Social Cognition

This course will serve as a rigorous introduction to the study of social judgment and person perception. We will explore the psychological processes that are involved when individuals make sense of and navigate in their social world. Social cognition represents less of “an area in” and more of “an orientation to” social psychology. The typical reading load will be 3 empirical papers each week. The readings will consist primarily of classic empirical papers, complemented by contemporary research that we will discuss together in class. This is not a light reading load; you should be prepared to spend several hours completing and considering the reading for each class meeting. Students will be required to: read (not skim) the course material, write a reaction to the readings from the week, participate in class, present to the class on empirical research, and write an experimental proposal of research or a program of research that has the potential to add to the social cognition literature