Social Psychology for the 21st century

Fictional things, the dead mother in the loft, and the dog that didn’t growl: Social

Psychology for the 21 st century

Professor Chris McVittie

20 February 2013

QMU Professorial Lecture 20 February 2013

life in the 21

st

century

 across the globe, many instances of conflict / between different groups (e.g. Palestinian/Israeli conflict, uprising in Syria, Arab

Spring and its aftermath etc.)

 nearer to home, collective events and their meanings (London riots,

2012 Diamond Jubilee, 2012 Summer Olympics & Paralympic

Games / Team GB)

 issues of identity within the UK and relationships with other nations, such as members of European Union


life in 21

st

century

 multiplicity of forms of communication that

 inform us of events

 enable communication and interaction with others

 provide endless(?) possibilities for us to identify ourselves in diverse ways


aim of social psychology



‘social psychology aims to explain how people are influenced in what they say and do by actual or potential interaction with other people’

(McKinlay & McVittie, 2008, p. 255)


potential contribution of social psychology

 often undervalued or neglected due to

 external factors – other disciplines, funders, policy-makers, REF 2014

 internal factors – social psychology itself


external factors

 other disciplines (such as behavioural economics, neuroscience) provide explanations for human social behaviour

 these competing explanations can be more definite, cleaner, sexier (?) than what social psychology has to say

 often such explanations are preferred by funders, policy-makers, etc.

 reflected in make-up of 2014 REF U of A 4 ‘Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience’

 wider preference for definite explanations


internal factors

 much social psychology has given up studying people –



Billig, M. (2011). Writing social psychology:

Fictional things and unpopulated texts.



‘Most outsiders would expect social psychologists to write about people; and so they would expect social psychology to be populated with accounts of people and their actions’ (p. 4)


fictional things



‘Social psychologists have invented a technical terminology that in the main seems to denote an array of things. What kind of ‘things’ are these things? .

. . by turning processes rhetorically into things, scientists routinely are creating ‘fictional things’ – namely entities, which cannot actually exist as things, but which are treated as if they were things . . . there are problems when we confuse the imagined world of our fictional things with the world that we are using these fictions to understand. The problems are likely to be acute if we take our fictional things to be more real than the things that ordinary people recognize in the social world’.

(Billig, 2011, pp. 14-15)


Solomon Asch (1951; 1956) – studies of independence and conformity


line judgment task

 participants are shown two cards with lines and required to state aloud which of the three comparison lines is similar in length to the reference line


line judgment task

 under ordinary conditions this is an easy task, individuals make mistakes in matching the lines <1% of the time

 in Asch’s studies

 a naïve participant was placed in room with four to six confederates of Asch



Asch had instructed the confederates to give unanimous incorrect answers on 12 out of 18 trials

 the naïve participant was seated next to last and heard the incorrect answers of the others

 how would the naïve participant respond?



This naïve participant (the one in the middle) has just heard the previous five participants give the same wrong answer. He has to decide whether he will give the right answer or give the wrong answer, and conform to the majority’s opinion


evidence of conformity

 under group pressure, participant agreed with

(incorrect) majority view in 36.8% of selections

 over the 12 trials, 75% of naïve participants conformed at least once


concern



“That we have found the tendency to conformity in our society so strong . . . is a matter of concern. It raises questions about our ways of education and about the values that guide our conduct .”

(Asch, 1956, p.34)


the move towards fictional things



‘Studies of independence and conformity: A minority of one against a unanimous majority’ (Asch,1956)



‘A study of normative and informational social influences upon individual judgment’ (Deutsch & Gerard, 1955)



‘Surface-level diversity and decision-making in groups: When does deeplevel similarity help ?’ (Phillips et al., 2006)



‘Mental construal and the emergence of assimilation and contrast effects:

The inclusion/exclusion model’ (Bless & Schwartz, 2010)



‘Group heterogeneity and social validation of everyday knowledge: The mediating role of perceived group participation’ (Vala et al., 2011)



a new beginning

 Potter, J. & Wetherell, M. (1987). Discourse and social psychology: Beyond attitudes and behaviour.

 argument for treating discourse as topic not as resource for studying extra-discursive (fictional) entities


Discourse and social psychology



‘This book is about language and its importance for social psychology. It looks at the subtle ways in which language orders our perceptions and makes things happen and thus shows how language can be used to construct and create social interaction and diverse social worlds . . . ‘(p. 1)



‘One of the advantages of discourse analysis is that the data are everywhere . . . If we have indicated the interest and value of the systematic analysis of accounts of all kinds this book will have succeeded in its aim.’ (p. 187)


Discourse and social psychology

 as of 19 / 02/2013 has been cited 5219 times

(Google Scholar)

 annual citation rate > 500 per annum (Potter,

2012)



‘It all fits into place’: Psychiatrists’ linguistic strategies in challenging media representations of their profession

Chris McVittie

Andy McKinlay

(in press)


the study

 to examine how professional psychiatrists talk about cinematic representations of psychiatry


data

 from set of interviews conducted by a professional journalist with 13 internationally renowned practising psychiatrists

 interviews were to provide background research and material for use in radio programmes that were subsequently broadcast on a UK national radio station

 the participants were asked about different sorts of cinematic representations of psychiatry


background

 psychiatrists are often presented in negative ways in the cinema (e.g. Silence of the Lambs)

 however, they regard positive descriptions of their profession as also being inaccurate –

‘In a brief golden age of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis in the cinema between 1957 and 1963, idealized portrayals of dramatic healing misrepresented psychotherapy as badly as the negative portrayals’ (Gabbard, 2002, p. 7)


background

 psychiatrists are well-positioned to comment on what they regard as inaccurate representations of psychiatry

 as members of that profession, they are entitled to comment on what it is or is not

 as psychiatrists, they are treated as entitled to comment on what is real-life and what is not real-life, and to provide explanations for why people do what they do


Extract 1

 Moore (pseudonym) is responding to a question about whether 20 th century views of the power of science are reflected in films


Extract 1


Extract 1

5

6

7

8

3

4

1

2

Moore Yes, it does I mean there is definitely a drift in the 50s and 60s toward >as you say< this cinematic image of of as y’know as the shrink as the one who knows all the answers he can get <inside your head> he can tell you how it all works and there’s something quite .hh awe-inspiring about these moments of revelation .hh for example at the end of Psycho where (.) suddenly (.) we understand AH ((snaps fingers)) >it was all because of the dead mother in the loft< it all fits into place .hhhh but of course (0.5) it’s mumbo ↑jumbo isn’t it?


critique – cinematic version

5

6

7

8

3

4

1

2



critique - irony

5

6

7

8

3

4

1

2



alignment with audience

5

6

7

8

3

4

1

2



total rejection of cinematic version

5

6

7

8

3

4

1

2



Extract 2

 Extract 2 follows a question that asks Hunt

(pseudonym) whether cinematic portrayals of psychiatry are inaccurate in suggesting that people with psychiatric problems often get better by falling in love or through their own efforts (rather than due to psychiatric intervention)


Extract 2

7

8

5

6

9

3

4

1

2

Hunt I think that’s true but (.) I also think there's a subtler issue which is (.) gaining control and feeling (.) as powerful as your fantasy is the psychiatry is powerful and if you can do that by making fun of the doctor (.) if you can do it by

>creating some scenario< in which the doctor's underwear is ↑visible so to speak then you you're gaining the upper hand and the transference process has reversed (.) you're on top so to speak (.) and I think you see that in the Woody

Allen movies and in other movies as well (.) and it's a fantasy of wanting to gain control of wanting to feel the potency that you might not normally feel in your life


critique – not real life

7

8

5

6

9

3

4

1

2





critique – one way of speaking

7

8

5

6

9

3

4

1

2





why? – psychiatric explanation

7

8

5

6

9

3

4

1

2





Extract 2

 according to Hunt



 cinema is not real-life what we see ‘in Woody Allen movies and other movies’ is one (incorrect) way of presenting psychiatry

 why this happens can be explained in psychiatric terms


psychiatric explanation

 more tentative – ‘I think’, ‘might’

 conditional – repeated use of ‘if’

 less obvious – ‘a subtler issue’

 doing psychiatry involves explanations that are

‘messier’ than seen in Extract 1


The dog that didn’t growl: Confabulation as an interactional accomplishment

Chris McVittie

Andy McKinlay

Sergio Della Sala

Sarah MacPherson

(under review)


clinical neuroscience

 clinical neuroscience uses range of methods to study its patients

 results of fMRI scans

 results of diagnostic tests

 verbal reports elicited from patients


verbal reports from patients

 verbal reports are usually treated as providing evidence that confirms what is found elsewhere

 the descriptions that patients provide



 can be evaluated against normative expectations or external realities provide evidence of individual cognitive capacities or impairments


confabulations

 confabulations are usually defined as false narratives or statements about world and/or self due to some pathological mechanisms or factors, but with no intention of lying



‘statements or actions that involve unintentional but obvious distortions of memory’ (Moscovitch and Melo,

1997: 1018)


the present study

 data

 set of verbal reports given by two confabulating patients in interviews conducted by a clinical researcher

 aim

 to see what these reports can tell us about the confabulations that patients produce


Patient OV







 a 59 year old male at the time of testing (2003) had nine years of formal education and had been employed as a lorry driver in July 2003, he had a severe head injury led to lesion that was centred on frontal and limbicdiencephalic brain regions, manifesting in anosognosia

(deficit in self-awareness)


Patient OV



 had a predicted IQ of 95 in his clinical evaluation, he did not have any naming, perceptual or attentional deficits



 but his memory performance was poor on all tests showed clear signs of a dysexecutive syndrome

 he was formally assessed six months post onset and presented with florid confabulations


Patient OV


Extract 3

1 Int. What was Winston Churchill's favourite pet?

2 OV hoho (.) his bulldog

3 (5)

4 OV his snotty-nosed bulldog

5 Int [(laughs)

6 OV [(humorous growling noise)

7 Int. [e:m

8

9

OV [↑but it was a lovely old bulldog because I had the pleasure of meeting

Winston Churchill one day at his house outside walking his dog (.) and his

10

11 little dog (.) his little bulldog (.) licked my hand and then I took a chance I bent down and that bulldog licked my face

12 Int. mm hm

13 OV and Winston Churchill said (.) you are highly honoured (.) you must have

14

15 a smell or something on you that my dog likes (.) and I said (.) Mr Winston

Churchill (.) that is probably because your dog is a loving little dog and he

16

17 has probably smelled my dogs (.) so (.) that is telling your dog that I am a friendly person because your dog has smelled my dogs on me

18 Int. mm hm (.) what did you do yesterday?


Extract 3 and impairment



3 (5)


5 Int [(laughs)


7 Int. [e:m

8

9



10


12 Int. mm hm


14



16







OV’s report in Extract 3 provides a vivid account of a particular event, but









Winston Churchill died in 1965 supposed event must have occurred approximately 40 years prior to time of testing unlikely that OV ever met Churchill

OV displays poor performance across all memory tasks and appears highly unlikely to be able to recall details of such an event even if it had occurred

 report therefore appears to exemplify florid confabulation by OV



 why does OV confabulate?

 he has suffered head injury

 led to brain lesion

 resulted in anosognosia and subsequent confabulation


Extract 3 - interaction



3 (5)


5 Int [(laughs)


7 Int. [e:m

8

9



10


12 Int. mm hm


14



16




Extract 3 - turn-taking



3 (5)


5 Int [(laughs)


7 Int. [e:m

8

9



10


12 Int. mm hm


14



16




Extract 3 - humour



3 (5)


5 Int [(laughs)


7 Int. [e:m

8

9



10


12 Int. mm hm


14



16




Extract 3 - problem



3 (5)


5 Int [(laughs)


7 Int. [e:m

8

9



10


12 Int. mm hm


14



16




Extract 3 and interaction



OV selects out one feature of bulldogs, that they growl

 does this in humorous way

 interviewer however does not treat it as humorous and indeed signals that it is problematic


Extract 3 and interaction

 this interactional problem sets the context for the remainder of the exchange



OV attends to interactional problem by positively evaluating the dog, stating that it was ‘a lovely old bulldog’

 but he then has to provide some warrant for stating this – meeting Churchill and bulldog etc.


OV’s descriptions

 what OV is doing therefore in some ways demonstrates his competence rather than his incompetence





 he remains on topic he provides rich detail in account he uses reported speech of Winston Churchill to warrant his descriptions

 all of this displays his understanding of how everyday conversations work

 but OV does not have recourse to the memories required and he ends up in the mists of confabulation


OV’s descriptions

 but OV does not get there on his own







 the interviewer withholds acknowledgement of a correct answer to her initial question she treats OV’s continuation as humorous leading to his next turn she treats OV’s next turn as problematic, leading to the extended description of meeting Winston Churchill and the bulldog she does not challenge any aspects of OV’s further account and indeed accepts that account (‘mm hm (.) what did you do yesterday?’)




Conclusions - Social psychology for the

21

st

century

social psychology can readily contribute to issues that are important to psychiatry, neuroscience, & other disciplines

 it can do so by studying people and what they do

 this involves



 a focus on discourse abandoning the construction of ‘fictional things’

 in such ways, social psychology can demonstrate its relevance and value and can offer us the explanations that we seek of life in the

21 st century


References



















Asch, S. E. (1951). Effects of group pressure upon the modification and distortion of judgment. In

H. Guetzkow (ed.) Groups, leadership and men (pp. 177-190). Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie Press.

Asch, S.E. (1956). Studies of independence and conformity: A minority of one against a unanimous majority. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 70, 1-70.

Billig, M. (2011). Writing social psychology: Fictional things and unpopulated texts. British Journal of Social Psychology, 50 , 4-20.

McKinlay, A. & McVittie, C. (2008). Social Psychology and Discourse. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

McKinlay, A. & McVittie, C. (2011). Identities in context: Individuals and discourse in action.

Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

McVittie , C. & McKinlay, A. (in press). ‘It all fits into place’: Psychiatrists’ linguistic strategies in challenging media representations of their profession. Journal of Applied Linguistics and

Professional Practice.

McVittie , C., McKinlay, A., Della Sala, S. & Macpherson, S. (under review). The dog that didn’t growl: Confabulation as an interactional accomplishment.

Potter, J. (2012). Re-reading Discourse and Social Psychology : Transforming social psychology.

British Journal of Social Psychology, 51 , 436-455.

Potter, J. & Wetherell, M. (1987). Discourse and social psychology: Beyond attitudes and behaviour.

London: Sage.


Social Psychology for the 21st century

life in the 21

century

life in 21

century

aim of social psychology

external factors

internal factors

fictional things

line judgment task

line judgment task

evidence of conformity

concern

the move towards fictional things

a new beginning

Discourse and social psychology

Discourse and social psychology

the study

data

background

background

Extract 1

Extract 1

Extract 1

critique – cinematic version

critique - irony

alignment with audience

total rejection of cinematic version

Extract 2

Extract 2

critique – not real life

critique – one way of speaking

why? – psychiatric explanation

Extract 2

psychiatric explanation

the present study

Patient OV

Patient OV

Patient OV

Extract 3

Extract 3 and impairment

Extract 3 and impairment

Extract 3 and impairment

Extract 3 - interaction

Extract 3 - turn-taking

Extract 3 - humour

Extract 3 - problem

Extract 3 and interaction

Extract 3 and interaction

OV’s descriptions

OV’s descriptions

Conclusions - Social psychology for the

21

century

References

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