Themes and Controversies in Social Cognition
Psychology 1551
CUE Guide Ratings (1998-99)
Time & Space
Thursdays, 3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m., William James Hall 950.
Format
This seminar will explore research on
cognitive processes in social psychology by concentrating on pervasive themes
and perdurable controversies.
- I will begin each meeting with some organizing remarks. But this is a seminar, not a lecture, and thus the bulk of each meeting will be devoted to open discussion.
- Each student will prepare a brief “thought paper” that contains the seed of a discussion, and deliver that paper to my mailbox on the 14th floor of William James Hall by 9:00 a.m. each Thursday.
Prerequisites
Students should have completed an undergraduate course in social or cognitive psychology, and should have the methodological expertise necessary to read original research articles.
Grades
Grades will be based on a combination of
two factors.
- First, grades will be based on my subjective and fallible assessment of the quality of each student’s contributions to the discussions. Students who do not wish their performance to be evaluated entirely on such bases may arrange an additional demonstration of their competence by taking a written examination at the end of the term. Requests for this method of grading must be made in writing by October 8, 1998.
- Second, each student will complete a project, due on January 15, 1999. Students are expected to consult with me about the form and content of their projects well in advance of its execution. Although projects traditionally take the form of papers, creative suggestions for alternatives will be considered.
1. Constructivism
Background
- Gilovich, T. (1991). How we know what isn’t so. New York, NY: The Free Press. [selection: “Seeing what we expect to see,” pp. 49-72]
- Gilbert, D. T. (1994). Attribution and interpersonal perception. In A. Tesser (Ed.), Advanced social psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill. [Selection: pp. 126-141].
Research Spotlight
- Darley, J. M., & Gross, P. H. (1983). A hypothesis-confirming bias in labeling effects. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 20-33.
- Snyder, M., Tanke, E. D., & Berscheid, E. (1977). Social perception and interpersonal behavior: On the self-fulfilling nature of social stereotypes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 35, 656-666.
- Gilbert, D. T., & Jones, E. E. (1986). Perceiver-induced constraint: Interpretations of self-generated reality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 269-280.
2. Subjectivity
Background
- Gopnik, A. (in press). Theory of mind. In R. Wilson & F. Keil (Eds.), The MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences. Cambridge, MA: Bradford/MIT Press.
- Dennett, D. (in press). The intentional stance. In R. Wilson & F. Keil (Eds.), The MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences. Cambridge, MA: Bradford/MIT Press.
- Tomasello, M., Kruger, A. C., & Ratner, H. H. (1993). Cultural learning. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 16, 495-511.
- Baron-Cohen, S. (1995). Mindblindness: An essay on autism and theory of mind. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. [Selection: “Mindreading: Nature’s Choice,” pp. 21-30]
- Griffin, D. W., & Ross, L. (1991). Subjective construal, social inference, and human misunderstanding. In M. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 24, pp. 319-356). New York: Academic Press.
Research Spotlight
- Johnson, M. K., Kahan, T. L., & Raye, C. (1984). Dreams and reality monitoring. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 113, 329-344.
- Keysar, B., Barr, D. J, Balin, J. A., & Brauner. J. S. (1998). Egocentric perspective in language comprehension. Unpublished manuscript, University of Chicago.
3. Belief
Background
- Petty, R. E., Cacioppo, J. T., Strathman, A. J., & Priester, J. R. (1994). To think or not to think. In S. Shavitt, & T. C. Brock (Ed.), Persuasion: Psychological Insights and Perspectives (pp. 113-147). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
- Gilbert, D. T. (1991). How mental systems believe. American Psychologist, 46, 107-119
Research Spotlight
- Ross, L., Lepper, M. R., & Hubbard, M. (1975). Perseverance in self-perception and social perception: Biased attribution processes in the debriefing paradigm. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32, 880-892.
4. Dispositions
Background
- Gilbert (1998). Ordinary personology. In D. T. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske, & G. Lindzey, (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology (4th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill. [Selection: p. 89-114 and 121-134]
- Jones, E. E., & Nisbett, R. E. (1972). The actor and the observer: divergent perceptions of the causes of behavior. In E. E. Jones, D. E. Kanouse, H. H. Kelley, R. E. Nisbett, S. Valins, & B. Weiner (Ed.), Attribution: Perceiving the causes of behavior. Morristown, NJ: General Learning Press.
Research Spotlight
- Ross, L., Amabile, T. M., & Steinmetz, J. L. (1977). Social roles, social control, and biases in social-perception processes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 35: 485-494.
- Uleman, J. S. (1987). Consciousness and control: The case of spontaneous trait inferences. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 13, 337-354.
5. Stereotypes
Background
- Fiske, S. T. (1998). Stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. In D. T. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske, & G. Lindzey, (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology (4th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.
Research Spotlight
- Devine, P. G. (1989). Stereotypes and prejudice: Their automatic and controlled components. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56, 5-18.
- Macrae, C. N., Bodenhausen, G V. , Milne, A. B. , & Jetten, J. . (1994). Out of mind but back in sight: Stereotypes on the rebound. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 808-817.
6. Self-Knowledge
Background
- Bem, D. J. (1970). Beliefs, attitudes, and human affairs. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co. [selection: pp. 50-66].
- Nisbett, R. E., & Wilson, T. D. (1977). Telling more than we can know: Verbal reports on mental processes. Psychological Review, 84, 231-259.
- Ross, M. (1989). Relation of implicit theories to the construction of personal histories. Psychological Review, 96, 341-357.
Research Spotlight
- Strack, F., Martin, L. L., & Stepper, S. (1988). Inhibiting and facilitating conditions of the human smile: A nonobtrusive test of the facial feedback hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 768-777.
- Lepper, M. R., D. Greene, & R. E. Nisbett. (1973). Undermining children's intrinsic interest with extrinsic rewards: A test of the "overjustification" hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 28, 129-137.
7. Self-Evaluation
Background
- Taylor, S. E. (1989). Positive illusions: Creative self-deception and the healthy mind. NY: Basic Books. [Selections: “Escape from reality: Illusions in everyday life,” pp. 3-45; “Creative self-deception,” pp. 121-160.]
- Swann, W. B., Jr. (1996). Self-traps: The elusive quest for higher self-esteem. NY: Freeman. [Selection: “The verified self,” pp. 42-69]
Research Spotlight
- Berglas, S., & Jones, E. E. (1978). Drug choice as a self-handicapping strategy in response to noncontingent success. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36, 405-417.
- Tesser, A., & Smith, J. (1980). Some effects of task relevance and friendship on helping: You don't always help the one you like. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 16, 582- 590.
- Bushman, B. J., & Baumeister, R. F. (1998). Threatened egotism, narcissism, self-esteem, and direct and displaced aggression: Does self-love or self-hate to violence? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 219-229.
8. Self-Control
Background
- Gazzaniga, M. S. (1985). The social brain. New York: Basic Books. [Selection: “Split Brain Studies: The early years,” pp. 27-46; “Brain mechanisms and belief formation,” pp. 60-80]
- Wegner, D. M. (in press). The illusion of conscious will. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. [Selection: chapters. 1 & 2]
Research Spotlight
- Bargh, J., Chen, M., & Burrows, L. (1996). Automaticity of social behavior: Direct effects of trait construct and stereotype activation on action. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 230-244.
9. Rationality
Background
- Cialdini, R. B. (1994). Interpersonal influence. In S. Shavitt & T. C. Brock (Eds.), Persuasion: Psychological insights and perspectives. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
- Gilbert, D. T. (in press). Ordinary personology. In D. T. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske, & G. Lindzey, (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology (4th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill. [Selection: pp. 134-140].
Research spotlight
- Langer, E. J., Blank, A., & Chanowitz, B. (1978). The mindlessness of ostensibly thoughtful action: The role of "placebic" information in interpersonal interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36, 635-642.
- Wilson, T. D., Lisle, D. J., Schooler, J. W., Hodges, S. D., Klaaren, K. J., & LaFleur, S. J. (1993). Introspecting about reasons can reduce post-choice satisfaction. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 19, 331-339.
10. Imagination
Background
- Gilovich, T., & Medvec, V. H. (1995). The experience of regret: What, when, and why. Psychological Review, 102, 379-395.
- Elster, J., & Loewenstein, G. (1992). Utility from memory and anticipation. In G. Loewenstein & J. Elster (Eds.), Choice over time. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Research Spotlight
- Gilbert, D. T., Pinel, E. C., Wilson, T. D., Blumberg, S. J., & Wheatley, T. (in press). Immune neglect: A source of durability bias in affective forecasting. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
11. Social Cognition
Background
- None
Research Spotlight
- Swann, W. B. & Predmore, S. C. (1985). Intimates as agents of social support: Sources of consolation or despair? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49, 1609-1617
- Baldwin, M. W., Carrel, S. E. , & Lopez, D. F. (1990). My advisor and the Pope are watching me from the back of my mind. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 26, 435-454.
- Wegner, D. M., Erber, R., & Raymond, P. (1991). Transactive memory in close relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61, 923-929.
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