tory as well. Thus it is vital to study how the effects of
social class are entering into classrooms and helping
to determine the future of children.
Social class is often used when researching chil-
dren. Despite its frequent use, it is difficult to use so-
cial class as a reliable variable. The lack of a consistent
definition is one of the reasons. Each researcher uses
a different definition of social class, thus making it
difficult to study it as a variable across research. Not
only does the definition of social class cause a prob-
lem, so does measuring it. Once again there is not a
specific assessment process used universally. The re-
porting of social class contributes to the lack of reli-
ability as well. Since social class is often self-reported,
it is difficult to assure the accuracy of the information
collected. Even if the data is accurate, social classes
are not the same in each region or city. What consti-
tutes upper class in one location may be middle class
in another. The lack of consistency involved in re-
searching social class accounts for the difficulty in
using it as a reliable variable.
Conclusion
Although it may be difficult to get a universal def-
inition for social class and the inconsistency sur-
rounding it is abundant, there are reasons to continue
researching this concept. Social class has a large im-
pact on how children are raised, how they are
schooled, and even whom they are friends with. For
these reasons, it is important that social class be taken
into account when studying child development, as
long as the limitations are understood.
See also: POVERTY; RACIAL DIFFERENCES; SOCIAL
DEVELOPMENT
Bibliography
Argyle, Michael. The Psychology of Social Class. London: Routledge,
1994.
Brantlinger, Ellen A. The Politics of Social Class in Secondary School:
Views of Affluent and Impoverished Youth. New York: Teachers
College Press, 1993.
Levine, Rhonda F. Social Class and Stratification: Classical Statements
and Theoretical Debates. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield,
1998.
Warner, W. Lloyd, Marchia Meeker, and Kenneth Eells. Social Class
in America: A Manual of Procedure for the Measurement of Social
Status. Chicago: Science Research Associates, 1949.
Linda K. McCampbell
SOCIAL COGNITION
The study of social cognition focuses on how people
think about and make sense of themselves, others,
and the world of social affairs. This cognitive ap-
proach highlights the active role that people play in
organizing, interpreting, and ‘‘constructing’’ the so-
cial world within which they live and interact. Con-
ceptual structures or schemas—internalized
knowledge or information—are assumed to play a
central role. These structures, derived from previous
experiences, are the basis for mental representations
(re-presenting objects and events not physically pres-
ent), and they serve as a frame of reference for inter-
preting, storing, processing, and using information
and experiences. The development of well-
differentiated and integrated cognitive structures en-
ables people to select, process, and use social infor-
mation in a relatively efficient, automatic fashion.
Nevertheless, as a comprehensive research review by
Richard E. Nisbett and Lee Ross demonstrated, auto-
matic processing increases the likelihood that novel
social information may be distorted and biased in a
manner consistent with a person’s existing conceptual
structures. For instance, social stereotyping involves
automatically categorizing an individual in terms of
a conceptual structure that represents a particular
group of people.Developmental Changes in Social-
Cognitive Reasoning
A primary process in social-cognitive develop-
ment involves distinguishing oneself from others. In-
fants express a sense of self-recognition and a
rudimentary understanding that they exist indepen-
dent from their mothers (e.g., showing distress when
separated) within the first year of life. Subsequently,
children come to understand that people are active
agents with ‘‘minds’’ who think, plan, have intentions,
pretend, may hold erroneous beliefs, are influenced
by inner desires and motives, and the like.
Considerable research on social-cognitive devel-
opment has been inspired and informed by the theo-
ry of cognitive development formulated by the Swiss
psychologist Jean Piaget (1896–1980). Drawing on Pi-
agetian theory and research, John H. Flavell in 1985
identified a number of developmental trends in social
cognition. One deals with a change in reasoning from
surface to depth. Young children deal with social situ-
ations in a superficial, concrete fashion. They focus al-
most exclusively on salient, external features of
others, and are easily deceived by impressions and
appearances. Adolescents are better able to go be-
yond surface appearances and make inferences about
peoples’ psychological motives and states. A second
theme involves the development of metacognition.
‘‘Meta’’ means to transcend; metacognition involves
thinking about thoughts and cognitive processes. Not
only does this promote introspective self-awareness
and self-examination, it also enhances the ability to374 SOCIAL COGNITION