Cognitive Schemas: hypothetical cognitive structures that consist of prior knowledge which affects how we categorize and interpret incoming information

Types of Schemas:

a) Person

b) Events (e.g., weddings and funerals)

c) Role

d) Self

Effects how we ---

• attend

• encode

• retrieve information

Schemas and memory

Occupational Labels

Waitress Librarian

Consistent and inconsistent descriptive information given about the traits, interests,

etc. of a waitress and librarian

Memory of facts

Job title (schema) given before or after descriptive information

The procedure is really quite simple. First you arrange things into different groups. Of course, one pile may be sufficient depending on how much there is to do. If you have to go somewhere else due to lack of facilities that is the next step; otherwise you are pretty well set. It is important not to overdo things. That is, it is better to do too few things at once than too many. In the short run this may not seem important, but complications can easily arise. A mistake can be expensive as well. At first the whole procedure will seem complicated. Soon, however, it will become just facet of life. It is difficult to foresee any end to the necessity for this task in the immediate future but then, once cam never tell. After the procedure is completed one arranges the materials into different groups again (Bransford & Johnson, 1972, p. 722)

Schemas and perception

Car accident

(shown on film)

“Hit”

“Smashed”

34 mph

41 mph2x more likely to indicate presence of glass in the accident (none was present)

versus

Schemas and behavior

Physical attractiveness of female described to

males

Low

High

Phone conversation with males

Females did not know how they were described

to males

Males were warmer, more friendly, and used more humor when talking to the “attractive” female

Females behavior was warmer and more friendly when they were described to the male as “attractive”

Heuristics: Cognitive shortcuts

Availability heuristic: What information is most available (seen, noticed); what to comes to mind quickly (media influence)

Example: Death by plane crashes

Representative heuristic: Classifying things (objects, people) based on how similar it is to a typical (average) member of a group

Base rate information: Data about the frequency of occurrence of something in the population (often underutilized)

Sampling bias: Making judgments based on a sample that is small or skewed (not typical)

Representativeness Heuristic

• Belief in the “Law of Small Numbers”

• Hot Hands, Streaks, “Momentum,” etc.

• Base rate neglect

• Comparison of clinical predictions and actuarial (statistical) predictions

Availability Heuristic

• Substituting ease of access for data on frequency of occurrence

• Factors that increase availability

– Emotionality of events– Recency of events– Ease of visualization– Imagining events– Vividness of events or testimonials

Self-Fulfilling Prophesies

• Confirmation bias

• Pygmalion effect– Distortion of observations– Creation of demand characteristics that elicit

predicted behaviors

“It will never happen to me”

• Positive outcomes are overestimated (especially with respect to oneself)

• Negative outcomes are underestimated

• Students estimate that they are 15% more likely to experience a positive outcome than the average student

• Students estimate that they are 20% less likely to experience a negative outcome than the average student

Counterfactual Thinking (what might have been; what could I have done different?)

Negative Event

Imagine doing something different (“better”)

• Enhances positive mood

• May allow for the development of new strategies for future use

A

B

GradesTest

Score

Lowered counterfactual thinking (satisfaction)

Upward counterfactual thinking (dissatisfaction)

Counterfactual Thinking (cont.)

Counterfactual Thinking (cont.)

Inaction Inertia

75% Off Sale

Plan or think about buying an item but don’t do

so

25% Off Sale Unlikely to buy the stock now even though it may still be a

good purchase

Stock is selling for $5.00/share

Plan or think about buying the stock but don’t do

so

Stock rises to $10.00/share

Unlikely to buy the item now

even though it may still be a

good deal

Psychological Accounting

• You are on vacation and want to go to the theater. Do you spend $30 on a theater ticket if you

– Discover that you lost the $30 ticket you purchased earlier in the day

– Discover that you lost $30 from your wallet while touring earlier in the day

Psychological Accounting• You are going to buy a jacket and a calculator.

The jacket costs $125 and the calculator costs $15 at the store. You learn that you can buy the calculator at a different store (20 minute drive away) for $10. Do you drive to the other store to get the calculator?

• You are going to buy a jacket and a calculator. The jacket costs $125 and the calculator costs $15 at the store. You learn that you can buy the jacket at a different store (20 minute drive away) for $120. Do you drive to the other store to get the jacket?

Sensitivity to the ratio of costs

• Size of the ratio of the high cost to the lower cost influences the decision more than the absolute size of the savings

• Calculator example$15/$10 – ratio is 1.5 (drive seems worthwhile!)

• Jacket example$125/$120 – ratio is 1.04 (prices seem nearly

identical)

Coughing

Sneezing

Disease diagnosis; need for certain

treatment

Priming: Process where recent experience increases the use of a concept, trait, or schema

50% success rate

Significantly more people in this group recommend the drug be approved

Experimental Drug for cancer treatment

50% failure rate

Social Desirability

• Problems with “catch phrases” and emotionally loaded wording

• Allow versus forbid is question wording– Should we allow speeches against democracy?

(62% disagreed)– Should we forbid speeches against democracy?

(46% agreed)– Questions are equivalent but produced different

frequencies of endorsement with different wording

Causes of death Number Total deaths

Percent oftotal deaths

Deaths per

100,000

  All causes 2,403,351 100.0% 873.1

1 Diseases of heart 710,760 29.6 258.2

2 Malignant neoplasms (cancer) 553,091 23.0 200.9

3 Cerebrovascular diseases (stroke) 167,661 7.0 60.9

4 Chronic lower respiratory diseases 122,009 5.1 44.3

5 Accidents (unintentional injuries) 97,900 4.1 35.6

6 Diabetes mellitus 69,301 2.9 25.2

7 Influenza and pneumonia 65,313 2.7 23.7

8 Alzheimer's disease 49,558 2.1 18.0

9 Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis 37,251 1.5 13.5

10 Septicemia (infection) 31,224 1.3 11.3

11 Suicide 29,350 1.2 10.7

12 Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis 26,552 1.1 9.6

13 Hypertension and hypertensive renal disease 18,073 0.8 6.6

14 Assault (homicide) 16,765 0.7 6.1

15 Pneumonitis due to solids and liquids 16,636 0.7 6.0

Source: U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics Report, vol. 50, no. 15, Sept. 16, 2002

Leading causes of death differ somewhat by age, sex, and race. In 2000 as in previous years, accidents were the leading cause of death for those under 34 years, while in older age groups chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease were the leading causes. The top three causes for males and females—heart disease, cancer, and stroke—are exactly the same. However, suicide and chronic liver disease ranked 8th and 10th for males but were not ranked among the ten leading causes for females. Similarly, Alzheimer's disease ranked 7th for females but was not among the top ten for males. For white males aged 15–34, the top two causes are accidents and suicide, while for black males in the same age group, the top two causes of death are homicide and accidents.

Footnote regarding causes of death (demographic differences)

1. Motor vehicle crashes Deaths per year: 43,200

2. Falls Deaths per year: 14,900

3. Poisoning by solids and liquids Deaths per year: 8,600

4. Drowning Deaths per year: 4,000

5. Fires and burns Deaths per year: 3,700

6. Suffocation Deaths per year: 3,300

7. Firearms Deaths per year: 1,500

8. Poisoning by gases Deaths per year: 700

9. Medical & Surgical Complications and Misadventures Deaths per year: 500

10. Machinery Deaths per year: 350

Top 10 Most Common of Accidental Deaths

Thought Suppresion

• Effectiveness of not thinking of something (e.g., an event, person)

• Effectiveness of replacing negative thoughts with positive ones

Talking about negative event (s) rather than trying to “forget” them

Magical Thinking

Law of contagion: things which were once in physical contact maintain a connection even after physical contact has been broken; the essence of things (good/bad) spreads by contact (e.g., (sweater owned by someone with a disease)

2) Law of similarity: If things resemble each other (look alike) they are alike.” (e.g., refusing to eat a piece of cake that looks like a roach)

3) Thoughts and actions can influence physical world outside oneself (sitting the same way and in the same seat will bring you good luck; watching a team play will cause them to lose; celebrating winning a bet before the game is officially over can cause one to lose the bet)