Chapter . Critical Learning Exercises - The Core Elements of Social Cognition

Students’ responses will vary but should discuss the two motives mentioned in the question as they relate to political beliefs: need to reach closure quickly by obtaining a clear, simple understanding; or need to validate what they already believe by obtaining information that simply confirms their beliefs.

Students’ experiences will differ, but they should accurately describe how their judgment was influenced by either implicit, automatic associations or controlled, deliberate processing. When discussing implicit, automatic processing, students might mention that the experiential system of thinking led them to have intuition or “gut feeling” about a school based on associations they already had about the school or cues in the environment that created a feeling or emotion regarding the school. When discussing controlled, deliberate processing, students might discuss that the cognitive system helped them write out a list of pros and cons, conduct research, and weigh the different factors they considered in making a decision. When discussing which is more important, students may rely on the five ways the unconscious is smart (p. 93), or discuss how conscious, controlled processes use logic and rational thinking.

Depending on whether the student believes priming can influence behavior, answers will vary. They may discuss the impact of chronically assessable schemas on making a person more prone to influence if those schemas are personally important and used frequently by the individual. In addition, they may state that priming is more likely to affect behavior if the person must act fast without clear information, or if the person is already motivated to do the behavior.