Nonconscious Processes

1
Nonconscious Processes
2
Lhermitte (1986)

• Paris, 1986 Doctor Lhermitte accompanies two
  patients of his to various locations around the
  city. Both of them have suffered a stroke, which
  has damaged portions of their prefrontal cortex,
  areas critical for the planning and control of
  action. First, in his office, the woman gives Dr.
  Lhermitte a physical exam using the available
  equipment and utensils. Later, after they spend a
  half hour in the professors apartment, he
  escorts the two of them out to the balcony,
  casually mentions the word museum, and leads
  them back inside. Their behavior becomes suddenly
  different they scrutinize with great interest
  the paintings and posters on the wall, as well as
  the common objects on the tables, as if each was
  an actual work of art. Next, the man enters the
  bedroom, sees the bed, undresses, and gets into
  it. Soon he is asleep. Across these and several
  other situations, neither patient is able to
  notice or remark on anything unusual or strange
  about their behavior.

3
Bargh, Chen, Burrows (1996)

• New York, 1996 University students take part in
  an experiment on the effects of behavior-concept
  priming. As part of an ostensible language test,
  participants are presented with many words. For
  some participants, words synonymous with rudeness
  are included in this test. For others, words
  synonymous with politeness are included instead.
  After finishing this language test, all
  participants are sent down the hall, where they
  encounter a staged situation in which is it
  possible to act either rudely or politely.
  Although participants show no awareness of the
  possible influence of the language test, their
  subsequent behavior in the staged situation is a
  function of the type of words presented in the
  test.

4
Do We Understand Our Own Behavior?

• People are often unaware of the reasons and
  causes of their own behavior
• There appears to be a fundamental dissociation
  between conscious awareness and the mental
  processes responsible for behavior
• Social Psychology (e.g., Dijksterhuis Bargh,
  2001 Wilson, 2002)
• Cognitive Psychology (e.g., Knuf, Aschersleber,
  Prinz, 2001 Prinz, 1997)
• Neuropsychology (e.g., Frith, Blakemore,
  Wolpert, 2000 Jeannerod, 1999)
• Two important principles
• An individuals behavior can be directly caused
  by the current environment, without the necessity
  of an act of conscious choice or will
• This behavior can unfold without the person being
  aware of its external determinant

5
Control and Automaticity

• Conscious processes
• Conscious intention of what the control will
  accomplish
• A sense or feeling of control
• An expenditure of effort in the control action
• A closed-loop monitoring of the control output
• Automatic processes
• Lack one or more features of conscious processes
• That is, automaticity is negative defined (i.e.,
  the absence of at least one key quality of
  conscious control)

6
Control and Automaticity Together Their Basic
Relations

• Multitasking Control and automatic processes can
  run in parallel (e.g., when engaged in a boring
  conversation, I may listen mindlessly while
  preparing what I am going to say)
• Delegation A control process can launch an
  automatic process (e.g., being told to render a
  social judgment can lead to the use of automatic
  stereotypes)
• Orienting An automatic process can launch a
  control process (e.g., my friend is rude to me,
  so I use controlled processes to understand and
  fit this new piece of information into what I
  already think I know about my friend)
• Intrusion An automatic process can override a
  control process (e.g., paradoxical rebound
  following thought suppression)
• Regulation A control process can override an
  automatic process (e.g., inhibiting stereotypes)
• Automatization A control process can be
  transformed into an automatic process (e.g.,
  learning to tie our shoes)
• Disruption An automatic process can be
  transformed into a control process (e.g., paying
  attention to our bodily movements when being
  filmed)

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Two Recent Examples of Nonconscious Processes

• Chameleon effect the tendency to mimic, without
  realizing it, the posture and physical gestures
  of ones interaction partners (Chartrand Bargh,
  1999)
• Nonconscious goal activation activation of
  social and interpersonal goals through external
  means (e.g., priming manipulations), with the
  individual then pursuing that goal in the
  subsequent situation without consciously choosing
  or intending to do so or even being aware of the
  purpose of his or her behavior (Bargh, 1990)
• Ex. Being primed with cooperation primes led
  individuals to be more cooperative in a lab task
  even though their self-ratings of their desire to
  cooperate was unchanged

8
Example Studies from Nisbett and Wilson (1977)

• Maier (1931) asked participants to tie two cords
  together. After seeing the experimenter start one
  of the cords in motion, they would usually solve
  the problem. The majority of the participants did
  not recognize the helpful cue.
• Participants tended to prefer stockings on the
  right side of the table over identical stockings
  on the left side of the table

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When Will We Be Wrong in Our Verbal Reports
(Nisbett Wilson, 1977)

• Removal in time We are better at detecting
  recent causes than more distant causes
• Mechanics of judgment The biases that make it
  difficult to understand our behavior (e.g.,
  preference for items on the right)
• Context We tend to ignore the context when
  making decisions about an object
• Nonevents The absence of friendly behavior is
  less salient than the presence of hostile
  behavior
• Nonverbal behavior We rely heavily on nonverbal
  cues (e.g., posture, gaze) to form judgments but
  may have difficulty incorporating these behaviors
  into verbal reports
• Discrepancies between the magnitudes of cause and
  effect We have trouble understanding that small
  causes can have large effects (and vice versa)

10
Choice Blindness(Johansson, Hall, Sikstrom,
Tarning, Lind, 2006)

• Which is more attractive?
• What would happen if the experimenter (using a
  bit of sleight of hand) gave you the card on the
  left and asked you why you chose her?

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Choice Blindness(Johansson, Hall, Sikstrom,
Tarning, Lind, 2006)

• Only 13 noticed the trickthis challenges our
  assumption that we notice when our intentions and
  the outcomes of our intentions do not match up
• Change blindness
• Experimenters received two sets of reports
• Those from participants who were given the photo
  they chose
• Those from other participants who were given the
  wrong photo
• The two sets of reports were similar in terms of
  emotionality, specificity, and certainty
• One concern is that they were predicting a null
  effect (i.e., predicting an absence) which is
  problematic given that it is impossible to show
  that something does not exist

12
Dual-Process Models

• These models propose two qualitatively different
  forms of information processing operate
• Implications for forming judgments, solving
  problems, and making decisions
• The first form of information processing is a
  quick and easy processing mode based on
  effort-conserving heuristics
• This process is often nonconscious and tends to
  involve automatic processing
• Stronger affective component
• The second form is a slow and more difficult
  rule-based processing mode based on
  effort-consuming systematic reasoning
• This process is conscious and involves controlled
  processing
• Stronger cognitive component

13
Experiential and Rational Systems(Epstein, 1994)

• Experiential System
• Holistic
• Affective Pleasure-pain oriented
• Associationistic connections
• Behavior mediated by vibes from past
  experiences
• Encodes reality in concrete images, metaphors,
  and narratives
• More rapid processing
• Slower to change
• More crudely differentiated
• More crudely integrated
• Experienced passively and preconsciously
• Self-evidently valid (Experiencing is believing)

• Rational System
• Analytic
• Logical Reason oriented
• Logical connections
• Behavior mediated by conscious appraisal of
  events
• Encodes reality in abstract symbols, words, and
  numbers
• Slower processing
• Changes more rapidly
• More highly differentiated
• More highly integrated
• Experienced actively and consciously
• Requires justification via logic

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Cognitive-Experiential Self-Theory(Epstein, 1994)

• A global theory of personality based on a
  dual-processing model
• Four needs
• Pleasure principle (Freud, 1920)
• Maintain a stable, coherent conceptual system
  (Lecky, 1961 Rogers, 1959)
• Relatedness (Bowlby, 1988 Fairbairn, 1954)
• Enhance self-esteem (Adler, 1954 Allport, 1961
  Kohut, 1971)
• CEST considers these motives to be equally
  important
• Consequences of the four basic needs
• Behavior is a compromise of the four needs
• Needs serve as checks and balances against each
  other
• Good adjustment is fostered by fulfillment of the
  four basic needs in a synergistic, harmonious
  manner

15
Dual Attitudes(Wilson, Lindsey, Schooler, 2000)

• Bob is a White male who was raised in a racist
  environment. As an adult, Bob has adopted an
  egalitarian view with regard to race.
• Have Bobs attitudes from his early life been
  replaced by his new attitudes?
• Is it possible that both attitudes may still
  exist simultaneously?
• Evidence suggests that we may have more than one
  evaluation of the same attitude object with one
  evaluation being more accessible than the other

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Dual Attitudes(Wilson, Lindsey, Schooler, 2000)

• Five hypotheses which have received empirical
  support
• 1. Explicit attitudes and implicit attitudes
  toward the same object can coexist in memory
• 2. When dual attitudes exist, the implicit
  attitude is activated automatically, whereas the
  explicit one requires more capacity and
  motivation to retrieve from memory
• 3. Even when the explicit attitude has been
  retrieved from memory, implicit attitudes
  influence implicit responses (e.g., nonverbal
  behaviors) or responses that people do not view
  as expressions of their attitudes and do not
  attempt to control
• 4. Explicit attitudes change relatively easily,
  whereas implicit attitudes (like old habits)
  change more slowly
• 5. Dual attitudes are distinct from ambivalence
• Analogy A tennis player who learns a new serve.

17
The Role of Automaticity in Classic Studies in
Social Psychology

• Milgram (1963) Obedience
• Asch (1952) Conformity
• Schachter Singer (1962) Emotion
• Festinger Carlsmith (1959) Cognitive
  Dissonance
• Darley Latane (1968) Helping
• Haney, Banks, Zimbardo (1973) Prison Simulation

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What do these studies have in common?

• Social psychology has often focused on
  situational determinants of thought, emotion, and
  behavior
• It is best known for findings that highlight the
  power of situational forces
• The classic studies focus on how the individuals
  behave when forced to
• Respond in difficult circumstances
• Act quickly
• Act under extreme duress

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Are we automatons?

• Classic social psychology studies make people
  appear to be automatons
• The situational influences examined were
• Unintended on the part of the individual
• Not something of which the person was aware
• A response to the situation occurring before the
  individual had a chance to reflect on what to do
  (i.e., efficient)
• Difficult to control or inhibit even when the
  person was cognizant of the influence
• These are the elements of automaticity

20
Milgram (1963, 1974)

• Obedience Studies
• The behavior of participants was
  counter-intentional
• Intention 100 psychiatrists, college students,
  and middle-class adults predicted they would stop
  administering shock before 300 volts
• Reality Very few participants (in any variation)
  disobeyed the experimenter before 300 volts
• Their behavior was efficient
• People tend to obey on the spotbut if they had
  been given time to consider their actions, they
  may have been less likely to obey

21
Asch (1952)

• Basic line-judgment paradigm
• Will participants give obviously incorrect
  answers if everyone else does?
• Individuals typically lack awareness that we draw
  our strength from the majority and that our
  behavior may change with situational demands

22
Schachter Singer (1962)

• Physiological arousal produced by the situation
  is experienced as an emotion by virtue of
  cognitive interpretation of the situational
  meaning of the arousal
• Men were given a learning drug (adrenaline)
• Half of the participants were told about the
  excitatory effects of the drug
• Participants were then exposed to a confederate
  who was either euphoric or angry
• Uninformed participants were amused by the
  euphoric confederate and irritated by the angry
  confederate
• If people were generally aware of the true
  reasons for their emotional states, it would not
  have been possible for Schachter and Singer to
  alter their subjective experiences

23
Festinger Carlsmith (1959)

• Participant is asked to mislead another person
  into believing that a boring task is interesting
• Participants come to believe the boring task is
  fun if paid 1 for their liebut not if paid 20
• Later studies showed that attitude change only
  occurs when the participant believes he or she
  has free choice in lying to the other person
• Thus, the original cognitive dissonance findings
  would not have emerged if individuals were aware
  of the power of the experimenters request

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Darley Latane (1968)

• Bystander effect Individuals are less likely to
  help if there are others present
• Inspired by the murder of Kitty Genovese in 1964
• Participants were aware of the presence of others
  but denied that their presence had any impact on
  their behavior
• This lack of awareness was taken as a sign of
  hope that things could change if people
  understood the power of situational forces

25
Haney, Banks, Zimbardo (1973)

• Prison simulation in the basement of Stanford
  psychology building
• Mock prison became quite real for its occupants
• Participants were unable to control or inhibit
  the powerful effects of their assigned roles
• This behavior ran counter to the intentions of
  the participants as assessed during debriefing

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Automaticity and Control

• These classic studies highlight a basic conflict
  between the automaticity of behavior and the
  desire to control it
• People behave in ways they do not seem to
  controlbut which clearly cry out for control
• Each classic study is a morality play in which
  participants are led astray by susceptibility to
  situational factors and lapse into automatic
  processes at the exact moments that control seems
  so important
• The suspicion that people should know better is
  what fuels interest in the nature of control and
  automaticity