Social Cognition.ppt

Social Cognition Automatic Controlled Fast—rapid processing of information Relatively effortless Unintentional Difficult to “stop” Slow to change Often reflects associative connections Doesn’t necessarily conform to logical, rational thinking Relatively slow Often guided by logical, propositional thought Effortful Reason-based Why this distinction is important On a basic level—tells us something important about the architecture of human processing and the brain Explains several interesting aspects of social behavior: 1. Human beings often think of themselves as rational beings largely in control of their own actions, but this view is overly flattering Automaticity “trumps” control more often than people think Sometimes our behavior reflects seemingly irrational processes and/or impulses we’d rather avoid, if we could 2. Automaticity plays a large role when the available information is scarce and/or ambiguous Role of schemas in information processing Alan goes to a Christmas party and, even though he has “sworn off chocolate”, eats approximately 1.5 pounds of M Ms. A baseball player hits three home runs in July. Even though he knows it’s foolish, he wears the same pair of “lucky socks” he wore that day through the end of September. You’ve been sworn to secrecy not to tell anyone about a really juicy gossip about Mary. You see Mary’s best friend at a party, and the next thing you know, you’ve blurted to the friend everything you know about the “secret”. Halfway through a professional magician’s show, the magician appears to show the ability to read other people’s minds. You know that ESP is completely bogus—and still feel that way after the show is over—but for a few minutes you cannot shake the feeling that you’ve just witnessed an act of ESP. Many of the preceding examples illustrate “trumping” of automaticity over control Automaticity plays a large role when the available information is scarce and/or ambiguousRole of schemas i