Vannah-Wila L. Yazon
Guest
|
Post by Vannah-Wila L. Yazon on Apr 5, 2016 5:58:19 GMT
In Classics in the History of Psych, it describes the self-convincing effect of mental rehearsal. This proposed that if a person is made to act like or say something opposite to their opinion, the person will actually have the tendency to change their opinion to correspond with what the person was made to do or say (Green). In Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion, is describes how people are more susceptible or resistant to persuasion based upon their prior knowledge and how they appeal to it (Cacioppo). Both of these articles have an underlying influence of the inner subconscious levels (preconscious/unconscious) vs. the external world and its constraints and need.  This reminded me of another situation in which external individuals have influenced individuals to perform/act a certain way: the Pygmalion effect. The Pygmalion effect is also known as the expectancy effect, and basically proposes that people act according to expectations. (And I expect y’all to read this forum and comment, sooooo let’s test it!) The Pygmalion effect is found to have great correlation between teachers and students; in other words, “teachers’ expectations have a deep influence on student performance” (Boser, Wilhelm, Hanna). This 2014 study showed that high school teachers who had greater expectations about their student’s successes were more likely to graduate from college and that minority students typically had teachers’ with lower expectations, which correlated with their lower college retention and graduation.  www.americanprogress.org/issues/education/report/2014/10/06/96806/the-power-of-the-pygmalion-effect/ <-- Ya’ll have the opportunity to read more about this The Pygmalion effect was also seen in the well-known 1968 Rosenthal and Jacobsen study in which a portion of a random 2nd grade class was randomly told they were going to “bloom” and become smarter the next year because of an IQ test (data that the researchers didn’t to choose the bloomers), and a majority did surprisingly. The other “non-bloomers” had a mostly average increase in intelligence the next year.  What does this all mean?! 1. The expectancy effect is real 2. We, as students, subconsciously manipulate reality in order to confirm their expectations. 3. So expectations should technically be high 4. Expectations have long term effects If we subconsciously change our opinions, and are subconsciously influenced by expectations and our prior knowledge, how much is our conscious decision?  |
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Apr 5, 2016 11:43:14 GMT
The expectations don't even have to be real. Just perceived. There's a related phenomenon called stereotype threat, where your performance is inhibited by your mind's unconscious activation of negative stereotypes about you or people like you.
In one experiment, women were given two versions of the same math test and the only difference was that version A had check boxes for male or female at the top of the page and version B did not. Women performed worse on version A than on version B.
The implication is that stereotypes can fulfill themselves because people unconsciously change their behavior to match them.
|
|
|
|
Post by Admin on Apr 6, 2016 6:12:14 GMT
Bump.
Any thoughts?
|
|
|
|
Post by jreitsma on Apr 6, 2016 7:02:03 GMT
I believe the expectations we set for ourselves are extremely powerful in the outcome of our actions. If one continuously sets positive, high expectations for themselves, they in turn will have better outcomes. To me it's the "fake it till you make" belief. Our thoughts and feelings have so much more power over the outcomes in our lives than we could ever imagine. Even if one thinks that they will not succeed, by pretending to believe in their success they eventually can make their thoughts coincide with feelings of succeeding, which matches up with the actions of someone who feels as if they will succeed. An example that comes to mind is when one smiles for a while it is shown that they will actually begin to feel happier.
|
|
dalia
New Member
Posts: 28 
|
Post by dalia on Apr 6, 2016 7:35:28 GMT
I agree to what you've mentioned about the expectancy effect and Pygmalion effects, and the examples above about the math tests and smiling. In fact, they reminded me of a story I read in high school from a biography about a guy who became a famous physicist and made significant contributions to the field which earned him many awards. I can't remember his name but the story centers around his upbringing. His parents really wanted him to be a doctor and so, while growing up, they always called him doctor (insert his name here  )-- let's say Doctor Marc. They also put a sign on his door saying Dr. Marc. So all through his upbringing, he had this notion that he had to be a doctor, and so he did. He studied a lot and went to college and earned a PHD and the title "Dr." Basically, the main point was to highlight how significant the effects of upbringing and notions from others have on ourselves. For example, if a parent always scolds their child or calls them dumb, or if a child hears the same thing said about him over and over again throughout their upbringing, like stupid or smart, it will change the way they think of themselves. Having said that, I think that although we are subconsciously effected, there is a bright side because it means that we can change such notions by changing the way we perceive ourselves and acknowledging the effects of these notions. This may sound cliche, but really, sometimes the only thing standing in the way of achieving what you want (be it grades or some other goal) is yourself. For example, if you tell yourself i'm not smart enough to do this, then you are conforming to the unconscious notions engrained in your mind throughout your upbringing, and hence limiting yourself. To conclude, I think this example as well as the aforementioned ones serve to highlight the idea of dissonance put forth in the readings and the conclusion that “if a person is induced to do or say something which is contrary to his private opinion, there will be a tendency for him to change his opinion so as to bring it into correspondence with what he has done or said" although in my example the person wasn't necessarily "forced" to take that opinion, but adopted it after being subjected to it constantly throughout their upbringing. |
|
|
|
Post by Stacy Li on Apr 7, 2016 21:52:03 GMT
I thought your connection to the Pygmalion effect was very relevant to this discussion. The connection between our subconscious (I hope this is the right word to use here) opinion and what we choose to or are forced to say out loud reminds me of a testing technique my AP Psych teacher in high school used to use. Before every exam, he would make everybody stand up and perform large, out-reaching stretches and chant over and over again that they were going to perform well. We would stand up, high five each other, do full body stretches and even run around the room sometime. He essentially told us that what we say out loud, we tend to believe more, as the Green article argues. Once we say these things out loud, we start to believe more that we will perform well and generally have more confidence in ourselves. In my personal experience, I've found these techniques to be beneficial in my performance. Test taking it seems is just as much of a mental game as it is a literal "test" of your knowledge.
Additionally this also brought me to thinking about the classic "Free Will vs Fate" debate. In general, I think this article tells us that we are in full control of our opinions, thoughts, actions...etc. If we want to believe something, we will slowly train our brains to believe in whatever we want to believe more and more. If we want to do well on an exam, for example, we can tell ourselves that we will perform well and will slowly build more confidence in ourselves that we are capable of doing well. I think the same applies to other opinions, whether it is of ourselves or of other people, and personal capability.
|
|
|
|
Post by vannahyazon on Apr 12, 2016 6:03:57 GMT
I thought your connection to the Pygmalion effect was very relevant to this discussion. The connection between our subconscious (I hope this is the right word to use here) opinion and what we choose to or are forced to say out loud reminds me of a testing technique my AP Psych teacher in high school used to use. Before every exam, he would make everybody stand up and perform large, out-reaching stretches and chant over and over again that they were going to perform well. We would stand up, high five each other, do full body stretches and even run around the room sometime. He essentially told us that what we say out loud, we tend to believe more, as the Green article argues. Once we say these things out loud, we start to believe more that we will perform well and generally have more confidence in ourselves. In my personal experience, I've found these techniques to be beneficial in my performance. Test taking it seems is just as much of a mental game as it is a literal "test" of your knowledge. Additionally this also brought me to thinking about the classic "Free Will vs Fate" debate. In general, I think this article tells us that we are in full control of our opinions, thoughts, actions...etc. If we want to believe something, we will slowly train our brains to believe in whatever we want to believe more and more. If we want to do well on an exam, for example, we can tell ourselves that we will perform well and will slowly build more confidence in ourselves that we are capable of doing well. I think the same applies to other opinions, whether it is of ourselves or of other people, and personal capability. That's hella awesome that your teacher did that! Reminds me a bit of how Chandler would make us touch shoulders during tests and say to the other person, "it's alright, you're going to do fine" (or something, quite frankly it's hard to remember LOL) Also I agree with the whole Free Will vs. Fate debate because it goes back to the "I think therefore i am" and self-fulfilling prophecies really can work. |
|
|
|
Post by vannahyazon on Apr 12, 2016 6:08:22 GMT
I agree to what you've mentioned about the expectancy effect and Pygmalion effects, and the examples above about the math tests and smiling. In fact, they reminded me of a story I read in high school from a biography about a guy who became a famous physicist and made significant contributions to the field which earned him many awards. I can't remember his name but the story centers around his upbringing. His parents really wanted him to be a doctor and so, while growing up, they always called him doctor (insert his name here )-- let's say Doctor Marc. They also put a sign on his door saying Dr. Marc. So all through his upbringing, he had this notion that he had to be a doctor, and so he did. He studied a lot and went to college and earned a PHD and the title "Dr." Basically, the main point was to highlight how significant the effects of upbringing and notions from others have on ourselves. For example, if a parent always scolds their child or calls them dumb, or if a child hears the same thing said about him over and over again throughout their upbringing, like stupid or smart, it will change the way they think of themselves. Having said that, I think that although we are subconsciously effected, there is a bright side because it means that we can change such notions by changing the way we perceive ourselves and acknowledging the effects of these notions. This may sound cliche, but really, sometimes the only thing standing in the way of achieving what you want (be it grades or some other goal) is yourself. For example, if you tell yourself i'm not smart enough to do this, then you are conforming to the unconscious notions engrained in your mind throughout your upbringing, and hence limiting yourself. To conclude, I think this example as well as the aforementioned ones serve to highlight the idea of dissonance put forth in the readings and the conclusion that “if a person is induced to do or say something which is contrary to his private opinion, there will be a tendency for him to change his opinion so as to bring it into correspondence with what he has done or said" although in my example the person wasn't necessarily "forced" to take that opinion, but adopted it after being subjected to it constantly throughout their upbringing. Yeah! I agree with the biggest enemy and obstacle being ourselves and that upbringing has alot of effect on what people amount to and strive for. Not only through Pygmalion have we seen the effects of teachers on a student's outcomes, but you bring up another aspect we see everyday, how our parents and family influence our goals, aspirations, and where we are now. I'd say that our family has at least a tiny influence in why we are all at UCLA. |
|
|
|
Post by vannahyazon on Apr 12, 2016 6:11:07 GMT
I believe the expectations we set for ourselves are extremely powerful in the outcome of our actions. If one continuously sets positive, high expectations for themselves, they in turn will have better outcomes. To me it's the "fake it till you make" belief. Our thoughts and feelings have so much more power over the outcomes in our lives than we could ever imagine. Even if one thinks that they will not succeed, by pretending to believe in their success they eventually can make their thoughts coincide with feelings of succeeding, which matches up with the actions of someone who feels as if they will succeed. An example that comes to mind is when one smiles for a while it is shown that they will actually begin to feel happier. It's always great in my opinion to have this ability to change our mindsets because it makes our goals and happiness in general more attainable because we have a say in things ourselves~ Also, that smile example works both ways, if you smile you can become happier and if you are happier, you obviously smile! So, the overall influence is pretty astounding. |
|
|
|
Post by vannahyazon on Apr 12, 2016 6:13:13 GMT
The expectations don't even have to be real. Just perceived. There's a related phenomenon called stereotype threat, where your performance is inhibited by your mind's unconscious activation of negative stereotypes about you or people like you. In one experiment, women were given two versions of the same math test and the only difference was that version A had check boxes for male or female at the top of the page and version B did not. Women performed worse on version A than on version B. The implication is that stereotypes can fulfill themselves because people unconsciously change their behavior to match them. Thinking more deeply about this comment, it's pretty scary how just perception is a huge influence. We do tend to make things we think of very daunting and they become real in our minds. That example is freaken crazy too! Just one small thing coupled with associations of other unconscious influences. Wow. |
|
)-- let's say Doctor Marc. They also put a sign on his door saying Dr. Marc. So all through his upbringing, he had this notion that he had to be a doctor, and so he did. He studied a lot and went to college and earned a PHD and the title "Dr." Basically, the main point was to highlight how significant the effects of upbringing and notions from others have on ourselves. For example, if a parent always scolds their child or calls them dumb, or if a child hears the same thing said about him over and over again throughout their upbringing, like stupid or smart, it will change the way they think of themselves. Having said that, I think that although we are subconsciously effected, there is a bright side because it means that we can change such notions by changing the way we perceive ourselves and acknowledging the effects of these notions. This may sound cliche, but really, sometimes the only thing standing in the way of achieving what you want (be it grades or some other goal) is yourself. For example, if you tell yourself i'm not smart enough to do this, then you are conforming to the unconscious notions engrained in your mind throughout your upbringing, and hence limiting yourself.