us deal effectively
with complex social world.
THE OPTIMISTIC BIAS: our predisposition to expect things to turn out well - overall
People believe they are more likely than others to experience positive events
