Social Cognition

Social Cognition looks at the way in which humans interpret, analyze and remember information about the social world. Topics covered include: attribution, social schemas and social representations, prejudice and discrimination. The Routledge Modular Psychology series is a completely new approach to introductory level psychology, tailor-made for the new modular style of teaching. Each book coves a topic in more detail than any large textbook can, allowing teacher and student to select material exactly to suit any particular course or project.

Donald C. Pennington in a Chief Examiner for A-level Psychology and Pro-Vice Chancellor at Coventry University.

List of illustrations

xiii

Acknowledgements

xvii

Introduction to social cognition

1

(10)

What is social cognition?

1

(3)

Social cognition and social psychology

3

(1)

Social cognition and cognitive psychology

3

(1)

Historical perspective

4

(1)

Three principles of social cognition

5

(2)

People as cognitive misers

6

(1)

Spontaneous and deliberative thought

6

(1)

Self-esteem

7

(1)

Critical comment

7

(1)

About this book

8

(1)

Summary

9

(1)

Further reading

9

(2)

Attribution of causality I: concepts and theories

11

(26)

What are attributions?

11

(1)

The basics

12

(4)

Internal and external causes

13

(1)

Spontaneous and deliberative attributions

14

(2)

Voluntary and non-voluntary behaviour

16

(1)

Theories of attribution

16

(11)

Correspondent inference theory

16

(3)

The covariation model

19

(3)

Causal schemata model

22

(2)

Weiner's model of attributions for success and failure

24

(2)

Comparison of the theories

26

(1)

Individual differences

27

(2)

Cultural differences

29

(3)

Overall evaluation of concepts and models

32

(2)

Summary

34

(1)

Further reading

34

(3)

Attribution of causality II: accuracy and error

37

(24)

Causal inferences and accuracy

37

(1)

The fundamental attribution error

38

(5)

Actor-observer differences

43

(4)

Reversing actor-observer differences

44

(3)

The false consensus effect

47

(1)

Self-serving biases

48

(3)

Group bias

50

(1)

Attributions of responsibility

51

(4)

Cross-cultural perspectives on bias and error

55

(2)

Evaluation of attributional biases and errors

57

(1)

Summary

58

(1)

Further reading

59

(2)

Social perception: impression formation, social schemas and social representations

61

(30)

What is social perception?

61

(1)

Impression formation

62

(6)

The importance of first impressions

63

(1)

Central and peripheral traits

63

(3)

Primacy and recency effects

66

(2)

Impression management

68

(1)

Accuracy in social perception

68

(1)

Social schemas

69

(7)

Person schemas

71

(1)

Self-schemas

72

(1)

Role schemas

72

(1)

Event schemas

73

(3)

Social schemas as stereotypes

76

(1)

Social schemas and impression formation

77

(1)

Social schemas and self-fulfilling prophecies

78

(1)

The cognitive miser and the heuristics of thinking

79

(4)

The availability heuristic

80

(1)

The representativeness heuristic

81

(1)

The anchoring and adjustment heuristic

82

(1)

Social representations

83

(4)

Understanding social representations

83

(2)

Social representations and social schemas

85

(2)

Summary

87

(1)

Further reading

88

(3)

Prejudice and discrimination: origins, maintenance and reduction

91

(36)

A social problem

91

(2)

Racism and sexism: old and new

93

(2)

The role of stereotypes

95

(4)

The stereotype rebound effect

97

(1)

Stereotypes and expectations

98

(1)

Realistic group conflict

99

(2)

Sherif's `Robber's Cave' experiment

99

(2)

Group membership

101

(8)

The minimal group paradigm

101

(3)

Social identity theory

104

(2)

Self-categorisation theory

106

(1)

Outgroup homogeneity

107

(2)

Relative deprivation theory

109

(4)

Individual approaches

113

(5)

The authoritarian personality

113

(4)

Frustration and aggression

117

(1)

Reducing prejudice and discrimination

118

(6)

Setting superordinate goals

118

(1)

The contact hypothesis

119

(4)

Recategorisation

123

(1)

Summary

124

(1)

Further reading

125

(2)

Social cognition: development, extensions and applications

127

(20)

Introduction

127

(1)

Social cognition and child development

128

(3)

Attributional development

128

(2)

Development of social representations

130

(1)

Extensions

131

(8)

Terror management: self-esteem and prejudice

132

(3)

Prejudice and everyday communications

135

(4)

Applications

139

(5)

Attribution and health

139

(2)

Attribution and sport

141

(3)

Summary

144

(1)

Further reading

145

(2)

Study aids

147

(14)

Improving your essay writing skills

147

(8)

Key research summaries

155

(6)

Article 1

155

(2)

Article 2

157

(4)

Glossary

161

(12)

Bibliography

173

(16)

Index

189

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Summary

Author Biography

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