A PROBLEM SOLVING PERSPECTIVE OF POLITICS

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A PROBLEM SOLVING PERSPECTIVE OF POLITICS

• FRAMING POLITICAL ISSUES
• LIMITED INFO PROCESSORS
• SHARED PROBLEM REPRESENTATION
• CONTEXT MATTERS

• INFORMATION -
• (amount type)
• BIASES
• DECISION-MAKING
• LEARNING

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Political issues as problems to be FRAMED SOLVED

• What to do about North Korea?
• RISK ADVERSIVE framing

• What to do about North Korea?
• RISK SEEKING
• framing

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People as LIMITED INFORMATION PROCESORS

• WORKING MEMORY
• CONSTRAINTS
• BITS of information
• 7 or - 2

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How do we cope?

• MENTAL HEURISTICS
• (informal rules of thumb)

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Example of common heuritics

• Personal
• What homework should I do first?

• Political
• What should we do about problem.?
• (make minor adjustments to status quo)

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Political Decision-Making

• Descriptive models of decision-making
• Most political decision-makers
• SATISFICING

• find a good enough solution (not optimal)
• The status quo as
• cognitive anchor
• (or bias)

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INFORMATION (perceived to be relevant)

• VALID
• RELIABLE
• TIMELY

• the CNN effect

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Role of cognitive (mental)BIASES

• LEARNING BIASES
• lessons of history

• REMEMBER
• Vietnam
• REMEMBER
• SOMALIA
• REMEMBER
• Bosnia (Kosovo)

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ATTRIBUTIONS (inferences - how world worksl)

• TRAIT ATTRIBUTES
• CAUSAL ATTRIBUTIONSgt
• (self)
• RELATIONSHIPS
• (others)

• UNIVERSAL BIAS
• FUNDAMENTAL
• ATTRIBUTION
• ERROR
• self- situtational others - motivations

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Cognitions - Political Science

• ATTITUDES
• BELIEFS
• Ideology
• VALUES

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CONTEXT MATTERS

• Classroom
• Classroom with visitor
• Classroom with Superindentent visiting

• POLITICS
• Prez with close advisers
• Prez with cabinet
• Prez on TV

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Political Psychology

• UNITS
• Political Actors
• (mico-level)
• individuals
• in small groups

• UNITSPolitical Actors
• (macro-level)
• large aggregates
• (ethnic groups, the public, nation-states)

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FOCUS of POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY

• INDIVIDUALS - in SMALL GROUPS
• interacting about SPECIFIC PROBLEM in specific
  SITUATION
• POLITICAL decisions w/i a MICRO-ENVIRONMENT

• CONSTRAINTS
• effected and impacted by MACO-ENVIRONMENT
• the sea (political, economic, cultural,
  historical, context)

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Explanatory factors

• PERSONAL
• Biological
• Personality
• Cognition
• Emotions

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MOTIVATIONSPersonality theories

• Classical Psychoanalytical
• Approaches
• I.e., FREUD
• Univeral Drives
• Libido
• Conscious Unconscious drives

• Modern
• Psycho-biographical
• Approaches
• Need for POWER
• Need for ACHIEVEMENT
• Need for AFFLIATION

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EMOTIONS

• INDIVIDUAL
• ANXIETY
• GUILT
• DEPRESSION
• GROUP Invisibilitygtgtgtgt GROUP THINK
• gtSHIFT TO RISK

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FACULTIES - skills abilities

• PSYCHOLOGY
• Experts vs Novices
• POLITICAL EXPERTS?
• Reputation (image)
• Articulateness
• Interpersonal skills
• Beliefs

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Other important factors and contraints

• Habits - B.F. Skinner - 80 all behavior is
  habit!
• Hybrids small group -construct a shared
  representation of an ill-structured problem

• CONTEXTUAL FACTORS
• Situational
• Environmental
• Micro
• Macro

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Microenviornment

• Interpersonal eyeball to eyeball
  Roles..(.formal/informal norms expectations)
• REFERENCE GROUPS

• ROLES
• Multiple roles
• Focal person (sender)
• Two-way
• Situational
• ..gtNORMS
• CONSTRAINTS

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Information - micro-level (decision-making
process)

• Information about the problem environment
• What information most likely to be used?
• 3 key attributes

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Macroenvrionment

• CONTSTRAINTS
• Organizational Structure - type (hierarchy)
• 
  position (role)
• Economic
• The Sea history, culture, temper of the
• 
  times

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APPLICATIONS

• BASIC Theories
• BELIEF ATTITUDE change
• GROUP DYNAMICS
• POWER of SITUATION
• IMPACT perceptions - AGGREGATE factors

• APPLICATIONS
• Polls, Voting, Propaganda
• Effective leadership
• Influencing decision outcomes, agenda
• damage control

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So which ones are more important?

• SUBJECTIVE or OBJECTIVE factors?
• it depends
• individuals (in small groups) working under
  varying micro and macro constraints

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Take a guess

• WHO SAID THIS?
• WHEN?

• TO FIGHT AND CONQUER IN ALL YOUR BATTLES IS NOT
  SUPREME EXCELLENCE
• SUPREME EXCELLENCE CONSISTS IN BREAKING THE
  ENEMYS RESISTANCE WITHOUT FIGHTING

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ANSWER

• SUN TZU
• 500 B.C.

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Commanders Guide to Tactical Psy Ops

• PSYOP.. WAS A GREAT THREAT TO TROOP MORALE.
  SECOND ONLY TO THE COALITION BOMBING CAMPAIGN
• AN IRAQI GENERAL
• (after GULF WAR 1991)