Representation, problem representation

The cognitive representation of (social) information has been an important concern in (social) psychology since the mid-1970s. The central assumptions are, that people often attend to exposed information about a (social) stimulus (a person, an object, or an event) selectively, focussing on some features while disregarding others. They interpret the features in terms of previously acquired concepts and knowledge. Moreover, they often infer characteristics of the stimulus that were not actually mentioned in the information, and construe relations among these characteristics that were not specified ("going beyond the information given", Bruner, 1957b). In short, the cognitive representations that people form of a stimulus differ in a variety of ways from the information on which they were based.

Yet it is ultimately these representations, and not the original stimuli, that govern subsequent thoughts, judgments, and behaviors. Consequently, it is important to understand the nature of these mediating cognitive representations, to predict the influence of information on perceivers' judgments and/or behavioral decisions about the people and objects to which it refers.

To understand the cognitive determinants of judgments and decisions one must scrutinize the cognitive operations that were performed on information when it was first received, the mental representations that are formed as a result of these operations, and the manner in which these representations were later used to produce judgments or behaviors.

See also: frame, information processing, logic of conversation

Literature: Barsalou (1989), Bruner (1957b), Martin (1986), Wyer & Carlston (1994)

Entry by: Eric Igou

June 11, 1999
Direct questions and comments to: Glossary master