ENTRIES A–Z
Philip Winn in Dictionary of Biological Psychology, 2003
Social cognition is the term used to describe a general theoretical and methodological approach to the study of social behaviour. It is not simply, however, the wholesale importation of methods and principles from COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY as social psychological research has always retained an interest in cognition, even at times when the remainder of the discipline was dominated by BEHAVIOURISM. The identifying feature of social cognition is the importance it attaches to MENTALISM and psychological processes either from the point of view of how mental events affect social behaviour or how social behaviour affects mental events. Basically stated, social cognition is concerned with how people perceive, remember and interpret information about themselves and others. This general approach has given rise to a number of influential metatheories, the most dominant of which remains the cognitive miser model. This model embodies the idea that people are capacity-limited information processors and, as such, adopt strategies to simplify complex tasks or take cognitive short-cuts wherever possible. Thus, any errors or biases that occur are considered to be inherent features of our information-processing systems and that the underlying goal of such systems is to provide rapid solutions that are adequate for the task in hand but not necessarily accurate.
Social interaction, the beginnings of communication, and the development of a theory of mind
Miguel Pérez-Pereira, Gina Conti-Ramsden in Language Development and Social Interaction in Blind Children, 2019
In this section, we have argued that prelinguistic communication develops through alternative routes in blind children. Blind children have opportunities to develop socially and communicatively within the context of interactions where other sensory modalities other than vision are used and explored. We have also emphasized the crucial compensatory role that language plays in blind children’s development and the positive effects of early interactive, joint attention routines can have in the development of the child as a social, communicative being. In the next section we turn to a specific aspect of social cognition—theory of mind. We begin with a brief historical review. Then, we move to discuss the development of theory of mind in normal children and children with autism. These discussions provide the context for an evalution of (1) blind children’s theory of mind abilities, and (2) the superficial similarities that are sometimes observed between blind children and children with autism. The chapter then ends with some brief concluding remarks.
Cognition and stress
Tony Cassidy in Stress, Cognition and Health, 2023
While Seligman and colleagues arrived at their attributional style theory through a search for the explanation for learned helplessness, Weiner (1986, 1990; Weiner, Russell & Lerman, 1978, 1979) drew on the substantive literature on attributions in the field of social cognition. Originating with Heider (1958), the concept of attribution had found a central role in the social psychology of the 1970s. The development of theory on how the layperson attributes causes for their own and others’ behaviours had identified several important dimensions in the process, the most consistent being the internal-external dimension. This reflects the work on the fundamental attribution error discussed previously. Weiner identified four dimensions that were important regarding emotions. In addition to the internal-external dimension, he suggested stability, controllability and intentionality. He distinguished between internal-external attributions and attributions of controllability in that one might attribute a cause as being internal but still not see it as controllable. The stability dimension he saw as being important in terms of expectancy about future behaviour, again like the notion of optimistic versus pessimistic thinking. Intentionality was an additional and important dimension concerned with identifying responsibility in others. The stress-prone individual would be the person who made external attributions or, in cases of internal attributions, felt they were uncontrollable, had a pessimistic expectation for the future and tended to see the thwarting actions of others as intentional and deliberate.
Effectiveness of integrated psychological therapy on cognitive function among Lebanese patients with schizophrenia: a pilot study
Published in International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice, 2020
Sahar Obeid, Souheil Hallit, Hala Sacre, Gisèle Rouphaël Kazour
On the other hand, social cognition refers to the mental operations that underlie social interactions such as perception, interpretation, and the generation of responses to the intentions, dispositions, and behaviours of others (Green et al., 2008). Schizophrenic patients have been shown to have social cognitive deficits in addition to neurocognitive deficits (Sparks, McDonald, Lino, O’Donnell, & Green, 2010). Many studies in recent years have also associated social cognition with functioning, so that social cognitive performance would explain an additional proportion of the variance of functioning that is not explained by neurocognition (Addington, Saeedi, & Addington, 2005; Torio et al., 2014; Waldheter, Jones, Johnson, & Penn, 2005). Some studies have even shown that social cognition can be a better predictor of functioning than neurocognition itself (Fett et al., 2011; Pijnenborg et al., 2009). Of the myriad of social cognitive components, Theory of Mind (ToM), or the skills to understand the intentions and beliefs of others, appears to have the most robust associations with functional outcomes. For example, several studies have shown that ToM predicts multiple domains of functioning above and beyond the influence of neurocognition (Couture, Granholm, & Fish, 2011; Fett et al., 2011), and accounts for greater variance in everyday functioning than neurocognition and other aspects of social cognition (Brüne, Abdel-Hamid, Lehmkämper, & Sonntag, 2007; Pinkham & Penn, 2006).
Learning from the minds of others: A review of social cognition treatments and their relevance to traumatic brain injury
Published in Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 2019
Anneli Cassel, Skye McDonald, Michelle Kelly, Leanne Togher
Psychosocial changes after moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) have a profound impact for many: relatives report 60–80% of people with severe TBI experience enduring changes to their behaviour and personality after their injury (Brooks, Campsie, Symington, Beattie, & McKinlay, 1986; Jennett, Snoek, Bond, & Brooks, 1981; McKinlay, Brooks, Bond, Martinage, & Marshall, 1981; Oddy, Coughlan, Tyerman, & Jenkins, 1985; Thomsen, 1975, 1984; Weddell & Leggett, 2006). These changes, such as increased irritability, lability, aggression, childishness, unreasonableness, as well as apathy and loss of spontaneity, impact deleteriously upon interpersonal relationships, remain many years post-injury, and are specifically associated with carer burden (Brooks et al., 1986; Brooks & McKinlay, 1983; McKinlay et al., 1981; Thomsen, 1984). As a consequence, reduced participation in society and social isolation are reportedly commonplace for those with TBI, with individuals’ circumstances often only worsening with time (Burleigh, Farber, & Gillard, 1998; Cattran, Oddy, Wood, & Moir, 2011; Dawson & Chipman, 1995; Hawthorne, Gruen, & Kaye, 2009; Morton & Wehman, 1995; Tate, Lulham, Broe, Strettles, & Pfaff, 1989). It has been suggested that these psychosocial changes following TBI may be indicative of an important loss of social perceptiveness and empathy (Lezak, 1978). More recently, these constructs have been understood within the term “social cognition”; the ability to interpret social and contextual cues in order to understand other people (Lieberman, 2007).
The effect of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder comorbidity on cognitive functions and severity of addiction in opioid use disorder
Published in Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse, 2021
Zeliha Donmez, Sakir Gica, Basak Unubol, M. Sinan Iyisoy, Huseyin Gulec
Social cognition includes understanding others’ feelings and emotions and recognizing them from facial expressions and body postures. Understanding other people's emotions is crucial to successful navigation in social interactions (Lindholm et al., 2019). Recognition of facial affect serves as a form of feedback that can be valuable in guiding socially appropriate behavior (Goleman, 1995). Children and adults with ADHD were found to have lower ability in recognizing emotions from mimics and sounds, have more aggressive behavior, lower frustration tolerance and impaired self-control. Consequently, these situations cause interpersonal problems (Pelc et al., 2006; Yuill & Lyon, 2007). Therefore, adults with ADHD miss important social cues in a way that disrupts the course of communication, which may lead to a negative result. Aggressive behavior is known to be closely linked to ADHD (King & Waschbusch, 2010). Therefore, this defect of social cognition in ADHD comorbid patients has the potential of causing severe substance use disorder.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Autism Spectrum
- Cognition
- Cognitive Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Psychopathy
- Schizophrenia
- Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Information Processing Theory
- Social Cognitive Neuroscience