PYC3019 - Social Psychology
Chapter 2
SOCIAL COGNITION: HOW WE THINK ABOUT THE SOCIAL WORLD
SU 2.1 - SCHEMAS: MENTAL FRAMEWORKS FOR ORGANISING - AND USING - SOCIAL
INFORMATION
SU 2.1.1 The introduction to the chapter
Social cognition - The social manner in which we interpret, analyze, remember and use information about the
social world.
Often our thinking about the social world proceeds on “automatic” - quickly, effortlessly, and
without loss of careful reasoning or logic.
Social thought is often guided by cognitive frameworks we have acquired through past
experience.
Controlled processing tends to occur when a situation is important to us or when something
unexpected happens - we then stop and think much more carefully and logically about it.
People from different cultures often have different schemas (cognitive frameworks) for the same
situation and so tend to understand them differently.
Schemas - Mental frameworks that allow us to organize large amounts of information in an efficient manner.
Schemas may vary from one person to the next, reflecting unique life experiences. Once they are
formed, schemas play a role in determining what we notice about the social world, what information
we remember, and how we use and interpret such information.
Heuristics - Simple rules we use to make decisions or draw inferences quickly and with minimal effort.
Affect - Our current feelings or moods (and various aspects of social cognition).
,SU 2.1.2 The impact of schemas on social cognition: attention, encoding, retrieval
Schemas influence three basic processes: attention, encoding and retrieval.
Attention
Attention - What information we notice.
Schemas often act as a kind of filter: Information consistent with them is more likely to be noticed and to enter
our consciousness. Information that does not fit with our schemas is often ignored, unless it is so extreme that
we can’t help but notice it.
Encoding
Encoding - The processes through which information we notice gets stored in memory.
Information that becomes the focus of our attention (is consistent with our schemas) is much more likely to be
stored (encoded) in long-term memory. Information that is sharply inconsistent with our schemas may
sometimes be encoded into a separate memory location and marked with a unique “tag”
Retrieval
Retrieval - The processes through which we recover information from memory to use it in some manner.
People report information consistent with their schemas, but in fact, information inconsistent with schemas may
be strongly present in memory, too.
The effects of schemas on social cognition are strongly influenced by several other factors.
When we are trying to handle a lot of information at one time, we rely on our schemas because they
help us process this information efficiently.
, SU 2.1.3 Priming: which schemas guide our thought
The stronger and better developed schemas are, the more likely they are to influence our thinking
and especially our memory for social information.
Schemas can be temporarily activated by priming - a situation that occurs when a stimuli or
events increase the availability in memory or consciousness of specific types of information held
in memory.
How powerful is priming?
Priming effects are not temporary, but tend to have long lasting effects once it occurs.
It can however be deactivated by unpriming - the effects of the schemas tend to persist until they are somehow
expressed in thought or behaviour and only then to their effects decrease.
Once primed, schemas are somehow expressed, then unpriming occurs, and the influence of the primed
schemas disappears. It primed schemas are not expressed, however, their effects may persist for long periods of
time, even years.
Schema is primed - Schema is not Effects persist -
activated by some expressed through schemas influence
experience, event or thought or behaviour social thought and/or
stimulus behaviour
Unpriming - schema Effects of schema
is expressed somehow dissipate - the schema no
in behaviour or longer influence social
thoughts thought or behaviour
Chapter 2
SOCIAL COGNITION: HOW WE THINK ABOUT THE SOCIAL WORLD
SU 2.1 - SCHEMAS: MENTAL FRAMEWORKS FOR ORGANISING - AND USING - SOCIAL
INFORMATION
SU 2.1.1 The introduction to the chapter
Social cognition - The social manner in which we interpret, analyze, remember and use information about the
social world.
Often our thinking about the social world proceeds on “automatic” - quickly, effortlessly, and
without loss of careful reasoning or logic.
Social thought is often guided by cognitive frameworks we have acquired through past
experience.
Controlled processing tends to occur when a situation is important to us or when something
unexpected happens - we then stop and think much more carefully and logically about it.
People from different cultures often have different schemas (cognitive frameworks) for the same
situation and so tend to understand them differently.
Schemas - Mental frameworks that allow us to organize large amounts of information in an efficient manner.
Schemas may vary from one person to the next, reflecting unique life experiences. Once they are
formed, schemas play a role in determining what we notice about the social world, what information
we remember, and how we use and interpret such information.
Heuristics - Simple rules we use to make decisions or draw inferences quickly and with minimal effort.
Affect - Our current feelings or moods (and various aspects of social cognition).
,SU 2.1.2 The impact of schemas on social cognition: attention, encoding, retrieval
Schemas influence three basic processes: attention, encoding and retrieval.
Attention
Attention - What information we notice.
Schemas often act as a kind of filter: Information consistent with them is more likely to be noticed and to enter
our consciousness. Information that does not fit with our schemas is often ignored, unless it is so extreme that
we can’t help but notice it.
Encoding
Encoding - The processes through which information we notice gets stored in memory.
Information that becomes the focus of our attention (is consistent with our schemas) is much more likely to be
stored (encoded) in long-term memory. Information that is sharply inconsistent with our schemas may
sometimes be encoded into a separate memory location and marked with a unique “tag”
Retrieval
Retrieval - The processes through which we recover information from memory to use it in some manner.
People report information consistent with their schemas, but in fact, information inconsistent with schemas may
be strongly present in memory, too.
The effects of schemas on social cognition are strongly influenced by several other factors.
When we are trying to handle a lot of information at one time, we rely on our schemas because they
help us process this information efficiently.
, SU 2.1.3 Priming: which schemas guide our thought
The stronger and better developed schemas are, the more likely they are to influence our thinking
and especially our memory for social information.
Schemas can be temporarily activated by priming - a situation that occurs when a stimuli or
events increase the availability in memory or consciousness of specific types of information held
in memory.
How powerful is priming?
Priming effects are not temporary, but tend to have long lasting effects once it occurs.
It can however be deactivated by unpriming - the effects of the schemas tend to persist until they are somehow
expressed in thought or behaviour and only then to their effects decrease.
Once primed, schemas are somehow expressed, then unpriming occurs, and the influence of the primed
schemas disappears. It primed schemas are not expressed, however, their effects may persist for long periods of
time, even years.
Schema is primed - Schema is not Effects persist -
activated by some expressed through schemas influence
experience, event or thought or behaviour social thought and/or
stimulus behaviour
Unpriming - schema Effects of schema
is expressed somehow dissipate - the schema no
in behaviour or longer influence social
thoughts thought or behaviour
