Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/733
Browse
7 results
Search Results
Item The search for moderation: does anxiety enhance the unconscious thought advantage?(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2017) Whillock, Summer Rain; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Ian M. HandleyWhen people face a large amount of information on which to base a decision, common sense suggests that they should slowly and deliberatively think about that information. However, Unconscious Thought Theory (UTT) suggests that a slow yet unconscious mechanism can process complex information and output decisions that rival, and perhaps exceed, the quality of decisions that result from deliberative thought (Dijksterhuis & Nordgren, 2006). However, this idea is controversial and research into UTT reveals that an unconscious thought advantage (UTA) over conscious thinking is small and manifests unreliably (Nieuwenstein et al., 2015; Strick et al., 2011). The aim of this thesis was to identify and test a potential moderator of the UTA. Logically, situations that hinder conscious thought but leave unconscious thought relatively unaffected should enhance the UTA. The Attentional Control Theory (ACT) offers one such situation, that anxiety compromises conscious processes that rely upon attentional control and working memory (Eysenck, Derakshan, Santos, & Calvo, 2007). Because conscious thought relies heavily on working memory relative to unconscious thought, experiencing anxiety may lead the two thought processes to diverge. Specifically, anxiety should negatively influence conscious thought but not significantly influence unconscious thought. In the present study, participants viewed information about roommate candidates and made judgments after a period of either distraction or focused deliberation, while under calm or anxious conditions. Results did not support the hypothesis that the experience of anxiety would increase the UTA; participants performed comparably in the conscious thought and unconscious thought conditions. Further, participants in the conscious thought condition performed better under anxious compared to calm conditions. Exploratory analyses and future directions are discussed.Item Dissolved hierarchial workplace romances : effects of illicitness of the romance, existence of a workplace romance policy, and type of harassing behavior on responses to a sexual harassment complaint(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2002) McClure, Jamie RenaeItem Effects of information quality on decision making(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 1980) Lands, Lark ElizabethItem Beyond rational judgment : a test of the affect heuristic hypothesis(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2002) Richmond, Aaron SargentItem Evidence for unconscious thought in complex decisions : the result of a methodological artifact or of an active thought process(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2009) Runnion, Brett Matthew; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Ian M. HandleyPrevious research has suggested that a period of unconscious thought can result in judgments that are equal or superior to those of conscious thought (Dijksterhuis, 2004). The existence of unconscious thought as a decision-making process is controversial. In fact, it has been suggested that unconscious thought is not a process rather the evidence supporting it is the result of a methodological artifact (Lassiter et al., in press) that only occurs when participants can retrieve online judgments. This thesis attempts to resolve this controversy. Participants received information describing 4 cars (acquisition stage) that were described by twelve dichotomous attributes (e.g., good/poor mileage). The best car possessed mostly positive characteristics and the worst car had mostly negative characteristics. Participants were told before or after the information was presented, that they would be forming an impression of the four cars. They were then allowed to think about the cars consciously for 4 minutes, were distracted for 4 minutes (unconscious thought), or were asked to make an immediate decision without thinking. When the instructions to form an impression were received before acquiring the information, the participants could form online judgments during acquisition. These could later be retrieved when participants reported their attitudes. When the instructions to form an impression were received after participants acquired the information, they could not form online judgments, but could form only memory-based judgments after the information was presented. Without online judgments, participants are forced to rely on memory-based judgments. Thus, if participants in the unconscious-thought condition formed more favorable attitudes toward the best car relative to the attitudes formed by the participants in the other two conditions, a thought process must be occurring. Additionally, these attitudes should transfer to choosing the best car as well. However, the results of this thesis failed to replicate previous research (Lassiter et al., in press) as the dependent measures failed to reach significance.Item Different encoding strategies affect retrieval of information in collaborative groups(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2008) Freuen, Margaret Taffy; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Michelle L. MeadeThis study examined collaborative memory and encoding strategies. Participants read three different stories processed with three different encoding strategies. Each story had two encoding strategies, but participants were only given one strategy per story (Pichert & Anderson, 1977). Later participants recalled and recognized the stories in three test trials. Recall occurred either individually or collaboratively. Pairs of participants read the same stories with the same strategy (congruent condition), the same stories with different strategies (incongruent condition) or the same stories with no strategy (control condition). Participants in incongruent groups did not show an effect of collaboration or collaborative performance equaled nominal performance, whereas congruent collaborative groups showed standard collaborative inhibition effects (Wright & Klummp, 2004). After recall, a two-part recognition test occurred individually. Prior collaboration and strategy influenced importance judgments. Participants formerly in collaborative groups rated items congruent with their strategy as more important and items incongruent with their strategy as less important than did nominal groups. When working in a collaborative group, perhaps attending to different information ameliorates retrieval strategy disruption and aides in the process of collaboration. Additionally, prior collaboration affects importance ratings on a subsequent recognition test.Item Ethical decision making about sexual harassment complaints that stem from dissolved workplace romances : a policy-capturing approach(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2005) Jessen, Paul Lee; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Jennifer G. BoldryAn experiment was conducted to examine the degree to which Jones' (1991) ethical decision-making model is an appropriate theoretical perspective from which to interpret raters' varying responses to a sexual harassment claim that stems from a dissolved workplace romance. The policy capturing methodology was used with 40 study participants to assess the significance of features of a dissolved workplace romance and sexual harassment situation in predicting participants' responses to a sexual harassment claim. Results revealed that Jones' (1991) ethical decision-making model is appropriate for describing the underlying social-cognitive process for observers responding to a sexual harassment claim that stems from a dissolved workplace romance. Results also suggest that certain features of a workplace romance/sexual harassment scenario are weighted more heavily by observers than other features. Future research, alternative explanations, and implications for policy formation, training programs, and sexual harassment investigations are discussed.