SOCPSY 1Z03 Chapter Notes - Chapter 6: Social Desirability Bias, Belief Perseverance, Centrality
29 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Reading Notes β Ch 6 Textbook
Introduction
Social perception β refers to constructing an understanding of the social
world from the data we get through our sense
Refers to the processes by which we form impressions of other peopleβs
traits and personalities
Confirmation bias β focusing on information relevant to that condition and
ignoring or downplaying information that is inconsistent with hypothesis
Schemas
Categorization β our tendency to perceive stimuli as members of groups or
classes rather than as isolated, unique entities
Prototype β an abstraction that represents the βtypicalβ or quintessential
instance of a class or group β as least to us
Schema β a well-organized structure of cognitions about some social entity
such as a person, group, role, or event
Types of schemas
Person schemas β cognitive structures that describe the personalities of
others
Enable us to develop expectations about othersβ behaviours
Self-schemas β structures that organize our conception of our own
characteristics
Group schemas β aka. Stereotypes β schemas regarding the members of a
particular social group or social category
Rigid conceptions and widely shared by members of a culture or community
Role schemas β indicate which attribute and behaviours are typical of
persons occupying a particular role in a group
For most occupational roles, but also in other groups too
Event schemas β aka. Scripts β schemas regarding important, recurring
social events (e.g. β weddings, funerals, graduations)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Schematic Processing
Schemas influence our capacity to recall information by making certain kinds
of facts more salient and easier to remember
They help us process information faster
They guide our inferences and judgments about people and objects
They allow us to reduce ambiguity by providing a way to interpret
ambiguous elements in the situation
Schematic Memory
We typically remember some of what happened in event, enough to identify
the appropriate schema and then rely on that schema to fill in other details
People often remember better those facts that are consistent with their
schemas
Schematic Inference
Schemas supply missing facts when gaps exist in our knowledge
Schemas can also help us infer new facts
Schematic judgment
Can influence our judgments or feelings about persons and other entities
The more members of a group we interact with, the less uniform we see the
group members, and the more complex our schema of the group is. Less
complex schemas lead to more extreme judgments ο complexity-extremity
effect
Drawbacks of schematic Processing
People are overly accepting of information that fits consistently with a
schema (confirmation bias)
When faced with missing information, people fill in gaps in knowledge by
adding elements that are consistent with their schemas, however may be
factually incorrect
People occasionally apply schemas to persons or events even when the
schemas do not fit the facts very well. Forced misapplication may lead to
incorrect characterization/inferences ο inappropriate response to others
Person Schemas and group Stereotypes
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Person Schemas
Implicit personality theory β a set of unstated assumptions about which
personality traits are correlated with one another (very abstract and focus
on personality trait)
Implicit Personality Theories and Mental Maps
Enable us to make inferences beyond available information
Implicit personality theory as a mental map β traits are related to one
another
Traits thought to be similar are located close together within our mental map
ο expect people who have one trait to have the other
Halo effect β tendency for our general or overall liking for a person to
influence our subsequent assessment of more specific traits of that person
Produces bias in impression formation ο inaccuracy in our ratings of othersβ
traits/performances
Group Stereotypes
Stereotype β a set of characteristics attributed to all members of some
specified group or social category
Used to simplify complex social world
Involved in overgeneralization β often leads to inaccurate inferences
Stereotype threat β when a member of a group believes there is a real
threat of being judged based on group stereotypes; it negatively affects their
performance and actually cause individual to perform poorly
Common stereotypes
Ethnic and racial groups, and gender
Occupation, age, political ideology, mental illness, hobbies, musical tastes,
majors, school attended, etc.
Origins of Stereotypes
Stereotypes derive in part from a biased distribution of group members into
social roles
A natural outcome of social perception
Errors caused by stereotypes
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Social perception refers to constructing an understanding of the social world from the data we get through our sense. Refers to the processes by which we form impressions of other people"s traits and personalities. Confirmation bias focusing on information relevant to that condition and ignoring or downplaying information that is inconsistent with hypothesis. Categorization our tendency to perceive stimuli as members of groups or classes rather than as isolated, unique entities. Prototype an abstraction that represents the typical or quintessential instance of a class or group as least to us. Schema a well-organized structure of cognitions about some social entity such as a person, group, role, or event. Person schemas cognitive structures that describe the personalities of others. Enable us to develop expectations about others" behaviours. Self-schemas structures that organize our conception of our own characteristics. Stereotypes schemas regarding the members of a particular social group or social category.
