- Discuss what is meant by "social cognition" and list the basic assumptions that most social psychologists have with respect to cognitive processes.
- State the basic purpose and function of schemas as well as the three basic processes that they influence.
- Consider how our schemas may (or may not) be altered in the face of new information.
- Discuss how the self-fulfilling prophecy may operate in certain applied settings, such as classroom environments.
- Explain why we often use heuristics and the consequences of their use. Contrast two different types of heuristics.
- Discuss the nature of automatic processing in social thought.
- Understand the neural processes that are responsible for making simple good-bad judgments in a rapid manner.
- Examine why we tend to show a negativity bias---particularly from an evolutionary or biological perspective.
- Consider the prevalence of the optimistic bias, its consequences, and when this bias typically is not shown.
- Understand why sometimes our tendency to do a minimal amount of cognitive work may be justified.
- Identify the effects that counterfactual thinking may have on our moods and general well-being.
- Explain what thought suppression is, why it can be---but often is not---effective, and identify the individual difference characteristic that is particularly susceptible to the negative effects of thought suppression.
- Provide a rationale for why we actually do a fairly good job in processing social information.
- Consider how affect can influence cognition by discussing mood-dependent memory, mood congruence effects, mental contamination, and the effects of being in a good mood on social behavior.
- List the three ways that cognition can influence affect.
- Understand that there can be social and cognitive disadvantages to being in a good mood.
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