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7th Edition

John D. DeLamaterUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison

Daniel J. MyersUniversity of Notre Dame

Perception

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Chapter 4

Social Perception

and Cognition

Social Perception

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Chapter Outline

Schemas

Person Schemas & Group

Stereotypes

Impression Formation

Attribution Theory

Bias and Error in Attribution

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Class Exercise Look around the room and select a

student who you do not know. Write down your impression of that

person.– You won’t share your impression with anyone.

How did you form your impression of the person?

What cues did you use?

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Social Perception & Attribution Social perception Using information to construct understandings of the social world from our sensory data.

The way we form impressions of other people’s traits and personalities.

Social Perception & Attribution Attribution Observe a person’s behavior,

then infer causes

–Intentions

–Abilities

–Traits

– to explain why people act as they do.

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Accuracy of Impressions

Often impressions are sufficiently accurate to permit smooth interaction.

Social perception and Attribution

–Can be unreliable

Accuracy of Impressions

Even trained observers: Misperceive Misjudge Reach wrong conclusions

Our impressions determine how we interact

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Schemas

Well-organized structures of cognitions about some social entity

Person Group Role Event

SchemasTend to categorize into:Classes or members of groupRather than unique entities

Use prototypesRepresent “typical” of a class or group. What’s your prototype of:

–A wealthy person–A politician–A rapper

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Schemas

1. Organize information in memory

2. Guide inferences and judgments

– About people and object

3. Organize & remember facts

– Assess new information

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Types of Schemas

Self-Schemas Own characteristics

Person schemas Personalities of others

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Types of Schema Group schemas: Social group or social category

–Also called stereotypes

Role Schema Attributes & behaviors of persons

in particular role

–Occupation, family, leisure

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Schematic Processing

Respond to situations faster:

1. Facts easier to remember

2. Process information faster

3. Guide inferences/judgments about people and objects

4. Interpret ambiguous elements in the situation

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Group Schema: Stereotypes “Irish are hot-headed and belligerent.” “Blacks are good at dancing and

sports.”

Stereotypes: Limit opportunities

Fear of being judged leads to poorer performance

Change over time

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Group Stereotypes

Characteristics attributed to all members of group

Predict behavior with minimal information

Negative effects Limit access to social roles

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASDzcvyatgw Blue eyes-Brown eyes experiment

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Discussion Question

What are your group schemas?

How do they influence how you relate to others?

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Origins of Stereotypes

Direct experience with group

Generalize from person to group

Biased distribution of group members in certain social roles

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Errors Caused by Stereotypes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1e1gDoxXDU&feature=fvwrel 20 Accents

Assume all members are alike

–Have certain traits

Assume all members of one group differ from all the members of other groups

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Trait Centrality

Some traits have more impact on impression formation

High trait centrality = Large impact on overall impression

Central Traitso Intelligento Skillfulo Industriouso Warmo Determinedo Practicalo Cautiouso Wiseo Happy

o Good-naturedo Humorouso Sociableo Popularo Humaneo Altruistico Imaginative

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First Impression

Important Enduring impact

Possible Explanations

Primacy effect: More weight to early

information

Recency effects: Strongest influence to most

recent information25

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Impressions as Self-Fulfilling

Our impressions of people influence our behavior toward them

May cause them to react in ways that confirm our original impressions

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

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Heuristics Quick way to select schemas Helps make effective choice amid

considerable uncertainty

Two common heuristics:– Availability - Recently used schema--easier to

call it up in current situation

– Representativeness – Use a few known characteristics and select a schema that matches

Examples of Heuristics

“more expensive is better” “effort heuristic” (more effort=more valuable)

Availability heuristic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_wkv1Gx2vM

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Attribution Theory Methods used to explain why people act

as they do Observe behavior & Infer back to causes

– Intentions

– Abilities

– Traits

– Motives

– Situational pressure

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Dispositional vs. Situational

Attributions Your neighbor is unemployed. Dispositional Attribution: Attach behavior to the

internal state(s) of the person who performed it.– Your neighbor is out of work because he is lazy,

irresponsible, or lacking in ability.

Situational Attribution: Connect behavior to factors in person’s environment. – Scarcity of jobs

– Employment discrimination

– Bad economy

– Evils of capitalist system

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Attributions for Success and Failure

When someone succeeds possible explanations

(1) ability (2) effort (3) task difficulty (4) luck

Internal vs external/situational? Outcome stable or unstable? Permanent or changing?

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A sprinter is depressed after narrowly losing a race. To what do we attribute his failure?How does the attribution determine the athletes future actions?

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Bias and Error in Attribution

Observers scrutinize their environment Gather information Form impressions Interpret behavior

In rational, if sometimes unconscious, ways

Or do they?

Bias and Error in Attribution In reality, observers often deviate

from the logical methods and Fall prey to biases

Biases may lead observers to misinterpret events and

To make erroneous judgments

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Fundamental Attribution Error Overestimating the importance of

personal factors

Underestimating situational influences Examples:

– I failed the test because I am stupid.

– I failed the test because the instructor’s questions were unclear.

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Focus of Attention Bias

Tendency to overestimate the causal impact of whomever or whatever we focus our attention on.

–Media influence

–Election campaign coverage

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Actor-Observer Difference

Observers tend to attribute actors’ behavior to the actors’ internal characteristics

Actors see own behavior due more to the external situation

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Motivational Biases Motivational factors are a person’s

needs, interests, and goals.

Self-serving Biases:

– Tendency to take credit for acts that yield positive outcomes

– Deflect blame for bad outcomes and attribute them to external causes