Social Cognition

Because they can feel, think, and act, humans are social beings. Social cognition refers to the processes of social memory, social perception, and social decision-making that the human species uses to interact with one another. Understanding mental processes and the social world as it is represented in our ideas, attitudes, intentions, and conduct as social agents is necessary to have a good understanding of social cognition.

In cognitive research, a schema describes the way that action and cognition are organized, how information is categorized, and how the two are related. A schema can also be described as ideas that are preconceived like how you may get the picture of a room as it is described in a book, or a system that organizes and perceives new information. A schema influences a person’s attention span and his ability to conceive new ideas (Nix, & Makin-Byrd, 16). A person is more likely to conceive faster information in their schema, and attempt to reinterpret what contradicts their schema or even attempt to distort it so that it fits in their schema. It is the tendency of schemata to remain unchanged even in the face of contradiction, which is very important in understanding the rapid changes in the world. New ideas are organized into schemata quickly as most cases do not need complex reasoning when using schemas as an automatic thought is what is required. This means that schemas are used to organize current state of the mind to try and understand the future. A good example of schemas includes but not limited to social roles, academic rubrics, scripts and world views.

Schematic Processing

In the use of schemata, heuristics techniques are used to retrieve and encode information and in most cases strenuous processing is not required. People are able to categorize new ideas into schemata and act on them at little effort. It is also important to understand that, schemas can act as barriers to the uptake of new ideas like when the current stereotypes have limited and biased expectations (Nix, & Makin-Byrd, 22). In this case, a person is meant to believe and remember something that has never happened simply because it holds true in his schema. A good example is, if a well-dressed person pulls a knife on a vagrant, the observers may remember the vagrant pulling the knife.

Multiple schemata can be interrelated and applied to the same information. This simply means that schemata can be interrelated and applied on a single situation. The schema to be applied depends on its accessibility, current activation and emotions. Accessibility is how fast the schema comes to mind and is primarily dependent on expertise and personal experience. This is basically a cognitive shortcut where the most common understanding is applied on new information.

Background research

The source of schema can be linked with reconstruction of memory. For example, when persons from different culture are asked to read and narrate the same folklore story, all will transform the details in accordance to their cultural beliefs and norms. Factors that influence how each one of them recalls the story are:

Omitting information that seems irrelevant to the person

Transformation and disorientation of the information and order of events. Their focus will shift to aspect that they deem more important to them.

Rationalizing: Details of the story that don’t make sense in the person’s view may be omitted or be presented in a form that makes sense to the person.

Culture shift: The participant will attempt to alter the story so that it fits to their cultural background and understanding.

Modification

New information and ideas that are acceptable to a person schema are easily comprehended and added to the person’s view of the world. However, if the new ideas do not fit into the person’s schema, then anything can happen next. Common reaction is to ignore or even quickly forget the new ideas. This happens on a very deep level and more frequently if the individual is not even aware of the perception of the new information. A person may also choose to uptake the information in a way that has minimal effect to their schema (Nix, & Makin-Byrd, 29). A good example is if a boy believes a chicken does not lay eggs, but sees a chicken lay an egg. There is a chance that the boy may think that, that was not a real chicken. This is a form of dis-confirmation bias that sets high standards for clear evidence that contradicts a person belief. However, if the evidence cannot be altered, new schema has to be formed or alteration of the current one.

Knowledge is constructed as cognitive structures where people assimilate and accommodate new information by developing cognitive structures. Accommodation is the assimilation of new information in a way that best fits in the current schema or modification of the old schema. Accommodation could also entail addition of restrictions on the current schema. Accommodation is used after assimilation fails to work (Nix, & Makin-Byrd, 45). Assimilation is the use of schema to understand and interpret occurrences around us. A schema is applied on a daily basis in a person’s life and hence people assimilate and accommodate naturally. For example, if the chicken in the above case has red feathers, then the boy may say that chicken with red feathers do lay eggs.

Assimilation is where schemata are reused to fit new ideas. An example is when a person sees a cat, then the cat will be added to the person’s cat schema. But if the cat acts strangely in a way that is not cat like, then a new schema may be formed to fit in the information. Accommodation and assimilation brings about the idea of disequilibrium. When the child comes across new information which does not fit into his schema, then disequilibrium occurs. This is a state that is unpleasant to the child’s development (Nix, & Makin-Byrd, 68). When disequilibrium occurs, it causes frustration to the person and they will attempt to adjust until the new information is accommodated. When new information is accepted, then assimilation comes into action and the necessary modifications are made. Equilibrium is the process through which a person moves to the disequilibrium and back to the equilibrium state.

Self-schemata

Schemata about self are based on past experiences and are grounded on the present. Memories remain within one’s frame of self-conception. A good example is that of persons with positive schemata readily accept flattering information and ignore unflattering information. Positive information is also easily recalled. The memories can actually be distorted in favor of what the person schema is. For example, most people remember exam grades as being better than what they actually are. However, people with negative self-views tend to have a general bias in a way that validates the schema in a negative way. A good example is that of a person with low self-esteem as s/he tends to remember more negative things about themselves than they do remember positive things (Nix, & Makin-Byrd, 76). The mind is hence biased in a way that favors the existing schema.

There are implications of self-schemata. First, self-information is processed faster in an efficient way especially if it is consistent information. Second, a person will remember and comprehend information that is relevant to his/her schema. Third, a person is likely to resist information that is contradictory of his/her self-schema. A good example can be; if a student is placed in a room with students whose view is inconsistent, they tend to find new roommates regardless of whether the view is positive. This is a good example of self-verification.

Automatic self-schemata are the largest contributors of depression. These schemas are properly rehearsed, hard to change, and have very strong influence on emotions, behavior, judgment, and information processing. Self-schema can also be self-perpetuating in that, if a girl is meant to believe she looks like a tom boy, then she will choose more masculine activities (Nix, & Makin-Byrd, 93). This means that, the person’s behavior is based on their expectations rather than on their interests.

Conclusion

Schemas are very important in the assimilation and accommodation of new information and ideas. Schema allows us to predict how a scenario looks like without actually having past experience. This means that, information is readily and easily accepted and remembered. Schema allows for the organization of related information to frameworks that will be very important in determining how a person behaves and feels. In summary, a schema is a lens through which an individual views the world. A person is therefore likely to react to situations in schema-likely manner.

As much as schemas are important in the conceptualization of new information, they are dangerous in that they have deleterious consequences to one’s social behavior. This happens when the new information is in contrast to one’s self-schema, then a state of disequilibrium exists (Nix, & Makin-Byrd, 126). The person then has to accommodate the new information or alter the schema to fit in the new information. Schema dictates what information is readily remembered and what is readily ignored.

Work cited

Nix, Azar., & Makin-Byrd, Robert. Parenting Schemas and the Process of Change. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, vol. 31(2005), 5-123.