Mentalism refers to the existence and importance of cognitive representations. People have mental representations for general and specific memories, other people, events, the self, etc. We use these representations to help organize information and guide information processing

Mentalism

Concerns how mental elements form, operate, and change over time. Social cognitive research attempts to learn about the mechanisms and stages in which we turn perceptions (habits, thoughts, etc.) into responses. 

Cognitive Processes in Social Settings

The field of social cognition adopts methods and theoretical aspects from social and cognitive psychology. For instance, social phenomena (e.g. intergroup biases) may be examined by using cognitive techniques (e.g. eye-tracking, response time, etc.). 

Cross-Fertilization of Cognitive and Social Psychology 

Social cognition research allows us to study phenomena that isn't possible using only a cognitive analysis. The results in this field are often used to improve the legal system, healthcare, psychotherapy, marketing, interpersonal interactions, etc. 

Real-World Social Issues

There are two modes of processing in social cognition:
- Automatic Processing 
- Deliberate Processing

Dual Modes of Processing in Social Cognition

- Mentalism

- Orientation Towards Cognitive Processes

- Cross-fertilization of Cognitive and Social Psychology

- Application to the Real World
- Dual Modes of Processing

Alma College

Social cognition refers to the ways in which individuals think about themselves and others. As a key intrapersonal topic in social psychology, it focuses on the mental processes involved in perceiving, interpreting, and remembering information about the social world.

Social Cognition

Fiske, S. T., & Taylor, S. E. (2017). Social cognition: From brains to culture. London: Sage Publications. 

 Social Cognition: From Brains to Culture 3rd Edition

Basic Assumptions of Social Cognitive Theories

- Organizations
- Articles 
- Books
- Newspapers

References for Social Cognition

In addition to physical needs for survival, humans also have social motives that shape our thinking, relationships, and emotions. When our motives are fulfilled we will tend to feel good, and when they are not, we will tend to feel stressed or unhappy. Some major social motives are:
- belonging
- predicting others' behavior accurately
- control
- self-enhancement (a need to matter)
- trust

Social motives

It describes how our most important associations with religious, political, national, and occupational groups provide us with a sense of belonging, worth and shapes our thinking of people in/outside of these groups. Developed by Henri Tajfel, a polish jew who ended up in a Nazi prisoner of war camp during WWII. 

Social Identity Theory

Hurting associated with humiliation, rejection, or insult. It can feel as bad or worse than physical pain.

Social pain

The self-concept refers to one's fundamental sense of identity. It is a mental representation of oneself that helps in interpreting ambiguous information, setting appropriate goals for oneself, and regulating one's thoughts and emotions.

Self-Concept

Refers to various processes where people perceive, organize, and integrate information to form unified impressions of others

Impression Formation Theories

Self-socialization is the process by which children actively shape their own development.

Self-Socialization 

- Selman's Stage Theory of Role Taking
- Dodge's Information-Processing Theory of Social Problem Solving
- Dweck's Theory of Self-Attribution and Achievement Motivation
-Hierarchical Interdependent Taxonomy of Social Cognition model

Types of Information Processing Theories in Social Cognition

Judgement is relative. How we think about a person or event depends on the context surrounding it. 

Social context

a phenomenon when social groups create and maintain false beliefs about the world, even when contradictory evidence is present (e.g., belief that scientists are looking for a personal advantage by suggesting anthropogenic climate change)

Sulik, J., Efferson, C., & McKay, R. (2021). Collectively Jumping to Conclusions: Social Information Amplifies the Tendency to Gather Insufficient Data. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001044

Collective Delusions

A phenomenon when individuals' psychological processes "scale up" to group-level phenomena, often in unpredictable ways

Sulik, J., Efferson, C., & McKay, R. (2021). Collectively Jumping to Conclusions: Social Information Amplifies the Tendency to Gather Insufficient Data. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001044

Aggregation Dynamics

The process of cognitively assigning others into social groups.

Social Categorization

When people are confronted with unsympathetic material, either they do not perceive it or they make it fit for their existing opinion; and (c) selective retention, when people simply forget attitude-incongruent information 

Selective Perception 

Interest in social cognition as it relates to schizophrenia is a more recent development, and research in this area has grown dramatically over the past 10-­15 years.

Social Cognition in Schizophrenia

- Emotional Processing
- Social Perception
- Attributional bias/style
- Mentalizing

Features of Social Cognition

- Over the past decade, there has been considerable progress in the development of psychosocial treatments for social cognition in schizophrenia. 
- Given the complex, multifaceted nature of social interactions and the wide range of social functioning difficulties seen in schizophrenia, the field has shifted toward “comprehensive treatments” that address multiple, rather than single, social cognitive domains.


Training Approaches in Social Cognition

- Medium to large associations between social cognitive domains and community 
functioning were reported, with mentalizing showing the strongest relationship 
in a meta-analysis. 
- This meta-analysis reported that social cognition explained roughly 16% of the variance in community functioning, while nonsocial cognition accounted for about 6%.
- The association between social cognition and functioning has been found to hold up over time. For example, significant associations between baseline social cognition and community functioning can be seen one year and even five years later.

Social Cognition and Functional Outcome

The ability to attribute mental states to ourselves as well as others. This capacity is not logically derived, but rather, exists as an innate neurocognitive mechanism. As a foundational element of social behavior, it provides the capacity to interpret the behavior of others. Believed to develop in toddlers as young as 15 months old and is studied in apes and primates. 

Theory of Mind (Cognitive Empathy)

Attribution is the process of inferring the causes of events or behaviors. In social psychology, this often involves determining whether a behavior is due to internal factors, such as personality and character (a dispositional attribution), or external factors, such as the environment and social context (a situational attribution).

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