Highlight the importance of schemas in social cognition.
• Social schemas (schemata) are mental structure.
• They function as a framework to process social information. These schemas lead to emergence of prototypes.
• Prototypes are concepts which have most of the defining features of a concept, class or family.
• These are best representatives of the population.
• Various stereotypes emerge from these schemas. In other words stereotypes are category-based schemas.
Define attitude. Discuss the components of an attitude.
Are attitudes learnt? Explain how?
What are the factors that influence the formation of an attitude?
Is behaviour always a reflection of one's attitude? Explain with a relevant example.
