Social Cognition and Thought Suppression

Lecture Summaries

• Various lectures on social cognition, attachment, and related topics are covered.
• Different theories and concepts are presented, along with supporting evidence, critical perspectives, and future research directions.
• Topics covered include thought suppression, perception-behaviour hypothesis, attachment theory, social cognition and language, and cognitive intelligence and emotional intelligence.

Thought Suppression

• Automaticity vs. Control: Conscious and unconscious processes in social cognition
• Perception vs. Interpretation: Subjective interpretations of the world
• Intuitions: Innate abilities to interpret others' behaviours and intentions
• Suppression vs. Repression: Conscious avoidance of thoughts vs unconscious exclusion of thoughts
• Dostoevsky (1863): Initial research on the difficulty of avoiding specific thoughts.
• Dan Wegner: Pioneer in research on thought suppression and rebound effects
• Classic Experiment (Wegner, 1987): Suppression phase (avoiding thoughts) followed by Expression phase (thinking freely).
• Cognitive Theories of Rebound: Distracter Association Theory – environmental cues trigger suppressed thoughts.

Perception-Behaviour Hypothesis

• Everyday thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are automatic and influenced by environmental features
• Environmental cues automatically activate mental representations and action tendencies
• Thinking about an action activates a tendency to perform it.
• Mental representations of actions contain semantic and behavioral information
• Activation of representations influence actions in specific directions.
• Experiences and priming can unconsciously trigger our behavior.

Attachment Theory

• Innate behavioral system designed for survival, triggers proximity-seeking behaviors in response to threat or danger.
• Distal goal for the attachment system is survival, and proximal goal is psychological "felt security," achieved when attachment figures are responsive and provide a safe haven.
• Felt security promotes exploration, emotional regulation, and well-being.
• Early interactions with caregivers shape schemas of relationships.
• Attachment styles include: Secure, Avoidant, and Anxious-Ambivalent, each characterized by different caregiver responses and attachment behaviours.
• Adult attachment styles show similarities to child styles.

Social Cognition and Language

• Social cognition encompasses the ability to recognize, interpret, and act upon social information.
• Theory of Mind (ToM) is the ability to infer mental states (beliefs, desires, intentions) in oneself and others.
• Social Cognition Cascades: Social cognition facets develop simultaneously and dynamically rather than in rigid stages.
• Language plays a crucial role in ToM development (example: EMST; shared coordination).
• Cultural influences impact social cognition and ToM.
• ToM is better understood as a graded construct, rather than a singular ability.
• Early mental state understanding (desires, intentions, beliefs) in young children develops with experience and cultural backgrounds.
• Language facilitates ToM expression and social representation.
• Elaborative styles of parent-child discourse enhance autobiographical memory and ToM.

Cognitive Intelligence

• Cognitive intelligence involves general cognitive ability to solve problems.
• Evolved to deal with ecological problems and social survival.
• Major theories include Spearman's two-factor theory, Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) model, and Gardner's Multiple Intelligences.
• Intelligence is viewed differently across cultures, which should be considered in measurements.
• Significant components include fluid intelligence (problem-solving) and crystallised intelligence (knowledge acquisition).

Emotional Intelligence

• Involves monitoring and regulating one's emotions and understanding others' emotions.
• Related to social intelligence and decision-making.
• Ability models of EI emphasise understanding and managing emotions.
• Mixed models (e.g., Bar-On, Goleman) incorporate non-cognitive elements.
• Trait models emphasise individual differences in self-perceptions of emotional capabilities.

Attitudes and Behaviour

• Attitudes are global evaluations of objects.
• They possess affective, behavioral, and cognitive components.
• Models of attitudes include the three-component model, dual-processing models, and the theory of planned behaviour.
• Attitudes are shaped by cultural and individual differences.
• Attitudes influence behavior, though not perfectly aligned.
• Attitude change is achievable through persuasion and other factors.

Positive Psychology

• Scientific study of factors that enable individuals and communities to thrive.
• Fosters well-being and human flourishing, positive traits, and positive institutions.
• Hedonic well-being involves happiness and pleasure, while eudaimonic well-being emphasises growth and self-realization.
• Factors like gratitude and self-efficacy contribute to improved well-being.
• Positive psychology has a rich history and continues to evolve.

Health and Personality

• Biomedical, biopsychosocial, and lifespan models highlight the role of personality in health.
• Personality traits, such as conscientiousness, neuroticism, and agreeableness, impact health behaviors and outcomes.
• Health is affected by stress appraisal, coping mechanisms, and reciprocal interactions across the lifespan.

Explore the intricate topics of social cognition and thought suppression in this quiz. Topics covered include attachment theory, automaticity vs. control, and the perception-behavior hypothesis. Delve into the contributions of researchers like Dan Wegner and Dostoevsky to these concepts.