Exam 3: The Core Elements of Social Cognition

What are the three motives that drive the conclusion a person makes in a given instance of social cognition, according to lay epistemology theory? Consider the case of a person trying to make a decision between two candidates in a local political election. How might each of the motives lead that person to a different decision?

In a study by Williams and Bargh (2008) on the role of metaphor in person perception, researchers found that:

In priming, an assimilation effect occurs when:

Of the following pairs of attitudes, which set has been shown to have the strongest correlation between people's explicit and implicit attitudes?

Provide at least three examples from research demonstrating the ways in which confirmation bias influences our interpretation of information and decision making. Can you offer an example from your own life of a situation in which you and another person arrived at opposite conclusions after being exposed to the same information, as a result of these processes?

What does the research on attitudes suggest?

The experiential system is _____, while the cognitive system is _____.

What does the existential perspective suggest is the reason why people are quite sensitive to even small violations of expected meanings?

In a classic study by Darley and Gross (1983), participants were shown a video of a fourth-grade girl and asked to evaluate her math ability. Before the video they were told that the girl was from either an upper-class or lower-class background. They were also either shown a video of the girl playing on the playground, or performing somewhat well on an oral test. What was the main finding of the study?

Amartya is interviewing several candidates for a position at his firm. If he makes the right decision with the hiring choice, the firm will prosper, his superiors will look favorably on him, and Amartya will likely receive a promotion. However, if he makes a poor choice, the firm will suffer, and Amartya may even be demoted. When evaluating candidates for the position, Amartya will be primarily motivated by a need for:

In which of the following situations are people MOST likely to make a decision about another person based on the first information they are given, rather than considering all of the information they receive equally?

Kenji is attempting to learn French. He is seated in a library with headphones on, listening to classical music, as he stares at a textbook and tries to memorize French words. In a single moment, a new song comes on that Kenji particularly enjoys, and he suddenly finds it easier to remember the French words he is looking at. In this moment, the French words are being processed by Kenji's _____, while the music is being processed by Kenji's _____.

What is the definition of mood?

Janet loves children's movies about princesses. One day, she watches a children's movie about a princess, and shortly afterwards she is introduced to a friend of a friend, a woman named Tamara who is rich. What does research on priming suggest will occur?

Rodrigo is watching his favorite basketball team play an important game. When it comes to the number of potential penalties committed by his favored team, what does research suggest Rodrigo will likely perceive?

Research suggests that people in a positive mood process information:

What is the primary implication of the meaning maintenance model?

What is the primary function of an implicit association test?

If a person is primed with words related to hunger, and they are then offered a candy bar by one of their friends, what does research on priming and motivation suggest will occur?

The cognitive system is the origin of _____, while the experiential system is the origin of _____.