Soc.335i/Hicks Marlowe Note Taker: Discussion Exercise # 5 Group Members: (5 pts.each) Social Perception and Cognition (Chap.4) 1. Identify the main idea(s) involved in the following concepts, and provide examples that show how they are related to the processes social perception and attribution of causes for others’ actions: (a) categorization (in social perception) (f) implicit personality theory (mental map) (b) stereotype (g) trait centrality (c) halo effect (h) stereotype threat (d) prototype (I) availability vs representativeness heuristics (e) schema 2. The text suggests that we use a range of “schemas” to help us organize our perceptions. (a) What are the main functions of schemas (why do we use them)? (b) Identify and provide examples for the following types of schemas: person, group, role, event (c) What are some of the main advantages and disadvantages to using schemas (including stereotypes)? (d) Where do group schemas like stereotypes originate; how do they get started? 3. When you first meet a person there is a lot of information that could be used in forming an impression of her or him. Researchers have suggested that you may go through a number of processes in sorting out the information on which you will base your perception and impression of this person. Discuss the main idea(s) of each of the following concepts, and how they may affect impression formation. (a) primacy effect (c) self-fulfilling prophecy (b) recency effect (d) heuristics 4. “Attribution” is the process that allows us to feel that we understand a person, and particularly why they do the things they do. How do the following theoretical ideas relate to the process of attribution? (a) Internal (dispositional) vs external (situational) attributions, and what are the implications of making an “internal” versus an “external” attribution for a person’s behavior? (b) Heider’s “subtractive rule” (c) the factors “commonality,” “social desirability” and “normative expectations” (d) Kelley’s “principle of covariation” (and how the factors “consensus,” “consistency,” and “distinctiveness,” are used to determine whether an internal or external attribution will be made) (d) the factors “ability,” “effort,” “task difficulty” and “luck” in making attributions for success and failure 5. Attributions are not always accurate. Discuss the main ideas of the following biases in attribution, and how they affect the attribution process. (a) fundamental attribution error (b) focus of attention bias (c) actor-observer difference (d) self-serving bias (and the “ultimate attribution error”) (e) cultural biases in attributions.