Module One

Perspectives continued: Cognitive Dissonance and Habits

A state of tension that occurs whenever an individualsimultaneously holds twocognitions (ideas,

attitudes,beliefs, opinions) that arepsychologically

inconsistentwith one another.

Most people are motivated to justify their own actions, beliefs, and feelings.

People are not rational beings; instead, people are rationalizing beings.

Cognitive Dissonance Assumptions

History

"Prophecy from planet Clarion call to city: flee that flood."

• "Marian Keech“ - given messages in her house

• Failed prophesy dissonance• Dissonance need for social

support

• Boring Task• turning pegs a quarter turn, over and over again• Recruit other participants • $148.00 vs $7.00• those in the $7 group rated task more positively • When paid only $7, students were forced to

internalize the attitude

Types of Experiments

Types of Experiments

• Post decision Dissonance• Rate appliances • Choose one• participants increased their ratings of the item

they chose, and lowered their ratings of the rejected item

• Reduces the dissonance between the thought that I choose X, but Y has great qualities, too.

Cognitive Dissonance

Removing the Dissonance (cont’d)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CognitiveDissonanceDiagram.jpg

• Choice causing post decision regret

• Resolve:• Devalue the NOT

chosen alternative and heighten the value of the Chosen

Motivational Processes Underlying Cognitive dissonanceMotivational Processes Underlying Cognitive dissonance

• Insufficient Justification

• Resolve:• Create a new

consonant belief that reinforces the unprompted behavior

Motivational Processes Underlying Cognitive dissonanceMotivational Processes Underlying Cognitive dissonance

• Effort Justification• Resolve:• Develop and extreme

value for the extreme behavior

Motivational Processes Underlying Cognitive dissonanceMotivational Processes Underlying Cognitive dissonance

http://northshorecombat.blogspot.com/

• New Information that dooms previously cherished beliefs

• Resolve:• Rationalize the belief

and hold more firmly to your belief in it

Motivational Processes Underlying Cognitive dissonanceMotivational Processes Underlying Cognitive dissonance

Figure 10.3 Cognitive Dissonance Processes

Motivational Processes Underlying Cognitive dissonanceMotivational Processes Underlying Cognitive dissonance

An Example

• The Stanford Prison Experiment

• Pay close attention to the actions and words of the student-participants who were chosen to be the guards

• Identify the dissonance and how it was reduced

15

Phillip G

. Zim

bardo, Inc.

• Recall from first lecture on evolutionary influences on motivation

• We are biologically programmed to pay attention to those things in our environment that bring us rewards

• How do we remember rewards?

• History: Olds and Milner, 1954

The “reward pathway” in the brain

Utilizing the Reward System

• Habits as Motivation for Behavior

• Habit

• Routines of behavior that are – repeated, – occur subconsciously, and – are triggered by a specific context

• Example: why did I close the garage door when Paul asked me to keep it up??

Formation

• Habit formation is the process by which a behavior becomes habitual

• Emerge from the gradual learning of associations between our responses and the features of performance contexts that has historically co-occurred with them (physical settings, preceding actions)

• Require a consistent context that serves as a cue that link s the context and the action.

The Importance of Goals In Habit Formation

• Provide the initial outcome-oriented impetus for response repetition.

• To engage in a behavior, it’s highly likely that an implicit or even an explicit goal is what was driving the expression of that behavior to begin with.

• Goal: “To get Leela to respond to me with a smile”

• Behavior: “Weee Weee!!!”

The Process involved in Habit formation

• Recall carver’s model of self regulation

The Process involved in Habit formation

• Modification over time that leads to habit formation

The Process involved in Habit formation

• Modification over time that leads to habit formation

Your reading: Example of Cognitive Dissonance

While reading, please note the answers to the following questions:

1. What was the procedure (what did participants do?)

2. What did the authors find?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Discuss with your Group1. What type of dissonance task was incorporated into

this study? Explain how you know this.

2. Case to discuss: Joe has a smoking “habit” describe to him

1. how this habit likely developed and

2. why he continues to smoke although he doesn’t believe it is a good idea

3. Prescribe an intervention that will specifically target and help to break his HABIT only. Provide a justification for why your intervention is a sound one (data-driven)