ABSTRACT

Originally published in 1981, this volume presents papers from the first Ontario Symposium on Personality and Social Psychology held at the University of Western Ontario from August 25-27, 1978. The general theme of the symposium was social cognition. The chapters have been grouped into two major parts. Chapters 1-5 focus on the implications of cognitive structures for social cognition, with particular emphasis on the nature of social schemata and the organization of social information. Chapters 6-11 focus on the consequences for social cognition of various cognitive processes and mechanisms, including verbal and nonverbal communicative processes, category accessibility, salience and selective attention, hypothesis-testing, and self-centered biases. Chapter 12 comments on the general perspectives taken in the previous chapters and suggests some additional directions for future consideration. Today it can be read and enjoyed in its historical context.

part I|198 pages

Organization and Representation of Social Information

chapter 2|50 pages

Schematic Principles in Human Memory

chapter 5|38 pages

Category Accessibility

Some Theoretical and Empirical Issues Concerning the Processing of Social Stimulus Information

part II|194 pages

Processing Factors and Biases in Social Cognition

chapter 8|28 pages

Seek, And Ye Shall Find

Testing Hypotheses About Other People

chapter 9|18 pages

Self-centered Biases in Attributions of Responsibility

Antecedents and Consequences

chapter 11|50 pages

The “Communication Game”

Implications for Social Cognition and Persuasion

part III|28 pages

Commentary

chapter 12|26 pages

Social Cognition

A Need to Get Personal