PSYCH 138 Exam 1

channel factor

"Small" change to a situation that eases the path between attitudes and behavior; it creates a "channel" for a person to act. Example: in tetanus study, it was the inclusion of a map to the health center and a sheet requiring the students to specify the date/time they would go

expert tutors

These people are one of the most powerful education interventions because they build relationships with students (asking how their day went, making small talk before session so they feel comfortable, safe, and more likely to take on challenges), maintain students' self-efficacy as difficulty increases (building students' confidence and giving little direct negative feedback), and use the Socratic method (asking a lot of questions instead of providing answers/direct instruction). Mark Lepper studied their strategies.

stress construal / paradox of stress

"stress is enhancing" v "stress is debilitating" rethinking stress: 1) see it 2) own it (realize you're stress bc you care) 3) use it (to facilitate your success)

Paradoxical thinking

-attempt to change attitudes using new information that's consistent with held societal beliefs but that is even more extreme. - intended to make person more self-aware, make them realize that their current beliefs are senseless and irrational - draws on technique of amplified reflection used by therapists - therapist reflects patient's statement in exaggerated form

meaning-making motivations

1) need to understand - self, others, and the world in order to understand and predict behavior (i.e. Wise feedback) 2) need to belong 3) need for self-integrity

why people don't accomplish goals that matter to them

1. because they don't think through how to accomplish the goal 2. because they don't really understand the goal 3. because they forget the goal at a critical time 4. because they don't think it's their goal 5. because they have beliefs that get in the way

person-centric approaches

A certain type of psychological approach that helps people build skills that improve the life course. Drawbacks include placing too much focus on the person and ignoring the role of the situation, possible victim-blaming, and length and intensity of interventions.

stereotype threat

A psychological burden caused by the concern that one's performance or behavior might seem to confirm a negative stereotype about one's group.

willpower theories

A set of contrasting theories: one is the idea that self-regulation is like a muscle and that people have a limited capacity for self-control, and that this capacity can be drawn down and require rest. The alternative view is that people only believe they have a limited capacity for self-control, and it is this belief that causes people to do poorly after a demanding task.

attributional retraining intervention

A type of intervention that retrains individuals to stop attributing negative events to stable causes (to avoid producing an exacerbation cycle)

goal triggering cue

An embedded clue that changes a situation and reminds people of an important goal

theories of emotion

Common sense theory - eliciting stimulus leads to perception (interpretation of stimulus). This leads to emotion. Schacter theory - eliciting stimulus leads to psychological arousal. These both shape appraisal of arousal and stimulus based on situational cues. This appraisal produces emotion

Febreze ad campaign

Example of priming as a marketing strategy -- getting consumers to associate using your product with particular environmental cues. In the first ad campaign, this company linked their product to dirtiness, and it failed. In the second ad campaign, they linked the product to cleanliness and sales soared.

situation-centric approaches

Examples of these types of approaches are resources, rewards, and nudges. Benefits include fulfilling a necessary need for resources, readily shaping behavior in a specific situation, and reducing victim blaming. Drawbacks include inability to address social problems that unfold over time in diverse circumstances, high cost, and too much focus on situations leading to ignorance of the actual psychological processes at play.

tension systems

Individuals' behavior & psychology are the product of an equilibrium in __________. There are forces encouraging people and forces discouraging people to act in certain ways. Generally, removing forces has been shown to be more effective than adding forces in changing behavior.

proximal goals

Smaller goals that can help build self-efficacy

Leventhal tetanus study

Study in which college seniors were encouraged to get a tetanus shot. Were either in fear manipulation condition (shown graphic images of tetanus) or the channel factor condition (given map with directions to health center and asked to commit to a date/time to go). Manipulating the channel factor led to higher percentages of participants going and getting their shots.

Paunesku, Walton online growth mindset intervention

Study: 1,500 high school students completed online modules. Conditions: - control condition - growth mindset condition - sense of purpose condition - both of the previous 2 Students who were at a high risk of dropout who completed the growth mindset, purpose, or combined module saw an increase in semester GPA. Example of a scalable growth mindset intervention

Miller, Brickman, & Bolen (1975) study 2

Study: 2nd graders, 4 conditions: 1) persuasion motivation (you should try hard at math) 2) persuasion ability (you should be good at math) 3) reinforcement (praised for math performance) 4) attribution motivation (you try hard at math) 5) attribution ability (you're good at math) - attribution conditions most effective at improving math performance (ability > motivation) - reinforcement and persuasion ability somewhat helpful - persuasion motivation least helpful Associated psych process: attribution vs. persuasion

national learning mindsets study

Study: 65 high schools yielding 12,512 racially-diverse 9th grade students. Students in treatment condition received growth mindset intervention. All students were then asked to assemble a math worksheet for themselves. Students in the treatment condition selected more difficult problems for their worksheet. Treatment students who were considered "at-risk" also went on to earn less Ds and Fs.

Rozek test anxiety reappraisal study

Study: 9th graders 1) control - ignore anxiety 2) expressive writing before exam 3) reappraisal of arousal - students were told that stress can be helpful 4) both reappraisal and expressive writing low income students improve exam performance in both intervention groups

safe sex study

Study: Example of a goal-triggering cue. Sexually-active undergrads were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: shown a video about drunk driving, shown a video about the risks of unprotected sex, and shown a sex ed video + given a "friendship bracelet" and told to remember the dangers of unprotected sex when you wear it. 5-7 weeks later they reported on their sex lives. Students who had the bracelets and reported having consumed alcohol before sex were more attentive to contextual cues (alcohol myopia theory) and were more likely to use a condom during sex.

Bettinger FAFSA study

Study: Low to middle-income families with high school seniors working with H&R Block to complete their taxes. 3 conditions: - no treatment: just received informational pamphlet about financial aid - info only: families given financial aid estimate - treatment: H&R Block helps them fill out FAFSA Treatment group saw increase in college-going rate, completing FAFSA, and receiving Pell grants Example of a nudge in a key gateway decision

Ghana soap use study

Study: Only 4% of Ghanaians were using soap after using the bathroom because they associated modern toilets (as opposed to pit latrines) with cleanliness. Researchers intervened by launching a PSA campaign that associated toilets with disgust. Soap use in bathrooms increased 13%.

Sherman domestic battery study

Study: Participants were people accused of domestic battery. Either arrested and held overnight or given police warning. Measured on recidivism (whether accused was accused again of domestic violence) Arrests were effective on stopping married/employed individuals from abusing their partners again (connections to society were threatened), but not as effective on unmarried/unemployed individuals (further alienated from society). Implication: supports labeling hypothesis, refutes replacement hypothesis

Cambridge-Somerville study

Study: Participants were poor boys: half difficult, half average. Paired with a similarly-scored boy (on a delinquency-prediction scale). One member of each pair randomly assigned to treatment, one to control. Treatment group received counseling, social worker, tutoring, summer camp. Lasted for 5 years. 30 years later, crime, health (stress-related diseases), work outcomes all worse for treatment group, despite positive subjective evaluations of program by treatment participants Implication: Contexts and ways of delivering resources can produce counter-intiutive effects. Labeling the kids as "needing help" in their eyes and in the eyes of others could have made them victims of stigma. Could have also produced dependency -- the kids come to rely on the treatment too much. These formal resources also could have been displacing more permanent resources, like informal social networks.

Miller, Brickman, & Bolen (1975) study 1

Study: Researchers interested in the effects of labeling. Participants were 5th graders 3 conditions: 1) control 2) persuasion ("we shouldn't litter," it's important to be clean) 3) labeling ("We don't litter," class told they're exceptionally clean) Labeling much more effective than persuasion in reducing littering; persuasion showed some short-term improvements, but these went away with time Associated psych process: attribution vs. persuasion

Cohen mentor study

Study: Researchers interested in the mentor's dilemma -- how to provide critical feedback without undermining motivation - especially across lines of difference. Stanford students wrote essay and attached photo of selves (tells them that white editor knows their race) 3 conditions of editor feedback: -- Criticism + high standards and assurance (assure student of capacity to meet high standards) -- criticism + positive buffer -- unbuffered criticism Upon receiving feedback, black students showed highest belief in evaluator bias in unbuffered criticism and lowest motivation to rewrite essay, showed lowest belief in evaluator bias in high standards/assurance, highest motivation to rewrite essay

Lepper Magic Marker study

Study: Researchers rewarded kids in the treatment group for playing with Magic Marker -- something that they were intrinsically-motivated to do anyway. Without the reward, kids became less willing to engage with the Magic Marker and intrinsic motivation was decreased. Implication: rewards can incentivize behavior, but are also subject to interpretation and can thus backfire.

Yeager paper clip study

Study: Researchers wanted to take "high standards and assurance" and apply it to the field. Participants were black and white 7th grade students. They receive essay with teacher's edits. Treatment group receives paper clip note with high standard and assurance. Black students are more likely to rewrite essay, final essay has better quality; increased on-time enrollment and decreased disciplinary citations, halted general decline in academic achievement

Jaeggi working memory study

Study: Researchers were interested in improving fluid intelligence with working memory training. They used dual n-back task training with participants to improve working memory; performance on Raven's advanced progressive matrices improved. Evidence for improvements in fluid intelligence Example of a person-centric approach, focused on improving skills

Berger grad student study

Study: Stanford undergrads read article about either grad students or undergrads eating lots of junk food. Then select either healthy or unhealthy food. -- More likely to select unhealthy if in-group eats unhealthy; more likely to pick healthy if out-group (grads) eats unhealthy Study 2: Undergrads exposed to informational appeal (factual info about negative effects of drinking) and also hear about unhealthy drinking habits of grad students ("lots of grad students drink...and lots of them are sketchy") -- Students who don't want to be confused with grad students decrease drinking behavior in outgroup appeal condition compared to informational appeal. -- Students who don't care about being confused w grad students show no difference

Bryan becoming a voter study

Study: addressing decline in voting rates. Participants were eligible non-registered California voters. They completed a survey assessing their attitudes toward voting. - verb condition - how important is it for you to vote? - noun condition - how important is it for you to be a voter? Finding: noun condition more likely to register In a follow-up, researchers did the same study on registered California voters morning of election - more likely to vote in election Associated psych process: prospective selves, using abstract language to frame certain behaviors or identities as desirable

Aronson changing mindsets in college study

Study: black and white Stanford students wrote to "at-risk" middle-school pen pals about their college experience. They believed they were delivering, not receiving, an intervention. 3 conditions: - malleable pen pal: students instructed to tell middle schoolers that intelligence grows like a muscle - control pen pal: students instructed to tell middle schoolers that intelligence is many talents - no pen pal Weeks later, black students in the malleable condition had surpassed white students in their enjoyment and perceived importance of school. Also saw marked increases in GPA.

Yeager teaching attributions study

Study: black and white high schoolers; treatment group exposed to stories of other students about receiving critical feedback (high standards & assurance) which encouraged adaptive attributions; students then practice new attributions by reading another student's essay with feedback and imagining that it was their essay. They then interpret the feedback. Treatment group reported better grades in the following marking periods. Related psych processes: adaptive attributions, "saying is believing"

Steele stereotype threat study

Study: black and white students took a difficult verbal test. Participants in one condition were told that the test was diagnostic of their ability (which heightens stereotype threat). Black participants in the diagnostic condition underperformed compared to white students, but not in the non-diagnostic condition. Implication: ability-diagnosticity activates stereotype threat in minority students

Bandura math study

Study: children with "gross deficits" in math participated in self-directed math study sessions. 4 conditions: - Proximal goal: trying to complete at least 6 pgs per session - Distal goal: trying to complete 42 pages by end of last session - No goals: trying to complete as many pgs as possible - No treatment Students in proximal goals condition had stronger and self-sustaining senses of self-efficacy (increased a lot after pretest and didn't decrease after post test). Associated psych process: proximal goals, self-efficacy

willpower theory study

Study: every week over a quarter, Stanford students reported on past and future self-regulatory demands and failures Students who had a nonlimited self-regulation theory had less self-regulatory failures (in areas like procrastination, and unhealthy eating) when facing high demands than students with limited theories of self-regulation. On average, students with nonlimited theories of self-regulation also had higher GPAs when they were under high academic demands (more units).

Jamieson reappraisal of GRE study

Study: experimental condition - GRE students told that arousal doesn't hurt test performance Reappraisal improved performance on math section of GRE

Brady reappraisal of Psych 1 midterm study

Study: first-year and upperclassmen undergraduates at Stanford in Psych 1 - experimental group received email about how arousal doesn't hurt test performance - first year students - manipulation reduced worry and improved grades; academic performance in class improved (indicates recursive process) - had little to no effect on upper year students

Lewin discussion group study

Study: goal - increase consumption of cheap meats during WWII focus on housewives as gatekeepers; randomly assigned to lecture and discussion groups -- discussion group given less information, but facilitators used language that emphasized group membership ('housewives like you'); created the illusion of group decision-making; asked to publicly commit to behavior, active participation Implications: remove tension forces (barriers analysis -- negative construals act as barriers to better outcomes) -- importance of gatekeepers' construal -- easier to change group norm to change individual behavior

Madera facial scars study

Study: looked at how people evaluate people with facial scars in job interviews. Participants watched videos of job interviews and rated people with scars more poorly than those without scars. Eye tracking data showed that people looked at the scar and were distracted instead of listening to the person. In a follow-up intervention, the researchers had the interviewee acknowledge the scar and explain where it came from to limit distraction. This resulted in people evaluating interviewees with facial scars better. Implication: believing that these poor ratings were driven by animosity/negative judgment was incorrect. Researchers had to identify the right psychological processes (distraction, poor memory) in order to intervene on the problem.

Walton language manipulation & preferences study

Study: participants told the study is about handwriting. They write out statements about their preferences. - verb condition (I love chocolate.) - noun condition (I am a chocolate eater.) When people used nouns to describe their preferences, they were more likely to view their preferences as stable and resilient over time. Implication: Noun labels imply essentialist, dispositional qualities. Descriptive action verbs imply transient qualities.

Blackwell math achievement study

Study: participants were 7th graders. Took part in growth mindset workshops. Control classrooms just learned about the brain and memory. Students in treatment classrooms saw improved math grades following the intervention, teachers reported increase in students motivation. Students self-reports highlighted themes of excitement about learning and intellectual growth. Associated psych processes: implicit theories of intelligence (growth vs. fixed mindset)

Changing academic attributions study

Study: participants were undergrads at Duke worried about their performance. Told they were participating in a survey (non-remedial). Through watching videos, treatment group learned that most upperclassmen had experienced these difficulties as freshmen, but that these difficulties went away with time as they got used to college (i.e. they didn't use stable explanations like "I'm just dumb). Treatment group had lower dropout rate and higher GPAs than control group. Study done by Wilson & Linville.

Johnson & Goldstein organ donation study

Study: researchers hypothesized that changing the default for organ donation would change the meaning people assigned to it. Participants read an opt-in or an opt-out organ donation policy and rated the similarity of organ donation to other prosocial behaviors. Participants who read about the opt-in policy were more likely to view organ donation as a high-risk prosocial behavior that required a lot of sacrifice, whereas people who read about the opt-out policy viewed it as lower-risk, because it was the default behavior. Implication: defaults change construals

Dutton bridge study

Study: researchers interested in cognitive appraisal. independent variables: - scariness of Bridge (how shaky / high it was) - attractiveness of experimenter dependent - calling back the experimenter - telling stories about ambiguous scenes, coded for sexual imagery Highest percentage calling back experimenter and using sexual imagery in shaky bridge condition with the attractive female experimenter People misattribute fear arousal to attraction to female experimenter (supports Schacter theory of emotion that understanding of stimulus plays role in shaping emotion response) Study 2 - experimenter approaches participant on bridge or in parking lot 15 min later. Participants show same sexual arousal only when approached on bridge.

Hanks lunch line study

Study: researchers introduced a convenience line in a high school cafeteria that had healthier options. Students reports and food waste examination revealed that students consumed more healthy food after the introduction of the convenience line. Example of a "nudge."

teens and healthy eating study

Study: researchers noticed that because teens don't like being told what to do, standard health/nutrition education programs haven't worked. Researchers had teens in treatment condition read an exposé article that re-framed healthy eating as a social justice effort and characterized junk food companies as predatory and greedy. Teens in this condition began to perceived healthy eating as consistent with autonomy and social justice, and were more accepting of the idea of being a healthy eater. They also chose more healthy snacks for their class party and in their cafeteria. In a follow-up, the researchers had teens re-write food ads to cement the previously-established negative associations with junk food. Example of people not thinking a goal is THEIR goal

Langer and Rodin (1976)

Study: researchers wanted to examine personal control. Participants were nursing home residents. 1 floor of a nursing home was assigned to the treatment, while 1 floor was the control. Treatment floor's sense of personal control was boosted through speeches from the staff. They were also offered a plant they could take care of, and given the choice as to which movie night they wanted to attend. Control floor was told of the staff's responsibility for them, given a plant and told nurses would care for it, and assigned to see a movie on a particular night. After 3 weeks, treatment floor self-reported being more happy and active, and was also judged as more alert and improved by interviewers and nurses. They spent more time visiting other patients and talking to the staff than the control floor. After 18 months, treatment floor reported being more active/healthy, and had a lower mortality rate. Associated psych processes: sense of control, perceived helplessness exacerbating physical decay

Hameiri extremism study

Study: researchers wanted to reduce extremist views of Israelis Deployed a multichannel campaign propagating very extreme views, disseminated in small city in Israel for 6 weeks. Compared with control city (small rightwing Israeli city) paradoxical thinking condition - reduction in conflict-supporting beliefs (especially among rightists) After campaign, randomly-sampled surveys of residents in paradoxical thinking city showed less support for aggressive policies, more support for conciliatory policies lots of ethical implications (what if it had backfired and produced more violence?)

Schulz 1976

Study: retirement home residents received visits from undergrads. In "control" condition, residents decided when they'd be visited and for how long. In "predict" condition, residents told when they would be visited next and for how long (yoked to control group). In random condition, yoked to control group as well but residents could neither predict nor control visits. 2 months later, predict/control residents were healthier and used less medication, reported as being happier and less lonely. Long-term, the predict/control residents health status and "zest for life" declined as opposed to the random/no treatment groups. Higher mortality rates for predict/control group 42 months after intervention. Researchers didn't fully consider the effects of what would happen when the study ended

Dweck praise study

Study: students received either intelligence praise (reflecting fixed mindset) or effort praise (reflecting growth mindset). They were then given a difficult task that was designed to make them fail. Students who received the effort praise explained their failure in terms of a lack of effort and had higher motivation/performance. Associated psych process: attributional retraining, fixed vs. growth mindset

SARS epidemic study

Study: to counteract the SARS epidemic in Hong Kong, researchers interviewed children and older adults about the causes and prevention of illnesses. They found that few people mentioned germ survival and reproduction in their explanations. They designed the Think Biology program, which focused on teaching about biological causes of illness. They compared it with a teacher-designed program based on general public health resources. 4th graders who were exposed to the Think Biology programming were more likely to use disinfectant on their hands before completing a food handling task. Example of people just not understanding a goal

Gneezy day care delinquency study

Study: treatment - imposed fine for picking up kid late; control - no fine treatment group had more late arrivals, because they were able to justify their lateness (the monetary punishment removed intrinsic motivation to pick up kid on time, reduced guilt about bad behavior) Implication: rewards and punishments are subject to interpretation

strategic self-regulated learning study

Study: undergrads taking statistics class with 2 exams Before each exam, treatment students received a reminder of the available study resources, were asked to select the resources most relevant to them, wrote out why these resources would be helpful for them, and then created a study plan. Treatment students had higher test scores and final course grades

Pennebaker expressive writing study

Study: undergrads write for 4 consecutive days. control - about specific objects/events in detail without expressing feelings experimental - about traumatic experience results - creative writing reduced doctor visits, reduced depression three months later why it works: - reduces burden of inhibiting stressful thoughts - helps people construct narrative, make sense out of experiences - prevents rumination (unproductive cycles of thoughts) In Ramirez and Beilock (2015), this method was applied to 9th graders taking exam; test group does writing exercise talking about how they feel about exam; improved exam performance

Crum et al. (2013)

Study: workers at finance firm shown stress is debilitating video --> slight decrease in negative health symptoms, slightly better work performance Workers shown stress is enhancing video --> big decrease in negative health symptoms, much better work performance

subjective construal

The actor's subjective interpretation of the situation. Comes from a perspective, which comes from a social reality. - differ depending on person's vantage point - negative construal functions as barrier - can spark recursive change - gatekeeper's construal is especially important - to change construal, timing/context important

alcohol myopia theory

The idea that alcohol makes people more affected by contextual cues (i.e. if cues are to avoid risk, drunk people will be more risk-averse)

conceptual change

The idea that because people often have shallow or inaccurate understandings of the physical world (i.e. the causes of disease), giving people a coherent theory instead of just disparate facts helps them act effectively

situationism

The idea that situations are powerful determinants of behavior. In contrast, individual differences predict behavior weakly.

exacerbation cycle

The process through which the likelihood of a negative event increases as a result of a person's reaction to a prior instance of that negative event

nudges

a type of situation-centric approach. These are changes to the structure of situations to make specific behaviors or decisions less likely. Focus on the "objective" qualities of situations (rather than how situations are understood). Example: high school lunch line study (Hanks et al. 2012)

wise intervention

an intentional effort to change a specific psychological process to improve an outcome that matters. Often field experimental (Wise to the ways people make sense of themselves, other people, or social situations; how the world appears to them) take person and situation into account can be delivered in a few minutes can produce long-lasting effects can backfire

reappraisal

changing emotional response by changing appraisal of psychological response and of stimulus itself contrasts with suppression of emotion, which is ineffective

psychological process

feeling/belief/thought that shapes how person behaves or specific attitudes in a context; interpretation of aspect of self, others, or social situation; may/may not be aware of it

self-efficacy

people's perception of their ability to perform well at a task or in a domain. Important in maintaining high levels of motivation.

self-reinforcing / recursive processes

psychological process affect behavior, behavior affects situation, situation affects psychological process

hypotheses about effects of legal sanctions

replacement hypothesis - legal threats most effective on people who have weak ties to society and aren't subject to other forms of social control (i.e. social pressure from friends/family, threat of ruined reputation) labeling hypothesis - most effective on people with something to lose, have strong ties to society additive hypothesis - both legal threats and ties to conventional society deter bad behavior

inception

the act of planting an idea in someone else's subconscious. Has wise elements because it induces people to believe they authored their newfound belief, and these beliefs can self-perpetuate to shape even distal behavior.

growth mindset

the idea that intelligence can change through effort and experiences. A person who holds this view wants to learn, sees effort as crucial, embraces challenges, and responds resiliently to setbacks.

fixed mindset

the idea that intelligence is a fixed trait that cannot change. A person who holds this view wants to look "smart," sees effort as indicating low ability, avoids change, and responds helplessly to setbacks.

priming

the incidental activation of knowledge structures, such as trait concepts and stereotypes, by the current situational context. Automatic (not under conscious control). Can be thought of as a "cognitive channel factor" because it links attitudes, intentions, beliefs ("knowledge structures") to behavior John Bargh studied this