Question 1

The most important difference between the 'cognitive miser' model and the 'motivated tactician' model is:

Accepted Answer

The 'cognitive miser' model suggests that people are reluctant to expend effort in thinking and prefer to use simple and heuristic ways of processing information. In contrast, the 'motivated tactician' model posits that people are flexible and strategic in their thinking, with motivation playing a key role in determining how and when they engage in more effortful, systematic processing.

Question 2

The recency effect refers to:

Accepted Answer

The recency effect is a psychological phenomenon where the most recently presented information or experiences are more easily recalled and thus have a stronger influence on our impressions, decisions, or memory.

Question 3

'Motivated tactician', 'cognitive consistency' and 'naïve scientist' are concepts that provide evidence of:

Accepted Answer

These concepts illustrate the focus on cognitive processes in understanding social behavior, highlighting how individuals think, perceive, and make decisions in social contexts.

Question 4

Social cognition is a field of social psychology dealing with how:

Accepted Answer

Social cognition is a branch of social psychology that explores how people process, store, and apply information about other people and social situations. It focuses on the role of cognitive processes in social behavior, thus linking cognition and social behavior.

Question 5

Mental processes and structures, often automatic, that influence and are influenced by social behaviour are collectively known as:

Accepted Answer

Social cognition refers to the mental processes and structures that help individuals understand and interact with the social world. It includes how people perceive, remember, think about, and relate to one another.

Question 6

Asch (1946) found that some traits (central traits) perceived in others strongly affect how we decide if other traits also apply. For example, we are more likely to judge Mary as 'generous' if we also believe that she is:

Accepted Answer

Asch's research on central traits suggests that certain key traits, such as 'warmth', significantly influence our overall perception of someone. If we perceive someone as 'warm', we are more likely to also view them as 'generous', because 'warmth' is a central trait that positively affects our perception of other traits.

Question 7

Kurt Lewin was one of the early psychologists who stressed:

Accepted Answer

Kurt Lewin is best known for his work in the field of social psychology, particularly regarding the importance of perception in understanding human behavior. He emphasized that behavior is a function of the individual and their environment as perceived by them, which underscores the fundamental importance of perception.

Question 8

'Cognitive misers' are people who:

Accepted Answer

Cognitive misers are individuals who tend to conserve their cognitive energy by avoiding complex decision-making processes and instead rely on simple heuristics or mental shortcuts. This does not necessarily mean they lack intelligence or emotional capacity; rather, it's a strategy to reduce cognitive load.

Question 9

In addition to self-observation, which other method did Wilhelm Wundt use to study thinking processes?

Accepted Answer

Wilhelm Wundt used introspection, which involves observing and reporting one's own thoughts and feelings, to study thinking processes.

Question 10

Who is often referred to as the father of experimental social psychology?

Accepted Answer

Kurt Lewin is often referred to as the father of experimental social psychology due to his pioneering work in applying experimental methods to study social behavior, group dynamics, and the effects of social environments on individual behavior.

Question 11

By the 1960s, psychologists had begun to take a fresh interest in cognition. This development continued with which revolution that encouraged and enabled psychologists to model or simulate highly complex human cognitive processes?

Accepted Answer

The computer revolution provided the necessary technology and conceptual frameworks for psychologists to model or simulate complex human cognitive processes, marking a significant shift towards the cognitive approach in psychology.

Question 12

What characterises 'naïve scientists' is that they:

Accepted Answer

Naïve scientists are characterized by their tendency to use cause-effect interpretations of events around them, similar to how scientists analyze phenomena. This term is often used in psychology to describe how people make sense of the world.

Question 13

Following Asch (1946), which model do people use to form first impressions of others?

Accepted Answer

Asch (1946) proposed that people use a configural model to form first impressions of others, suggesting that individual traits are integrated into a holistic impression.

Question 14

What is the major difference between the terms 'thought' and 'cognition' as used by social psychologists?

Accepted Answer

Thought is often described as a process we are conscious of or can become aware of, while cognition encompasses a broader range of mental activities, including those we are not directly aware of and require effort to recognize.

Question 15

Which model of social cognition noted the powerful effect that first impressions have on the way we judge people?

Accepted Answer

Asch's configural model is known for emphasizing the impact of first impressions in the formation of our overall impression of someone. This model suggests that early information tends to shape our view more significantly than later information.

Question 16

The model in which people are motivated to reduce perceived discrepancies between their various cognitions, because such discrepancies are aversive or unpleasant, is called:

Accepted Answer

The model described is known as cognitive consistency, which posits that individuals are motivated to maintain consistency among their cognitions (beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors) because inconsistency is psychologically uncomfortable.

Question 17

In the early 20^th century, because psychologists felt that theories should be based on publicly observable and replicable data, there was a shift away from studying internal (cognitive) events towards studying external, publicly observable events. What was the term classifying this change in emphasis?

Accepted Answer

Behaviourism is the term that describes the shift in psychology towards focusing on observable and replicable data, moving away from the study of internal cognitive processes.

Question 18

Which concept has NOT played a role in the development of modern social cognition?

Accepted Answer

Group mind is a concept that has not played a significant role in the development of modern social cognition. Modern social cognition focuses on how individuals think about others and themselves in social contexts, emphasizing individual cognitive processes rather than collective or group-level phenomena like the "group mind" concept.

Question 19

An advance in a particular field coincided with renewed interest in the study of general cognition. Which field?

Accepted Answer

The manipulation and transfer of information, often associated with the development of computers and information technology, has significantly influenced the study of general cognition by providing new methods and models for understanding how information is processed, stored, and retrieved by the human mind.

Question 20

Hiram Bluster has been the Human Resources manager at his company for a long time now. 'It is easy to sum up applicants in the first interview' he says. 'I just look 'em in the eye. If they look back at me they're trustworthy. If they look away they're not!' Hiram's views of people are an example of:

Accepted Answer

Hiram's belief that he can judge an applicant's trustworthiness based on eye contact during the first interview is an example of an implicit personality theory. This theory involves assumptions and stereotypes about how personality traits are related and how they manifest in behavior, without empirical evidence to support these beliefs.

Quiz 2: Social Cognition and Social Thinking