Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/732
Browse
4 results
Search Results
Item Unconscious thought and stereotypes: how posteriori stereotype activation biases unconscious thought(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2019) Reiter, Lucca Aleksandr; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Ian M. HandleyUnconscious Thought Theory (UTT) proposes that people can actively process goal-relevant information when they are distracted from consciously thinking about it (Dijksterhuis & Nordgren, 2006). Further, unconscious thought (UT) is purported to process the information in an aschematic bottom-up manner (Bos, Dijksterhuis, & van Baaren, 2008). Supporting this claim is experimental evidence that UT is less susceptible to stereotype use compared to the top-down schema-driven process of conscious thought (CT; Bos & Dijksterhuis, 2011). Based on these findings, UTT has proposed that UT does not utilize stereotypes when forming impressions. However, other research suggests that participants may form biased impressions in experimental contexts arguably suitable to the operation of UT if a stereotype is non-consciously activated during distraction periods following information acquisition (van Knippenberg & Dijksterhuis, 1996). Further, goal-relevant information is actively integrated during UT, therefore stereotype activation during UT could lead to more biased impressions compared to conditions where negligible thinking occurs. The aim of this thesis was to compare how the active processes of UT and the passive process of being merely distracted are differentially impacted by stereotype activation. In the present experiment, participants were presented with information about a hypothetical person, 'Person 1,' some of which implied traits that are consistent and inconsistent with the stereotype of African-American men. Then, they either received an evaluation goal (UT) or no goal (MD) prior to being distracted for 3min. During distraction, some participants were primed with the stereotype of African- American men. Then, accessibility of the stereotype-consistent and inconsistent traits were measured using a lexical decision task (LDT). Lastly, participants provided their impressions' of 'Person 1' on various trait dimensions. Results supported the hypotheses that among participants in UT conditions, stereotype activation inhibited the accessibility of stereotype-inconsistent concepts relative to consistent concepts. However, this biased accessibility did not impact impressions of 'Person 1.' Possible limitations, implications, and future directions are discussed.Item Investigating the maintenance of unfulfilled goals overtime : do they occupy executive resources?(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2015) Garrison, Katie Elizabeth; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Ian M. HandleyPsychological research demonstrates that goals can remain active across time until they are fulfilled, even unconsciously and, presumably, passively. Yet, recent research suggests that unfulfilled goals require effort to maintain, drawing upon the limited pool of executive resources and interfering with executive control. If true, the logic follows that unfulfilled goals should compromise executive control initially following goal activation and after a delay. However, another possibility is that the executive control deficits resulting from an unfulfilled goal are due to the initial mobilization of effort required to activate the goal in the first place, and that executive control is only compromised initially following goal activation and not after a delay. To test these competing predictions, participants in two reported experiments received a goal to form impressions of roommates in an upcoming experimental task, or no goal. Next, participants engaged in an unrelated task that required the inhibition of a prepotent response (i.e., executive control). Performance on this task is dependent on the availability of executive resources, as one needs these resources to successfully inhibit a prepotent response. In addition, participants engaged in this task either immediately after goal (or no goal) activation, or after a few-minute pause. The results of both experiments indicate that the impression formation goal had no effect on executive control immediately or after a pause. The proposition that unfulfilled goals occupy executive resources is likely complicated by moderating variables, as a simple yet effective goal manipulation in the current experiments did not compromise executive resources.Item Investigating the impact of general action and inaction goals on attitude polarization(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2014) Owenby, Shaun Robert; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Ian M. HandleyPrevious research shows that people can hold general goals for action or inaction. Further, action (vs. inaction) goals can result in less or greater attitude change in response to a persuasive message under different circumstances. To explain this opposite pattern of results, the current research explored the possibility that action (inaction) goals enhance (diminish) the default tendency of a given situation. Furthermore, research on attitude polarization demonstrates that despite exposure to equally strong yet opposing messages on a particular topic, individuals evaluate information consistent with their existing attitude as stronger (i.e. biased assimilation) and report more polarized attitudes as a result. Thus, for the present thesis, it was hypothesized that action (inaction) goals would enhance (diminish) this default tendency for biased information processing, leading to more (less) polarized attitudes compared to participants who receive no (control) goals. In this experiment, participants with non-neutral initial attitudes toward the impact of illegal immigration on the economy completed word fragments as part of an apparent verbal agility task. Via random assignment, this task actually primed either a general action, inaction, or no (control) goal. Next, participants viewed equally strong but opposing messages in a side-by-side format where one message supported and the other refuted the economic benefits of illegal immigration. Finally, participants responded to several measures to assess direct and perceived attitude polarization, as well as biased assimilation of the messages. The results replicated several findings in attitude polarization literature; however, goal primes yielded no effects, thus the hypotheses were unsupported. Several explanations of the results and possibilities for future research are discussed.Item The effect of action and inaction goals on the use of internal and external expectations(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2012) Jackson, Janine Michelle; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Ian M. HandleyResearch consistent with the placebo effect demonstrates that expectations congruently influence perceptions and judgments of an experience (Price, Chung, & Robinson, 2005). Furthermore, expectations usually come from either external sources such as provided or situational information or internal sources such as prior experience with the stimuli (Stewart-Williams, 2004). Additionally, primes affect how external expectations influence an experience (Geers et al., 2005; Yosai et al., 2012). Internal expectations are similar to pre-existing attitudes, and action and inaction primes affect whether pre-existing attitudes affect attitude change (Albarracín & Handley, 2011). Given this, action and inaction goals should also influence the extent to which internal and external expectations affect perception of an experience. In a reported experiment, participants initially did or did not experience irritating noise blasts, and were then primed with action, inaction, or neutral goals. Participants then received information that a change in a computer screen color would produce calming affects, or they were told the color was a screen saver. All participants then experienced and rated a final set of noise blasts. Other dependent measures were also included that assessed evaluations of the information manipulation and comparative ratings of the stimuli. For individuals with relevant screen information and prior experience, it was predicted that action goals would increase the influence of the internal expectation on perception, and inaction primes would decrease the influence of the internal expectation on perception. For individuals with relevant screen information and no prior experience, action primes should increase the influence of the external expectation on perception, and inaction primes will decrease the influence of the external expectation. Inaction primes had the predicted effects on evaluations of the information manipulation, but not on direct ratings of the sounds or comparative ratings of the stimuli. Inaction inhibited the influence of the relevant external expectation in the prior experience group, and also inhibited the influence of the internal expectations in the prior experience-relevant information group. These results provide support for the conclusion that action and inaction primes influence the use of internal or external expectations in the interpretation of an experience. Future research and other implications are discussed.