Overview
This lecture explains the difference between automatic and controlled social thinking, the role of schemas and priming, and how unconscious influences affect our judgments and behaviors.
Types of Social Thinking
- Social thinking exists on a continuum from automatic to controlled processing.
- Automatic processing occurs without awareness, effort, or intention, and is difficult to stop or override.
- Examples of automatic processing include rapid impression formation and the activation of stereotypes.
- Controlled processing is deliberate, effortful, and requires conscious reasoning and planning.
- People can switch quickly from automatic to controlled processing as situations demand (e.g., emergency while driving).
- Automatic processing conserves mental energy, while controlled processing is usually more accurate but more demanding.
Automatic vs. Controlled Processing
- Automatic judgments often involve the amygdala and relate to quick likes/dislikes.
- Controlled, reflective judgments involve the prefrontal cortex and take more effort.
- With practice, tasks can shift from controlled to automatic (e.g., learning to drive or play an instrument).
Schemas and Priming
- Schemas are mental frameworks or knowledge structures for organizing information about people and events.
- Priming is activating a schema, making it more likely to be used in judgments and decisions.
- Recently or frequently activated schemas are most accessible and influence perceptions and behavior.
- Media, experiences, and even dreams can prime certain schemas.
Classic Study: Priming and Behavior
- John Bargh’s 1996 study showed that subtle priming (using words related to rudeness or politeness) affected how likely participants were to interrupt an experimenter.
- Those primed with rudeness interrupted more quickly and often; those primed with politeness interrupted less.
Reflection and Awareness
- People are generally unaware of how priming and automatic processes influence their behavior.
- The type and positivity/negativity of information you consume shapes which schemas are activated and can affect your behavior unconsciously.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Automatic Processing — Non-conscious, effortless mental operations that occur without intentional control.
- Controlled Processing — Conscious, effortful, and intentional thinking or reasoning.
- Schema — Mental structure organizing knowledge and guiding information processing about people or events.
- Priming — Process of activating certain schemas or concepts, making them more influential in subsequent judgments or behavior.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Reflect on daily situations where you use automatic vs. controlled processing.
- Consider how the media and information you consume might be priming your behavior and attitudes.