Summary consisting of the lectures from the course “Social Cognition
422052 ” (2015/2016), lecture 1 until 13. Including the abstracts of the
studies described in the lectures. With a lecture of the book (Social
Cognition) Chapter 1 until 7.
Lecture 1 – 19/01/2015 / Social cognition – intro/history/concepts
Bruner & Goodman – 1947
What happens when people get information that is inconsistent with their schema?
Bruner wanted to look at the basic sense information – is basic information influenced?
There are certain things where we agree about because they don’t have a subjective bias.
Bruner – experiment where we show coins to children. Two groups; rich kids and broke kids.
General idea; if you are broke, money seems more important. Money seems bigger. Do you
see a quarter as bigger when money is more important to you?
To objectively measure this they asked the children how big the coin was, they had to draw
this.
Result; if you are broke (and 10 years old) coins look bigger than when you have enough
money.
The bigger the coin they had to draw, the bigger the difference between the rich and the poor
in width.
Abstract:
Value and need as organizing factors in perception.
Bruner, Jerome S.; Goodman, Cecile C.
Autochthonous determinants of perception are accurately measured by psychophysics. There is need for equally
precise measurement of motivational determinants. The experiments on estimating size were planned to test
hypotheses that such determinants are more influential when objects have greater social or individual value. Ten-
year-old children adjusted a lighted circle to the perceived size of 5 coins and 5 cardboard discs. With the objects
present, discs were judged correctly and coin size was overestimated in proportion to value (except for 50-cent
piece). Poor children overestimate coin size more than do rich children, in conformity to the individual value
hypothesis. With coins absent, poor children overestimate memory images less than do rich children. Neither
Weber's law nor Hollingworth's central tendency fits the results as well as do the motivation hypotheses. 36
references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved
Williams & Bargh (2008)
2 starbucks coffees ;a frappucino (cold) and a hot chocolate (warm)
They stand in a elevator with the cold or hot drink and talk to the other person.
When you were holding a warm cup they perceive you as warmer and friendlier.
Score: 4.25 for frappucino and 4.71 for hot chocolate.
This is priming; activating certain notions of the world in how you influence your perceptions
of an interaction.
De proefpersoon houdt een warme of koude mok vast en moet beoordelen hoe aardig hij de
andere persoon vindt.
Abstract:
Experiencing Physical Warmth Promotes Interpersonal Warmth
1. Lawrence E. Williams1,*,
1
, 2. John A. Bargh2 “Warmth” is the most powerful personality trait in social judgment, and attachment
theorists have stressed the importance of warm physical contact with caregivers during infancy for healthy
relationships in adulthood. Intriguingly, recent research in humans points to the involvement of the insula in the
processing of both physical temperature and interpersonal warmth (trust) information. Accordingly, we
hypothesized that experiences of physical warmth (or coldness) would increase feelings of interpersonal warmth
(or coldness), without the person's awareness of this influence. In study 1, participants who briefly held a cup of
hot (versus iced) coffee judged a target person as having a “warmer” personality (generous, caring); in study 2,
participants holding a hot (versus cold) therapeutic pad were more likely to choose a gift for a friend instead of
for themselves.
Mazar & Zhong (2010)
Give people a series of products, some of those products are eco/green and when you buy
them you feel more moral, and they are more expensive.
Condition 1; people had to observe those green products
Condition 2; buy green products (moral behaviour)
After they looked at or bought it they had to engage in a moral behaviour ; would you mind to
donate to the cancer foundation?
They want to see if people donate more or less depending on if they were moral before
(buying) or not (looking).
Prediction; donate less when you were moral before.
When you engage in a moral behaviour why should you be less moral after that? – a lot of
explanations.
Result; people donate less if they engaged in moral behaviour before. This effect is called
morallicensing.
People are less moral if they have already engaged in a moral action.
Mazar & Zhong (2010) Do Green Products Make Us Better People?
Abstract:
Consumer choices not only reflect price and quality preferences but also social and moral
values as witnessed in the remarkable growth of the global market for organic and
environmentally friendly products. Building on recent research on behavioral priming and
moral regulation, we find that mere exposure to green products and the purchase of them
lead to markedly different behavioral consequences. In line with the halo associated with
green consumerism, people act more altruistically after mere exposure to green than
conventional products. However, people act less altruistically and are more likely to cheat
and steal after purchasing green products as opposed to conventional products. Together,
the studies show that consumption is more tightly connected to our social and ethical
behaviors in directions and domains other than previously thought.
Why moral cognition?
People have mental models of 1) themselves, 2) their social environment, 3) their relation to
the social environment.
We are born with basic stuff in our head. As we grow older, most of what is going on is
learned.
When you grow older your mental models have to be more and more complicated.
These mental models influence how people perceive themselves, their environment and
relationships.
Perceptions influence mental models.
2
422052 ” (2015/2016), lecture 1 until 13. Including the abstracts of the
studies described in the lectures. With a lecture of the book (Social
Cognition) Chapter 1 until 7.
Lecture 1 – 19/01/2015 / Social cognition – intro/history/concepts
Bruner & Goodman – 1947
What happens when people get information that is inconsistent with their schema?
Bruner wanted to look at the basic sense information – is basic information influenced?
There are certain things where we agree about because they don’t have a subjective bias.
Bruner – experiment where we show coins to children. Two groups; rich kids and broke kids.
General idea; if you are broke, money seems more important. Money seems bigger. Do you
see a quarter as bigger when money is more important to you?
To objectively measure this they asked the children how big the coin was, they had to draw
this.
Result; if you are broke (and 10 years old) coins look bigger than when you have enough
money.
The bigger the coin they had to draw, the bigger the difference between the rich and the poor
in width.
Abstract:
Value and need as organizing factors in perception.
Bruner, Jerome S.; Goodman, Cecile C.
Autochthonous determinants of perception are accurately measured by psychophysics. There is need for equally
precise measurement of motivational determinants. The experiments on estimating size were planned to test
hypotheses that such determinants are more influential when objects have greater social or individual value. Ten-
year-old children adjusted a lighted circle to the perceived size of 5 coins and 5 cardboard discs. With the objects
present, discs were judged correctly and coin size was overestimated in proportion to value (except for 50-cent
piece). Poor children overestimate coin size more than do rich children, in conformity to the individual value
hypothesis. With coins absent, poor children overestimate memory images less than do rich children. Neither
Weber's law nor Hollingworth's central tendency fits the results as well as do the motivation hypotheses. 36
references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved
Williams & Bargh (2008)
2 starbucks coffees ;a frappucino (cold) and a hot chocolate (warm)
They stand in a elevator with the cold or hot drink and talk to the other person.
When you were holding a warm cup they perceive you as warmer and friendlier.
Score: 4.25 for frappucino and 4.71 for hot chocolate.
This is priming; activating certain notions of the world in how you influence your perceptions
of an interaction.
De proefpersoon houdt een warme of koude mok vast en moet beoordelen hoe aardig hij de
andere persoon vindt.
Abstract:
Experiencing Physical Warmth Promotes Interpersonal Warmth
1. Lawrence E. Williams1,*,
1
, 2. John A. Bargh2 “Warmth” is the most powerful personality trait in social judgment, and attachment
theorists have stressed the importance of warm physical contact with caregivers during infancy for healthy
relationships in adulthood. Intriguingly, recent research in humans points to the involvement of the insula in the
processing of both physical temperature and interpersonal warmth (trust) information. Accordingly, we
hypothesized that experiences of physical warmth (or coldness) would increase feelings of interpersonal warmth
(or coldness), without the person's awareness of this influence. In study 1, participants who briefly held a cup of
hot (versus iced) coffee judged a target person as having a “warmer” personality (generous, caring); in study 2,
participants holding a hot (versus cold) therapeutic pad were more likely to choose a gift for a friend instead of
for themselves.
Mazar & Zhong (2010)
Give people a series of products, some of those products are eco/green and when you buy
them you feel more moral, and they are more expensive.
Condition 1; people had to observe those green products
Condition 2; buy green products (moral behaviour)
After they looked at or bought it they had to engage in a moral behaviour ; would you mind to
donate to the cancer foundation?
They want to see if people donate more or less depending on if they were moral before
(buying) or not (looking).
Prediction; donate less when you were moral before.
When you engage in a moral behaviour why should you be less moral after that? – a lot of
explanations.
Result; people donate less if they engaged in moral behaviour before. This effect is called
morallicensing.
People are less moral if they have already engaged in a moral action.
Mazar & Zhong (2010) Do Green Products Make Us Better People?
Abstract:
Consumer choices not only reflect price and quality preferences but also social and moral
values as witnessed in the remarkable growth of the global market for organic and
environmentally friendly products. Building on recent research on behavioral priming and
moral regulation, we find that mere exposure to green products and the purchase of them
lead to markedly different behavioral consequences. In line with the halo associated with
green consumerism, people act more altruistically after mere exposure to green than
conventional products. However, people act less altruistically and are more likely to cheat
and steal after purchasing green products as opposed to conventional products. Together,
the studies show that consumption is more tightly connected to our social and ethical
behaviors in directions and domains other than previously thought.
Why moral cognition?
People have mental models of 1) themselves, 2) their social environment, 3) their relation to
the social environment.
We are born with basic stuff in our head. As we grow older, most of what is going on is
learned.
When you grow older your mental models have to be more and more complicated.
These mental models influence how people perceive themselves, their environment and
relationships.
Perceptions influence mental models.
2
