Process of Social Inference Summation

Social inference addresses the inferential process that is used to identify, sample and combine information in order to form impressions and make judgements. There are two processes used for social information:

1. The top-down deductive process that relies on general schemas or stereotypes and;
2. The bottom-up inductive process that relies on specific instances.

Normative models: the ideal processes for making accurate social inferences

Behavioural decision theory: the collective of normative models

Gathering data and sampling the information collected is the first step of making inferences. During this stage people tend to rely too much on schemas, which can cause information to be lost or exaggerated.

Regression: the tendency for the initial inference of an instance to be exaggerated or poorly judged in comparison to subsequent instances.

Base-rate information: factual and statistical data about an entire class of events (base-rate information is often ignored and can play a role in racial and unjust stereotyping, e.g. media coverage of extremist catholic protesters where individuals who view or read the story begin to attribute this behaviour and value to all catholics when it is the behaviour and values of the minority).

Illusory correlation: the belief that two stimuli or events are correlated to a high degree when there may only be a small or no correlation.

• Associative meaning: an illusory correlation where items are seen as belonging together on the basis of prior knowledge
• Paired distinctiveness: an illusory correlation where items are seen as belonging together because they share an unusual feature