PSYC 2310 Study Guide - Final Guide: Peer Pressure, Trait Theory, Ultimate Attribution Error

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 2310
• Professor: Anneke Olthof

Document Summary

Automatic thinking: a type of decision-making process that occurs at an unconscious or automatic level and is entirely effortless and unintentional: heuristics: mental shortcuts that are often used to form judgements and make decisions. Controlled/effortful thinking: thinking that is effortful, conscious, and intentional: we use this type of thinking when we have the time and motivation necessary to make the considerable effort this type of thinking involves. Social cognition: how people think about the social world, and in particular how people select, interpret, and use information to make judgements about the world. Study: participants were heavily influenced by the titles of articles. Past experiences activate schemas; you rely on past experiences more than objective information. The more recent experiences are, the more likely we are to draw upon them. Stereotypes are an example of schemas: person schemas: beliefs about other people, their traits, and goals, self schemas: our memory, inferences, and information about ourselves.