CHAPTER 17 Social Cognition

1. Define social cognition and social psychology. (see introductory section)
   
   
2. Compare and contrast self-concept and self-esteem. (see Social Influences on the Self)
   
   
3. Discuss the difference between temporal and social comparisons. Describe the relationship of reference groups to the process of self-evaluation. Define relative deprivation. (see Social Comparison)
   
   
4. Describe the importance of self-esteem in managing negative emotion. (see Focus on Research Methods: Self-esteem and the Ultimate Terror)
   
   
5. Define social identity. Discuss the theory of social identity. (see Social Identity Theory)
   
   
6. Discuss how self-schemas affect our vulnerability to psychological disorders. (see Self-Schemas)
   
   
7. Define social perception. Describe the influences, including the role of schemas, on impression formation. Explain why impressions are difficult to change. (see Social Perception)
   
   
8. Define self-fulfilling prophecies. Discuss the relationship between self-fulfilling prophecies and impressions. (see Self-Fulfilling Prophecies)
   
   
9. Define attribution. Describe the three criteria used in making attributions and explain how they influence whether we make an internal or external attribution. (see Explaining Behavior: Attribution)
   
   
10. Describe the cross-cultural experiment on attribution and its outcome. (see Culture and Attribution)
    
    
11. Define the fundamental attribution error and give an example of it. Define the actor-observer bias and the self-serving bias and give examples of each. (see Biases in Attribution)
    
    
12. Describe the ways in which social cognition is self-protective. (see The Self-Protective Functions of Social Cognition)
    
    
13. Define attitudes. Describe the cognitive, affective, and behavioral components of attitudes and give an example of each. (see Attitudes)
    
    
14. Discuss the factors that promote attitude-behavior consistency. (see The Structure of Attitudes)
    
    
15. Discuss how attitudes are formed and changed. Include the mere exposure effect and the elaboration likelihood model of attitude change. (see Forming Attitudes; see also Changing Attitudes)
    
    
16. Define cognitive dissonance, and describe the process of reducing it. (see Cognitive Dissonance Theory)
    
    
17. Define self-perception theory. Describe the influence of past behavior on attitudes, according to the self-perception theory. (see Self-Perception Theory)
    
    
18. Define stereotype, prejudice, and discrimination. (see Prejudice and Stereotypes)
    
    
19. Compare and contrast the motivational, cognitive, and learning theories of stereotypes and prejudice. Define the authoritarian personality and social categories. (see Theories of Prejudice and Stereotyping)
    
    
20. Describe the contact hypothesis. Discuss the specific conditions necessary for the contact hypothesis to hold true. (see Reducing Prejudice)
    
    
21. Discuss the studies on the possibility of eliminating prejudice. Define aversive racism. (see Thinking Critically: Is Ethnic Prejudice Too Ingrained Ever to Be Eliminated?)
    
    
22. Describe the influences of the environment, similarity, and physical attractiveness on attraction. Define the matching hypothesis. (see Keys to Attraction)
    
    
23. Describe the most important components of an intimate relationship. (see Intimate Relationships)
    
    
24. Describe Sternberg's triangular theory of love. Discuss the differences among romantic love, companionate love, and consummate love. Describe the predictors of strong versus weak marriages. (see Analyzing Love; see also Strong and Weak Marriages)