Psc 161 Midterm #2

Front 1

Egocentrism

Back 1

The tendency to perceive, understand and interpret the world in terms of the self.

Front 2

Kruger, Epley, Parker, and Ng (2005)

Back 2

Front 3

Illusion of Transparency
(Gilovich, Savitsky, & Medvec, 1998)

Back 3

– A tendency for people to overestimate the degree to which their personal mental state is known by others.
– Believing that other people can “see right through us.”

Front 4

Spotlight Effect
(Gilovich, Medvec, & Savitsky, 2000)

Back 4

– People tend to believe that the spotlight shines more brightly on them than it really does.
Design:
Subject asked to put on t-shirt picturing
– Barry Manilow (Study 1)
– Famous person of own choice (MLK, Seinfeld)
(Study 2)
– Walk into room where other subjects are filling out questionnaires.
– How many people noticed the t-shirt?
Results:
In actuality, there was a 20% difference in how much people thought others paid attention to them and how much they actually did pay attention.

Front 5

False Consensus Effect

Back 5

When people’s own choices, attitudes, or beliefs bias their estimates of those of other people, leading them to view their own reactions as relatively common.

Front 6

Prentice and Miller (1993)

Back 6

Students believed that they were more uncomfortable than the average student with campus alcohol practices. They actually were not as far off from other students as they believed they were.

Front 7

Magical Thinking
Pronin et al. (2006)
The Witch Doctor’s Voodoo Curse

Back 7

– Belief in the ability to influence events at a distance with no known physical explanation.
The Witch Doctor’s Voodoo Curse
Design:
– Evil Thoughts Condition: Subject encounters rude, obnoxious confederate posing as another subject
– Control Condition: Subject encounters neutral confederate
– Subject assigned “witch doctor” role, confederate assigned to “victim” role
– Asked to generate vivid thoughts about confederate
– Subject instructed to stick 5 pins in voodoo doll
– Confederate subsequently reports experiencing a headache
Results: Participants in the Evil Thoughts Condition were more likely to believe that they caused the confederate’s headache; reported pleasant surprise.

Front 8

Facial Feedback Hypothesis

Back 8

“The free expression by outward signs of an emotion intensifies it. On the other hand, the repression, as far as this is possible, of all outward signs softens our emotions... Even the simulation of an emotion tends to arouse it in our minds.” (Darwin, 1872, p366)

Front 9

Strack, Martin & Stepper (1988)

Back 9

– Participants were asked to hold pen either with their teeth or with their lips.
– Provided subjective ratings of the funniness of a cartoon.
– Participants in the Teeth condition reported significantly higher amusement ratings than those in the Lips condition.

Front 10

Pluralistic Ignorance

Back 10

– Failure on the part of most people to
realize that others’ share their own
private reactions. When everyone
privately rejects or doesn’t uphold
group norm, yet believes that most
other group members accept it.
– It develops most commonly under
circumstances in which there is
widespread misrepresentation of
private views.
– Example: Understanding course
material