Lecture 4

Question 1

Function of political apologies

Answer 1

Have been theorised to play an important role in healing and reconciliation processes in post-conflict settings. Whether they actually fulfil this function remains unclear, as the voices and perspectives of victim communities have largely been underrepresented in the research.

Researchers found partial support for their hypothesis that members from victim communities would find the apology more valuable, and that this would be positively related to their views on its role in healing and reconciliation processes. Participants from the victim as well as the non-victim communities felt that the apology was a relatively important gesture.

Question 2

Signal detection theory

Answer 2

Smoke detection can either be silent or noisy
False-positive: it is noisy, but not smoke
True-positive: it is noisy and there is smoke
False-negative: it is silent, but there is smoke. Seen as the worst

Question 3

Dual Process Theory

Answer 3

Analytical thinking and intuitive thinking
Deliberative vs. spontaneous