PSYCH 1X03 Final Exam Study Notes - Google Docs
Introduction to Psychology (PSYCH 1X03)
PSYCH 1X03 FINAL EXAM STUDY NOTES
Lesson 1: Intro to Psych & Research Methods
Intro to Psychology
● Thinking fast (reaction) vs. slow (deeper thought)
Post 1X03 Conclusions
1) Some things you may know about psychology are false
● Eg) Learning styles have no impact on your marks
2) Perspectives in psychology change the research question or type of answer discovered
● Eg) Horse that can answer math questions was trained to recognize human stimulus
3) Psychological processes are embedded into biology
4) Perception of the world is guided by our prior experiences, biases, and heuristics ‘
● Eg) Languages
5) We have access to a limited subset of reality
● We block a lot of our surroundings
The Scientific Method- used to minimize biases & conflict
● Formal way to ask and answer questions about human behaviour in the most accurate and
objective way
● Avoids the inaccuracy of common sense beliefs & assumptions
1) Construct a theory (general set of ideas about the way the world works)
2) Generate a hypothesis (testable statement guided by theories to make a prediction)
3) Choose a research method (how the hypothesis will be tested)
4) Collect data
5) Analyze data
6) Report findings (eg. publish as scholarly articles)
7) Revise existing theories (incorporating new information)
Level of Analysis
● Different questions have different levels of analysis about the same subject
● Different answers can be formulated and all need to be considered in order to get the most
accurate well rounded theory
Scientific Approach to Psychology
● Certain methods of psychology research allow us to explore particular phenomenons and
suggest relationships between the 2 variables
● Basic Rules Central to Scientific Practice
○ Parsimony- choosing the simplest theory with the most explanatory power
○ Natural Order- attributing the same effects to the same causes
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Generalizability- ensuring that the causes and effects observed are applicable to all
situations with the same cause
○ Conservatism- skepticism towards new theories until the new evidence is undeniable
The Role of Empirical Adequacy
○ Proper scientific research also requires that claims and theories are based on
observable, testable phenomena, not just assumptions or claims
Inductive vs. Deductive Reasoning
○ Inductive- allows us to build theories based on various incidents observed (fact
theory)
○ Deductive- allows us to make predictions about certain phenomena based on a theory
(theory fact)
Hypothesis Testing
○ Reliability- ability of any test to give the same output when the same input is provided
○ Validity- is the ability of a test to measure what it is intended to measure
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Anecdotal Evidence- evidence gathered from others or your own personal experiences
● Draws insufficient conclusions since a single experience is not representative of others
Independent vs. Dependent Variables
● Independent- what is being manipulated
● Dependent- what is being affected
Experimental vs. Controlled Groups
● Experimental- group receiving the manipulated variable
● Control- group that is being compared to
● The 2 groups should be extremely similar, the only difference should be the independent
variable
Subject Design
● Within Subject Design- manipulating the IV on the same participant
○ Minimizes the external influences on the DV
○ Cons: time consuming, costly, practice effect (improved performance over the course of
an experiment due to more practice)
● Between Subject Design- one group acts as a control, and the other experimental
○ Only difference between the 2 groups should be the IV
■ Confounding Variable- a variable other than the IV affecting the results
Sampling- the process of selecting participants
● There should be very specific requirements to limit the scope of the research
● Population- a general group
● Sample- the group the data is being collected from
○ Would need to representative of the population
○ Random Sampling- choosing participants at random
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Random Assignment- randomly assigning participants to either control or experimental
group
■ Allows us to compare between different conditions of the experiment
Conducting an Experiment
● Basic Errors
○ Type 1- involve claims that there are effects of independent variable when it really is a
sampling error
○ Type 2- involve claims that manipulations do not have effects when they actually do
● Placebo Effect- individual responds to treatment even though there are no related therapeutic
effect- unconsciously or unknowingly alters their behaviour
○ Must be considered when participant may be aware of the expected results
○ Form of subject bias
● Blinding- when individuals do not know whether they are in the control or experimental group
○ Eliminates placebo effect
○ Eg) Giving both groups a medication looking substance- but only one is the real one, the
other one is fake
● Experimenter Bias- actions made by experimenter that promotes a result- can be intentional or
accidental
○ Double Blind- when the experimenter is unaware of which individuals are in either
control or experimental groups
Statistics
● Descriptive Statistics- mean, median, mode
○ At a glance and summarizes data
○ Can be visual- pie, bar, venn diagram
■ Histogram- report the number of times a group of values appear in a data set
■ Frequency Distribution- graph illustrates how frequent values appear
■ Normal Distribution- curve with a single peak, balanced on both sides
○ Measures of Central Tendency
■ Mean- average
■ Mode- most frequent value in a data set
● Determines the most common answer
■ Median- the centre value in a data set arranged numerically
■ Outliers- extreme points distant from others in a data set
● Affect the mean
○ Measures of Variability
■ Standard Deviation- a measure of distance from mean
● Smaller spread = smaller standard deviation
● Larger spread = larger standard deviation
○ Values are further from the mean
● Smaller the overlap of the 2 groups, the stronger the differences
between the 2 groups are not due to chance
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Inferential Statistics- how do we use the data to infer about the overall population
○ T-Test- statistical test that considers each data point from both groups to determine the
possibility that the 2 samples (controlled vs. experimental) came from the same
population
■ P-Value- result of the T-test, the probability of obtaining the data from chance
● Probability that the result can be found again even if all came from the
same population
● Not Significant ( >5%)- obtained by chance
● Significant (<5%)- not obtained by chance
○ 95% confident that there is a difference between the
experimental and control group statistically significant
■ Statistical Significance- difference between the 2 groups due to different
properties (the manipulation of the IV) and not due to a random variance
■ If the results are significant- we can infer that the control group came from the
general population, but experimental group came from a different population
that was manipulated
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Observational Research- no manipulating subjects, just pure observation
○ Looking at the effects of x on y
Case Studies- long term study of individual or small group
○ Not generalizable to the whole population
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Correlation- a measure of strength of the relationship between the 2 variables
● Correlation Coefficient (r) - strength & direction
○ Perfect Positive Correlation (r=1)
○ Perfect Negative Correlation (r=-1)
○ No correlation (r=0)
○ Closer to +/- 1 the stronger the correlation
● Correlation is not causation- does not necessarily mean that one variable caused the other
Lesson 2: Classical Conditioning
Intro to Learning
● Two types of unconscious learning- classical & instrumental
● Behaviourism
○ Pavlov- reflexive response associated with cues
○ Watson- interaction of environment & associated effects
○ Skinner- prediction & control of behaviour
● Non Associative Learning- info about one external stimuli
○ Habituation- decrease in response to a repeated stimulus
■ Response to harmless stimuli
■ Eg) Putting on clothes
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Dishabituation- an increase in response to a change in stimulus in which
habituation has occured
○ Sensitization- increase in behavioural responding to repeated stimulus
■ Eg) Heightened senses watching horror film
Associative Learning- how 2 or more pieces of info are related
○ Classical- 2 stimuli go together
○ Operant- behaviour outcome
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Intro to Classical Conditioning
● Foundations by Ivan Pavlov
○ Known as Pavlovian conditioning
○ Interested in why dogs would salivate before the food reached their mouths
■ Triggered by food stimulus
○ Pavolv’s Experiment
■ Metronome would signal food’s arrival
■ Prior to training dogs would not respond to the metronome
■ After training- dog would salivate in response to the sound of the metronome
alone
○ Pavlov studied the contingent relationship- one stimulus leading to the presentation of
another
■ When an organism associates one signal and event- contingent relationship is
formed between the 2 stimulus
■ When this relationship is learned, organism can respond before the event occurs
● Promotes survival and is beneficial in nature
Component of Classical Conditioning
● Unconditional Stimulus (US)- automatically triggers a response in the absence of learning
○ No training required- natural
● Unconditioned Response (UR)- response after unconditioned stimulus
○ Occurs naturally without training- biological reflex
● Conditional Stimulus (CS)- paired with an unconditioned stimulus to produce a learned
contingency
● Conditional Response (CR)- the response that occurs once contingency between CS & US is
learned
○ Same as the UR
● Once the organism learns that the CS elicits the UR/CR- a contingent relationship has been
learned
● Acquisition- process learned by which CS & US is learned
○ Most learning occurs at the beginning
○ Negative acceleration increasing function
○ There are special cases where one trial is enough to form a contingent relationship
■ Eg) Rats learning to not eat new foods due to falling ill after intaking new food
once
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Contiguity important component of acquisition- presentation of the US and CS together
in a time and space continuously in order for learning to occur
■ Contingency is more important than contiguity
Extinction
● Learning lasts as long as the CS is a reliable cue for the US- contingency will be maintained
● Extinction- presenting the CS alone over many trials without the US
○ The CS will elicit the CR at first, but after time will slowly fade
○ If the contingency is unlearned- retaining the CS & US relationship would lead to an
acquisition at the same rate as before
○ Extinction leads to new learning- original CR & new inhibitory response to CS- retraining
would occur at a faster rate
● Spontaneous Recovery- of the CR after rest period after extinction
○ Suggests that extinction is caused by new learning
○ Extinction promotes a learned inhibitory response that competes with the original
learned contingency
○ Seeing the CS CR would occur
● Inhibitory Conditioning- complexity of extinction suggests that forms of learning through
inhibitory learning is based on the anticipation of biological event
○ Individuals learn new acquisition on top of old excitatory conditioning, but original
learning is not forgotten
● Stimulus Generalization- stimuli similar to the CS will also elicit the CR- produced contingency
○ Eg) Being bitten by one breed of dog, leading to fear of all dogs
○ Is efficient & flexible
● Generalization Gradient- normal distribution
○ During therapy, the patient will be exposed to several test stimuli along the gradient and
should lead to decreased response
● Stimulus Discrimination- restricts the range of conditional stimuli that can elicit a response
○ CS+ predicts the presence of US
○ CS- predicts the absence of US
○ Presenting both the CS+ and CS- at the same time produces an intermediate response
○ Refines the learning
● Phobia- exaggerated, intense, persistent fear of something
○ Does not need CS CR, just the thought of US will elicit fear
○ 2 Common Treatments
■ Implosive Therapy- confront the CS without the US- can lead to extinction of the
UR but is traumatic
■ Systematic Desensitization- gradual exposure to feared stimulus- working from
the ends of the generalization gradient to the middle
● Most accessible to patient
● Temporal Arrangement- short delay in conditioning where the CS is presented shortly before the
US, often the most effective method of forming associations
○ Presenting the 2 stimuli at the same time or after several seconds- prevents conditioning
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Homeostasis & Compensatory Behaviour
● Homeostasis- more efficient through classical conditioning
● Compensatory Response- counteracts a challenge to homeostasis
○ Not always beneficial
● Addictions- drugs challenge the homeostasis and body responds with compensatory
mechanisms to counteract the drug effects
○ CS could be the environment in which the drug is administered
● Drugs- frontal cortex for decision making
○ Cocaine- anterior cortex (rewarding/craving the drug)
● Drug Tolerance- body neutralizes the drug effects
○ Drug effect decreases with repeated administration
○ More painful when acting like you are giving the drug and then not giving it
○ Change in an environment where the drug is being taken- impacts the reaction the drug
since the body is not ready for it
■ Increased drug effect in a new environment
Lesson 3: Instrumental Conditioning
Intro to Instrumental Conditioning
● Instrumental Conditioning- involves explicit training between voluntary behaviour and their
consequences
○ Learning the contingency between behaviour & consequence
● Thorndike- at first theorists tried to understand behaviour & consequence appealed to mental
process
○ Cat In A Box Experiment/Operant Chamber- focus on overt behaviour
■ Cat would need to perform certain behaviours (eg. pulling rope) to open gate to
access food
■ Random behaviours would gradually decrease over time, leaving only the target
behaviour
● Stamping In & Stamping Out- determines which behaviours are maintained or eliminated
○ Stamping In- behaviours that lead to positive consequences and will be repeated
○ Stamped Out- behaviours that lead to negative or no consequences will not be repeated
● The Law of Effect- behaviours produce satisfying or pleasant state will be stamped in, while the
behaviours that produce unpleasant effects will be stamped out and performed less frequently
Increase in Behaviour
Presentation of Positive
Reinforcer
Removal of Negative
Reinforcer
Decrease in Behaviour
Presentation of Negative
Reinforcer
Removal of Positive
Reinforcer
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Types of Instrumental Conditioning
● Reward Training- presentation of positive reinforcer following a response
○ Leads to increase in behaviour
○ Eg) Treat for a puppy who sits on command
● Punishment Training- presentation of negative reinforcer following a response
○ Leads to decrease in behaviour
○ Eg) Scolding little Billy for teasing his sister
○ Controversial in the real world- ethics
● Omission Training- removal of a positive reinforcer following a response
○ Leads to decrease in behaviour
○ Eg) Little Billy does not get to watch TV as a consequence of teasing his sister
■ Since the TV acts as a positive reinforcer
○ Time Out Procedure- after child performs undesirable behaviour, child is to sit alone
without access to toys and friends (positive reinforcers), most likely child will decrease in
unwanted response
● Escape Training- removal of a negative reinforcer following a response
○ Leads to an increase in behaviour
○ Constant, negative reinforcer present, but learner wants it removed
○ Eg) Rat has a mild shock when it is on one side of the room, but does not on the other
side so it moves
● For all types of training, it is the most effective if the reinforcer is immediately after the response
● Delay of Gratification- Receiving a delayed reinforcer
○ Develops in early childhood but is more difficult as a child
Types of Reinforcers
● Primary- satisfy biological needs (eg. food, water)
● Secondary- established through classical conditioning as good or bad (eg. money, stickers)
● Contrast Effects- changes in the reward leading to shift in response rates
○ Negative Contrast- high to low reward- less responses
○ Positive Contrast- low to high reward- more responses
● Overjustification Effect- newly introduced reward for a previously unrewarded task can alter the
individual’s perception of the task
○ Eg) Volunteering to help someone, or building up resume
Acquisition & Shaping
● Acquisition- learning contingency between response and its consequences
○ Measuring rate of responding to a new behaviour
● Response recorded by cumulative recorder
● Autoshaping- learning without direct guidance
○ Eg) Pigeon in cage with keyhole, when it pecks the keyhole food is released
■ Learned contingency between behaviour & consequence
■ Learned without experimenter’s guidance
● Shaping- some instrumental responses are far too complex
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Shaping by Successive Approximation:
■ Organizing steps into smaller steps leading to full response
■ Each step is reinforced through reward training
■ Used by animal trainers
Chaining- develop a sequence of responses to build even more complex behaviours
Dopamine activity in the brain during learning
○ Dopamine antagonists block learning
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Generalization & Discrimination
● Contingency may not always be valid
● SD/S+- Discriminative Stimuli
○ Signals when the contingency is ‘on’ or true in this case
○ Training with this, can lead to better discrimination
● S- - indicates when the contingency is ‘off’ or not valid
● Extinction- an established behaviour is weakened if the behaviour is no longer yielding the same
reinforcers
● CS vs. SD
○ CS- automatic response
○ SD- sets the occasion for a response
Schedules of Reinforcement
● Continuous Reinforcement response leads to reinforcement every trial
○ Very rare in the real world
● Partial Reinforcement- determined by the number of responses/time
○ Ratio- based on the number of responses (eg. reward every 10th peck)
○ Interval- based on the time last response was reinforced (eg. reward every 10 mins)
● Fixed- held constant
● Variable- depend on a variable of work or time
1) Fixed Ratio● Eg) Peck 3 times Food reward
● Limit to how stingy an FR schedule can be- leads to ratio strain- subject stops responding
● Display a pause and run pattern in cumulative record- subject will pause with inactivity
before the next round of responses
● Post Reinforcement Pause
○ Organism stops responding before starting again
2) Variable Ratio● Eg) Slot machines, after a number of plays reward
● Capable of supporting constant & high response rates
● Diagonal line, with no pauses in cumulative record
○ Slope represents average number of responses before reinforcement is given
● More frequent the reinforcement= higher response rates
3) Fixed Interval-
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Eg) Psych quizes
Scallop pattern on the cumulative record
○ Responding stops and picks up again when the next reinforcement is scheduled
4) Variable Interval● Diagonal line increasing in cumulative record
● Steady rate since they do not want to miss the opportunity for reinforcement
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Partial reinforcement is more robust (not as easy to go extinct) than continuous
○ If CRF- reinforcement stops- and the learner would immediately be aware and decrease
response
○ If RRF- subtle stop of reinforcement- takes longer for the learner to realize so they
continue response
Observational Learning
● Bobo Doll Experiment- designed by Albert Bandura
○ Investigate if children mirror aggressive behaviour towards Bobo doll
○ Children that watched violent clips behaviour were more aggressive towards doll
● Mirror Neurons- neurons in charge of information processing
○ Responds in the same way watching someone perform an action and yourself
performing the action
Lesson 4: Problem Solving & Intelligence
Intro
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Edwin Boring- defined intelligence as whatever intelligence tests measure
To broaden definition, psychologists made 2 assumptions:
1) Intelligence involves the ability to perform cognitive tasks
2) Intelligence involves the capacity to learn from experiences and adapt
Intelligence- is the cognitive ability of an individual to learn from experience, to reason well, to
remember important information and cope with the demands of daily living
○ Hypothetical construct
Problem Solving
● Psychologists are interested in understanding strategies used to solve problems to gain insight
into human intelligence
● Deductive Reasoning- occurs when a person works from ideas to general information to arrive at
a specific conclusion
○ Theory to Fact
● Inductive Reasoning- occurs when a person moves from specific facts to broader generalizations
and theories
○ Fact to theory
● Arch of Knowledge
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Theories- at the top of the arch- about how the facts are related in a general way
■ Through deductive reasoning- we are able to use the theory to create a specific
testable hypothesis
○ Facts- at the bottom of the arch- about how they all relate to the theory in a meaningful
way
■ Through inductive reasoning- we are able to interpret data to revise the theory
Insight Problem- a special category of problems designed to test your abilities to think outside of
the box
○ Functional Fixedness- Not realizing alternative usages for a certain item
■ A bias limiting views to use an object for more than what it is traditionally used
for
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History of Intelligence Testing
● Reliability- a reliable test produces the same result if one person takes it multiple times
● Validity- a valid test measures the trait it is supposed to be measuring
● Francis Galton- conducte modern study of intelligence
○ Goal was to quantify intelligence in a non-biased manner
○ Recorded how fast subjects responded to sensory motor tasks by looking at reaction
time
■ Faster the reaction time= the more intelligent
■ Question the validity of the test
● Alfred Binet- produced first intelligence scale that included 30 everyday tasks
○ Had different levels for different age groups
○ Stanford adapted the scale to create the Stanford Binet Intelligence Test
● Charles Spearman- firm believer in the single type of intelligence
○ Observed that most people that did well on classical intelligence tests, did well on all
tasks (well rounded)
○ Classified intelligence as one type called “G”
■ Advocated that people with a certain level of “G” were superior and had more
rights which sparked controversy
● Howard Gardner- proposed the multiple intelligence theory
○ 8 Types of Intelligence
1) Linguistic
2) Mathematical
3) Rhythmic
4) Spatial
5) Kinesthetics
6) Interpersonal
7) Intrapersonal
8) Naturalistic
○ He believed that each intelligence was independent from the other- so you could be
good at one thing and lack in another
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Became quickly popular- as it opened up the possibility that everyone was intelligent at
something
Critics noted that there was a lack of evidence, and that it ignores Spearman’s findings
that people that do well on one intelligence test tend to do well on others
Human Intelligence
● Weschler’s Original Intelligence Test
○ Modified Binet’s scale
○ Standardized to produce an intelligence quotient, and is based on a large sample of
individuals who have also taken the test
○ IQ scores would be based on everyone else in the population
● Genetic vs. Environmental Contributions
○ Genes do play a role in intelligence
■ Identical twins (100% identical genes)- had a stronger positive correlation than
fraternal twins (50% identical genes)
■ Identical twins that grew up separately also have a strong correlationsuggesting a strong role of genetics
● Limitations- not full understanding of similarities and differences
between different household environments
○ Environment also plays a role
● The Flynn Effect- mean score for intelligence testing has been steadily increasing since 1932
○ Note: Mean IQ is always 100
○ IQ scores continue to rise 9-15 points every 30 years
■ Could be due to increased quality of school, access to information, etc.
Piaget & Intelligence Development
● Jean Piaget- psychologist that developed influential theory
○ Schema- influences how you interpret the world
○ Assimilation- when child manipulates the new incoming information to fit into their
existing schema
○ Accomodation- when child adjusts the schema to fit in new information to make it make
sense
○ Children can get through different stages at different rates, but must pass by at this
order
○ Limitations■ Some children develop skills out of order
■ Researchers argue that Piaget’s tasks highly rely on child’s language skills
1) Sensorimotor Stage (0-2)
● Child recognizes that they can affect change on their environment
● Engage with world and act with intention
● Object Permanence- realizing that objects can exist even when they can not see it
2) Pre Operational Stage (2-7)
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Child has mastered object permanence
Cognitive limitations such as egocentrism, serration, reversible relationships and
conservation tasks
○ Egocentrism- difficulty of seeing the world from another perspective other than
their own
■ Piaget’s 3 Mountain Task- not being able to see from others’
perspectives
○ Seriation- ability to logically order a series of objects
○ Reversible Relationships- does not know what they are to others for example
○ Conservation Tasks- eg) unable to tell which gas of milk is bigger if they are in
different size cups
3) Concrete Operational (7-12)
● Able to perform the limitations in pre-operational stage
● Schemas are still concrete and based on experiences with the world
● Unable to think in abstract terms or based on hypotheses
4) Formal Operational (12+)
● Able to think in abstract terms and work with hypotheses
● Able to do everything else that makes up adult cognitive abilities
● Become interested in games, books and shows- eg) role playing
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Biases & Heuristics
● Decisions prone to bias and error
● Confirmation Bias- failing to look for disconfirming evidence
○ Eg) When doctor listens to description of patients symptoms and makes initial diagnosis
and leads with questions that would support initial thought
● The Availability Heuristic- our tendency to make decisions based on information that is most
readily available to us
○ Mental shortcut- used to solve problem quickly
● The Representativeness Heuristic- tendency to assume that we are seeing is representative of
larger category in mind (ie. stereotypes)
○ Comparing to prototypes in our mind
● Anchoring- Bias to be affected by the initial anchor, if the anchor is arbitrary
○ Eg) Pricing or marketing
Building Better Brains
● Brain training helps to improve performance in IQ testing and in daily activities
● Fluid Intelligence- reflects how well you can tackle a new task rather than using facts that you
already possess early on in life
○ Heritable trait (50-80%)
● Working Memory- short term memory- and can be trained using the brain training techniques
○ Is not expanded through training but expands the ability to tune out the distracting
information
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N-Back Training- used to target many different reasoning abilities
Lesson 5: Language
Introduction to Language
● Communication- sending or receiving information to another individual or group
● Many different forms of communication, the most complex is language
○ Psychologists believe that the only form of human communication is language
● Criteria for True Language○ Regular- governed by rules and grammar
■ Sentence can be reorganized but still have original meaning due to a system of
rules that states how words fit together
○ Arbitrary- specific sound assigned to represent a concept
■ Sound has nothing to do with the actual meaning of the word
○ Productive- almost limitless ways to combine words to describe objects, actions or
situations
● Whorf-Sapir Hypothesis- language influences our thoughts and the way we perceive and
experience the world
○ Languages impact how we form our own thoughts
■ Language and thoughts are not the same thing- thoughts do take form in
language
○ Piraha- tribe of hunters in Brazil- evidence that supports the Whorf Sapir Hypothesis
■ Native language includes 3 counting words (one, two, many)
■ According to the hypothesis, they would have difficulty understanding the
numerical concepts associated as they lack the words to describe it
■ The groups performance decreased as the number of objects increased
○ Relatives- evidence that counters the Whorf Sapir Hypothesis
■ Despite not having the words to describe some relatives, it is clear to them how
they are related to the person
● Transparent Orthographies- a given letter that will always produce the same sound no matter
what
○ Languages that have transparent orthographies have much easier time when children
learn to read English
The Structure of Language
● All human languages contain similar features
○ Use sounds or symbols to transmit information
● Morphemes- symbols, or in oral language and are the smallest unit of sound that contains
information
○ Can form complete words or single words can be made up of more than one morpheme
○ Eg) Table- one morpheme, Tablecloths- three morphemes
● Phonemes- smallest unit of a language- breaks down morphemes to constituent sounds
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○ Eg) morpheme- dog, phoneme- /d/ /o/ /g/
○ Different languages have different rules on which sounds can be combined together
Syntax- distinct rules about the order sounds and words can be combined (eg. grammar)
○ Different languages have different syntax rules
○ Native language speakers- expert at syntax with little effort, even with processing
fluency it is hard to describe the rules of your own native language
Semantics- meaning of each individual word
○ Sentence could have perfect syntax but no semantic meaning
Development & Segmentation Problem
● For infants, the only form of communication is crying to display series of emotions such as
hunger, thirst, etc.
● Development of language is to communicate needs
● Language production increases systematically through infancy and childhood
● Infants display communication skills such as smiling
● Babbling- when infant makes a wide range of drawn out sounds that combine consonants and
vowels
○ Rhythm and inflection- makes it as if they are asking questions or involved in
conversation
● Repetition of certain combinations of a sound particular to language and forms basis for first
word
● Table 1: Milestones
12 Wks
Makes cooing sounds
16 Wks
Turns head towards voices
6 Mos
Imitates sounds
1 Year
Babbles
2 Years
Uses 5-250 words, uses 2 word phrases
2.5 Years
Vocabulary >850 words
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Table 2: More Detailed Milestones
0-4 Months
Turns head towards sound, makes noise in
response
6-12 Months
Tries to imitate sounds, and makes noises in
response
12-17 Months
Answers simple questions non verbally, points
to objects & people, follows simple
instructions with gestures, uses 1-3 word
combinations
18-23 Months
Follows simple verbal instructions, asks for
familiar items by name, starts to combine
words (‘more juice’), imitates animal sounds
24 Months
Uses approximately 50-250 words
2-3 Years
Speaks 2-3 word phrases, answers simple
questions and begins to use plurals and past
tense
5 Years
Understands more than 2000 words, uses
longer sentences and engage in conversation
6 Years
Understands more than 10,000 words and
continues to develop sentence structure
About 1.5 years to 6 years- children enter language explosion phase/fast mapping
○ Vocabulary increases rapidly and most children master aspects of language
○ Complexity of syntax will continue to improve
Speech Segmentation- segmenting individual words is difficult in speech of foreign language
○ That is why it seems as if though they are speaking extremely quickly
○ Early speech segmentation in children has strong positive correlation with expressive
language at 2
■ Have larger vocabularies
Infant Directed Speech- speaking to infants in higher pitch and exaggerate change in pitch and
use of rhythm
○ Helps to develop language discrimination in native language
Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS)- occurs when the left hemisphere is damaged
○ Can speak in native language but develop an accent
Still Face Procedure- infants develop understanding of expectations of face to face interactions
Cooing- making sounds by combining constants together
Pragmatics- skills that allow children to communicate appropriately and effectively in social
situations
Holophrastic Phase- using one word to indicate the meaning of an entire sentence
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Expressive Vocabulary- words that children use to speak
Receptive Vocabulary- words that children can understand but not yet use
○ Developed before expressive vocabulary
Bilingual Children
○ Have limited vocabulary in both languages
Universal Phoneme Sensitivity
● Infants can distinguish between more phonemes than adults
● Different languages have different phonemes that are easier to discriminate between
● Universal Phoneme Sensitivity- infants can discriminate between all sounds including non native
sounds
○ Adults can not do this because of developmental basis for phoneme discrimiantion in
early life
○ Head Turn Procedure
■ Infants can be tested in pre-verbal age group using head turn procedure to
determine their perception of phonemes
■ In training phase- infant learns to discriminate between 2 different phonemes
and his head turns towards the speakers
■ When infant turns head for new sound, they receive a reward
■ Infant becomes habituated to one sound, and does not react to it
■ If infant turns their head, they can discriminate between the 2 sounds
○ Hindi Adults vs. English Speaking Infants
■ 3 groups of subjects: Hindi Speaking Adults, English Speaking Adults English
speaking 6-8 month infants
■ English adults performed most poorly
■ Infants almost performed as well as the Hindi speakers- infants were able to
discriminate the non native sounds
○ Perceptual Narrowing- trait disappears at the end of the first year of life- not able to
discriminate non native phonemes
■ Exposing an adult to a new language for 10 months, will improve ability to speak
and understand language but will require much more time before they can
discriminate the phonemes
■ Learning languages at a younger age is better
■ Indicates the biological basis of phoneme discrimiantion
Theories of Language Development
● Social Learning Theory- children learn through a combination of limitation and operant
conditioning
○ Eg) When baby babbles mom, they are praised leading them to repeat the behaviour
○ Genie- supports the social learning theory
■ Since she was young she was locked away and did not have interactions with
others
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She had no language skills illustrating that you need an adequate source of
language
○ Errors in Speech- counter the social learning theory
■ Children’s language development is far too fast and complex to be driven by
imitation and reinforcement alone
■ Children produce word combinations that are not modelled or reinforced
● Overextensions- occur when children apply rules too broadly
○ Eg) Doggie- for all 4 legged animals
● Underextensions- occur when children apply rules to a specific object
only
○ Eg) Doggie- to label only their pet dog and no other dogs
Innate Mechanism Theory○ Noam Chomsky argued that language develops rapidly due to innate mechanismsLanguage Acquisition Device (LAD)
■ Language relies on variations of grammatical rules- all languages follow
underlying rules
■ Humans have innate mechanism for them to understand universal grammar
rules
○ Deaf Children- support the innate mechanism theory
■ No exposure to sign language but spontaneously use signs as a form of
communication
■ Follow consistent grammar rules- that do not match their parent’s native tongue
■ Suggests that they do not follow learned grammar, but innate grammar rules
○ Neurological Data- support the innate mechanism theory
■ Children prefer to listen to speech rather to non speech sounds
■ Suggests that infants’ brains are wired to adapt to sounds with meaning
■
●
Animal Communication
● All animals communicate but humans distinctly have language
● Honey Bee’s Waggle Dance- Wild
○ Honeybees communicate through dancing the direction of the food
■ Waggle Phase- bees moves in direction of the food
● Food source is directly in line with sun- indicated by waggle straight
upward direction
● Waggle with angle indicates the angle away from the sun the bee should
follow to find food
● Duration of waggle indicates the distance of the food source from the
hive
● After waggle, bee returns to starting position in loop either left or right
(figure 8 pattern)
● Waggle consists of 100 repetitions
● Bird Song- Wild
○ For mate attraction and communication
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●
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Washoe Chimp- Lab
○ Raised by scientists and learned to communicate using ASL
○ To test language abilities, team of outside responders deaf people rated his ASL abilities
○ He was able to answer simple requests and combine them to communicate more
complex requests
○ Washoe could not communicate using systematic grammar
Sarah Chimp- Lab
○ Raised in a lab and taught to use plastic symbols and communicate demands
■ Evidence of large vocabulary
○ Able to answer simple questions and indicated that she developed a use of complex
symbols to communicate
○ Sarah had not yet learned to combine the words for novel combinations
Kanzi Chimp- Lab
○ Taught to communicate using set of geometric figures known as lexigrams on keyboard
○ No classical conditioning- but immersion in language so that he could learn through
observation
○ Able to use lexigrams correctly- combining them without reward
○ Able to communicate requests and respond to demands, even novel ones
○ Grammar was limited and had no understanding of advanced concepts- nouns, verbs,
plurals
Creating a New Language
● Still needs to follow the rules of languages
● Used in media to make you feel immersed
● Grammar- follows clear rules- syntax
● Lexicon- meaningful description of the world they are in
○ Complex vocab
○ Should be technical and artistic and represents the culture (eg. language made for small
community vs. large community would sound different)
Swearing
● Swear words are packed with emotion, and create emotion as it is a reminder of bad
experiences or can be dehumanizing
○ Used to hurt them, cultivate an image, express emotion
● Cognitive neuroscience of swearing○ Right Hemisphere- Taboo words activate brain areas associated with negative emotion
■ Basal Ganglia- when you swear
● Turret’s Syndrome- when this are of the brain is overactivated you
swear without even meaning to
■ Amygdala- when others swear at you or you hear it
● Content of Swearing
○ The Supernatural- religious swearing
■ Eg) Damn, hell, etc.
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●
●
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■ More potent in religious societies, evokes emotions in awe of fear
■ No fear of God- using his name in vain
○ Body Effluvia & Organs
■ Eg) Sh*t, piss, bloody, etc.
■ Major vectors of disease
■ Evokes emotions of disgust
○ Disease, Death & Sickness
■ Eg) A pox on you, a plague on both your houses, etc.
■ Evokes emotions of dread
■ Out of fashion- since it is not a daily fear
○ Sexuality
■ Eg) F**k, screw, etc.
■ Triggers negative emotions, exploitation, illegitimacy, jealousy, etc.
Dysphemistic Swearing- evoking negative or awful emotions
○ Euphemism- having to talk about an awful topic but using different words
■ Words that are used to avoid using swear words
○ Dysphemism- purposely using awful words
Emphatic Swearing- not used to hurt but used to emphasize emotions
Cathartic Swearing- less painful after swearing
○ Rage Circuit Theory
■ Mammals- make large sound after being injured
■ Humans- swear or use negative words
Humans are prone to strong negative emotion, and use swearing to gain attention or humiliate
others
Lesson 6: Science of Learning
Sight Sighted Learning
● Many popular study strategies fail over long term
○ Eg) Cramming, encourage memorizing of material
○ Will forget knowledge in short term
● Most efficient learning method- long term learning
10 Learning Strategies
1) Practice Testing- self testing on learned material
● Helps students identify what needs further practice
● Closer the practice test mirrors the actual test- the more successful
2) Distributed Practice- implementing schedule that spreads out learning
● Learning seems to be slower and more difficult
3) Interleaved Practice- implementing schedule that mixes different types of problems within
single study session
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● At first interleaving may lead to worse results, but long term is better
● Helps with math based problems
4) Elaborative Interrogation- generating explanation for why a stated concept is true
● Not useful for younger students who do not have background information
5) Self Explanation- explaining how new information is related to some known information
● Not paraphrasing the information but explaining it
6) Rereading- restuding text material
● Beginning of study journey
● Is not long lasting
7) Highlighting/Underlining- marking important portions of reading
● Beginning of study journey
● Is not long lasting
8) Summarization- writing summaries of learned material
● Younger students have difficulty writing high quality summaries
● Need more training for this strategy
9) Keyword Mnemonic- using keywords and mental imagery to associate with verbal meaning
● Younger students have trouble generating images for complex material
10) Imagery for Text- using mental images of text materials
Where to Study
● Illusion of multitasking- less electronic devices
○ Psychologists suggest that our brains are not wired to conduct 2 tasks at once
○ Actually switching between the two tasks
○ Decreases overall performance for both tasks overall
○ Eg) Drinking or talking on phone while driving
● Pomodoro Technique
○ Set timer for 25 minutes, and completely one out all distractions and focus on the task at
hand
○ When time is up, take a 5-10 minute break (eg. talk to friends, go on phone, etc.)
○ Set another timer for 25 minutes, and once you have repeated cycle 3-4 times, go back
and take a longer break (eg. 30 minutes)
○ Timings can be altered based on preference
○ Goal is to sustain long periods without task switching and regular planned breaks
prevents burnout
● Suppress Distractions
○ Task switching reduced study efficiency- take proactive measures to reduce task
switching
○ Quiet location
○ Set aside time where you should be studying and disperse breaks
○ Set phone to silent to ensure attention is not drawn to it
○ Dumping out the mental inbox before studying by writing out the information you are
holding onto somewhere else
■ Humans can only remember 7-9 pieces of information at once
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When to Study
● Schedule- ensure every hour of work is deliberate and directed at an end goal
○ Good work life balance
● Spacing Effect
○ Scheduling 3 days before a test
■ Cramming leads to quick lost of the information
○ Hermann Ebbinghaus- tested memory on himself
■ When learning was spaced out, he retained more information
○ Spacing out studying leads to more retained information long term
■ Can be applied to not just memorization based course but other complex
courses (eg. reading articles)
○ Spacing is intuitive- looking at training for sports, hobbies, etc.
○ Planning ahead- allocating time slots and study sessions spaced out
● Mind the Gap
○ Cramming is harmful- leaves little time to clarify any weak spots
○ Same time commitment just spaced out, but more learning
How to Study
● Many students study A LOT but still perform poorly on evaluations, could be due to non-effective
study methods
○ Rereading, highlighting, copying notes for repeated exposure
■ Physical labour fools you into thinking that you are doing work but there is no
understanding
○ Brain taking in a lot of input, but there is no output
● These popular methods are popular because the repeated exposure method leads to short term
learning, which leads to good grade if crammed the night before
○ Especially for tests that rely on mere memorization
○ Frequency- thinking that you have a grasp of the material, but it is just because it is right
in front of you
● Researchers suggest combining input & output
○ Outputting information helps you organize the information based on your prior
knowledge
● Practice Testing- best study method
○ Retrieval practice effect
○ Eg) Medical residents were lectured on 2 topics, and one just reviewed information and
the other did a practice test
■ Those who did a practice test remembered 15% more of the material than those
who just read it
○ Other output methods:
■ Self Explaining- explaining the notes to yourself
○ Can be combined with the spacing effect
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○
○
3 by 3 Rule- do not move on from information until you can recall it from your memory
at least 3 separate times in the same study session
Cumulative Practice Testing- mix up topics in random fashion
Lesson 7: Concepts & Categories
Categorization- cognitive ability to put people, objects and ideas into categories and concepts to help
process incoming data and form appropriate responses
● Interactions with colours, shapes, textures, etc.- still able to make sense of everything around us
to form the appropriate actions
● Two Cognitive Mechanisms help with this process:
1) Attention- helps focus finite mental resources on key parts of an active scene
2) Memory- helps recall specific thoughts and behaviours appropriate to current needs
● Decisions are made more efficiently since we are able to categorize the incoming stimuli
○ Happens seamlessly- easy to take for granted
○ Guides decision making
Functions of Categorization
● Psychologists have defined 4 basic functions of categorization
1) Classification
● Allows you to treat objects that appear differently as belonging together in the same
category
● Eg) Red & green apples- are both apples
2) Understanding
● Eg) Categorizing a scene of 2 people shouting as a private conversation, and immediately
understanding that you should not step in with your opinions
3) Predicting
● By categorizing your current experience and comparing it to an experience in your
memory, you can make predictions about your current situation
● Eg) If you categorize the creature in front of you as a dog, you can predict if you scratch
it, it will be happy
4) Communication
● Many words in our language refers to specific categories or concepts using certain
names which allows us to communicate more efficiently (since describing in detail would
take more time)
● Automatic categorization seen when experts in a certain field communicate in technical
jargon
●
●
Categorizing happens outside of conscious awareness and is automatic
Illusion of the Expert- thinking something is simple just because it is easy for you to do
○ Experts at some things but for some people it may be hard
○ Eg) Tying your shoes is an easy task for you but not a child
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Rules
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Lee Brooke’s Experiment
○ Simple categories- more susceptible to the illusion of the expert
■ Greater number of people could not come up with simple rules to classify these
categories
○ More complex categories, decrease in the number of people who were able to identify a
simple categorization rule
■ Difficult to devise rules for concepts like beauty, freedom, justice, etc.
Defining rules is difficult as you need to purposely include or exclude items
Psychologists suggest that humans have internal representations of categories that is
independent from the rules we try to define
Prototype Theory
● Prototype Theory- we categorize objects by comparing them to internal representation called a
prototype
○ Prototype- thought to be the average or best member of a category
■ Eg) Fruit- apples or oranges
■ Prototypes are formed through past experiences and can be very personal as an
average of all of the objects you are exposed to are averaged
● What you are exposed to the most
● According to this theory, you categorize new objects by comparing it to your prototype
● Supporting Evidence
○ Eg) A robin as a bird- would lead to quicker response in contrast to a penguin as a birdwhich would lead to a slower response
○ Suggests that more typical category members that are closer to prototype are
categorized much quicker than atypical category members
● Counter Evidence
○ Evidence indicates that prototype can change overtime, if indeed comparing our
experiences with internal prototype it should be more stable overtime
Exemplar Theory
● Exemplar Theory- suggests that instead of storing only one average category prototype we store
a lifetime worth of experiences
○ Exemplar- Each past instance of category membership
● According to this theory, you can search through a library of exemplars and compare it to current
object and once you find an exemplar similar to the new current object, you dent that as a
member of the same category
● Supporting Evidence
○ Robin vs. Penguin- You have more robin exemplars than penguin exemplars, meaning
you are able to retrieve the more common exemplar quicker
○ Dermatologists Evidence- If the dermatologist is exposed to a series of slides with skin
disorders, after if they are asked to diagnose a series of slides
■ Prototype: single case, should not affect the results- just blended into average
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Exemplar: suggests any increase in number of relevant exemplars would lead to
improved categorization
Experts were 20% more accurate in diagnosing if they had seen single exemplar 2 weeks
before
■ Most readily available exemplar
■
○
●
Exemplar theory is more compelling but psychologists state that evidence supports prototype
theories explanations of simple objects and situations better
The Development of Categorization
● Evidence suggests that children at the age of 3 start to understand general categories
○ Eg) A child that knows her dog lets treats, also assumes that other dogs like treats too
● Children have deep understandings of categories
○ Asking a child if an object can be used for multiple purposes- they will most likely agree
○ However, if they were asked if living things can turn into something else- they will most
likely disagree
○ Children are able to understand innate properties of given category- they now they can
change the nature of a machine but not of an animal
● Do not have much understanding, very limited on how categorization occurs in children
Animal Categorization
● Using instrumental conditioning baboons were tested to see if they were able to classify food vs.
non food items
○ Eventually able to do this to 90% accuracy
● More abstract testing- seeing if baboo could recognize items in the same or different categories
○ Eventually able to do this to 90% accuracy
● Experiments in training non human animals to communicate leads to mixed results- language is
not shown in animals
●
Stereotyping- social phenomenon- assumes entire social groups share the same
characterization, traits and behaviours and leads you to form an overall impression of a group
○ Meeting new member of social group, you have assumptions about them
●
Classifying Non Moving vs. Moving Items
○ Even university students make mistakes, more hesitant in classifying plants as they did
not want to overrule their naive taxonomy
■ Made more errors, and slower at categorizing moving objects and non living
natural things (suggests that movement and naturalness are often related)
○ Psychologists did the same to university biology professors had improved performance
but still not at the level you would expect
■ Proves that even with scientific training it does not trump naive impulses to view
plants at artifacts
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Brains
○ When thinking of objects in different categories, you activate 2 different regions of
visual cortex
■ One for animate objects and another for inanimate objects
■ It happens even if you have never seen either of the objects
○ Visual cortex organization of the categories of knowledge is similar for sighted and blind
people
■ Challenge the notion that there are 2 separate processing areas as a result of
learning to recognize differences in visual differences between living and non
living things
■ Could be due to the brain areas which trigger the appropriate reactions- innate
property
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Superordinate Level- most general, most accurate but has lower predictive power
Basic Level- more specific information but not at expert level
Subordinate Level- most specific categorization, lower chance for accuracy but highest
predictive power
Novice would spend last time to classify at the superordinate level but take more time to classify
in the subordinate level
●
Lesson #8: Attention
Introduction to Attention
● Attention- allows you to navigate through a crowded world with information and distractions
○ Helps you focus your limited processing resources, to conduct everyday tasks
○ Formal Definition- Taking possession of the mind in a clear vivid form of what seems like
several trains of thought
■ Implies the withdrawal from something in order to effectively deal with others
○ Cognitive ability to attend to information that is relevant to your goals
■ For humans this is automatic, and we are able to distinguish between relevant
vs. irrelevant information
○ Irrelevant information can act as a distraction to attend to the important information
○ Alertness Arousal- physically ready to take in information from the environment
○ Selected Focus- where the attention will be going to
○ Change Blindness- even with directed focus, attention limits lead us to miss information
■ Will not notice a change until it is known even when in direct vision
○ Attention is a dialogue between: (but too much of either leads to errors)
■ Top Down Processing- prior experiences, bias, expectations
● Often is our first assumptions
● Reflexive reaction, can direct your attention to match your goals or
expectations
■ Bottom Up Processing- looking at individual parts of the stimuli
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Stimulus driven by which attention is captured by salient change in
environment
○ Eg) Falling or crashing sound
Selection- the act of attending to an object to select it apart from the unattended object
○ Selecting which objects should be attended while the rest is unnoticed
○ Eg) Putting on clothes, at first you notice the sensations but later on you leave it
unattended
○ Some stimuli can draw you to it, in an automatic fashion
■ Eg) When a flashlight flashes in periphery, it will draw your attention to it
Flashbulb Memories- remembering something in detail like a photograph
○ Attention shapes memories
Inattentional Blindness- demonstrates limited attentional process is susceptible to missing out
on important or salient things
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Automatic & Controlled Attention
● Automatic Processes- triggered involuntarily by external events and trigger the immediate
capture of attention
○ Fast, efficient and obligatory manner
● Controlled Processes- guide attention voluntarily and consciously to objects of interest
○ More slow, effortful, assumed to require more cognitive effort
○ Eg) Driving your car through busy traffic, you must consciously pay attention to many
different aspects
■ Turning down radio- to tune out distractions making it easier to focus
● Consumes some resources, that demand increased attention, must
make adjustments to compensate
■ Some automatic processes to driving- with more practice
● Notion of Salience- some cues are more noticeable
○ Eg) Emergency vehicle- automatically capture attention
The Spotlight Model
● Visual Attention
○ Eg) At the theatre, spotlight focuses on one part of the visual scene and this is where
your focus should be on
○ Michael Posner- suggested the spotlight model
○ It is focusing on one part of the environment at a time- like when you are looking for a
friend at a party
○ Attention can be hijacked by an unconscious process that grabs your immediate
attention
■ Helps protect you
■ Attention moves around your visual field and objects falling within the spotlight
are processed
○ Psychologists can measure the changes in attention by using a lab and cueing paradigms
to try to determine if manipulating attention influences behaviour
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■
■
■
Asked subjects to fixate at the centre of the computer and determine if the stars
appear in the box to the right or left
Before the stars appeared, one of the 2 boxes would flash and it either did or did
not contain the star
If the star appeared in the box that flashed, the subjects would respond faster
than if the stars appeared in the other box
● Suggests that the flashing box immediately captured attention and cued
the location
● Processing of the target was detected quicker
If the star appeared in the other box, the subject would respond slower, and this
is because their attention was directed away from the target location
Filter Models
Auditory Attention● Cocktail Party Effect- being able to hear your conversation despite there being other sounds
○ Tested by Cherry and inspired Chong’s models
○ Took 2 different messages from a single loudspeaker at the same time, and subjects
would be asked to separate the messages
○ Ability to separate the sounds from the background noise based on physical
characteristics such as gender, direction, pitch or speed of speech
● Filter vs. Spotlight Model- proposes different mechanisms for attention
○ Eg) Single flower in a field
○ Spotlight Model- the attention would enhance the flower relative to the grass
○ Filter Model- the attention would help us ignore the grass and allow the flowers to go
through further processing
● First Filter Model of Attention- proposed by Donald Broadbent
○ Interested in practical problems such as challenges faced by air traffic controllers that
had multiple channels of communication at once
○ Single Filter Model- attentional filter selects important information based on physical
characteristics and allows the information to continue onto further processing
■ Information does not get passed on if it eliminated or unavailable for deeper
analysis for meaning or semantic importance
○ Dichotomy Listening Paradigm■ Put headphones on and listen to different message in directed ear and
unattended ear
■ The message in the unattended ear was mostly not processed
■ Subjects did not notice changes in the unattended ear (eg. a change in language)
■ Limitation- experiment conducted by Von Wright proved that some information
was processed in the unattended ear
● Used classical conditioning paradigm and associated particular words
with electric shock
● When they were in the dichotomy listening experiment and heard that
word or a similar word in the unattended ear they would respond
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Suggests that meaning is able to pass through the filter which
Broadbent did not predict
Another Limitation- Breakthrough- which is when participant is able to
remember important information from the unattended stream
● Eg) When someone calls your name while you are in the middle of a
conversation at a party
● Your name would capture your attention
Even though you do not consciously remember the unattended message, it
influences how you would answer a question
● Eg) If in the unattended ear, it said river or money, if it said river they
would think that the meaning of the sentence said in the attended ear is
they threw rocks at a river bank and not a money bank
○
■
■
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Treisman’s Dual Filter Model
○ Proposes 2 filters- physical vs. semantic
○ Physical- information is evaluated based on physical cues, intensity or pitch to find most
relevant signal
■ Physical filter weights the importance of the incoming stimuli based on the
physical cues and passes the information along to the semantic filter and it is
evaluated for meaning
○ Semantic- takes into account the weights assigned by physical filter and considers
deeper meaning and relevance of the stimuli
■ Chooses which information to attend to, while the rest of the information is
discarded
○ Explains Broadbent’s findings from the dichotomy listening paradigm, breakthrough and
Von Wright’s results
○ Semantic filter can override the filter decisions made in the physical stage
Stroop Task
● Attention to a paradigm designed to test the limits of the attentional filter
● Stroop Task- popular tasks in attention research
○ Produces a result that is impossible to avoid
○ Participants are presented with coloured word and are asked to name the colour in
which the word is written in
■ Congruent Items- colour of word matches the word
■ Incongruent Items- colour of word does not match the word
○ Researchers measure how long it takes each participant to identify the colour while
ignoring the written word
■ Congruent Items- word reading facilitates the colour naming process
■ Incongruent Items- when word and colour mismatch, the word reading
interferes with the colour naming
○ To measure the conscious control over Stroop interference- used different proportions
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With more congruent trials and less incongruent- leads to increased Stroop
Effect
● You would use the fact that the words match the colours so you would
increase performance on congruent trials
● Performance on incongruent trials would suffer due to bias
■ Less congruent trials and more incongruent- leads to decreased Stroop Effect
● Consciously aware of the bias and try to block out the words
Automatic- word reading, is a relatively automatic process that occurs in the absence of
voluntary intentions
Controlled- proportion congruent manipulation demonstrates that people can gain
conscious control over automated process- strategic strategies to block out the words
■
○
○
Visual Search
● Subjects look for a target in array of distracters (eg. looking for your keys)
● Set Size Effect- make visual search tasks more difficult, increasing the number of items you are
looking through
● Pop Out Effect- look for a specific single feature to distinguish target (eg. colour)
○ Despite the larger set size, you are able to find the target quickly
● Conjunction Search Task- involves identifying a target that is defined by 2 or more features
○ Unable to use one specific target to distinguish
○ Context helps to search more efficiently
■ Eg) Knowing where you usually put your keys
● Contextual Cueing- use information you already know to guide your search
○ Experiment- locating T in background of L’s and you would start to find T’s more quickly
because you are becoming used to it
Attentional Errors- can lead to minor everyday inconveniences
● Chronic Attentional Errors- play a role in psychological problems- eg) attention deficit, anxiety,
etc.
Spatial Cueing Paradigm & Orienting
● Orienting- the way attention moves across a scene
● Spatial Cueing Paradigm- Posner’s way of measuring eye movements
○ Overattending- attending to where you are looking
○ Covert Orienting- attending to things without visually looking at it
■ Invisible shift of attention
○ Staring at a fixed spot between 2 boxes, and briefly after the cue, a target is presented
○ Generally it is found faster if the target is presented in the cued box
○ If given more than 300 milliseconds, the eyes shift
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Lesson 9: Memories
Introduction to Memory
● Memory- fundamental cognitive mechanism that allows you to encode, store and retrieve
information
○ Metaphor- of a camera preserving images or a file cabinet
○ Is subject to interpretation and reconstruction
○ Organized into 3 steps:
1) Encoding- a selective process and reflects how information enters our memory
initially- depends on attention
2) Storage- a record of memory stored over time (can be changed)
3) Retrieval- act of recovering the stored information
● Impacted by retrieval cues- information that trigger a certain memory
and are observed during encoding stage
● Frederic Bartlett- realized that metaphors had something in common- each used to provide
useful way of thinking of memory
○ Each assumed that memory retrieval is as easy as accessing a previously stored item
from a specific location
○ Perception is that memory is objective, and undistorted representation of events
The Basics of Memory
● 3 Basic Questions
1) Memory Acquisition- what will be stored in memory?
2) Memory Storage- how and where will it be stored?
3) Memory Retrieval- how can memories be returned to consciousness?
● Cue Response Mechanism- studied by behaviours and found that one memory acts as a trigger
for another
● Hermann Ebbinghaus- defined memory as a serial learning task
○ Memorized list of nonsense words and suggested that each word triggered the memory
of the next
○ Discovered that he could recall the words the best immediately after the learning and
overtime he remembered fewer and fewer words
○ Constructed the famous forgetting curve- describes the rapid decreasing rate of recall
over time
● Cueing- important concept in encoding specificity by which encoding and retrieval are linked
through cues
● Psychologists rely on cognitive models to understand complex & abstract processes- and these
models help to design a specific hypothesis that can be tested in labs
○ Basic memory task involves 2 phases:
■ Encoding- a subject learns from a list of items, words or pictures
■ Recalling- subject asked to freely generate as many items as they remember
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Recognition Test- a subject is shown several items and asked to judge whether
the item was presented during encoding phase
In both of the different tests (recalling/recognition test) the subjects who were explicitly
asked to learn the list of items performed better than the subjects that were distracted
■
○
Multi Store Model
● Proposed by Atkinson & Shiffrin
● Assumes that memory is composed of both short and long term storage systems
● Short Term Memory Buffer- perceptual information is first stored in this buffer and it
operates in a similar manner to RAM on computer
○ Information is available for a short period but not stored permanently
○ It can be transferred later on to a long term memory storage
○ If the information is rehearsed, it can be transferred over to long term storage
● Long Term Memory- subdivided into separate systems based on the type of information
being stored
○ Declarative Memories- memory for factual information (explicit memories)prototypical conception of memory
○ Semantic Memories- not tied to a particular time or place
○ Episodic Memories- tied to a particular time or place
● George Miller- demonstrated that most short term memory tasks, people can remember
about 7 (+/- 2 items)
○ Beyond this number, the short term memory becomes strained
○ When rehearsal stops, the short term memory fades
○ Chunking- where information can be organized into meaningful packets, used to
expand the amount of things that can be stored
● Sensory Memory- perceptual and physical information
○ Iconic Memory- visual information represented by visual system
○ Echoic Memory- auditory information represented by auditory system
● Working Memory- subunit or upgrade to short term memory storage and contains 3
buffers:
1) Phonological Loop- original definition of the working memory model- draws on
other buffers
2) Visuospatial Sketchpad- temporary represent and allows you to manipulate
visual information
3) Episodic Buffer- new addition of working memory model- draws on other
buffers and other long term memories
4) Central Executive- coordinates and manipulates information that is temporarily
stored in buffers and allows working memory to be more flexible than short
term memory is normally
The Serial Position Curve
● Memory is often best for items that were presented earlier and later in the list and worst for the
words in the middle
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Primacy Effect- observation that memory performance is better when encoded earlier on
○ Occurs because items at the beginning of the list will be the first to enter short term
memory and has the most opportunity to be rehearsed
○ This is due to the fact you tend to practice in sequential order, so there is more
opportunity to be transferred to long term memory
Recency Effect- last items have least amount of rehearsal time, least chance to be transferred to
long term memory, but still performance is still good
○ This is because this is the most recent information being encoded, newer items replace
the old in the short term memory buffer
Value of the cognitive model- can be judged by how well it makes testable predictions
○ Predictions made from the multi store model and tested using Free Recall Paradigm
■ Primacy Effect- driven by rehearsal of items into long term memory and it should
be affected by the manipulations on subject’s ability to rehearse items in
between the presentation of a new item
● Can be tested by changing the presentation time of each item
● Having more time to encode should lead to more rehearsal and facilitate
long term memory
■ Recency Effect- driven by items remaining in the short term memory, effect
should be influenced by manipulations that affect the content of the short term
memory store
● Most recent contents of short term memory to be replaced or disturbed
should neutralize this effect
● Asking subject to perform distracting task after encoding phase, should
lead them to remember less of the last items
The Levels of Processing Principle
● Multi-store model explains recall of word list- but does not explain for more complex
information
● Level of Processing Model- suggests that memory performance depends on the level at which
items are being encoded
○ Shallow- requires little effort and is often direct physical characteristics of a stimulus
■ Memory performance is poor
○ Deeper- requires more effort and is often guided by semantic or meaning based
characteristics of stimuli
■ Memory performance is much richer
○ Experiment by Craik & Lockhart- who tested levels of processing model by directly
manipulating the level at which a subject encoded words
■ Group of subjects given a list of words that could be characterized by properties
■ Shallow- made physical judgements about whether each word item was upper
or lower case
■ Moderate- made acoustic judgements about whether a word item rhymed with
another word
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Deep- made semantic judgements about whether a word item related to
another word
■ When given a recall test- as they predicted- memory performance was low for
shallow, and improved for moderate and was the best for deepest level items
The Level of Processing Model- suggests that the more we actively organize and
understand material to be learned, the better we will remember it
■ Impacts how we study
Enriched Encoding
■ Mnemonic Strategy- enriched encoding as a memory tool
■ Remembering information as it pertains to you (known as Self Referent Effect)
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Forgetting
● Allows us to reduce the potential interference of out of data or useless information
● Decay Theory- forgetting occurs because memories fade with time and explains short term
memory loss but not long term
● Some theorists believe that forgetting is a consequence of not having the right cues to trigger
the memory
● Proactive Interference- an older memory is interfering with your ability to recall new
information
● Retroactive Interference- new information interferes with retrieval of older memory
● Temporal Forgetting- the information is in your memory but can not be properly retrieved
○ Tip of Tongue Effect- when you can remember the first letter or syllables
● Repression- horrific events are repressed as a defense mechanism
Encoding Specificity
● In a lab, researchers used simple memory tasks which allows the variables to be controlled or
manipulated
● In the real world, learning is not restricted with lists of things to remember, it is more complex
and based on the context of the world around you, such as environmental cues
● Encoding Specificity- means you encode the properties of the environment you are in
○ All of these aspects of the experience will influence your memory performance by acting
as cues for the events being recalled
○ To test this idea, Godden & Baddellley asked scuba divers to encode a list of words on
land and in the pool
■ After the recall test would be conducted in either the same or different
environments
■ Subjects that encoded in the same location as the recall test, performed
significantly better
Memory Illusions & Fluency
● Memory does not function like a video camera since what we recall can be different from the
original experience
● False Memories- when you can vividly remember memories of events that did not occur
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Implanted by suggestions
Loftus- conducted a study on false memories
■ Subjects were asked to describe 4 experiences over a period of 3 days and they
were asked to remember events recalled by their parents
■ The fake experience would get described in detail
■ The subjects identified the fake experience, however, by the 3rd day 20% of the
subjects recalled the fake experience as true
False memories illustrate how memory is a highly reconstructive process
Getting lost in a mall could either be an induced false memory of plausible false
memory- since getting lost is a common experience it could be true
Seamon- conducted another experiment to test if bizzare events could be considered in
false memories
■ Subjects visited locations on university campus and at each stop a bizarre action
would be performed or imagined
● Follow up test, 2 weeks later, by just imagining an action subject was
more likely to say that it actually happened
■ Illustrates that memory can be led to confusing imagined or performed events
no matter how bizarre
Memory is more open to interpretation and suggestions
Processing Fluency- refers to ease with which an experience is processed
■ Familiar experiences are generally processed more fluently than novel
experiences
● Eg) Seeing someone familiar on the bus
Attribution- is a judgement that ties together with effect
■ Make attribution to the processing fluency
● Eg) Seeing someone familiar on the bus could be tied to different
conclusions such as them being unconventional looking
“Becoming Famous Overnight Experiment”
■ In phase 1: subjects were asked to read aloud a list of names for a pronunciation
task
■ In phase 2: delayed or immediately after, the subject viewed a list of celebrity
names and normal names and they seemed to think that names from the first
list they saw were famous people
■ Due to processing fluency- seeing their name can lead you to think that they are
famous
Bartlett- suggested that memories are not something we store in memory system but are
something we construct when we need to recall something
○ Implies that memories do not exist until we have a situation where we need to construct
a memory
○ Memories are the building blocks that use raw materials of perception and experience
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Can be used to construct something that looks like a prior experience
■ But could be things that did not happen at all
Memory is open to interpretation and reconstruction
■ Depending on how the question is phrased, your answer will be different
meaning the ways in which you recall an event can be altered
Lesson 10: Forming Impressions
Introduction
● Humans are automatically judging and understanding the thoughts and behaviours of othersthrough social interactions
● A Class Divided- by Mrs. Elliot
○ Blue eyed vs. Brown eyed children- demonstrated how quickly humans could be
influenced and shift their attitudes and behaviours
● Harry Harlow- examined social isolation of monkeys
○ Human beings need each other
Attribution Theories
● You learn by judging others’ behaviours- form conclusions that may or may not actually reflect
the current circumstances
● Observed behaviour can either be a part of their fixed personality trait or just reflect the
situation they are facing
● Situational Attribution- always looking for a cause and effect relationship
● Dispositional Attribution- depends on the disposition or traits of the person in question
● Correspondent Inference Theory- actively analyze a person’s behaviour to make inferences
based on 3 variables
1) Degree of Choice- it helps to know if the person chose to act in the observed manner
● Eg) Choosing a topic of “being in support of the death penalty” vs. being
assigned the topic for class debate
● Hard to appreciate this role of choice (eg. in the media- actors, etc.)
2) Expectations- uncommon behaviour gives us more information than common behaviour
● Not what is expected in comparison to the entire population but the specific
person or group
● If a person behaves in a more typical way, there is less information to infer the
underlying causes
3) Intended Consequences of Behaviour- intention behind the behaviour observed
● Eg) A tobacco company advertises lower smoking levels- we know that their ad
is placed to look like they care for their citizens
● Covariation Theory (Kelley’s)
○ How a person's behaviour can either be attributed to personal dispositional or
situational circumstances
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Three variables to be considered to determine if the behaviour is dispositional or
situational:
1) Consistency
● Does the individual usually behave this way?
○ Yes- continue to seek an explanation for this behaviour
2) Distinctiveness
● Does the individual behave differently in different situations?
○ Yes- then the behaviour is probably driven by the situation
○ No- then the behaviour is probably driven by their disposition
3) Consensus- comparing to the entire population
● Do others behave similarly in this situation?
○ Yes- then the behaviour is likely due to situational factors
because everyone is going to be influenced in similar ways
○ No- then the behaviour is likely due to the individual’s
disposition
Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)- questions just looking at others
● When understanding the cause behind someone’s behaviour, likely to overestimate the
dispositional factors over the situational
● Term coined by Ross- who presented the fundamental argument for the FAE in social psychology
● Jones- found the term overly provocative and misleading
● Actor Observer Effect- includes yourself and others
○ More likely to make FAE when looking at others and not yourself
○ Attributing cause of your own behaviour- much more aware of the situational influences
○ When observing others- only have current situation at hand, more likely to assume that
an individual's behaviour is representative of their actual typical behaviour
● FAE- is not a universal phenomenon, is influenced by culture
○ Study by Miller examined how American and Indian subjects would attribute negative
behaviour to either dispositional or situational factors
○ Americans- more likely to attribute behaviours to dispositional than situational for
others
○ Indians- Opposite bias, would often attribute behaviours to more situational than
dispositional
■ Starting at age 11
○ Chinese students were less likely to make FAE than Americans
○ Meaning that FAE is diminished in collectivist societies- less focus on individual
behaviour and more focus on relationships/roles in society
■ American Gold Medal- attribute to personal determination and hard work
■ Japanese Gold Medal- attribute to coaching team and organization
● Self Serving Bias- tendency to perceive yourself as favourable
○ The FAE and actor observer can lead to this
○ Above Average Effect- which causes you to identify dispositional causes for your success
and situational causes for your failures
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Exaggerated view of your own abilities
Bias in your perception may lead to you believing that you are above average at
doing things that are important to you
Cognitive Heuristics
● In social situations, there is a lot of information to consider and limit attention towards a certain
task
● Processing speed of social perceptions are shaped by heuristics to automatically make decisions
about incoming environment
● Representative Heuristic- you can classify how well a person’s behaviour fits their prototype
○ Discount certain rules of the description given may describe a certain prototype
● Availability Heuristic- use information readily available to influence your interpretation of one’s
behaviour
○ Eg) Rating one prof higher than the other- because you went more to that class
○ Craig Fox- conducted an experiment where he asked university students to rate a course
on a 7 point scale, and write 2 or 10 ways to improve course
■ Students that were asked to write 2 improvements- rated the class lowerthinking that there were more improvements that did not think of
■ Students that were asked to write 10 improvements- rated the class higher- as
they felt like it was difficult to write down 10
● Heuristics do not accurately represent reality
● False Consensus Effect- belief that your thoughts and beliefs are similar to you
○ Cognitive bias
○ Makes us overestimate how much others agree with us- even if we are in the minority
Relationships
● Attraction research- not just sexual
● A person who is attractive leaves you with a positive impression and you are likely to desire their
company
● Several Factors1) Proximity
● Physical Proximity- more likely to be attracted to someone who you are friends
or live close by
● Functional Distance- how often do these 2 individuals interact?
○ People tend to be more attracted to the people they anticipate
interacting with
○ Eg) If you are told you get to talk to an individual, you would rate them
as more attractive
2) Familiarity
● Mere Exposure Effect- describes the tendency to be more positive towards
things that seem familiar (even if you only saw it once or twice)
● Eg) One experiment where English speakers were exposed to Turkish words with
higher or lower frequency
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Asked to rank the words as positive or negative- words with higher
frequency were ranked as positive
● Tendency to rate faces that have been seen before as more attractive
○ Famous person’s face is attractive as you have seen it before
● Tendency to rate your own face as more attractive when it is a mirror- since this
is the way you usually see yourself
○ While, friends and family would rate your non-mirror picture as more
attractive as that is how they see you more
3) Physical
● When forming positive impression, an important factor is attractiveness
● More likely to think beautiful people are kinder, warmer, intelligent and more
sensitive and outgoing
● Margaret Clifford & Elaine Hatfield (teachers)- when given a description of a
child and was given an image of an unattractive versus an attractive child, would
rate the more attractive child as more intelligent
● Walter Study- when you have lowered self esteem- you tend to rate the
attractiveness of the person that likes you higher
4) Peer Opinions
● How someone previously thought of you influences how attractive you think of
them as well
● Aronson and Linder conducted an experiment on 4 groups of people
○ Positive Negative - Rated Lowest
○ Negative Positive- Rated Highest
○ Negative Negative- Rated Lower
○ Positive Positive- Rated Higher
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Stereotypes
● Illusory Correlation- occurs when individuals believe that 2 variables are related even though
there is no evidence
● Stereotypes- evidence of illusory correlation, beliefs about attributes that are thought to be
characteristic of members of a particular group
○ Can impact our performance
○ Stereotype Threat- creates anxiety and lowers performance
● Implicit Association Test (IAT)- used to measure implicit racial biases
○ Speed categorization task, where participants will categorize stimuli into 4 different
categories using 2 response keys
○ Sorting white and black people, and sorting words into categories of positive or negative
○ Participants believed that they were unprejudiced, but responded significantly faster at
categorizing words with compatible pairing than incompatible
○ Suggests that implicit associations reinforce stereotypes in everyday lives
● Prejudice- a negative attitude of affective response towards a certain group and its individual
group
○ Do not look at individual differences
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Discrimination- negative behaviour towards members of a particular group based on their
membership in that group
Tendency to favour in group members and have negative attitudes towards out groups
○ Can be subconscious or unconscious bias
Emotional Arousal- heightened activity in the amygdala when seeing out of group member
○ Lowered amygdala activity when seeing an in group member
Lesson 11: Influence of Others
Introduction
● Our thoughts and behaviours are influenced by those around you- cues for how you should act
or feel in a given situation
○ Act differently in different social situations, dependent on who are interacting with
Presence of Others
● Looking at whether a group of cyclists would perform better with or without a group
● Norman Triplett- performed this experiment
○ Observed that cyclists race faster when competing against others, versus just against
their own clock
○ Even without a reward- children would wind a string of a fishing rod faster if there are
others there vs. alone
○ Triplett hypothesized that the mere presence of others is an important variable in the
performance for actors
■ Members can be divided into:
● Co-Actors- individuals who perform the same task along with you
● Audience- group of individuals observing the performing of a task
● Social Facilitation- a phenomenon discovered following Triplett’s observations, the increased
performance that occurs in the presence of co-actors or an audience
○ Exceptions to the rule- in some cases the presence of co-actors and audience would not
produce a noticeable increase in behaviour and even hindered performance- such as on
tasks with nonsense syllables, completing difficult mazes and solving math problems
● Robert Zajonc- published paper about social facilitation
○ Suggested that the important factor to consider is how the presence of others increases
arousal
○ Heightened arousal affects your performance depending on the task being performed
■ For a task you are an expert or well practiced- performance will be enhanced
■ For a task where you are neither an expert and not well practiced- performance
will be hindered
○ Eg) Going on stage for a performance
■ Presence of a crowd will cause you to feel some anxiety but you use the crowd’s
energy to perform better
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If you lack confidence- pressure of audience may make you perform below
normal levels
With even a set of eyes- you would act differently
○ Eg) Paying for coffee that is voluntary price- if there was a set of eyes like someone is
watching you
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Social Learning Theory
● Help you understand complex cognitive skills such as language acquired by children that does
not require reinforcement
● Same mechanism to explain how social behaviours are shaped
● Popularized by Albert Bandura
○ Suggests that you learn appropriate behaviours by modelling and imitating the
behaviour of others
○ Bobo Doll Experiment■ Children were offered toys to play with one being the Bobo doll
■ Adults would either model aggressive or passive behaviour- aggressive involved
hitting or punching the doll
■ After viewing the adult model- children would go into the room and imitate the
behaviours observed
● Children who observed aggressive behaviour- would conduct aggressive
behaviour as well
● Did not require reinforcement or encouragement
■ Countered behaviourist beliefs- that learning could only occur with explicit
reinforcement
■ Follow up experiment- instead of Bobo doll, was a real person- still saw the same
results
Conformity
● Eg) When everyone in the audience is giving a standing ovation- you do too- even though you do
not think that the performance deserves it
○ It is hard to be the one person not standing
● Muzafer Sherif- conducted a series of experiments on conformity using a perceptual illusion
called the autokinetic effect
○ In pitch black room, light moves every few seconds and your job is to observe how much
it moves
○ Given several trials and report that the mean is 5cm
○ However, the light never actually moved and is an optical illusion
○ Autokinetic Effect- a stationary light in a pitch black room will appear to move at
random
■ Due to the eyes scanning- it seems like there is an actual motion of light
○ On day 2- you are in a room with other subjects that report the light moved 15-20cm,
subject changes their answer to 15-20cm too
○ This convergence is an example of norm formation
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Norm Formation- powerful effect that can be manipulated by an experimenter
○ Follow up experiment- Sherif had confederate sit with subject and report very large
estimates of how much the light moved
○ The entire group’s response moved towards a larger number
Asch’s Stimuli
○ Solomon Asch- conducted an experiment to answer why people seem to fall in line with
a group so easily
■ 1 sample line, 3 comparison lines- the group would have to identify which of the
comparison lines matches the standard
■ However, in a group of 7 subjects, only one is the real one- other are
confederates
● Subject would always be the 6th to respond
● Initially, all subjects would answer correctly, but one by one
confederates start to agree upon the incorrect answer
■ 75% of subjects conformed to the incorrect answer on at least one trial
■ For an average subject- 35% of the responses conformed to the incorrect answer
○ Normative Function- the role of others in setting norms or standard of conduct
■ Function is evident in fashion trends/pop culture
■ Set of standards due to fear of rejection or ostracism by others by not
conforming
● Guides the way you behave, what you should or should not be doing to
reduce negative social consequences
○ Comparative Function- not just fear of social rejection but you first see what others are
doing to determine what you should be doing
■ Use this in ambiguous situations- provides group information
■ Eg) Fire alarm going off- you look to others
■ Experiment by Deutsch & Gerald
● Subject made a judgement after seeing a set of lines, subjects each
made anonymous responses by pressing a button
● Subjects would see other’s anonymous responses
● There is no reason for the subject to go along with the answer due to
fear of rejection since no one would see
● Typically subject would still conform to the groups answers despite it
being wrong
○ As a social being, our behaviours are influenced by both normative and comparative
functions of a group
Decision Making
● James Stroner- began study the risky shift effect
○ Common belief that groups were more cautious than individuals
○ Stroner tested this idea by asking individuals to read a set of hypothetical situations and
make risk assessment
■ Individuals then came together as a group to form a consensus
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Group decisions- on average riskier than mean decision of individual decisions
Not all cases- there are some cases where the group’s decision was more
cautious
● Group Polarization
○ Group decisions are more complex
○ Provides a better explanation of the decision making process in a group
○ Suggests that decision making in a group tends to more extreme views by strengthening
the original indications of an individual group member
■ Can move to be either risky or cautious extreme
○ Starting with risky position- and getting together as a group- even riskier position
○ Starting with a safer position- and getting together as a group- less risky position
■ Eg) Decision making in juries
● Most jurors favoured a low reward even lower reward as a group
● Most jurors favoured a high reward- even higher reward as a group
● GroupThink- term coined by Irving Janis- a group decision making environment where group
cohesiveness becomes so strong that it overrides realistic appraisal of alternative opinions
○ Mob mentality
○ Group falls victim to groupthink when they believe that they are unquestionably right
and other groups are wrong
○ Fail to critically test or evaluate other ideas of the group
○ Censor dissenting opinions and those who disagree would be rejected from the group
○ Preventing GroupThink■ Be impartial- group’s leader should never endorse a particular position
■ Encourage critical evaluation- allow group members to disagree
● Assign a devil’s advocate to present counter arguments
■ Occasionally subdividing the group and come to separate decisions and later
reunite to discuss differences
■ Before finally deciding- call a second chance meeting- to clear any lingering
doubts
Bystander Effect
● Kitty Genovese- 38 people walked by her murder and did not do anything
○ Murdered in New York City
○ Reasons for not intervening included fear of personal injury, assumed that others had
called the police
● 2 Hurdles that need to be crossed before an individual decides to act:
○ Person must decide whether a situation is truly an emergency
○ If it is an emergency, should I be the one to respond?
● Latane & Darley- completed an experiment in which subjects were asked to complete a short
questionnaire alone or with others
○ Smoke would slowly seep into the room
○ Subjects working alone- would quickly report the smoke
○ Subjects in a group- as the number of people in the room increased- they were less likely
to report the smoke
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When determining if a situation is emergent or not, we automatically look to others and
try to act calm to try to not overreact
Collective Ignorance- if no one else responds, they determine that the situation is not emergent
and no response is necessary
Darley & Latane- ran another experiment to determine if the situation requires a specific person
to respond
○ Subject asked to participate in group discussion with each individual in a different room
via intercom
○ Only one subject- others were pre-recorded tapes
○ One staged subject- mentions that they have seizures and the subject would then hear a
cry for help
○ Most rapid responses came from those who thought there was no one else that would
take action
Diffusion of Responsibility- thinking that there are other people that will take action
○ During an emergency- you look around to see if there are others that are more qualified
and have specialized skills
Getting Help
○ Bystanders failed to respond due to collective ignorance & diffusion of responsibility
■ Bystanders assumed that there was someone better qualified that would
respond
■ Directly asking someone to help will increase the probability of them helping
■ Seeing someone else help will increase the probability you will help in later
situations
Social Loafing- special case of diffusion of responsibility as individuals seem to be less motivated
working in a group
○ Alan Ingham- participants were blindfolded and played a game of tug of war
■ Subject were told to pull as hard as they could with people pulling behind them
■ Subjects pulled 18% less, when they thought they were pulling in a group vs.
alone
○ Participants were asked to put on headphones and scream and clap as loud as possible
■ Through the headphones- researchers stimulated different group sizes
■ Less noise produced when the subject thought they were in a group
■ But they self reported that they made the same level of noise
We diffuse responsibility not just in emergent situations but collective efforts as well- thinking
that there are other people that will do the work for us
Empathy Altruism Hypothesis- the idea that altruism is a result from empathy
○ Empathy- refers to the shared sense of what another person is feeling
○ If you relate to what someone is feeling- you are more likely to act to alleviate the
problem
Negative Relief Model- helping someone because we would feel distressed or guilty if we did
not
Norm of Reciprocity- expected to reciprocate when someone treats us well
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Obedience
● Stanley Miligram- tried to understand human motivation and obedience to authority
○ Experimenter explains that the study is to examine the role of punishment on learning
○ Learner is connected to shock waves, and they mention that they have a heart condition
○ Teacher is to administer a shock every time learner gets the wrong answer- shock
gradually increases
○ Experimenter will say prompting phrases like “you must continue this experiment”
○ Milgram found that 65% of subjects continued to the very end and delivered the last full
shock to the non-responsive man with a heart condition
○ Lessons■ People have a strong tendency to obey authority even if the power is limited
● Hard to judge someone who has obeyed orders by superior while career,
family and safety are at stake
■ People are not accurate judges of how they would behave in a given situation
■ Ethics of psychological research
○ One possible explanation- degree of obedience was inherent due to the prestige of Yale
University
■ In a run down office- subjects that continued to the end dropped down to 50%
■ Psychologist replaced by a student- subjects that continued dropped down even
more
○ Another explanation- subject was placed in a separate room from the learner
■ Variations● Learner was placed in a different room but could see through a glass
panel
● The teacher and learner were in the same room
● Teacher actually had to place learner’s hand on electrode
■ Closer the physical contact between teacher and learner- the lower the number
of subjects that obeyed instructions
○ If the experimenter was giving orders over the phone- even lower results
■ Only 25% subjects obeyed
■ Some subjects even cheated- administering even lower shocks
○ Hard to generalize Milgram’s findings to the real world
● Hofling & Colleagues- used real nurses to test the effects of obedience
○ A man posing as a doctor would call the nurse in the middle of the night and would
explain that he was on his way to give a patient a psychiatric assessment
○ Asks the nurse to give a large dose of a fake drug to the confederate and the nurse
knows that this violates a lot of roles
■ Requested dose is higher than the maximum daily dose
■ Medication order should not be taken on the phone
■ The fake medication was not on the list of the hospital’s medications
■ Nurse is taking orders from unfamiliar voice
○ 21 out of 22 nurses obeyed this order, despite 95% of them saying they would not
○ Demonstrates 2 important lessons:
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Tendency to obey can be irresistible under a variety of circumstances
You never quite know how you will act till you are in the situation
Cognitive Dissonance- attitudes towards the world and behaviours conflict
● Occurs when there is insufficient justification for behaviour in conflict with attitude
● When you are in a group obeyed a command- is this going against your beliefs
● Festinger & Carlsmith- conducted an experiment
○ Subject arrives in lab and performs a boring task
○ Experimenter comes in and informs you that the experiment is on how expectations
influence your performance- so you were told you were doing exciting experiment but
was actually boring
○ You have to tell the next subject that the experiment was very exciting- and you either
get $1 or $20 for lying
■ Group paid $1- rated enjoyment higher
● Felt feeling called dissonance
● To reduce this feeling they adjust their behaviour or attitude so they
change their attitude to be consistent with their chosen behaviour
■ Group paid $20- rated enjoyment lower
● Justified the lying as they were lying for the money
● The behaviours not aligning with the attitude is justified by the $20
● Over Justifying Behaviour- with outside motivation (money, etc.) attitude change is less likely to
take place
● Sunk Cost Trap- unrecoverable investment into something leading to further investment
Stanford Prison Experiment
● Dr. Philip Zimbaro- placed an ad seeking male participants for 2 weeks
○ Half of them were guards and the other half prisoners
○ Guards- demonstrated dehumanizing behaviour
■ Referred to the prisoners by number and forced them to parade around naked
○ Demonstrated the power of circumstance and assigned roles on human behaviour
○ Could be due to the fact that the guards covered their faces- deindividuation
■ This can occur naturally in crowded cities- more vandalism in comparison to
small town
Persuasion
● Communicator of the message
○ Credibility- most persuasive communicators are highly credible
■ Perceived as experts at the field
○ Physical Attractiveness/Similarity
■ Attractive communicators sell more products
■ Drawn to communicators that look or sound like you- more relatable
● Goethals & Nelson- believed that similarity is more persuasive for matters of personal lifestyle
choice and credibility is more persuasive for matters of objective fact
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Speech Style Influences- can be perceived as trustworthiness
○ Speakers that are straightforward, concise, look their questioner in the eye are more
persuasive
○ Faster at speaking- more knowledgeable and persuasive
Framing of the Message○ If the audience is initially leaning towards your position- one sided argument more
effective
○ If the audience is initially disagreeing with your position- two sided argument is more
effective
Understanding the background of the audience is also important○ Academic audience- would like 2 sided arguments
○ Known academic audience- persuaded by peripheral appeals- quick decision making
based on heuristics
Techniques in Persuasion
● Foot in the Door Effect- powerful as oe request in a series is considered in relation to previous
request
○ Small demands and then gradually escalating demands
● Low Ball Effect- compliance is secured at a small cost and later revealing additional costs
○ Eg) hidden costs- SNEAK ATTACK
○ When asking people to perform small behaviour, and later a larger request
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Self Perception Theory- proposed by Bem
○ Indicates that we do not necessarily have a special insight into ourselves
○ We sometimes have to figure out who we are in a way that is similar to how we figure
out who others are by assessing behaviour
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