Unconscious Influences on Behavior

Unconscious Influences on Behavior

Major Point • We are not always consciously aware of why we do what we do

Facial Feedback • arrangement of facial muscles influences a person’s emotional state and judgments • Zajonc et al. (1989) • subjects read stories that either did or did not have many words with “u” sound • rated stories with “u” sound as less pleasant and less well-liked

Subliminal Perception • there have been a number of widely circulated but fraudulent claims of subliminal perception

Subliminal Advertising • late 1950s • movie theater in Fort Lee, NJ • advertising executive arranged to have “Eat Popcorn” and “Drink Coke” shown for 1/3 of a millisecond every 5 seconds during every film for 6 weeks • claimed that coke sales went up 18%; popcorn sales went up 58% • executive later admitted that he had faked data to save his then-failing ad agency

Subliminal Advertising • Key (1973) • published Subliminal Seduction • argued that advertisers were routinely using sexually suggestive subliminal messages to get consumers to buy products • example: hidden image of a nude woman superimposed on the ice cubes in a glass of scotch

Back Masking • Hutchins--early 1980s, minister in Hot Springs, AR • claimed that Satanic messages were being inserted into recordings of popular music • audible if records were played backwards • if played forwards, “back masked” messages supposedly entered unconscious, causing person to do immoral things

The Evidence • no well-conducted studies have ever found any behavioral effects of back-masked or hidden messages

A Caveat • people do “see” or “hear” what they interpret as “hidden messages” when presented with any relatively complex stimulus • “I saw Satan” is heard by some listeners when Lewis Caroll’s Jabberwocky is played backward, even though no back-masked message has been inserted • probably reflects confirmation bias

Question • If subliminal advertising and back masking don’t work, are there other forms subliminal perception?

Answer • people can have emotional responses to stimuli they are not aware of having seen/heard • people often know more about a stimulus than they believe

Emotional Responses • Kunst-Wilson & Zajonc (1980) • used tachistoscope to show subjects polygons for 1 millisecond (subliminal duration) • showed subjects pairs of polygons--1 they had previously seen and 1 new polygon (nonsubliminal duration) • asked subjects • which one have you seen before? • which one do you like better?

Kunst-Wilson & Zajonc (1980) • question #1: subjects picked previously seen polygon 48% of time • question #2: subjects picked previously seen polygon 60% of time • subjects liked the previously seen polygon better • subliminal mere exposure effect

Emotional Responses (continued) • Lazarus & McCleary (1951) • conditioned subjects to have an emotional response to nonsense syllables (VUS) by paring syllables with electric shock • used tachistoscope to show subjects emotionally conditioned syllables and neutral syllables (at subliminal durations) • found that subjects had higher GSRs to emotionally conditioned syllables (even when they couldn’t accurately identify syllables)

What You Think You Know • Blackwell (1952) • presented subjects with dim and very brief light in 1 of 4 quadrants on screen • asked subjects to identify location of light • if initial response was wrong, asked subject to guess again • probability of subsequent correct response was better than chance • subjects “knew” more than they thought they did

Summary Thus Far: • it is possible to make accurate judgments and be influenced by stimuli that are below the subjective threshold for perception, but above the objective threshold for perception • objective threshold: level of presentation at which subject has obtained no information about stimulus • subjective threshold: level of presentation at which subject believes he has obtained no information about an event

Cognitive Dissonance • People prefer that their beliefs and behavior are consistent • When behavior conflicts with a belief, people find this to be unpleasant (experience dissonance) • People want to eliminate dissonance • In many cases, people will change a belief to make it consistent with behavior

Festinger & Carlsmith (1959) • Method • subjects lined wooden spools up on tray and turned pegs on board • subjects rated interest level of task (-5 to 5) • 1/3 subjects were asked to create “positive expectancy” for next subject, were paid 1$, and re-rated task • 1/3 of subjects were asked to create “positive expectancy” for next subject, were paid 20$, re-rated task

Results • control subjects = -.45 • $20 subjects = -.05 • $1 subjects = 1.35 • Interpretation • 1$ subjects experienced dissonance • behavior (telling next subject study was interesting) was inconsistent with belief (study was dull) • lacked sufficient justification for behavior (only paid $1) • had to revise belief to make it consistent with behavior

Zimabardo et al. (1965) • Method • army reservists asked to rate “survival foods” • rated fried grasshopper negatively • 1/2 soldiers are asked to eat grasshopper by warm, friendly, likeable officer • 1/2 soldiers are asked to eat grasshopper by cold, distant, unfriendly officer • then asked to re-rate grasshopper

Result • ratings of subjects in “unfriendly officer” group were much higher than “friendly officer” group • Interpretation • subjects in “unfriendly officer” group had experienced dissonance • behavior (eating grasshopper) was inconsistent with belief (grasshopper is gross) and they lacked sufficient justification for doing it • had to change belief to bring it in line with behavior

The End of the World As We Know It • Festinger et al. (1956) • infiltrated group of people led by “Marion Keech” • Mrs. Keech received messages from aliens that world would end on Dec. 21 • group of believers would be picked up by flying saucer at midnight on Dec. 20 • many followers quit their jobs and sold all their possessions

midnight came; nothing happened • at 4:45 a.m., Mrs. Keech had a new vision • world had been spared because of the impressive faith of her group • follow-up indicated there was virtually no change in the acceptance of her teachings • only 2 of 11 abandoned group • degree to which group attempted to attract other followers substantially increased after Dec. 21

Justification of Investment • aka justification of effort • The more effort, time, money etc. that you have put into obtaining something, the better you will like it • probably explains effectiveness of Greek hazing and military boot camp in turning new recruits into loyal members

Necessary Conditions • People have to perceive that they had some degree of choice in their behavior • Belief has to have some real world consequences

Other examples of unconscious influences on behavior • Memory • explicit memory: knowledge that can be intentionally retrieved • implicit: memories of events that influence us, but that we cannot intentionally recall • can detect implicit memory using stem completion task • Patients with Korsakoff’s Syndrome • show deficits in explicit memory, but not implicit memory

Priming • Marcel (1983) • Method • presented subjects with 3-word sequence • example: tree-palm-hand • dependent variable was lexical decision time for “hand” • Results • if “palm” was presented supraliminally, it increased the lexical decision time for “hand” • if “palm” was presented subliminally, it decreased the lexical decision time for “hand”

Priming (continued) • Groeger (1988) • Method • first showed subjects a word • depending on condition, word was either at subliminal duration (subject could obtain no conscious info. about word) or supraliminal (just long enough for subjects to obtain partial info. about word) • then showed subjects a list that didn’t actually contain the first word • asked subjects which word on list was the one they were first shown

Groeger (continued) • Results • if first word was shown supraliminally, subjects chose a word that was similar in structure • if first word was shown subliminally, subjects chose a word that was similar in meaning • Found similar results for auditory stimuli • if first word was presented supraliminally, subjects chose a word that was similar in sound • if first word was presented subliminally, subjects chose a word that was similar in meaning

Unconscious Influences on Social Behavior • Lewicki (1986) • Method • during a preexperimental interview, subject was either insulted by the interviewer or treated in a neutral manner • subjects were then asked to go into another room and select whichever of two experimenter was free to administer the rest of the experiment • because both experimenters were actually free, subjects had to make a choice about which experimenter to choose • one of the two experimenters physically resembled the interviewer who had insulted the subject

Lewicki (continued) • Results • 80% of subjects who had previously been insulted chose the experimenter who did not look like the interviewer • 43% of subjects who had not been insulted choose the experimenter who did not look like the interviewer • in a subsequent questionnaire, almost all subjects indicated that their choice was completely random

Conclusions • Many pop psych claims about subliminal perception have not been supported by research • Research has shown that we are not always consciously aware of the reasons why we do what we do

Research-supported examples of unconscious information processing • People can have emotional responses to stimuli that they are not aware of having been exposed to • conditioned response to nonsense syllables • People can know more about a stimulus than they think they do • dots of light in visual quadrant

Summary (continued) • People will often change their beliefs to make them consistent with behavior, especially if they lack sufficient justification for their behavior • cognitive dissonance • People can be influenced by stimuli they can’t remember having been exposed to • implicit memory

Summary (continued) • A stimulus can have different effects depending on whether it is presented subliminally or supraliminally • lexical decision time • choice of word that is similar in meaning vs. structure • Previous experience can have an unconscious influence on social behavior • subjects who were insulted by the interviewer

Unconscious Influences on Behavior