Automatic Thinking (An analysis of our environment based on past

experience and knowledge we have accumulated)

• Quick, effortless

• Limited conscious deliberation of thoughts, perceptions, assumptions

Controlled Thinking

• Effortful, deliberate

• Thinking about ourselves and our environment

• Carefully selecting the right course of action

Two Basic Types of Thinking

Can We Think Too Much???

Rate variety of jams

Taste & rate Taste, analyze their reactions to the jams (how they felt a certain way), & rate

Consistent with expert views on jam qualities

Reasons given may be the:

• Most clear and accessible (the easiest to recall and come to mind)

• Easiest to verbalize

These reason may not be the best to use and be misleading

Cognitive Schemas: Hypothetical cognitive structures that consist of prior knowledge which affects how we categorize and interpret incoming information.

•Can lead to very efficient processing of information (assist in organizing information and analysis of situations)

•Can lead to stereotypes and bias

Types of Schemas:

a) Other people

b) Events (e.g., weddings, funerals, date)

c) Role (CEO, President, librarian, wait staff)

d) Ourselves

Effects how we ---

• Attend (notice), encode information

• Think

• Remember (Retrieve information

Schemas and Forming Impressions of Others

“Hot” versus “Cold” Variables *• Guest lecturer in class for 20 minutes

• Participants giver prior information on him (e.g., background teaching experience, age, and personality)

• Two personality” versions given out:

1) “People who know him consider him to be a very warm person, industrious, critical, practical, and determined.”

2) “People who know him consider him to be a rather cold person, industrious,

critical, practical, and determined.”

Results: Warm condition gave the lecturer high ratings, asked more questions, participated more

One variation had the lecturer act a bit arrogant. Both warm and cold conditions viewed him as equally arrogant (a clear, obvious trait). But, warm condition viewed him as funnier (sense of humor a more ambiguous trait. Schemas used most in ambiguous situation to “fill in the blanks.”

* Accessibility [degree to which schemas come to mind] & Priming [recent experiences that increase accessibility]

Schemas and Memory

Occupational Labels As Schemas (Job Title)

Description of Waitress

Description of Librarian

Memory of facts

Schemas (job titles) given BEFORE reading descriptions increased memory for facts

The procedure is really quite simple. First you arrange things into different groups. Of course, one pile may be sufficient depending on how much there is to do. If you have to go somewhere else due to lack of facilities that is the next step; otherwise you are pretty well set. It is important not to overdo things. That is, it is better to do too few things at once than too many. In the short run this may not seem important, but complications can easily arise. A mistake can be expensive as well. At first the whole procedure will seem complicated. Soon, however, it will become just facet of life. It is difficult to foresee any end to the necessity for this task in the immediate future but then, once cam never tell. After the procedure is completed one arranges the materials into different groups again (Bransford & Johnson, 1972, p. 722)

Washing Clothes

Schemas and Perception *

Priming via Leading Questions

Car accident

(shown on film)

“Hit”

“Smashed”

34 mph

41 mph2x more likely to indicate presence of glass in the accident (none was present)

versus

Did you see a ...

versus

Did you see the ... More likely to report seeing something

Harris (1973):

How tall was the basketball layer?

How short was the basketball player?

79”

69”

How long was the movie?

How short was the movie?

130 min.100 min.

Priming/Leading Questions *

Priming/Leading QuestionsLoftus (unpublished studies)

How many other products have you tried: 1, 2, 3?

How many other products have you tried: 1, 5, 10?

Avg. 3.3

Avg. 5.2

Do you get headaches frequently, and , if so, how often?

Do you get headaches occasionally, and , if so, how often?

2.2/week

0.7/week

Priming/Leading Questions[False presupposition of

objects]

Accident film --- speed of a white sports car

A) How fast was the white sports car going when it passed the barn while traveling along the country road?

versus

B) How fast was the white sports car going while traveling along the

country road?

One week later: Did you see a barn ? [No barn existed]

17.5% reported seeing a barn

2.7% reported seeing a barn

50% success rate

Significantly more people in this group recommend the drug

be approved

Priming/Leading Questions

Experimental Drug for Cancer Treatment

50% failure rate

Coughing

Sneezing

Disease diagnosis; need for

certain treatmen

t

Priming and recent past experience: Medical training, focusing on learning how to diagnose diseases

Priming Via Physical Sensations

• Nice smelling cleaning detergent --- more likely to help (donate to charity) and trust stranger) (Liljenquist et al., 2009) Association between cleanliness and positive traits

• Holding a hot cup of coffee versus iced coffee --- thought stranger was more friendly (Williams & Bargh, 2008) Association between warm and friendly

• Sign survey on heavy versus light clipboard --- thought more “weight” given to value of survey responses (Jostmann et al., 2009) Association between heavy and value (“carries more weight”)

IQ Points Gained

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

10 IQ Points Gained

20 IQ Points Gained

30 IQ Points Gained

Schemas & Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Rosenthal & Jacobson, (1968). Replicated many times since then.

Bloomers

Others

Physical attractiveness of

female varied (photos shown –

previously rated as unattractive and

attractive)

Low

High

Phone conversation with

males

Females did not know how they were

described to males

Males were warmer, more friendly, and used more humor when talking to the “attractive” female

Females behavior was warmer and more friendly when they were described to the male

as being “attractive” (as judged by those listening to tape of female part of conversation)

Schemas & Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

** Heuristics: Cognitive shortcuts (May not have ready-made schemas, or too many schemas)

Availability heuristic: What information is most available (seen, noticed); what to comes to mind quickly (media influence)

Examples: Death by plane crashes,

6 vs. 12 examples of assertiveness; 2 vs. 10 ways to improve course

Substituting ease of access for data on frequency of occurrence

Factors that increase availability:

Emotionality of eventsRecency of eventsEase of visualizationImagining eventsVividness of events or testimonials

Example: 9/11 Attack

Top 10 Causes of Death (2013)

From: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm

Representative heuristic: Classifying things (objects, people) based on how similar it is to a typical (average) member of a group (e.g., meet someone at state university in NY who has blond hair, is mellow, tanned, and likes the beach– which state is he/she from? If you CA or FL, you’d be using representative heuristic) See example on page 69 of text [Barnum Effect]

Base rate information: Data about the frequency of occurrence of something in the population (often underutilized). At state university in FL have no information about a person, asked to guess which state they are from. If you use base rate information (more in-state people are in state universities, you’d guess FL. Usage: Choosing a left handed pitcher to pitch to a left-handed batter.

Heuristics (cont.) *

Fallacies/Biases *

• Gambler’s fallacy --- 9 heads in a row

What are the odds that tails will be next?

• False Consensus Effect:

The tendency to overestimate the degree of agreement between one’s own beliefs, behaviors, and characteristics (especially if they are negative)

(“Everyone does it”)

• False Uniqueness Effect (Better Than Average Effect) More likely regarding positive behaviors (e.g., exercise regularly, eat a healthy diet)

• Illusion of control: The concept that people are in control over chance events (e.g., choice to throw dice oneself; throw the dice harder …)

Psychological Accounting

• You are on vacation and want to go to the theater. Do you spend $30 on a theater ticket if you

– Discover that you lost the $30 ticket you purchased earlier in the day?

– Discover that you lost $30 from your wallet while touring earlier in the day?

Psychological Accounting (cont.)

• You are going to buy a jacket and a calculator. The jacket costs $125 and the calculator costs $15 at the store. You learn that you can buy the calculator at a different store (20 minute drive away) for $10. Do you drive to the other store to get the calculator?

• You are going to buy a jacket and a calculator. The jacket costs $125 and the calculator costs $15 at the store. You learn that you can buy the jacket at a different store (20 minute drive away) for $120. Do you drive to the other store to get the jacket?

Sensitivity to the ratio of costs

• Size of the ratio of the high cost to the lower cost influences the decision more than the absolute size of the savings

• Calculator example$15/$10 – ratio is 1.5 (drive seems worthwhile!)

• Jacket example$125/$120 – ratio is 1.04 (prices seem nearly

identical)

Counterfactual Thinking (what might have been; what could I have done

different?) *

Negative Event

Imagine doing something different (“better”)

• Enhances positive mood

• May allow for the development of new strategies for future use

Downward counterfactual thinking (satisfaction)

Upward counterfactual thinking (dissatisfaction)

Gold Medal

Silver Medal

Bronze Medal

Counterfactual Thinking (cont.) *

Other Factors:

Expectations: Bronze medalists who were not expecting a medal appeared happier than silver medalists expecting the gold; Silver medalists were elated, unless they expected the gold

Close Calls: Silver medalist loses to gold medalist by several seconds but beats bronze medalist by 1/100 second (likely to make downward CFT)

Pulling a muscle after the 1st 10 meters of 100 meter dash vs. winning but has injury in last few meters

Being the 999th customer when # 1000 gets a prize; Failing to renew flood insurance a few days before flood vs. 6 months before; Survive plane crash but die 2 miles from safety vs. 100 yards (greater damage award)

A

B

GradesTest

Score

Lowered counterfactual thinking (satisfaction)

Upward counterfactual thinking (dissatisfaction)

Counterfactual Thinking (cont.)

Counterfactual Thinking (cont.)

Inaction Inertia *

75% Off Sale

Plan or think about buying an item but don’t do so

25% Off Sale Unlikely to buy the stock

now even though it

may still be a good

purchase

Stock is selling for $5.00/share

Plan or think about buying the stock but don’t do so

Stock rises to $10.00/share

Unlikely to buy the item

now even though it

may still be a good deal

~ Magical Thinking ~

1) Law of contagion: Things which were once in physical contact maintain a connection even after physical contact has been broken; the essence of things (good/bad) spreads by contact (e.g., sweater owned by someone with a disease) or proximity (sell a house across from a cemetery or built on top of a previous one)

2) Law of similarity: If things resemble each other (look alike) they are alike.” (e.g., refusing to eat a piece of cake that looks like a roach)

3) Thoughts and actions can influence physical world outside oneself (sitting the same way and in the same seat will bring you good luck; watching a team play will cause them to lose; celebrating winning a bet before the game is officially over can cause one to lose the bet)