PSYC UN2640: Intro to Social Cognition
Columbia UNY
Study guide, definitions & notes
Cognition: perceiving, interpreting, remembering and using info [aka our
thoughts]
Social: related to or about people
Social Cognition
o Social cognition: how people perceive, interpret, remember and use
info about themselves and others
Influenced by needs, wants, and
expectations Active construction of
meaning
The New Look Movement
o Perception is a decision process
o Perceiver decides whether a thing is A and not B
o Process could be conscious or not conscious
o Also influenced by our expectations, needs and wants
Framing Effects
o People make decisions based on how info is
presented Steak is 80% lean
Steak is 20% fat
More likely to want steak when it says 80% lean
Confirmation Bias
o We tend to seek info that confirms our ideas and neglect info that
disconfirms an idea
o We tend to interpret ambiguous info as
, confirmatory info Horoscopes, psychic
readings
Columbia UNY
Study guide, definitions & notes
Cognition: perceiving, interpreting, remembering and using info [aka our
thoughts]
Social: related to or about people
Social Cognition
o Social cognition: how people perceive, interpret, remember and use
info about themselves and others
Influenced by needs, wants, and
expectations Active construction of
meaning
The New Look Movement
o Perception is a decision process
o Perceiver decides whether a thing is A and not B
o Process could be conscious or not conscious
o Also influenced by our expectations, needs and wants
Framing Effects
o People make decisions based on how info is
presented Steak is 80% lean
Steak is 20% fat
More likely to want steak when it says 80% lean
Confirmation Bias
o We tend to seek info that confirms our ideas and neglect info that
disconfirms an idea
o We tend to interpret ambiguous info as
, confirmatory info Horoscopes, psychic
readings
