Social Quiz

Question 1

According to Williams and Bargh, why might experiencing physical warmth promote interpersonal warmth?

Answer 1

• The insula cortex has a neural connection between physical and emotional stimuli and reactions
• Early development and safety associates warmth with the comfort of the parent

Question 2

What are some of the implications of Williams and Bargh’s findings for interactions in real life?

Answer 2

• Physical pathways could be used to influence social and emotional situations
• However, lab tests are not representative of the real world. Issues such as length of priming effect, compounding elements, cultural differences etc

Question 3

What is the principle of ideo-motor action and the perception behaviour link proposed by Bargh et al to explain automatic behaviour?

Answer 3

• These are potential explanations for social behaviour being capable of automatic activation by the presence of features in the environment
• The Principle of Ideo-Motor action:
  
  • merely thinking about soing something increases the likelihood of actually doing it
• Perception Behaviour Link
  
  • representations held in the head are activatd by priming, which activates behaviour

Question 4

According to Bargh et al (1996) under what conditions can behaviour be controlled?

Answer 4

• Motivation: is required for priming to be controlled and lead to an effect
• Awareness of the priming influence: reduces/eliminates the effect of the prime
• Cognitive capacity: priming is more effective when conscious control is reduced ie when drunk

Question 5

What are some criticisms of Barghs research on priming effects?

Answer 5

• Basic findings are not well-replicated
• Inadequate assessment of participant awareness; is it truly unconscious?
• Rigour of the original methodology; experimenter bias with the stopwatch timing -> not double blinded

Question 6

Summarise the experiment and findings of Bargh et al (1996)

Answer 6

• Experiment 1: Behavioral Consequences of Trait Construct Priming
  
  • Sentence scramble task priming ‘rude’, ‘polite’ and neutral; measure amount of time the person waits before interrupting the experimentor to recieve next task
  • found that ‘rude’ priming interupted significantly faster than either other, no diff in polite (but only analysed those that did interupt - majority didnt)
• Experiments 2 Behavioral Effects of Activating the Elderly Stereotype
  
  • Sentence scramble priming on elderly or young
  • measure speed of walking down a corridor
  • found that those primed with elderly walked more slowly
• Experiment 3: Behavioral Effects of the African American Stereotype
  
  • Primed with picture of african american or caucasian male - measured anger (via expression) when computer error occurs
  • Those primed showed more hostility regardless of racist attitudes

Question 7

Summarise the experiment and findings of Williams and Bargh (2008) social warmth study

Answer 7

• Experiment 1:
  
  • Participants held either a hot or iced coffee in the elevator up to the lab.
  • They read a description of “Person A” and rated them on 10 personality traits
  • people who held the warm drink rated person A significantly warmer
  • did not affect non warmth related traits
• Experiment 2
  
  • participant held either hot or cold therapeutic pad
  • then asked to choose between a gift for themselves or for a friend
  • people who were warmth primed more likely to be generous

Question 8

Summarise the Doyen et al. (2012) attempt to replicate Barghs priming studies

Answer 8

• Experiment 1
  
  • Attempted replication of Bargh et al. (1996) using automated infrared timers. Found no difference in walking speed between primed and non primed participants.
  • Used more sensitive measure of awareness of primes (Forced choice from pictures) Primed participants chose picture of elderly person significantly above chance.
• Experiment 2
  
  • Manipulated experimenter expectation of priming effect (half expected primed participants to walk slower, half expected faster )
  • Used automated infrared timing AND manual stopwatch timing; experimentor expectations effected the recorded times

Question 9

Summarise the Lynott et al (2014) metastudy findings on replications of Barghs social warmth theory?

Answer 9

• Reports 3 highpowered replications of Williams & Bargh (2008, Exp. 2)
• All three failed to replicate the basic finding all found effect in opposite direction (non-sig.)
• Concluded there is no evidence that holding warm pack increases prosocial behaviour

Question 10

What are the 6 tactics of manipulation?

Answer 10

• Reciprocation
• Consistency
• Social Validation
• Liking (physical attractiveness and similarity)
• Authority
• Scarcity

Question 11

What is reciprocation?

Answer 11

• The pressure to return a favour
• Examples
  
  • The unsolicited gift: when veteran charities ask for donations via mail 18% respond, when a personalised gift is included jumps to 35%
  • Concessions: Ask people to volunteer for a day 17% comply, ask for a 2 year commitment then retreat to a day 50%

Question 12

What is Consistency/conformity?

Answer 12

• The desire to be/appear consistent
• Examples
  
  • Say it out loud: when customers agree out loud to call back if they cant make a booking, no shows drop from 30% to 10%
  • Public commitment: contributions nearly double when the person has signed a petition on the topic in the recent past

Question 13

What is Social Validation?

Answer 13

• The desire to be part of the group
• Examples
  
  • Larger group effect: A man standing in the street looking up. 4% will copy 1 man, 18% will copy 5, 40% will copy 15
  • Door to door: Advertisements say everyone is doing it
  • Backfiring: when calling attention to a problem by highlighting its frequency. Suicide rates increase after being told its very common

Question 14

What is Liking as a manipulation tactic?

Answer 14

• People prefer to say yes to people they like
• Liking can be due to similarity or attractiveness
• Examples
  
  • Arizona State study: Good looking fundraisers generate twice as much as bad looking ones
  • Fundraisers on campus saying “I’m a student too” generate 2x donations
  • Compliments (true or false) increase sales
  • Cooperation (defence of customer from manager) promotes sales

Question 15

What is the effect of Authority?

Answer 15

• People are more likely to listen to/believe/copy an authority figure
• Examples
  
  • 350% more people will follow a man in a suit crossing the street against the lights than in casual dress (1955)
  • Expertise/scientific credentials has a strong effect even if it isn’t genuine (Actor playing a doctor in a sitcom dispending medical advise)

Question 16

What is the effect of scarcity?

Answer 16

• Items and oppotunities become more valuable as they become less available
• Examples
  
  • Ratings of cafeteria food at university went up when it was announced they would be unavailable for several weeks
  • Information: Beef orders - when told beef was going to be scare in the next few weeks doubled purchases, when told that this information came from exlusive sources orders increased by 600%

Question 17

How do the tactics of manipulation vary across cultures?

Answer 17

• All operate across cultures but with different weightings
• Survey of citibank employees willingness to agree to a coworkers request
  
  • USA: reciprocation priority
  • Spain: liking/friendship priority
  • China: Authority/high status
  • German: Consistency priority

Question 18

What is the minimal groups paradigm?

Answer 18

• Developed by Tajfel (1971): All that is required for ingroup bias to occur is for there to be two groups
• Shown through Minimal groups paradigm experiment:
  
  • People are (randomly) allocated into 2 groups and are asked to assign and detract points with no information other than group allocation
  • People assign points to ingroup (favouritism) and detract points from outgroup (derogation)

Question 19

What are the two main cognitive recategorisation techneques for improving intergroup relationships?

Answer 19

• Common identity:
  
  • Provide a common identity that applies to both groups (encompassing)
  • strategies: terminology restructuring (I to we), sharing experiences (common understanding)
• Dual Identity
  
  • Maintain a common identity while embracing differences and individuality
  • strategies: multiculturalism, specialities

Question 20

What are the limitations of the common ingroup identity model?

Answer 20

• Common identity is a short term solution; people tend to revert or oppose it
• Doesnt actually change the attitudes; the new group maintains a hierachy
• Can lead to assimilation
• Brewer’s optimal distinctiveness theory (1991) - people have competing motives for assimilation and differentiation, prefer membership in smaller groups, which provide a balance between these motives
• Social Identity theory: people are motivated to maintain the positive distinctiveness of their group relative to other groups

Question 21

Why should social psychologists not focus solely on attitudes as a measure of bias?

Answer 21

• The Principle-Implementation Gap
  
  • Attitudes dont necessarily lead to actions
• More positive contact can lead to forgetting/ignoring systemic issues still in place
• Eg African-American systemic discrimination - attitude improvement has not lead to dismantling of structures since many consider racism ‘solved’
  
  • increased common identity was associated with decreased support for social policies
• Lab study
  
  • HIgh Power groups allocating credits after priming differences or commonality
  • Equally discriminatory in both cases
• Naturalistic study; arabs in israel
  
  • commonality reduces minority vigilance to inequity
    *

Question 22

What are the main differences between majority and minority group attitudes towards outgroup bias?

Answer 22

• majority groups
  
  • prefer common identity, pro assimilation to one (their) culture
  • want to maintain status, view commonality as a threat
  • mask bias to reflect benevolence, often not conscious
• Minority groups
  
  • prefer dual identity, want to maintain culture individuality
  • want to close the gap, change status quo
  • have a stronger sense of ingroup identity and more motivated to improve group

Question 23

What are Berry’s four forms of cultural intergration?

Answer 23

• Characterised by yes/no responses to two questions
  
  • are cultural identity and customs of value to be retained?
  • are positive relations with the larger society of value and to be sought?
• Yes/Yes = integration
  
  • Dual Identity
• Yes/No = separatism
  
  • Different groups
• No/Yes = assimilation
  
  • Common identity
• No/No = marginalization
  
  • Separate individuals

Question 24

What is some experimental evidence for differences in preferred representations for majority/minority relations?

Answer 24

• Dovidio, Gaertner, Shnabel, Saguy, and Johnson (in press)
  
  • found that White students responded more positively to a black student emphasising common identity than dual identity
• Saguy et al. (2008)
  
  • Both groups showed an equivalent interest in discussing topics of commonality.
  • High-power group members exhibited significantly less interest than did low-power group members in discussing power differences
• Scheepers, Saguy, Dovidio,and Gaertner (2008)
  
  • responses were more positive to members of other groups who shared participants’ representations of the groups (one group or dual identity).
  • When encountering a member of the other group who had a different representation, participants showed a physiological threat response

Question 25

How do Maraven and Baumeister define self control?

Answer 25

• Self-control is the exertion of control over the self by the self.
• Self-control behaviors are designed to maximize the long-term best interests of the individual
• The operate phase refers to any sort of action that seeks to reduce (or, in the case of negative standards, increase) discrepancies between a perceived aspect of self and a standard

Question 26

What are the key assumptions of the self control strength model?

Answer 26

1. Self-control strength is necessary for the executive component of the self- Acts of volition and self-control require strength.
2. Self-control strength is limited, in the sense that a person has finite capacity for self-control
3. All self-control operations draw on the same resource
4. The success or failure of self-control depends on the person’s level of self-control strength
5. Self-control strength is expended in the process of self-control

• The strength model predicts that exertion is followed by a deficit
• That practice can increase the strength of self control

Question 27

What are some experimental stressors that display an aftereffect on self control?

Answer 27

• Coping as inhibition: inhibiting or altering negative emotions and arousal/attention.
• Noise: people perform more poorly following an uncontrollable or unpredictable noise
• Crowding: crowding reduces self-control performance even after the
  person has been removed from the stressful situation
• Odor:
• General stress: Coping with stress often leads to relapses of smoking and drinking, as well as diet breaking

Question 28

What are the effects of mood regulation on self control?

Answer 28

• People who are dealing with bad moods may be exerting self-control and therefore should show signs of self-control depletion
• Resisting temptation:
  
  • Dieters are more likely to break their diets and eat more than they should after experiencing bad moods
• Delayed gratification:
  
  • children in a bad mood are less able to delay gratification compared with children in a neutral or happy mood
• Stamina and thoughts
  
  • participants who had sought to alter their emotional state showed subsequent decrements in physical endurance on the handgrip

Question 29

What are some alternative explanations to self control strength suggested by the authors?

Answer 29

• Learned Helplessness: uncontrollable stressors are more depleting that stressors with an option of reduction
  
  • Contingency: sucessful application of self control should reinforce strength not the opposite
• Mood: control over situation effects later depletion but there is no difference in reported emotional effects of the stressors so unlikely
• Effort: self reported effort exerted on the first task did not correlate with
  subsequent self-control performance
• Motivation: depletion may reduce selfefficacy and reduce motivation, there could be a motivation to conserve strength. Could explain effects of anticipated self control requirements
  *

Question 30

What are some issues with the strength self control model?

Answer 30

• Link between emotional response and self control is inferred not proven
• Cognitive theories of attention can potentially account for many findings eg motivation, attention,
• Replication issues around ego depletion

Question 31

What is the effect of replenishment on self regulation?

Answer 31

• Acts of self-control metabolise glucose in the brain
  
  • is glucose the resource that is responsible for self-control?
• Gailliot et al. (2007): Participants watched video normally or while avoiding attending to words in lower part of screen. Drank lemonade sweetened with glucose or artificial sweetener - did better on subsequent stroop test

Question 32

What is the relationship of aggression and self control?

Answer 32

• Finkel et al. (2009): Participants (who were couples in a romantic relationship) watched video normally or while avoiding attending to words in lower part of screen.
• Participants then received either positive or negative feedback (from their partner) on a drawing they did at the beginning of the study.
• Participants had to allocate a painful yoga pose to their partner - those that recieved negative feedback in the depleted condition assigned a longer lasting pose