Chapter 7 - Social Cognition
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Social cognition
how we judge others in social situations by interpreting and analysing information
Cognitive bias
a systematic error in thinking generally due to oversimplifying the information available
Bias
a disproportionate weight in favour of or against an idea or thing, usually in a way that is closed-minded, prejudicial or unfair often leading to error
Person perception
the mental processes we use to form our impressions of other people
Schema
our pre-existing mental ideas relating to a given concept that help us organise and interpret new information
Physical cues
the physical characteristics and behaviours of people that influence our impressions of them
Halo effect
a cognitive bias in which one impression of a person influences our belief about their other qualities
Body language
non-verbal communication in which physical behaviour and movement rather than words are used to express or deliver a certain message
Salient
a descriptor for anything that is prominent, conspicuous or otherwise noticeable when compared to its surroundings
Social categorisation
a mental shortcut used in person perception to categorise people into groups based on their shared characteristics
Attributions
inferences that we make about the causes of events and behaviours (both our own and those of others)
Personal attributions
explanations of a person’s behaviour based on their characteristics, such as their ability, personality or energy
Situational attributions
explanations of a person’s behaviour based on factors outside the person involved, such as luck or something in the environment, in the task or in the actions of another person
Fundamental attribution error
the tendency to overemphasise personal characteristics and ignore situational factors when judging the behaviour of other people
Just-world hypothesis
a cognitive bias in which people believe that the world is fair or just, and that everyone gets what they deserve
Actor–observer bias
the tendency to attribute our own behaviour to situational (external) causes, but to attribute the behaviour of others to their internal factors
Self-serving bias
the tendency to attribute our successes to internal factors, and our failures to external factors
Attitude
an evaluation that a person makes about other people, objects, issues or any other thing
Tri-component model of attitudes
a model proposing that attitudes must have three related components – affective, behavioural and cognitive
Affective component
the emotional component of attitudes, involving how you feel about people, objects, places, events or ideas
Behavioural component
the action component of attitudes, involving what you do (or do not do) as an expression of your attitude
Cognitive component
the mental component of attitudes, involving the beliefs or thoughts that you have about people, objects, places, events or ideas
Stereotype
a collection of fixed ideas about members of a certain group in which their individual differences are ignored
Stereotyping
the process of creating stereotypes and matching people to them