Revision (content from lecture #9) Flashcards
Introspection
Examination of one’s own conscious thoughts & feelings
First developed by Wundt
“Experimental self-observation”
Observe one’s own mental state in experimentally controlled sensory events
Repeated numerous times
Introspection - You are sick, you try a treatment, you feel better
Conclude treatment caused me to get better
Significant limitations of introspection
- Unreliable – different subjects different reports about the same stimulus
- Not for children or animals
- Not for complex topics such as learning, mental disorders, personality
- Lacks scientific reliability & objectivity
- Can lead to self deception
Self- deception
Being unware of the processes that lead us to form our opinions and judgments
- Avoidance of the truth,
- The lies we tell ourselves
- The secrets we keep from ourself
Experiment in self- deception
Participants asked to immerse one hand in very cold water and keep it there as long as they can stand it
Some of the participants were told something scary before taking the test: “People who feel a lot of pain from the cold water have a weakness in their cardio-vascular system. This defect leads to early heart attacks and a short life span.”
Results showed that participants receiving this information rated the task as less painful and held their hand in the cold water longer
They seemed to be trying to convince themselves that they didn’t have the life-threatening cardio-vascular problem.
Testimonials as evidence
Personal experience alone generally cannot establish the effectiveness of a treatment
Placebo effect
Some people experience benefit after given placebo (e.g., sugar pill, sterile water)
Fake treatment leads to “cure”
More a person expects a treatment to work, the more likely they will get “better”
→ Testing the placebo effect
Testing drug
Group 1 – receive the drug
Group 2 – receive placebo (but think it is the drug)
Group 3 – control group placed on waiting list & treated once trial has finished
Why? Rules out time
Experimental control – double blind procedure
If treatment and placebo group show comparable outcomes
- “placebo effect” – power of suggestion accounts for the treatment effect
If treatment group better than placebo and control group
- Treatment effect
Spontaneous remission
Some diseases, illnesses disappear without any treatment
- If receiving treatment, it would be assumed that treatment caused the “cure”
Disease ran its natural cause
Our own recuperative powers restored us to full health
Example – cure for the common cold
“take this and in a week you will be cured”
Not the drug but the week to get better
The cyclical nature of many diseases
Chronic conditions such as arthritis, MS, dementia go through different phases
Treatment may coincide with the cyclical “up”
Misdiagnosis and symptomatic relief
Misdiagnosis
Get the wrong diagnosis, get treatment, cured
Symptomatic relief
Alleviation of symptoms but not actual disease
E.g., headache
The “worried well”
Person worried that they may be ill due to subjective feelings of illness so seek treatment
“Cured” but not of anything
Healthy individuals
Hedged bets
Undertake the “standard” treatment as well as “other” treatment
Get better and attribute it to the “other” treatment
Derivative benefits
- Charismatic “healer” leads patient to feel better
- Including taking better care of themselves
- Any of the spin-off or derivative benefits leads to better health
Psychological distortion of reality
Cognitive dissonance
- Festinger
- Mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual holding 2 or more contradictory beliefs, ideas or values at the same time OR is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas or value
- Strive for internal consistency, so when inconsistency (dissonance) is experienced, individuals want to reduce this dissonance by modifying or creating beliefs
Cognitive dissonance
Treatment required considerable time, money, effort etc, so it needs to be a success
Modify your belief of the efficacy of the treatment
Conclusion
None of the 10 factors require conscious fraud or dishonesty
Problem of testimony as evidence
Larger numbers of people can all be wrong at the same time
Need controlled experimental studies to evaluate treatments and their effects
