Two main constructs form the basis of the social cognitive concept. The first premise is that humans tend to learn from the behavior of others. The second is that understanding the thought process (cognition) of individuals is critical to psychological assessment.

Social cognitive theory borrows ideas from two main branches of psychology: cognitive psychology and social psychology. It places emphasis on the cognitive stages of information processing in a social context. Specifically it assesses the impact of the "actual, imagined, or implied presence of others" on the" thoughts, feeling and behavior of individuals."

Social cognition theory models the interaction between personal factors, environmental factors and behavior. The individual must first receive and perceive a stimulus. After that, the individual encodes the perceived stimulus, using prior knowledge (such as stereotypes) to make additional decisions, judgments or inferences. During this process, the individual simultaneously stores and retrieves information from memory. After the main processing of information has occurred, the individual forms a behavioral response.

Advertising is a good way to illustrate the social cognition concept. An advertisement represents a stimulus. An individual would then begin processing the images and messages within the advertisement and judge the desirability of the product (or even the advertisement itself). Whether the individual had a good experience with that product or company affects how the individual perceives the advertisement (prior knowledge/ memory). After that, the individual can choose whether to consider or purchase the product.

Social cognition is important in the media because the media is a fulcrum of information and communication. Individuals must receive process information from the news, through advertising and on multimedia programs. The media, particularly visual media normally use a range of stimuli to convey messages.

Understanding the social cognitive processes of individuals is important to media personnel such as producers and advertisers. Media personnel, particularly journalists and editors use understanding of perception and attention to write attention-grabbing headlines or produce popular programs. For example, producers are concerned about the appearance, voice and delivery of presenters based on how viewers might perceive them.

Social cognition, as a learning theory, is relevant to communication and education, apart from being of interest to social psychologists. In education, psychologists use the principles of social cognition to improve teaching methods and learning environments. This theory is also useful in understanding stereotypes and biases that occur in information processing.

Below are some useful links on the social cognition concept:

http://www.tcw.utwente.nl/theo rieenoverzicht/Theory%20cluste rs/Health%20Communication/Soci al_cogn itive_theory.doc/

http://www.comminit.com/en/nod e/27153

Learn more about this author, Darrell Victor.
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