PSYCH 135 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Cognitive Load, Construals, Executive Functions
Pysch 135 - Lecture 4 - 11.04.2018!
I. Supraliminal Priming = above conscious awareness!
we holding words in memory for 10 s!
Donald study = Priming !
•take this traits and have them as primed categories!
•they can be interpreted in more than one way - positive/negative characteristics - both things
are equally likely!
•people have no idea that the priming study has anything to do with the second study !
•later on, you are going to make judgements about Donald!
•negative/positive not applicable - no effect - have this as a control position !
•they are actually using the categories that are primed to classify Donald, it is not just based on
mood/emotion!
•priming affects later on!
•we can prime goals, behavior !
•hundreds of priming studies, they are very controversial right now!
•“Thinking Fast and Thinking Slow” - priming book !
II. Subliminal Priming = below conscious awareness!
•a word is flashed on the screen and it happens so fast that the people can’t tell you what it
was on the screen !
•see something, the brain registers it but the person can’t tell you what it is!
•has an effect on what you do next - interpretation, goal, next task !
•earlier studies that Bargh did !
•phase 1: flashing on the screen words that are related to hostility (20% - low hostility group vs
80% words - high hostility group)!
•eg rude, punch - words tested in a study before that people thought were hostile !
•they were told to press a key when they saw something on the screen !
•phase 2: !
•you don’t exactly know if he was hostile or reasonable!
•back in the day where people always opened their doors - not answering the door can
be seen as hostile !
•phase 3:!
•rate Donald on different things!
•results!
•no effect - he is average in hostility - no prime!
•the more hostility primes, the more you see Donald negatively!
•you are using those primes in your further judgement of Donald !
•PRIMES SHAPE OUR SUBJECTIVE CONSTRUAL !
•PRIMES ONLY AFFECT CONSTRUALS WHEN APPLICABLE TO THE BEHAVIORS !
Subliminal vs Supraliminal Primes!
•similar effects!
•supraliminal primes have larger effects!
•you are aware of having that, but not aware that the primes need to be used in next task !
•they are really small effects!
•they do their jobs!
•most of the times it works pretty well !
•ads - counting on that you are not paying that much close attention because otherwise they
backfire !
•subtle ads coming across - not really paying attention !
•ads that have nothing to do with what they represent !
•counting on that subtlety !
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comprehension question!
•Donald !
•Daffy - unambiguously hostile condition!
•who would priming affect more?!
when unambiguous, the situational construal is more constrained!
•in reality, !
•priming is going to work better in a state on ambiguity !
•if we are very certain about it, it is not going to have much of an impact !
III. Cognitive Load!
•divided attention !
•consciously focused on something that is not related!
•automatic process - seeing the red square !
•holding the 9 digit number in !
•engage in some other task that you are interested in !
•control condition - all digits are 1!
•you might be listening for different tones, how many times hear high pitch !
•time pressure - giving 30s vs 1s!
•another way to put them under cognitive load !
•the crying baby dilemma!
•Greene et al. 2008!
•crying baby -> attention of soldier -> !
•controversy!
•utilitarian response - doing what is best for most people !
•either way your child is going to die!
•non utilitarian response - doing what is best for you - social response !
•only child would die!
•how long does it take to come to a conclusion under cognitive load!
•standard procedure of !
•y axis = reaction time in milliseconds!
•not under cognitive load both -!
•under cognitive load, utilitarian judgement - takes longer to respond - reaction time by about
1s more!
•under cognitive load, non utilitarian judgement takes the same reaction time !
•this suggests that the non utilitarian judgement is automatic and that utilitarian judgements
require more cognitive control !
If a judgement or process occurs at the same way with or without cognitive load, then it is
automatic.!
Priming Social Perception !
•behavior is a big step from just judging others!
Automatic Behavior !
Bargh, Chen, & Burrows (1996)!
•the word that doesn’t fit in the sentence that I am created is the prime, take the word out and
change it eg went, to , class, rude, he +> He went to class. ; take out “rude"!
•polite condition vs rude condition !
•experimenter - how many subjects interrupt the conversation within a 10 min period!
•20% interrupting for polite, 40% for neutral and 60% rude!
•subjects don’t see any conditions, the subjects don’t !
•confederates are used a lot in social psychology!
•pilot studies and fine tuned the studies eg right amount of length of conversation until people
get fed up!
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
