Intro to Social Cognition
The term for how we think about ourselves and others in social situations.
What is Social cognition?
The emotional bond that shapes early social understanding
What is attachment?
Limited understanding of others’ thoughts/feelings
Stage 0
The bias where one positive trait leads us to assume other positive traits
What is the halo effect?
The two systems of thinking involved in social cognition
What are automatic (System 1) and (System 2)?
The developmental milestone where a child understands objects still exist even when unseen.
What is object permanence?
Friendship is one-sided (benefits themselves).
Stage 1
The tendency to overattribute others’ behavior to personality instead of situation
What is the fundamental attribution error?
The process of deciding why someone acted the way they did.
What is attribution?
The early cognitive limitation where children cannot take another person’s perspective.
What is egocentrism?
Perspective taking extends to larger social groups
Stage 4
The shortcut where we judge likelihood based on how easily examples come to mind.
What is the availability heuristic?
The idea that our brain uses shortcuts to save time when making decisions.
What are heuristics?
The idea that children learn best when supported just beyond their current ability.
What is the zone of proximal development?
Two-way perspective taking emerges (“I think, you think”)
Stage 2
The fast, automatic, intuitive mode of thinking.
What is System 1
The stored knowledge we use to quickly understand social situation
What are schemas?
The cognitive ability to understand that others have beliefs, desires, intentions, and perspectives different from one's own
What is Theory of Mind?
Can see friendship from a third-party perspective
Stage 3
The slow, deliberate, effortful mode of thinking.
What is System 2?