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PSYC 333 > Lecture 14 - Mental Control > Flashcards

Lecture 14 - Mental Control Flashcards

1
Q

Mental control

A
  • Goal pursuit: efforts to control external world
  • Mental control: efforts to control internal world
  • Goal pursuit often requires mental control
    e. g., don’t think about chocolate cake, going to party, playing tennis, attractive guy/girl, if you do not want to be fat, do not think about pies

Mental control is how you control or suppress thoughts

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2
Q

Mental control as an ironic process

A

To suppress a thought, you have to make a plan to suppress the thought, then carry out the plan to suppress thoughts including the thoughts of the plan itself

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3
Q

Rebound effects in thought suppression

A

When you suppress a thought, there is often a rebound in which you think a lot about that suppressed thought afterwards

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4
Q

Paradoxical effects of thought suppression (experimental set up)

A
  • Stream of consciousness task: verbalize thoughts for
    next 5 minutes
  • Then, manipulate thought suppression
  • “Try not to think of white bear…”
  • “…ring bell every time you think or talk about white bear”
  • Round 2: Then, express, “try to think of white bear” (and ring bell, etc.)
  • Control cond. got rounds 1 and 2 in reverse order: express then suppress

So does it matter if you suppress then express or the other way around? I.e. does suppression lead to rebound.

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5
Q

Paradoxical effects of thought suppression (results)

A

The ones made to suppress then express showed a lot more instances of thinking about the bear in the express condition vs. the express then suppress condition

AFTER 5 MINS

The effect persisted (only in the suppress/express condition)

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6
Q

Why rebound effect?

A
  • Attempts to distract involve thinking without focus
  • Negative cueing:
  • What am I doing?
  • Trying not to think about the white bear
  • I’ll think about light bulb…boring…
  • Why am I doing this?
  • Not thinking about the white bear
  • Everything becomes associated (cog. linked) with
    negative cue!

SO YOU CUE YOURSELF

Why rebound effect?
* When restriction is lifted, prior negative cueing
facilitates task of thinking about white bear

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7
Q

Can we attenuate the rebound effect?

A

If suppressing a thought creates negative cues, would the expression of a thought (a positive cue) eliminate this effect?

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8
Q

Does suppression increase
subsequent expression of
suppressed thought?

Experiment set up

A
  • Stream of consciousness task
  • Manipulate:
  • Express thought then suppress thought (Ctrl)
  • Suppress thought then express thought (Exp-1)
  • Suppress thought then express thought, but…(Exp-2)
  • “if you happen to think of a white bear…think of a red Volkswagen instead

G1 Control - express/suppress
G2 Suppress/express
G3 Suppress/express/Focused Distract (red volk)

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9
Q

Does suppression increase
subsequent expression of
suppressed thought?

Results

A

You see a replication of the rebound effect (in suppress/express condition)

In the suppress/express/focused distraction group you see less rebound

rebound was attenuated by the focused distraction positive cue.

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10
Q

Mental control

The idea of a two step process with a monitor and an operating system

A
  • Thought suppress involves two cognitive processes:
    1. “Monitor” on lookout for unwanted thought (automatic
    process)
    2. “Operating system” ready to step in with distractor, if monitor finds target (controlled process)
  • Monitor watches for potential lapses
  • Signals operating system if lapses occur (ALERT!)
  • Operating system brings distractors to mind until one is selected
  • Once selected operating system turned off
  • But monitor always on lookout for signs of unwanted thought
  • Monitor makes person continually sensitive to unwanted thought because it is always on the lookout
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11
Q

Monitor as an ironic process

Idea

A
  • Dual processes
  • When capacity undermined (e.g., stress), the operating system is compromised, and thoughts being monitored no longer controlled
  • Disrupting operating system should render “to-be suppressed” thoughts hyper-accessible (b/c monitor is
    always on lookout for them)

SO you should get NO operating system but a functional monitir

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12
Q

Monitor as an ironic process

Experiment

A
  • Stroop test
  • Either while suppressing or concentrating on target
    (i. e., to be suppressed thought, “house”))
  • Target (i.e., to be suppressed) word should interfere with Stroop
  • Cognitive load manipulation (rehearse 9-digit #)
  • H: Suppression + load = hyperaccessibility
  • b/c load disrupts OS (controlled distracter search)

The operationalization of hyperaccessibility is the interference on a Stroop task as measured by reaction time (increased)

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13
Q

Monitor as an ironic process

Results

A

In the high load condition, the RT increased as the operating system was suppressed due to the high load

High suppression + high load = hyperaccessibility of thoughts

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14
Q

Ironic processes and real life

A
  • Secrets
  • If we want to keep a secret, then we try not to think
    about it (“if I think about it I may tell others”)
  • Suppression leads to obsession (hyper-accessibility)
  • The more I suppress, the more I obsess
  • The more I obsess, the more I see the secret as
    something desirable… (it must be really good if I am going to all theis effort = increased liking)
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15
Q

Secret relationships

Wegner, Lane & Dimitri, JPSP

A
  • Are we more attracted to things because they’re
    secrets (suppressed)?
  • Old flames: secret vs. public
  • Obsessive/intrusive thoughts?
  • More obsessive thoughts about secret relationships
    (more often on their minds)
  • Does secret lead to greater attraction?
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16
Q

Does secret lead to greater attraction? Playing Footsie

A
  • Two opposite sex dyads playing a card game
  • One team instructed to use their feet to communicate
  • Manipulate “tip” for one dyad:
  • keep your feet in contact with each other under the table throughout the game to help you communicate
  • Public vs. private (secret) tip

DV
* Rate attractiveness of partner

RESULTS
* Those who played footsie in secret rated partner as more attractive than 1) those who played footsie in public and 2) those who did not play footsie

17
Q

Hot/Cold flames

A

Some old flames we do not think about, some we do.

HOT FLAMES
* “He’s just popping through my mind every 5 min, but
I’m not saying anything about him because I don’t
really feel like crying and if I keep talking about him I
might shed a tear or two.”
* “I’m thinking about her right now. I haven’t thought
about her for a week or so. . . I don’t want to be
thinking about her. . . I don’t like this feeling.”

18
Q

Is there a difference between the suppression of
neutral and emotional thoughts?

Hot/cold flame: Experimental set up

A
  • Ps who a) still desired old flame or b) no longer
    desired old flame
  • Then suppress:
    G1: don’t think about the flame
    G2: don’t think about the Statue of Liberty (control condition)
  • Then expression: think of the flame again

DV1: Measure talking about flame in final set
DV2: emotional reactivity (with Skin Conductance)

19
Q

Is there a difference between the suppression of
neutral and emotional thoughts?

Hot/cold flame: Thoughts results

A

Whether told to suppress the hot flame, or think about the statue, in the HOT flame condition, the ptps talked about the hot flame a lot (because they were hot, emotive flames)

In the cold flame condition, there was a rebound! If to suppress the flame, the cold flame became hotter and the participants talked about them a lot

20
Q

Is there a difference between the suppression of
neutral and emotional thoughts?

Hot/cold flame: Emotional reactivity results

A

The only group with increased emotional reactivity were the HOT flame group told to suppress the flame

So suppressing this made them more emotionally reactive

21
Q

Are we able to deactivate

unwanted thoughts?

A
  • Typically we are pursuing multiple goals, and often
    these goals conflict
  • Tennis match vs. looming term paper

This is called an “approach-approach conflict”

  • How do we stay focused?
  • Learn to automatically inhibit alternative goals when
    pursuing focal goal
22
Q

“Goal shielding”
(Shah et al, JPSP)

Basic idea

A
  • Identify three goals (“intelligent”) + importance
  • Lexical decision task

You will be faster to ID a second word if you are primed by the first. I.e. Doctor primes for nurse

This task is used to measure the states of relationships

23
Q

“Goal shielding”
(Shah et al, JPSP)

Set up

A
  • Identify three goals (“intelligent”) + importance
  • Lexical decision task
  • Subliminally prime:
    G1: goal
    G2: control word (“house”)
  • measure RT to alternate goal words (“is this a personal attribute”?)

If you can shield one goal with another, then in the goal primed task, you will be slower to ID another goal as this goal has been suppressed

24
Q

“Goal shielding”
(Shah et al, JPSP)

Results

A

On goal primed trial, participants were slower to identify the second goal vs. the RT when primed by control

This suggests goal shieling can happen
When we become aware of 1 goal, others become less accessible and so we may stay focused on the first goal

IN a second study the expressed commitment to a goal were positively related to the inhibition.

The more committed, the greater the effect of this shielding

25
Q

Temptation and how to suppress it

A

Temptations are short term motives that interfere with long term goals

The idea is when these are present people automatically activate the higher order goal to stave off temptation

26
Q

“Leading Us Not Unto Temptation”
Fishbach et al, JPSP

Study design

A

(1) List a goal that you feel it is your duty or obligation to
work on, “something you feel you have to do”

(2) List an “enjoyable activity that you ought not to do if
you want to attain the goal you listed”

The two will be linked so one goal, one temptation

When people are confronted with a temptation, they activate the higher order goal that is threatened

G1 temptation primed = people react to goal word

G2 control

H1 when the goal word is preceded by a temptation it should be more accessible and therefore yo will see a lower reaction time

It should be ASYMMETRICAL: If the goal is first and temptation second, there will be no activation of the temptation by the goal and hence, no lower RT

27
Q

“Leading Us Not Unto Temptation”
Fishbach et al, JPSP

Results

A

After the temptation p[rime RTs were much lower

This did not happen if the order was reversed (i.e. goal/temptation)

It ONLY happens of the temptation specifically matched the goal that follows

28
Q

“Leading Us Not Unto Temptation”
Fishbach et al, JPSP

Study 2 (religion)

A

Pre-study: participants were asked to list religious goals relevant for them

Temptations to prime these were presented

These decreased RT in the way seen before

29
Q

Does temptation-goal linkage help us resist temptation?

Accessibility of Diet Goal/Magazine study

Prime/RT

A

Temptation cues the activation of goals. Does this help us resist the temptation?

  • Magazines: Shape; Chocolatier; Economic and
    geography

G1 Diet goals primed by magazines
G2 Temptation primed
G3: Control goals primed

  • Lexical decision task targeting ‘diet’ words

RESULTS: Both temptation and diet priming cut RT to diet words vs. control

30
Q

Does temptation-goal linkage help us resist temptation?

Accessibility of Diet Goal/Magazine study

Behavioral outcomes

A

Ptpts were told they could have a gift, an apple of a twix.

There was no difference in the number of people that took either = temptation priming & resultant goal activation did not influence resistance to temptation

31
Q

Overcoming Temptation

Myrseth & Fischbach

A

Research focuses on the implementation of control strategies with the idea that not implementing a strategy is why they fail.

When we face a temptation there are 2 steps

(1) Conflict identification - decide that something conflicts with a goal
If you do not do this, you cannot counter it

(2) Conflict resolution

32
Q

Failing to ID conflict
(between goal and temptation)
Myrseth & Fischbach

A
  • How do people perceive choice opportunities?
  • e.g., Single event/instance vs. single instance of many
    SIMILAR future events

IE Is this a one off or a predictor of the future

  • Width: see multiple opportunities together
  • “I’ll have a chocolate now” vs.
  • “I’ll have a chocolate now, but later I’ll stay clear”
  • Consistency: expect to act similarly across
    opportunities
  • “I’ll have a chocolate now, but later I’ll stay clear” vs.
  • “If I have a chocolate now, I’ll likely have it again in the
    future”

TASK - decide how many potato chips to eat

G1 Calendar with days divided
G2 calendar without days divided

IV note the days on calendar

DV was consumption of potato chips

Less potato chips when there are no boundaries between days because it makes people realize that this is a long term thing (because
they promote conflict
identification)

PSYC 333 (26 decks)

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