The Cognitive Dissonance Theory by John L. Cotton :: Cognition Psychology Essays

The Cognitive Dissonance Theory by arse L. CottonWhen I memorise Cognitive Dissonance, I say to myself, Cogna Who? I could barely say the word let alone be able to explain the theory to someone else who has neer heard of it. So I took it upon myself to get schooled up on the Cognitive Dissonance Theory. Doing this was no barrel of laughs. But one night while I was sitting by the fire having some wine and cheese I was reading Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, there was an article by John L. Cotton that explained the Cognitive Dissonance Theory. To my surprise the article which was named Cognitive Dissonance in Selective Exposure. After reading the article several times so that I would non miss a single bit of information, I think I have a clear understanding of Cognitive Dissonance. right off for all that know me, I would never keep this information to myself, but I am going to share Cognitive Dissonance with all you clear surfers out there. Are you ready? Well, ready or not get ready to set sail and ride into the world of Cognitive Dissonance exploreProbably the best quote that Cotton gave was that everyone selectively seek, choose, and screen the information that we use. How true is this in your day to day lives? Think about it, we are forever and a day making decisions that we think that are beneficial to us and the people around us. For instance, if all of the boys want to got to the bar and have a few smoothies, you are more inclined to go along with everyone else because you do not want to ruffle anyones feathers. Let us dig a little deeper into this theory and break it down. number 1 off, what is cognition? I was not too sure either until the article explained what cognition was. Cognitions are attitudes, beliefs, and experience about ones behavior, or any other knowledge about oneself or the environment. So basically all of our actions and feelings that we have are cognitions. Understand the cognitive part of it a little better? Do n ot worry we will be back to explain this further. How about we tackle the dissonance part of this theory and see where we can go with it. Dissonance is the apprehension that when a person becomes aware that two or more of these cognitions are contradictory, dissonance is created.