What the heck is social cognition?
Refers to the way people think and act in
social situations.
How we behave alone is not always how
we behave in a group
• Remember the Asch study with the lines?

What are attitudes and how do they
develop?
Attitudes are beliefs and feelings about
objects, people, and events that can
affect how people behave in certain
situations.

Attitudes develop through…
Conditioning (habit)
Observational learning
Cognitive evaluation
Cognitive anchors

Attitudes develop through…
Conditioning (habit)
• Like saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’
Observational learning
Cognitive evaluation
Cognitive anchors

Attitudes develop through…
Conditioning (habit)
Observational learning
• Children copy what they see their parents
doing…
• See: pretty much any fast food restaurant
ever.
Cognitive evaluation
Cognitive anchors

Attitudes develop through…
Conditioning (habit)
Observational learning
Cognitive evaluation
• i.e.; using logic & looking at the facts
• ex: I dislike Nike because they exploit
sweatshop labor
Cognitive anchors

Attitudes develop through…
Conditioning (habit)
Observational learning
Cognitive evaluation
Cognitive anchors
• Attitudes ‘anchored’ in earliest memories
– i.e.; you hate broccoli because it made
you sick when you were 5.

So how do you change people’s
attitudes?
Through persuasion...
Central route
Peripheral route

uses evidence
Central
and logical
route
arguments to
persuade people
message is most
important

is indirect and
Peripheral
attempts to
route
associate objects,
people, or events
with positive or
negative cues
all factors are
important

Repeated exposure leads to favorable
attitudes…
Translation please?
We like what we see more often

Just Do It
A Diamond is Forever
Every Kiss Begins with ____.
Like a good neighbor, ____ is there.
Think outside the bun.
I’m lovin’ it.
They’re grrrrreat!
Breakfast of champions
Drivers wanted.

Create a recruiting ad for a
psychology class using peripheral
route persuasion.
On the back of the sheet, write a
short paragraph describing what
techniques the ad uses to be
effective.