| Abstract: | Discusses 3 aspects of the interface between cognition and personality. First, recent findings from the study of cognitive social psychology, judgmental heuristics, and person prototypes help to clarify some of the "cognitive economics" that influence how people (including psychologists) categorize each other naturally. It is shown that categorizations of people at different levels of inclusiveness have distinctive advantages and disadvantages and are therefore useful for different purposes. The 2nd topic explored is the development of children's understanding of psychological principles about social behavior generally, and the growth of their knowledge of effective rules for self-regulation in particular. Finally, studies showing surprising realism in depressed people raise questions about the nature and mechanisms of normal affect. These diverse lines of research share and represent a common theme: the increasing integration of cognitive and personological constructs in the study of persons. (69 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
