Psychology of Social Beliefs and Judgments

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Questions and Answers

What is the effect of subliminal priming on behavior?

It has a long-term impact on behavior, only if the individual is already motivated.

It has a short-term impact on behavior, particularly if the individual is already motivated. (correct)

It has a long-term impact on behavior, regardless of motivation.

It has a short-term impact on behavior and has no connection to individual motivation.

Which of the following is NOT a factor that contributes to our intuitive judgments?

Conscious deliberation (correct)

Schemas

Emotional reactions

Expertise

What is the phenomenon of being more confident than justified in the accuracy of one’s beliefs called?

Perseverance of beliefs

Overconfidence phenomenon (correct)

Hindsight bias

Confirmation bias

What is the tendency to maintain beliefs even after they have been discredited called?

Perseverance of beliefs (C) Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is a remedy for overconfidence?

Considering disconfirming information (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is the tendency to seek out information that reinforces our preexisting beliefs called?

Confirmation bias (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is the term for thinking strategies that enable quick, efficient judgments?

Heuristics (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary reason for attribution biases?

Our limited capacity to process information (B) Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is an example of a dispositional attribution?

The driver cut me off because he is a reckless driver. (C) Signup and view all the answers

Which heuristic is used when we judge the probability of an event based on how easily we can recall similar events?

Availability heuristic (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is the fundamental attribution error?

The tendency to underestimate the impact of the situation on the behavior of other people. (A) Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is an example of the illusion of control?

A gambler believes that they are more likely to win if they wear their lucky socks. (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is belief perseverance?

The tendency to cling to our initial beliefs even when we are presented with evidence that contradicts them. (B) Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is an example of counterfactual thinking?

All of the above (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is the misinformation effect?

The tendency to incorporate misinformation presented after an event into our memory of that event. (B) Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is a cognitive shortcut or rule of thumb?

All of the above. (D) Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Priming activates particular associations in memory, influencing thoughts and actions.
Subliminal priming affects behaviour if a person is already motivated to engage in that behaviour.
Priming research suggests much of behaviour is unconscious.
Intuitive judgments, such as schemas, emotional reactions, expertise, and thin slices, shape thinking.
Intuitive judgments are often unconscious processes.

Intuitive Judgments: Limits of Intuition

Subliminal stimuli have minimal impact.
Hindsight is often prone to errors.
People are susceptible to illusions.

Confirmatory Hypothesis Testing

People often seek information that affirms pre-existing beliefs.
For example, a numerical sequence starts with 2, 4, 6... suggesting a pattern.

Overconfidence

Overconfidence is the tendency to overestimate one's accuracy in beliefs, judgments of others' and one's own behavior.
Overconfidence arises from underestimating situational influences.
It is said, "It takes competence to recognise competence.".
Overconfidence leads to confirmation bias.
- Perseverance of Belief: The tendency to maintain beliefs despite evidence to the contrary.
- Confirmatory Hypothesis Testing: We actively look for supporting evidence for our beliefs while ignoring contradictions.
- Self-fulfilling Prophecy: Our beliefs influence our behaviour, which, in turn, affects others' beliefs about us, leading to those beliefs coming true.
Remedies for overconfidence include prompts for feedback, breaking tasks into smaller parts, and considering disconfirming information.

Heuristics: Mental Shortcuts

Heuristics are thinking strategies for quick and efficient judgments.
Limits in processing information lead to heuristics to overcome these limitations.
The shortcuts sometimes lead to errors.
Heuristics can result in cognitive biases like attribution bias.

Heuristics: Representative/Availability

Representative heuristic: Assuming someone or something fits a group based on resemblance to a typical member (ignoring base rates).
Availability heuristic: Judging likelihood based on how easily relevant instances come to mind.

Counterfactual Thinking

Imagining alternative scenarios that could have happened.
Counterfactual thinking underlies feelings of luck or regret.
Regret can be felt more strongly about things that were not done.

Illusory Thinking

Illusory correlation: Perceiving a relationship between variables where none exists or where the relationship is exaggerated.
Illusion of control: Believing one can influence uncontrollable events.

Mood and Judgment

Moods significantly affect judgments and perceptions of others' behaviour.
A bad mood leads to detecting fewer positive behaviors.

Perceiving and Interpreting Events

People perceive media bias, even when it is not present.
The perception of bias is similar within groups sharing the same outlook. (e.g., those with pro-Israel views perceive bias against Israel)

Belief Perseverance

Maintaining initial beliefs even after they are disproven.

Constructing Memories

Misinformation effect: Integrating misleading information into memories of past events.
False memories result from this.
Elizabeth Loftus is a pioneer in this study.
Past attitudes, behaviours, and beliefs can be reconstructed to match the current views.
Greenwald's "totalitarian ego" is a way of expressing beliefs' strong influence on reconstructing past events.

Attributing Causality

Attribution theory: Explaining why people behave the way they do.
Misattribution: Attributing behaviour to the wrong cause.
Dispositional vs. situational attributions: Determining if behaviour is caused by personality or circumstances

Fundamental Attribution Error

Underestimating the influence of situations on others' behaviour.
People tend to attribute others' actions to personal characteristics rather than external factors.
It is a two-step process in attributions:
1. Identify behaviour and attribute it to a personal cause.
2. Adjust that impression to account for situational factors

Attributions and Reactions

Understanding how attributions lead to reactions.
- Dispositional attribution results in unfavourable reactions.
- Situational attribution results in sympathetic reactions.

Teacher Expectations and Student Performance

Teacher expectations influence student behaviour and performance.
This is a "self-fulfilling prophecy".

Behavioural Confirmation

Social expectations influence behaviour in a way that confirms those expectations (self-fulfilling prophecy).

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Description

Explore the fascinating concepts of social beliefs, priming, and intuitive judgments in psychology. This quiz delves into how unconscious processes, confirmatory hypothesis testing, and overconfidence shape our perceptions and behaviors. Test your understanding of these psychological phenomena and their implications on decision-making.