Human cognition in its social context.
Abstract
A model of how the human cognitive system operates in its natural social context is presented. The model focuses on both input and output variables that have been ignored in the development of most other cognitive theories. On the input end, the model emphasizes the role of prior knowledge and the goal-directed nature of social information processing. On the output end, the model emphasizes various types of social judgments and affective reactions, as well as memory and behavioral decision making. The model is designed to provide a general conceptual framework for integrating much of contemporary social cognition research. As such, it is consistent with, and occasionally subsumes, more molecular theories of specific social phenomena. Unique predictions of the model and the empirical evidence bearing on them are discussed, and several directions for future research are presented.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
A cognitive information-processing approach accounts for internally generated mechanisms by which relevant decision-making information is processed by individuals and individuals participating in group decision making.
“A cognitive information-processing approach accounts for internally generated mechanisms by which relevant decision-making information is processed by individuals and individuals participating in group decision making [9,10].”
From Rationality versus reality: the challenges of evidence-based decision making for health policy makers (2010) · cites this paper as [10]
Deliberate processing results in a final cognitive outcome that allows a decision maker to reach a conclusion, impression, or decision that is directly related to his/her previous experiences and biases.
“Ultimately, deliberate processing results in a final cognitive outcome that allows a decision maker to reach a conclusion, impression, or decision that is directly related to his/her previous experiences and biases.”
From Rationality versus reality: the challenges of evidence-based decision making for health policy makers (2010) · cites this paper as [10]
Cognitive shortcutting is a common occurrence that simplifies cognitive processing demands.
“The purpose of discussing information processing is to comprehend how incoming information and cognitive shortcutting are common occurrences that simplify cognitive processing demands [9,10,32,44,48,64,73].”
From Rationality versus reality: the challenges of evidence-based decision making for health policy makers (2010) · cites this paper as [10]
Cognitive heuristics serve as a trigger to a prototypical representation of a situation/decision, creating a judgment or response based on memory bin representations from previous experiences rather than a judgment based on the evidence of the current situation.
“Cognitive heuristics serve as a trigger to a prototypical representation of a situation/decision, thereby creating a judgment or response based on memory bin representations from previous experiences rather than a judgment based on the evidence of the current situation [9,10].”
From Rationality versus reality: the challenges of evidence-based decision making for health policy makers (2010) · cites this paper as [10]
A decision maker's utility is governed by his/her goals, which can be subjective in nature.
“Following the tenets of social information processing theory and research supporting prospect theory, the nature of goal-directed cognitive processing suggests that a decision maker's utility is governed by his/her goals, which can be subjective in nature [10].”
From Rationality versus reality: the challenges of evidence-based decision making for health policy makers (2010) · cites this paper as [10]
Cites
Grice, H. P. (1975) · Speech Acts · doi:10.1163/9789004368811_003 · Cited by 23,221 · see citing works
Telling more than we can know: Verbal reports on mental processes.
Nisbett, R. E., & Wilson, T. D. (1977) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.84.3.231 · Cited by 11,317 · see citing works
Availability: A heuristic for judging frequency and probability
Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1973) · Cognitive Psychology · doi:10.1016/0010-0285(73)90033-9 · Cited by 9,984 · see citing works
On the psychology of prediction.
Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1973) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/h0034747 · Cited by 6,202 · see citing works
Bem, D. J. (1972) · Advances in Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(08)60024-6 · Cited by 5,241 · see citing works
Schwarz, N., & Clore, G. L. (1983) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.45.3.513 · Cited by 4,952 · see citing works
Self-perception: An alternative interpretation of cognitive dissonance phenomena.
Bem, D. J. (1967) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/h0024835 · Cited by 2,959 · see citing works
On the ability to inhibit thought and action: a theory of an act of control
Logan, G. D., & Cowan, W. B. (1984) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.91.3.295 · Cited by 2,590 · see citing works
Ross, L., Lepper, M. R., & Hubbard, M. (1975) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.32.5.880 · Cited by 1,052 · see citing works
Analysis of rehearsal processes in free recall.
Rundus, D. (1971) · Journal of Experimental Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0031185 · Cited by 797 · see citing works
Retrieval selectivity in memory-based impression judgments.
Lingle, J. H., & Ostrom, T. M. (1979) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.37.2.180 · Cited by 256 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Construal-level theory of psychological distance.
Trope, Y., & Liberman, N. (2010) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/a0018963 · Cited by 6,618 · see citing works
Is the P300 component a manifestation of context updating?
Donchin, E., & Coles, M. G. H. (1988) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x00058027 · Cited by 3,585 · see citing works
Trope, Y., & Liberman, N. (2003) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.110.3.403 · Cited by 3,006 · see citing works
Morality and competence in person- and self-perception
Wojciszke, B. (2005) · European Review of Social Psychology · doi:10.1080/10463280500229619 · Cited by 553 · see citing works
Sources of the continued influence effect: when misinformation in memory affects later inferences
Johnson, H. M., & Seifert, C. M. (1994) · Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition · doi:10.1037/0278-7393.20.6.1420 · Cited by 560 · see citing works
Strategy choice procedures and the development of multiplication skill.
Siegler, R. S. (1988) · Journal of Experimental Psychology: General · doi:10.1037/0096-3445.117.3.258 · Cited by 508 · see citing works
The representation of self and person knowledge in the medial prefrontal cortex
Wagner, D. D., Haxby, J. V., & Heatherton, T. F. (2012) · WIREs Cognitive Science · doi:10.1002/wcs.1183 · Cited by 201 · see citing works
McCaughey, D., & Bruning, N. S. (2010) · Implementation Science · doi:10.1186/1748-5908-5-39 · Cited by 160 · see citing works
Two Worlds of Trust for Potential E-Commerce Users: Humans as Cognitive Misers
Liu, B. Q., & Goodhue, D. L. (2012) · Information Systems Research · doi:10.1287/isre.1120.0424 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
P300 and categorization in brand extension
Ma, Q., Wang, X., Shu, L., & Dai, S. (2008) · Neuroscience Letters · doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2007.11.022 · Cited by 109 · see citing works
Motivations and relationship outcomes: The mediating role of trust and satisfaction
Swanson, S. R., Davis, J. C., & Zhao, Y. (2007) · Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing · doi:10.1300/j054v18n02_01 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Binding moral values gain importance in the presence of close others
Yudkin, D. A., Gantman, A. P., Hofmann, W., & Quoidbach, J. (2021) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-021-22566-6 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
- Authors
- Wyer, R. S., & Srull, T. K.
- Affiliations
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (US)
- ORCID
- Wyer, Robert S.
- Venue
- Psychological Review
- Published
- 1986
- Volume
- 93
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 322-359
- ISSN
- 0033-295X (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1471
- OpenAlex
- W1996538871
- Cited by
- 708
- References
- 11
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 30 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 25
- FWCI
- 196.12
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Review (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Rare & Special e-Zone (The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (5r01mh038585-07)
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01 MH3-8585)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Cognitive Science and Education Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Keywords
- social cognition, cognitive architecture, prior knowledge, social information processing, social judgment, affective reactions, memory, decision-making, conceptual framework
- MeSH terms
- Cognition, Humans, Mental Recall, Social Behavior, Social Environment
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
