Social cognition involves encoding, storing, retrieving, and processing social information in the brain about conspecifics. It involves both automatic and controlled processing. Schemas are mental frameworks that help organize social information and act as filters, but can also lead to errors and biases like stereotyping. Heuristics are simple rules or mental shortcuts used to make judgments that can be erroneous. Affect and cognition interact, as current moods and emotions can influence thoughts, memories, and judgments. Feelings shape thoughts and thoughts shape feelings in social cognition.