Unit 2 Psychology - Social Cognition

Identify the strengths and weaknesses of each cognitive process. Strategy Strength Weakness availability heuristic saves time and effort in terms of recalling similar situations and analysing them. It tends to overestimate the likelihood of recent events reoccurring. anchoring heuristic help to make quick decisions, even when there is not a lot of new information around We tend to overlook new information that may allow us to make better, more informed decisions representativeness heuristic IT ALLOWS US TO UNDERSTAND A NEW OBJECT OR EVENT BY COMPARING ITS CHARACTERISTICS TO THOSE WE HAVE ALREADY ESTABLISHED FOR OTHER OBJECTS AND EVENTS WE OFTEN OVERESTIMATE THE SIMILARITY BETWEEN THE TWO THINGS WE ARE COMPARING, LEADING TO MISTAKES IN OUR DECISION MAKING. The affect heuristic IT MIGHT ENCOURAGE US TO TAKE BIGGER RISKS THAN WE USUALLY WOULD IF WE’RE IN A POSITIVE MOOD. IF WE’RE IN A NEGATIVE MOOD, THEN THE HEURISTIC TENDS TO KEEP US THERE BECAUSE WE WON’T RISK DOING NEW THINGS, WHICH LIMITS OUR ABILITY TO LEARN FROM NEW AND CHALLENGING SITUATIONS actor observer bias Allows for quick assessments of situations can lead to misunderstandings and arguments halo effect benefits good looking people disadvantages those with less desirable physical features confirmation bias lets us quickly recognize supporting information hinders recognition of contradictory evidence self serving bias protects our self esteem evades responsibility for our own actions heuristic lets us act quickly and efficiently puts us at risk for errors false consensus bias Can increase self esteem, as we feel our opinions are normal we tend to treat differing opinions as abnormal After we see a news story about a plane crash, we are more fearful to fly, even though these tragedies are very rare. Which of the following term matches this phenomenon? confirmation bias mental set belief perseverence availability heuristic representativeness heuristic If we think that someone discussing their mechanic is talking about a male, and someone mentioning their nurse is referring to a female, which of the following terms match this phenomenon (and can lead to errors)? confirmation bias mental set belief perseverence availability heuristic representativeness heuristic Determine which heuristic each scenario is explaining Availability heuristic After reading an article about lottery winners, you start to overestimate your own likelihood of winning the jackpot. You start spending more money than you should each week on lottery tickets. After seeing news reports about people losing their jobs, you might start to believe that you are in danger of being laid off. You start lying awake in bed each night worrying that you are about to be fired. Representative heuristic A policeman who is looking for a suspect in a crime such as shoplifting or burglary focuses more on males in their search because they assume that males are more likely to be a criminal than females. A doctor diagnoses a slim person as having arthritis much more quickly than they would an overweight person, because they assume that obese people are more likely to have joint-related issues. Affect heuristic Two children arrive at a local park to play. One child has spent a lot of time playing on swings at a neighbour’s house, so he has nothing but positive feelings when he sees the swing set at the park. He immediately makes the decision that the swings will be fun and runs to play on the swings. However, the other child recently fell off and hurt himself while playing on swings at a friend’s house. When he sees the swings at the park, he draws on this recent negative memory and decides that the swings are a bad choice. A young man buys a car from a certain dealership because he recalls how the cheerful jingle in their advertisements makes him laugh. anchoring heuristic Restaurant menus are curated to make prices appear affordable. For example, the lowest price dishes are listed first to give a sense that the restaurant is affordable. A recommended retail price is often placed on items that are then sold for a lower price. This is an attempt by the salesperson to make the product appear to be a bargain. Match the definition with the term self serving bias Explaining our successful outcomes and other good events as due to personal factors and our failures, and other bad events as due to external circumstances. actor observer bias The tendency to explain own behaviour as due to external, situational factors and the behaviour of others as due to their internal, personal factors. halo effect a cognitive bias in which the impression we form about one quality of a person influences our beliefs and expectations about the person’s other qualities. false consensus bias the tendency to overestimate how much others share our opinions, beliefs, attitudes and behaviours