Lecture 7

Question 1

Simply, what are heuristics

Answer 1

Mental shortcuts, rules of thumb

Question 2

An example of how heuristics can still be useful

Answer 2

It would take you hours to analyse all cereals options at the supermarket. You use other strategies, like the cheapest or the most healthy. In some situations, heuristics can even outperformed more complex thinking.

Question 3

Explain recognition heuristic

Answer 3

Search rule: search in memory which alternative is recognized and which is not.
Stopping rule: stop when you classified both alternatives
Decision rule: If on is recognized but not the other: larger value

Question 4

Give an example of how recognition heuristics can outperform more complex decision rules

Answer 4

The player that was recognized the most predicted the winner of the tournament.

Question 5

Explain “take-the-best” heuristic

Answer 5

Looking for the most valid cue and comparing alternatives. master in health psychology or cultural psychology? you could ask yourself for example which track gives me the best job prospects?

doctors can also use this method if have to make a decision like “should a patient be sent to the coronary care unit or to a regular nursing bed?”

Question 6

Explain Tallying heuristics

Answer 6

With the example of master in health psychology or cultural psychology?

1. Look up cues in any order
   - best job prospects?
   - most interesting?
2. Decide for alternative that is favored by most cues
   - health II
   - cultural II
   - social influence III

–) you would then choose social influence

Question 7

what are social heuristics

Answer 7

Social heuristics = principles of persuasion. Social motives that we have in ourselves, we’re social species, we had to survive as a group in evolution, and group can only function well if rules and principles, these are the principles that helped us survive.

Question 8

What is the social heuristic of authority

Answer 8

Listening to someone more if has a title, uniform, badges.

Also works with size: Some species will make themselves appear bigger to attract mates. Bigger cars.

Question 9

What is the social heuristic of scarcity

Answer 9

either limited stock or high demand for something.

depends on type of product and type of scarcity.

lack of stock + things like phones, watches, latops = positive evaluation

high demand + things like chocolate bars, deodorant, shampoo = positive evaluation

Question 10

related to scarcity, what is the effort heuristic

Answer 10

people rate the quality of an item higher when more effort was invested to create it

Question 11

effort heuristic : picture of a piece of armor

Answer 11

high resolution: you rely less on the effort heuristic, have all the information available to you to make a judgment.

low resolution: you don’t have enough information, so you have to rely on heuristics

Question 12

what is the social heuristic of reciprocity

Answer 12

we feel like we owe something in return

• even works when we don’t like the guy
• even works when we reciprocate anonymously

but works best if the guy if gonna know if we reciprocated or not

Question 13

as part of the reciprocity heuristic, what is the door in the face technique?

Answer 13

people ask a very big request that they think you will decline.

Then, as if they’re doing a “favor”, they ask a smaller request.

And then you want to replicate the favor.

Question 14

additional study of the one on university campus asking big request and then small request, but what if it’s a different guy asking?

Answer 14

very small percentage agree, even less than if they had just asked the small request itself. Consistency effect.

Question 15

what is the social heuristics of consistency

Answer 15

having to go convince people of something, then you want to be consistent and to keep that thinking

Question 16

as part of the consistency heuristics, what is the foot-in-the-door technique?

Answer 16

people ask a small request, like putting a small poster in your window

you start seeing yourself as the person that acts towards a more safe neighborhood

then, person asks for a bigger request like putting a huge sign on their yard.

ok, that’s the kind of person that I am.

Question 17

chinese school children study: right before the children could take a break.

1. FITD: 5 math questions, children say yes, then 20?
2. DITF: 100 math questions, children say no, then 20?

Answer 17

Door in the face technique worked better to make them do 20 questions in the end.

Question 18

FITD (consistency) or DITF (reciprocity) for collectivist vs individualist societies

Answer 18

Foot in the door works better in individualistic societies. Focusing on yourself having a consistent image

Door in the face works better in collectivist societies. Focusing more on group role and group norms being served.

Question 19

what is the foot in the face technique

Answer 19

2 requests, with or without delay.

if they say yes to the first request, the best is to wait a couple days.

if they say no to the first request, waiting doesn’t help because their guilt has time to disapear

Question 20

what is framing: gain - loss

Answer 20

If you want to persuade people, 2 ways to frame
1- with the gain they will get if they do something
2- with the loss they will get if they do something.

Question 21

how do people react to grain frames and loss frames

Answer 21

• when presented with gains, people are more likely to be risk-averse.
• when presented with losses, people are more likely to be risk-preferred

Question 22

sure or gamble: loss frame vs gain frame

Answer 22

If everything is good (gain frame) = you want to make sure you keep it.

in the lost frame, more ready to gamble to at least have a chance of something better

Question 23

what is the pique technique

Answer 23

think of “piquer la curiosité”

“can you spare a quarter” vs “can you spare 17 cents”

60% more compliance in strange request condition because interest in piqued. if it was just a normal request, the scripted behaviour would get activated in your head, you might automatically say no by habit

Question 24

Explain the Disrupt-the-reframe study where they asked people if they wanted to buy Christmas cards for charity

Answer 24

1. Salesman asks in a funky way, like “they’re 300 pennies… that’s 3$. It’s a bargain”: your script is DISRUPTED
2. As you don’t have a script for that, you’re kinda lost, but then salemans REFRAMES into reason to comply: “that’s 3$. It’s a bargain”

Question 25

true or false: disrupt-the-reframe works better for sales than nonprofit

Answer 25

disrupt-than-reframe works better for non-profits requests.

Question 26

Why does the framing “even-a-penny-will-help” convices people to donate

Answer 26

Puts out the explanation of “i can’t afford it”

Question 27

dialogue involvement: foot-in-the-mouth technique

Answer 27

before asking for a donation, ask people how they feel, and have them respond.

it’s all about dialogue involvement, you need to ask questions and wait for response. dialogue = closeness = changes spript to the one of an acquaintance.

Question 28

what is nudging

Answer 28

Choice of design facilitating the desired behaviour.

Question 29

Examples of the default effect

Answer 29

• moving to a new appartment, you can check boxes of amenities you want installed. if boxes are already all checked, you’ll end up checking more boxes than if you had to check them all yourself

-Menu cards with only vegeterian dishes. If you want meat, you have to ask the waiter for it. More people will have the vegeterian option

Question 30

What are the mechanisms that drive the default effect

Answer 30

1. endorsement: you see the default option as a recommendation.
2. ease: you see the default option as requiring less effort
3. endowment: you don’t want to give up the things that were given to you by default, switching default mode would mean losing something.
4. norms: you feel like the default it what most people do.