Social+Cognition

=__**Social Cognition**__=
 * ABC model (It's as easy as ABC!):**


 * A**ffective - Feelings, reflection of values
 * B**ehavioural- What we want to do
 * C**ognitive- Beliefs, ideas, opinions

__**Functions of Attitudes:**__

**Adaptive/Instrumental:** maximising rewards, minimising punishments by guiding behaviour toward desired goal. **Self-Expressive:** give meaning to our lives through telling others about ourselves (self-concept) **Ego-defensive:** protecting self esteem from life's harsh realities **Knowledge:** understanding and predicting our social world

One attitude may serve all four functions

__**Impressions**__ Non- verbal
 * Posture- standing tall, slouching
 * Facial Emotion - 6 emotions
 * Physical charactor - gender, height, age
 * "The Face" - shape, features

Verbal Communications
 * Sematic Level (the detail)
 * Expression Level (the sound and expression)

Five Basic Principles of Impression
 * Impressions are formed from limited, external information - can only judge on what we can see.
 * Impressions are based partly on sterotypes - judging people according to their behaviour
 * First impression based on external cues- first 15 seconds
 * Impessions consist on judgement made on 3 levels - Physical, Socio - cultural Psychological

Impression Management
 * A process by which people in social situation manage the settings, their dress, words and gestures.
 * Creating a good and last impression
 * to control their impression of you

Self handicapping
 * an impression management strategy
 * protects self image - e.g. uses excuse if fails

Social Comparison: Enables us to:
 * Evaluates our own opinion and abilities. e.g. comparing your self to others
 * helps us figure out our strenghts and weaknesses
 * Gives us self knowledge

Upwards Comparrsion - compare ourselves who are socially better than us in some way Downwards Comparison- to boost ego

peer sideways comparison - compare yourself to some one who is socially similar

2 main routes of persuasion: __**Central (For highly intelligent thinking people, such as Mark Phillipe)**__
 * __Persuasion:__**
 * Information
 * Facts
 * Credible sources
 * Makes viewer think about message
 * Provokes high emotion levels
 * High elaboration
 * More durable attitude change
 * Persuasion based on content and logic of the message


 * __Peripheral (For stupid non-thinking people, e.g. Samuel Phelan )__**
 * Subliminal messages
 * Imagery
 * Humour
 * Doesn't require much thinking
 * When issue is not personally relevant or important
 * Low elaboration
 * Less durable attitude change
 * Persuasion based on nonmessage factors such as attractiveness and emotion

.....Who - (who is directing the information) .....What (what is being used to persuade) .....How .....To whom (the audience)
 * __Factors Affecting Persuasion__**
 * __Source:__**
 * experts - credibility, expertise, power
 * Attractiveness - likability, status, similarity
 * Talking speed - speaking style
 * __Message:__**
 * strong emotions - fear vs logic, repitition, novelty
 * subliminal messages (limited effect)
 * __Channel:__**
 * In person
 * On TV
 * Radio
 * Video
 * etc.
 * __Audience:__**
 * determines whether the central or peripheral route is used
 * Central route- thinking people
 * Peripheral route- self conscious
 * also included age, gender, attention span ect