The Mental Representation of Trait and Autobiographical Knowledge About the Self

Advances in Social Cognition, Volume V

Nonfiction, Health & Well Being, Psychology, Social Psychology
Cover of the book The Mental Representation of Trait and Autobiographical Knowledge About the Self by , Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: ISBN: 9781317717256
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: December 3, 2015
Imprint: Psychology Press Language: English
Author:
ISBN: 9781317717256
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: December 3, 2015
Imprint: Psychology Press
Language: English

If there is one topic on which we all are experts, it is ourselves. Psychologists depend upon this expertise, as asking people questions about themselves is an important means by which they gather the data that provide much of the evidence for psychological theory. Personal recollections play an important role in clinical theorizing; people's thoughts, feelings, and beliefs provide the principal data for attitudinal research; and judgments of one's traits and descriptions of one's goals and motivations are essential for the study of personality. Yet despite their long dependence on self-report data, psychologists know very little about this basic resource and the processes that govern it. In spite of the importance of the self as a concept in psychology, virtually no empirically-tested representational models of self-knowledge can be found. Recently, however, several theoretical accounts of the representation of self-knowledge have been proposed. These models have been concerned primarily with the factors underlying a particular type of self knowledge -- our trait conceptions of ourselves. The models all share the starting assumption that the source of our knowledge of the traits that describe us is memory for our past behavior.

The lead article in this volume reviews the available models of the processes underlying trait self-descriptiveness judgments. Although these models appear quite different in their basic representational assumptions, exemplar and abstraction models sometimes are difficult to distinguish experimentally. Presenting a series of studies using several new techniques which the authors believe are effective for assessing whether people recruit specific exemplars or abstract trait summaries when making trait judgments about themselves, they conclude that specific behavioral exemplars play a far smaller role in the representation of trait knowledge than previously has been assumed. Finally, the limitations of social cognition paradigms as methods for studying the representation of long-term social knowledge are discussed, and the implications of the research for both existing and future social psychological research are explored.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

If there is one topic on which we all are experts, it is ourselves. Psychologists depend upon this expertise, as asking people questions about themselves is an important means by which they gather the data that provide much of the evidence for psychological theory. Personal recollections play an important role in clinical theorizing; people's thoughts, feelings, and beliefs provide the principal data for attitudinal research; and judgments of one's traits and descriptions of one's goals and motivations are essential for the study of personality. Yet despite their long dependence on self-report data, psychologists know very little about this basic resource and the processes that govern it. In spite of the importance of the self as a concept in psychology, virtually no empirically-tested representational models of self-knowledge can be found. Recently, however, several theoretical accounts of the representation of self-knowledge have been proposed. These models have been concerned primarily with the factors underlying a particular type of self knowledge -- our trait conceptions of ourselves. The models all share the starting assumption that the source of our knowledge of the traits that describe us is memory for our past behavior.

The lead article in this volume reviews the available models of the processes underlying trait self-descriptiveness judgments. Although these models appear quite different in their basic representational assumptions, exemplar and abstraction models sometimes are difficult to distinguish experimentally. Presenting a series of studies using several new techniques which the authors believe are effective for assessing whether people recruit specific exemplars or abstract trait summaries when making trait judgments about themselves, they conclude that specific behavioral exemplars play a far smaller role in the representation of trait knowledge than previously has been assumed. Finally, the limitations of social cognition paradigms as methods for studying the representation of long-term social knowledge are discussed, and the implications of the research for both existing and future social psychological research are explored.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book The Orthodox Christian World by
Cover of the book Destination Marketing Organisations by
Cover of the book The Routledge Encyclopedia of Films by
Cover of the book Advanced Methods in Family Therapy Research by
Cover of the book Reducing Armed Violence with NGO Governance by
Cover of the book Pocket Guide For The Textbook Of Pharmacotherapy For Child And Adolescent psychiatric disorders by
Cover of the book The Counts of Tripoli and Lebanon in the Twelfth Century by
Cover of the book The Global 1920s by
Cover of the book African City Textualities by
Cover of the book American Foreign Policy in a Globalized World by
Cover of the book The Law Relating to Financial Crime in the United Kingdom by
Cover of the book Social Justice and Children in Care by
Cover of the book Kwanzaa by
Cover of the book Cross-Cultural Competence by
Cover of the book Multinational Enterprises from the Netherlands by
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy