PSY2102 – Social cognition and emotion

Schedule, syllabus and examination date

Course content

Social cognition is about how we understand and explain our own and others behavior, and how we interpret positive and negative events in daily life. Social cognition is the interface between social psychology and cognitive psychology, with contributions from personality psychology, language, psychology and neuroscience. Social emotions are emotions about or related to other social beings - typically other people. Key topics include:

  • Concepts, schemas and hypothesis as the basis of social perception.
  • Counterfactual thinking.
  • Affect and motives in social cognition.
  • How do we explain our own and others` behavior (attribution).
  • How do we create an impression of other people.
  • Stereotypes and implicit personality theories.
  • Social comparison.
  • Self-Perception and Identity.
  • The role of social emotions in relationships.
  • Cultural differences in social cognition.

Learning outcome

The course will provide an overview of important research and theories in the field of social cognition and social emotions.

Knowledge:

You will:

  • Gain insight into the basic psychological processes that influence human interaction.
  • Learn how our social environment, including different media, shape social cognition and emotion.
  • Get a broad overview of the field of social cognition and get to know important findings and their interpretation.

Skills:

You should be able to:

  • Plan and conduct different steps within the research process in social cognition.
  • Present research results.
  • Evaluate empirical evidence.
  • Apply basic concepts and theories in social cognition to everyday experiences as well as to problems of intervention in various Fields.

General competence:

You should be able to:

  • Read advanced book chapters, which already require a good understanding of the basic concepts of social psychology.
  • Read primary research articles.
  • Collaborate in small teams on solving various tasks.
  • Search for additional material yourself and to evaluate research.
  • Reflect on the relationship between theory and empirical findings.

Admission to the course

Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.

If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures