Harvard University
Psychology 2670a
Psychology of Decision Making and Perceived Control
Professor Ellen J. Langer
Fall 2015
Wednesday, 9:30-11:30
WJH 1305
Week
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
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Date
9/09
9/16
9/23
9/30
10/07
10/14
10/21
10/28
11/04
11/18
12/02
12/09
12/10.
Topic
Illusion of Control
Prediction vs. Control
The Perception of Control
Biases and Heuristics
Rational and Arational Models of Decision-Making
Interpersonal Decisional Processes
Health Prediction
Relinquishing Control: Mindlessness (I)
Relinquishing Control: Mindlessness (II)
Mindfulness in Education and Business
Mindful Decision-Making in Context
Review/GLADO (To be explained)
Final Paper Due
2670a (Fall 2015) Psychology of Decision Making and Perceived Control
Prof. E. J. Langer
Books on order at the Harvard Coop:
Dawes, R. and R. Hastie. (2010). Rational Choice in an Uncertain World. Edition 2 SAGE
Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.
Gardner, D. Gardner (2011). Future Babble: Why Expert Predictions Are Next to
Worthless, and You Can Do Better.
Gawande, A. (2002). Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science.NY:
Metropolitan Books
Herbert, W. (2010). On Second Thought: Outsmarting Your Mind’s Hard-Wired Habits. NY:
Random House
Kahneman, D., Slovic, P. & Tversky, A. (1989). Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and
Biases. Cambridge University Press
Langer, E. (2014). Mindfulness. Da Capo Lifelong Books, Second Edition, 25th Anniversary
Edition.
Langer, E. (1997). The Power of Mindful Learning. MA: Addison Wesley
Langer, E. (2005) On Becoming An Artist: reinventing yourself through mindful
creativity. NY: Ballantine.
Langer, E. (2009). Counterclockwise: Mindfulness, Health and the Psychology of
Possibility. NY: Ballantine
Alter, A. (2014). Drunk Tank Pink, Penguin Books.
Lewis, S. (2013). The Rise: Creativity, Mastery, and the Gift of Failure. Simon & Schuster.
Langer, E. (2014). The art of noticing. (available on Amazon)
Recommended Books:
Browning, D. (2011). Slow Love: How I Lost My Job, Put on My Pajamas, and Found
Happiness. Penguin.
Gornick, V. (2001). The Situation and the Story: The Art of Personal Narrative. NY:
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Gawande, A, (2014) On Being Mortal . Holt Henry and Company
Hare, B., & Woods, V. (2013). The genius of dogs: how dogs are smarter than you
think.
Horowitz, A. (2014). On Looking: A Walkers Guide to the Art of Observation.
Scribner
Mlodinow, L. (2008). The Drunkard’s Walk, N.Y: Pantheon
Schank, R. (2004). Making Minds Less Well Educated Than Our Own. NJ: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates
White, C. (2013). The Science Delusion: Asking the Big Questions in a Culture of Easy
Answers. Melville House.
Petit, P. (2014). Creativity the Perfect Crime, Riverhead Hardcover.
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2670a (Fall 2015) Psychology of Decision Making and Perceived Control
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Note: Journal articles will be divided among class members on a weekly basis
Policy on Collaboration
Written Assignments
Discussion and the exchange of ideas are essential to academic work. For assignments in
this course, you are encouraged to consult with your classmates on the choice of paper
topics and to share sources. You may find it useful to discuss your chosen topic with your
peers, particularly if you are working on the same topic as a classmate. However, you
should ensure that any written work you submit for evaluation is the result of your own
research and writing and that it reflects your own approach to the topic. You must also
adhere to standard citation practices in this discipline and properly cite any books, articles,
websites, lectures, etc. that have helped you with your work. If you receive any help with
your writing (feedback on drafts, etc), you must also acknowledge this assistance.
Week 1: September 9
The Illusion of Control
Readings:
Langer, E. (1983).
Langer, E. (1983).
Langer, E. (1978).
207.
Langer, E. (1975).
311-328
The Psychology of Control. Beverly Hills: Sage. Ch 1, 2, 4, 5
Introduction to The Psychology of Control.
The psychology of chance. Journal for the theory of social behavior, 7, 185The illusion of control. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32,
Langer, E. and Roth, J. (1975). Heads I win, tails it’s chance. The illusion of control as a function
of the sequence outcomes in a purely chance task. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 32, 951-955.
Gollwitzer, P. M. & Kinney, R. F. (1989). Effects of deliberative and implemental mind-sets on
illusion of control. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56, 531-542.
Nickerson, R. (2002). The product and perception of randomness. Psychological Review, 109,
330- 357.
Wohl, M. & Enzle, M. (2003). The effects of near wins and near losses on self-perceived
personal luck and subsequent gambling behavior. Journal of Experimental Social
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2670a (Fall 2015) Psychology of Decision Making and Perceived Control
Prof. E. J. Langer
Psychology, 39, 184-191.
Mlodinow, L. (2008). The Drunkard’s Walk, N.Y.: Pantheon (recommended).
Risen, J.L. & Gilovich, T. (2008). Why people are reluctant to tempt fate. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 95(2), 293-307.
Langens, T.A. (2007). Regulatory focus and illusions of control. Personality and Social
Psychology Bulletin, 33(2), 226-37.
Grant, A. & Schwartz, B. (2011). Too much of a good thing: The challenge and opportunity of
the Inverted U. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6(1), 61-76.
Wegner, D., and Wheatley, T. (1999). Apparent Mental Causation: Sources of the Experience
of Will. American Psychologyst, 54(7), 480-492
Lockton, D., Harrison, D., & Stanton, N. A. (2010). Design with intent: 101 patterns for
influencing behaviour through design. Dan Lockton.
Questions:
1. Is the illusion of control an observer’s phenomenon?
2.
3.
4.
5.
Who decides what is an illusion and what is real and based on what data?
Define control. What is the relationship between decision-making and control?
How is the illusion of control (I.O.C) different from superstition?
What factor(s), other than the ones already tested, do you think would induce an
illusion of control (consider personal, interpersonal, and impersonal contexts when
trying to answer this question) and what are their impact on daily decision-making?
What about decision-making in emergencies?
6. Phenomenologically speaking, what is the relationship between the illusion of
control and control? Is it immoral, moral, or amoral to encourage an illusion of
control in others?
7. It has been suggested that what is operating in several of the studies reported in
the I.O.C. paper is actually an illusion of prediction rather than an illusion of
control.
a. In which studies might this be true?
b. Do you think the prediction vs. control distinction is important
(remember your definition of control)? Why or why not?
8. How is the illusion of control a motivational (cognitive) construct? Do you think an
illusion of control is adaptive or is it necessarily maladaptive?
9. What do you believe is the relationship between “compulsive” gambling and the illusion
of control? Do people make decisions to engage in addictive behavior?
10. What is the relationship between hopefulness, optimism and the illusion of control?
11. How might our understanding of the illusion of control inform our
understanding of terrorists, nuclear threat, public policy, and politics?
12. Where do you think research on the topic should now be directed? (Be prepared to
suggest at least one novel hypothesis).
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2670a (Fall 2015) Psychology of Decision Making and Perceived Control
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Paper #1 to be handed in 9/16
In 3-5 pages, consider when and what people learn from experience.
Week 2: September 16
Prediction vs. Control
Readings:
Langer, E. Mindfulness (1989). Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Co.
White, C. (2013). The Science Delusion: Asking the Big Questions in a Culture of Easy
Answers. Melville House.
Moldoveanu, M. C. & Langer, E. (2002). False memories of the future: A critique of
probabilistic reasoning. Psychological Review, 109, 358-375.
Gardner, D. Gardner (2011). Future Babble: Why Expert Predictions Are Next to Worthless,
and You Can Do Better.
Gigerenzer, G., Hoffrage, U. & Kleinbolting, H. (1991). Probabilistic mental models: A
Brunswikian theory of confidence. Psychological Review, 98, 506-528.
Ie, A., Ngnoumen, C. T., & Langer, E. J. (2013). Mindfulness Forward and Back. Handbook of
Mindfulness. Wiley-Blackwell.
James, G and Koehler, D.(2001) Banking on a Bad bet: Probability Matching in Risky Choice is
Linked to Expectation Generation; Psychological Science, 22(6), 707-711
Karniol, R. (2003). Egocentrism versus protocentrism: The status of the self in social
prediction. Psychological Review, 110, 564-580.
Kay, Aaron, et al. (2009). “Compensatory Control: Achieving Order Through The Mind, Our
Institutions and the Heavens.” Current Directions in Psychological Science, Vol 18,
Number 5. 264-268.
Nickerson, R. (1996). Ambiguities and unstated assumptions in probabilistic reasoning.
Psychological Bulletin, 120, 410-433.
Tetlock, P. E. and Levi, A. (1982). Attributional bias: on the inconclusiveness of the cognitionmotivation debate. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 18, 68-88.
Trope, Y. and Liberman, N. (2003). Temporal construal. Psychological Review, 110, 403-421.
Questions:
1. Defend the claim that all prediction is an illusion.
2. If prediction is difficult at best, should physicians be diagnosing and
prescribing? What might an alternative be? Concern yourself primarily with
issues of health.
3. How is decision the same/different in chance vs. skill situations? Do you think
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2670a (Fall 2015) Psychology of Decision Making and Perceived Control
Prof. E. J. Langer
people have an “illusion of chance” in skill situations?
4. Consider situations where we do not need either the illusion of prediction or of
control. How might we be better off if we give them up? What might we do to
change situations to foster giving up these “illusions?”
Week 3: September 23
The Perception of Control
Readings:
Langer, E. J. and Brown, J. P. (1995). Control from the actor’s perspective. Canadian
Journal of Behavioral Science, 1992, 24.
Averill, J. (1973). Personal control over aversive stimuli and its relationship to stress.
Psychological Bulletin, 80, 286-303.
Bandura, A. and Jourden, F. (1991). Self-regulatory mechanisms governing the impact of
social comparison on complex decision-making. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 60, 941-951.
Burger, J. M. (1989). Negative reactions to increases in perceived personal control. Journal
of Personality and Social Psychology, 56, 246-256.
Chung, J. and Langer, E. (2013). Mindful Navigation. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Inesi, M., Botti, S., Dubois, D., Rucker, D., and Galinsky, A. (2011), Power and choice:
their dynamic interplay in quenching the thirst for personal control, 22(8), 10421048.
Iyengar, S. and Lepper, M. (2000). When choice is demotivating: can one desire too
much of a good thing? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 9951006.
Schelling, T. (1984). Self-command in practice, in policy, and a theory of rational choice. The
American economic review, 74, 1-11.
Staub, E., Tursky, B. and Schwartz, G. (1971). Self control and predictability. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 18, 157-162.
Patall, E.A., Cooper, H. & Robinson, J.C. (2008). The effects of choice on intrinsic motivation
and related outcomes: a meta-analysis of research findings. Psychological Bulletin,
134(2), 270- 300.
Greifneder, R., Bless, H., & Pham, MT (2011). When do people rely on affective and
cognitive feelings in judgment? A review. Personality and Social Psychology
Review, 15(2) 107-141.
Questions:
1. Define control. Define mindfulness.
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2670a (Fall 2015) Psychology of Decision Making and Perceived Control
Prof. E. J. Langer
2.
3.
What is the difference between being reactive and being responsive?
What is cognitive control? (Is there any other kind of control?)
4.
Do you think Averill’s distinctions are useful? Why or why not? If yes, when?
5.
Are choice and control equivalent? What is the relationship between
choosing and deciding? Which yields greater perceived control and why?
6.
What is the relationship (similarities and differences) between Langer’s
understanding of control and Bandura’s view of self-efficacy?
7.
8.
9.
Is the loss of control psychologically equivalent to never having control?
Most people believe that confidence rests on certainty. However, there is also much
power in being uncertain. Be prepared to discuss the power of uncertainty. When is
it adaptive/maladaptive to be uncertain?
How does the Schelling paper shed light on our understanding of control? Which
decision- maker in the self-command situation “should” be trusted, the person in the
present or the past?
10. What is the methodological flaw in the Staub et al. research and what difference
does it make?
11. Does “craving” represent a loss of control for the individual or a secondary control
attempt?
12. Contrast the probable experience of a person with high vs. low self-efficacy
following failure. For whom should the experience result in more mindfulness?
What do you think is the relationship between self-evaluative behavior and selfefficacy?
13. What is the relationship between perceived control and evaluation?
14. What is the difference between discrimination and evaluation?
Week 4: September 30
Biases and Heuristics
Readings:
Bilalic, Merim, et al. (2010). The mechanism of the Einstellung (set) effect: A pervasive source
of cognitive bias. Psychological Science 19(2), 111-115.
ErEl, Hadas and Meiran, Nachshon (2011). Mindset changes lead to drastic impairments in rule
finding. Cognition, 119 (2),:149-165 (2011)
Langer, E. and Abelson, R (1974). A patient by any other name...: clinician group differences in
labelling bias. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42, 4-9.
Fox, C. and Rottenstreich, Y. (2003). Partition priming in judgment under uncertainty.
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Psychological Science, 14, 195-200.
Gigerenzer, G. (2005). Is the mind irrational or ecologically rational? The law and economics
of irrational behavior, 37-67.
Gigerenzer, G. (2005). I think, therefore I err. Social Research, 72, 195-218.
Hastie, Reid, and Robyn Dawes. Rational Choice in an Uncertain World: The Psychology of
Judgment and Decision Making. Edition 2. Sage Publications, 2010.
Hawkins, S. A. and Hastie, R. (1990). Hindsight: biased judgments of past events after the
outcomes are known. Psychological Bulletin, 107, 311-327.
Hirt, E.R., Kardes, F. R., and Markman, K. D. (2004). Activating a mental stimulation mindset through generation of alternatives: Implications for debiasing in related and
unrelated domains. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 40, 374-383.
*Kahneman, D., Slovic, P. and Tversky, A. (eds.) (1982). Judgment under Uncertainty:
Heuristics and Biases. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chapters 1, 4, 9,
12 and 15.
McGaw, AP, Larson, J., Kahneman, D. (2010). Comparing Gains and Lossess. Psychological
Science, 21, 1438-1445.
Redelmeier, D. and Tversky, A. (1992). On the framing of multiple prospects.
Psychological Science, 3, 191-193.
Herbert, W. (2010). On Second Thou ght: Outsmar ting Your Mind’s H ard -Wired Habits.
NY: Random House
Kruger, J. and Gilovich, T. (1999). Naïve cynicism in everyday theories of responsibility
assessment: On biased assumptions of bias. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology,76, 743-753.
Lerner, M. and Miller, D. (1978). Just world research and the attribution process: looking
back and ahead. Psychological Bulletin, 85, 1031-1051
Chambers, J. Epley, N.,Savitsky, K. &Windschitl, P. (2008). Knowing too much.
Psychological Science. 19, 542-548
Shah, A.K. & Oppenheimer, D.M. (2008). Heuristics Made Easy: An Effort-Reduction
Framework. Psychological Bulletin, 134(2), 207-222.
Li, Ye, Johnson, Eric, & Zaval, Lisa. (2011). Local Warning: Daily Temperature Change
Influences Belief in Global Warming. Psychological Science, 22(4), 454-459.
Fiedler, K. and Freytag, P. (2009). Pseudocontingencies: An Integrative Account of an
Intriguing Cognitive Illusion. Psychological Review 116(1), 187-206.
Reinhard, M., Greifeneder, R. & Scharmach, M. (2013). Unconscious processes improve lie
detection. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 105(5), 721-73.
Alter, A. (2014). Drunk Tank Pink, Penguin Books.
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2670a (Fall 2015) Psychology of Decision Making and Perceived Control
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Questions:
1. How are illusory correlation and the just world theory related to the illusion of
control? To the perception of control?
*2. How pervasive do you think the “errors” discussed in these readings are? How
sensible is it to call them errors? Precisely when do you think people will (will not)
employ these heuristics? Further, relate your answer to the variables affecting the
illusion of control.
3. Under what conditions would you expect the just world phenomenon (illusory
correlation) not to occur?
4. Do people notice negative correlations? Why or why not would you expect this to be
so?
5. How do you think a belief in a just world (illusory correlation) develops? Which
groups of people do you think would be most (least) likely to have this belief (to
show the illusory correlation effect)?
6. How is surprise possible given the illusory correlation effect? (When should it
occur and when not?)
7. Are people’s expectations of justice based on institutional and/or interpersonal
justice? What difference might it make?
8. How do these topics speak to the issue of “the power of uncertainty”?
9. Use all the readings thus far to answer the question: Why do people get involved
in “get rich quick” schemes?
10. Thomas Aquinas wrote that every “sin” is not a crime, and every crime is not a sin.
What is or “should be” the difference between morality and law? How does one
decide what to do when the two conflict? Which is likely to yield more perceived
control: moral behavior or legal behavior, and why?
11. These phenomena have typically been studied in non-interactive scenarios. Be
prepared to discuss the relevance you think they have in interpersonal situations.
12. What is the relationship between the Just World belief and delay of gratification?
Discuss the relevance of delaying gratification for the target individual vs. society.
Assuming delay of gratification is a poor idea for the individual, how might society
still function without individual members delaying gratification
Paper #2 to be handed in on 9/30
In 3-5 pages, discuss when mindful, are people more or less likely to show these biases? Why?
Week 5: October 7
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2670a (Fall 2015) Psychology of Decision Making and Perceived Control
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Rational and Arational Models of Decision-Making
Readings:
*Langer, E. (1994). The illusion of calculated decisions. In R. Schank and E. Langer (eds,),
Beliefs, Attitudes and Decision-making. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum Press.
Anderson, C. (2003). The Psychology of doing nothing: forms of decision avoidance
result from reason and emotion. Psychological Bulletin, 129, 139-166.
Bennis, Will M. et al. (2010) The Costs and Benefits of Calculation and Moral Rules.
Psychological Science. 5(2) March, 187-202.
Beach, L. R. (1993). Broadening the definition of decision-making: the role of prechoice
screening of options. Psychological Science, 4, 4, 215-220.
Brownstein, A. (2003). Biased predecision processing. Psychological Bulletin, 129, 545-568.
*Dawes, R. and R. Hastie, Rational Choice in an Uncertain World. Edition 2 (2010) SAGE
Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.
Shafir, E., Simonson, I. and Tversky, A. (1993). Reason-based choice. Cognition, 49, 11-36.
Tversky, A. and Fox, C. (1995). Weighing risk and uncertainty. Psychological
Review, 102, 265-283.
Hafenbrack, A., Kinias, Z. & Barsade S. (2013). Debiasing the Mind Through Meditation:
Mindfulness and the Sunk-Cost Bias. Psychological Science, 25, 369-376.
Wilson, T., Reinhard, D., Westgate, E., Gilbert, D., Ellerbeck, N., Hahn, C., Brown, C. &
Shaked, A. (2014). Just Think: The challenges of the disengaged mind. Science,
345, 75-77.
Questions:
1. How can we engage in rational decision-making given the overwhelming tendency
towards “errors” described in these readings?
2.
3.
4.
5.
How does a mindfulness view of decision-making compare with rational choice
models? Which assumes more perceived control on the part of the decisionmaker?
When are decisions ethical decisions (i.e. When do decisions involve questions of
ethics)?
When is a decision a decision, versus a choice or a prediction?
Mindfulness theory, in contrast to rational decision models, would argue that
outcomes don’t really drive decisions. Explain why this may be so and why people
continue to rely on outcomes to evaluate the quality of their decisions.
6. Is there a stability bias, and if so, what are its costs/benefits?
*7. What differences do the different decision models lead to with respect to business/
interpersonal decisions?
8. Imagine living for a week without making a decision. Try it.
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Paper #3 to be handed in on 10/07
In 3-5 pages, compare and contrast Langer's model of decision-making with one or more
theories of decision-making described in the readings
Week 6: October 14
Interpersonal Decisional Processes (Blame, Lies, Procrastination, and Social
Comparison)
Readings:
*Langer, E. On Becoming An Artist: reinventing yourself through mindful creativity. NY:
Ballantine.
Fatemi, S. (2014) Questioning the Unquestionability of the Expert's Perspective in
Psychology. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 1-29.
Bandura, A. (2001). Social Cognitive Theory: An Agentic Perspective. Annual Review of
Psychology, 52, 1-26.
Butler, R. (2000). Making judgments about ability. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 78, 965-978.
Deutsch, R., Gawronski, B., & Strack, F. (2006). At the boundaries of automaticity:
negation as reflective operation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
91(3), 385-405.
Janoff-Bulman, R. (1979). Characterological vs. behavioral self-blame: inquiries into
depression and rape. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37, 17981809.
Kashy, D. and DePaulo, B., (1996). Who Lies. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 70, 979-995.
Larrick, R. (1993). Motivational factors in decision theories: the role of self-protection.
Psychological Bulletin, 113, 440-450.
Lewis, S. (2013). The Rise: Creativity, Mastery, and the Gift of Failure. Simon & Schuster.
Liberman, N., Molden, D., Idson, L., Higgins, T. (2001). Promotion and prevention focus
on alternative hypotheses. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 5-18.
Miller, S. and Mangan, C. (1983). Interacting effects of information and coping style in
adapting to gynecologic stress: should the doctor tell all? Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 45, 223-236.
Schul, Y., Mayo, R. and Burnstein, E. (2004). Encoding under trust and distrust: The
spontaneous activation of incongruent cognitions. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 86, 668-679.
Shah, J. & Higgins, E. T. (2001). Regulatory concerns and appraisal efficiency: The
general impact of promotion and prevention. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 80, 693-705.
Wilson, A., and Ross, M. (2000). The frequency of temporal-self and social comparison in
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people’s personal appraisals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 928942.
Questions:
1. What is the difference between self-regard, self-esteem, and self-efficacy?
2. If evaluation is “harmful,” what does that mean for the quest for high self-esteem?
3. What are the intrapersonal costs of blame, lying, and procrastination?
4. What is the downside of forgiveness, courage, hope, and politeness?
5. What is denial?
6. What is self protection? How does one do it and what are the costs to the self?
7. How is risk taking an observer’s phenomenon?
8. What would life be life if our thoughts were visible?
9. What might be the difference seeing oneself as a healthy person who has cancer
versus a cancer victim?
10.What are the problems with the instruction “be positive”?
11.What are the advantages/disadvantages to a prevention/promotion focus?
Week 7: October 21
Health Prediction
Readings:
*Langer, E., (2009). Counterclockwise: Mindfulness, Health and the Psychology of Possibility,
NY: Ballantine
Crum, A. & Langer, E. (2007) Mindset Matters: Exercise as a Placebo. Psychological Science,
18, 2.
Deutsch, Roland, et al. (2006) At the Boundaries of Automaticity: Negation as Reflective
Operation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91(3), 385-405.
Langer, E., Permuter, L., Chanowitz, B., and Rubin, R. (1988). Two new application for
mindlessness theory: aging and alcoholism. Journal of Aging Studies, 2, 289-299.
Affleck, G., Tennen H., Pfeiffer, C. & Fifield, J. (1987). Appraisals of control and predictability
in adapting to chronic disease. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 273279.
Aspinwall, L., Brunhart, S. (1996) Distinguishing optimism from denial: optimistic beliefs
predict attention to health threats. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 9931003.
Hanisch, L.J., Hantsoo, L., Freeman, E.W., Coyne, J.C. & Sullivan, G.M. (2008). Hot Flashes
and Panic Attacks: A Comparison of Symptomatology, Neurobiology, Treatment, and a
Role for Cognition. Psychological Bulletin, 134(2), 247-269.
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Heyman, Gene M. “Addiction: A Disorder of Choice.” Harvard University Press, June 2009.
Kahneman, D., Fredrickson, B. L., Schreiber, C. A. and Redelmeier, D. A. (1993). When more
pain is preferred to less: adding a better end. Psychological Science, 4, 401-405.
Koo, M., Choi, I. (2005). Becoming a holistic thinker: training effect of oriental medicine on
reasoning. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31, 1264-1272.
Palinkas, L. (2003). The psychology of isolated and confined environments. American
Psychologist, 58, 353-363.
Patterson, D. and Jensen, M. (2003). Hypnosis and clinical pain. Psychological Bulletin, 129,
495- 521.
Yeager, D., Johnson, R.; Spitzer, B., Trzesniewski, K., Powers, J., & Dweck, C. (2014). The
far-reaching effects of believing people can change: Implicit theories of personality
shape stress, health, and achievement during adolescence. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 106(6), 867-884.
Questions:
1. What is the relationship between psychological reactance and craving? How
might decision-making decrease both?
2. Sensory deprivation has been shown to decrease addictive behaviors. How might this
work? What are the costs even if it does work?
3. How might relying on medical help (physicians and technology) result in poorer
health?
6. How do placebos work?
7. How would you demedicalize medicine and medical environments? What
might be the advantages and disadvantages of doing so?
8. For which illnesses might diagnoses become self-fulfilling prophecies?
Paper #4 to be handed in on 10/21:
Create 5 useful mindfulness exercises for adults at work; 5 for children
Week 8: October 28
Relinquishing Control: Mindlessness (I)
Readings:
*Abramson, L., Seligman, M. and Teasdale, J. (1978). Learned helplessness in humans:
critique and reformulation. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 87, 49-74.
Gruber, J., Mauss, I., Tamir, M. A dark side of happiness? How, When, and Why happiness is
not always good, perspectives on psychological science; 2011,6(3)222-232
Dweck, C. and Leggett, E. (1988). A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality.
Psychology Review, 95, 256-273.
Peterson, C., Seligman, M. & Valliant, G. (1988). Pessimistic explanatory style as a risk factor
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2670a (Fall 2015) Psychology of Decision Making and Perceived Control
Prof. E. J. Langer
for physical illness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 55, 23-27.
Harkness, A., DeBono, K. and Borgida, E. (1985). Personal involvement and strategies for
making contingency judgments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49, 2232.
Hastie, R. (1984). Causes and effects of causal attribution. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 46, 44-56.
EITHER Pennebaker, J. et al. (1990). Levels of thinking. Personality and Social Psychology
Bulletin, 16, 743-757
OR Pennebaker, J. (1989). Stream of consciousness and stress: levels of thinking. In J. Uleman
and J. Bargh (eds), Unintended thought. New York: Guilford.
Read, S. (1983). Once is enough: causal reasoning from a single instance. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 45, 323-334.
Sansone, C., Weir, C., Harpster, L. and Morgan, C. (1992). Once a boring task always a boring
task? interest as a self-regulatory mechanism. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 63, 379-390.
Strick, M., et al. (2010) Unconscious thought effects take place offline, not online.
Psychological Science, vol 21 no. 4, April, 484-488
Vohs et al (2008) Merely activating the concept of money changes personal and interpersonal
behavior. Psychological Science, 17, 208-212
Questions:
1. What is the relationship between learned helplessness and: (a) the illusion of the
control and (b) decision-making?
2. Describe then kind of childhood upbringing which might produce learned
helplessness.
3. Is receiving response-independent positive reinforces less positive than working
for them? Why? (avoid circular explanations).
4. When would you expect the analog of helplessness that occurs with noncontingent
aversive stimuli to occur with noncontingent positive reinforcement? When would
you expect it not to occur?
5. What conditions are likely to foster self-induced dependence?
6. What is the relationship between self-induced dependence and learned helplessness?
7. How would you go about trying to reverse self-induced dependence?
8.
Seligman’s original theory of learned helplessness changed to an attribution
theory and then most recently to a theory of pessimism. Compare and contrast
each of these, noting when each theory is most/least adequate.
Week 9: November 4
Relinquishing Control: Mindlessness (II)
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2670a (Fall 2015) Psychology of Decision Making and Perceived Control
Prof. E. J. Langer
Readings:
Bargh, J. and Chartrand, T. (1999). The unbearable automaticity of being. American
Psychologist, 54, 462-479.
Greenwald, A. (1992). Unconscious cognition reclaimed. American Psychologist, 47, 766779.
Henderson-King, E., Nisbett, R. (1996) Anti-Black Prejudice as a function of Exposure to the
Negative Behavior of a Single Black Person. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 71(4), 654-664.
Kirsch, I. and Lyman, S. (1999). Automaticity in clinical psychology. American
Psychologist, 54, 504-515.
Lewicki, P., Hill, T. and Czygewski, M. (1992). Nonconscious acquisition of information.
American Psychologist, 47, 798-809.
Wilson, T. and Schooler, J. (1991). Thinking too much: introspection can reduce the quality
of preferences and decisions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 181182.
Horowitz, A. (2014). On Looking: A Walkers Guide to the Art of Observation. Scribner.
Questions:
1. What do these articles have to do with decision-making and relinquishing control?
2. When, why, and how do you think people give up control? What situational,
interpesonal,
and intrapersonal factors do you think might eventuate in the loss of control?
3. Do you think a person can regain control that was relinquished as a function of
automacity? If so, how?
4. Apply the idea of premature cognitive commitments (over-practice) to
issues of law/business/education/politics. Consider the Read paper in
your answer.
5. How might one use of premature cognitive commitments/overlearning positively?
6. Luchins (1942) observed some of the negative effects of mindlessness several
decades ago but it was not until recently that these effects received renewed
attention. How do you account for the hiatus?
7.
What is the major problem with Bargh and Chartrand’s argument?
8.
Do you agree with Wilson and Schooler or can either argument be reduced to
"thinking reduced conformity”?
9.
What is the relationship between mindfulness and emotion?
Paper #5 to be handed in on 11/4:
In 3-5 pages, write out ordinary negative work scenarios and provide a more
mindful understanding of them
Week 10: November 18
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2670a (Fall 2015) Psychology of Decision Making and Perceived Control
Prof. E. J. Langer
Mindfulness in Education and Business
Readings:
Langer, E. (1997). The Power of Mindful Learning. Reading, MA Addison Wesley
Gawande, A. (2002). Co mplications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science. NY:
Metropolitan Books
Schank, R. (2004). Making Minds Less Well Educated Than Our Own. NJ: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates
Todd, M., Tennen, H., Carney, M., Armeli, S., and Affleck, G. (2004). Do we know how we
cope? Relating daily coping reports to global and time-limited retrospective
assessments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 310-319.
Weick, K.E., Sutcliffe, K.M. and Obstfeld, D. (1999). Organizing for high reliability:
Processes of collective mindfulness. Research in Organizational Behavior, 21, 81123.
Yaniv, I. (2004). The benefit of additional opinions. Curent Directions in Psychological
Science, 13, 75-78.
Grant, A., and Hofmann, D. (2011). It’s not all about me: Motivating Hospital Hand Hygiene
by Focusing on Patients. Psychological Science, 1-18.
Questions:
1.
Evaluate the statement: “When we are ready, a teacher will be found.” If
mindfulness is such an advantage, why so students insist on memorizing? How
might they be persuaded to learn mindfully instead?
2.
When “sick” we feel many sensations. What are the advantages and
disadvantages of naming these sensations “symptoms”?
3.
What are the costs/benefits of naming diseases? If you “had symptoms” but no
one ever knew it, would you have the disease? (If a tree falls…)
4.
7.
8.
What are the advantages/disadvantages of seeing certain diseases as chronic?
What is the relationship between identity and disease?
If prediction is an illusion, what suggestions would you make to businesses if
you were a consultant?
Paper #6 to be handed in on 11/18:
In 3-5 pages, choose three Langer's experimental findings related to health and apply
them to business
Week 11: December 2
Mindful Decision-Making in Context
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2670a (Fall 2015) Psychology of Decision Making and Perceived Control
Prof. E. J. Langer
Readings:
Frable, D., Blackstone, T., and Scherbaum, C. (1990) Marginal and mindful: deviants in
social interactions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 140-149.
de Botton, A. (2002). The Art of Travel. NY: Vintage Books.
Gornick, V. (2001). The Situation and the Story: The Art of Personal Narrative. NY: Farrar,
Straus and Giroux.
Karsten, A. (1976). Mental satiation. In J. deRivera (ed.), Field theory as human science.
New York: Gardner Press.
Kruschke, J.K. (2003). Attention in Learning. Curent Directions in Psychological Science,
12, 171- 175.
Simons, D.J., Ambinder, M.S. (2005). Change blindness: theory and consequences.
Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14, 44-48.
Coates-Burpee, L. and Langer, E. (2005). Mindfulness and marital satisfaction. Journal of
Adult Development.
Mack, A. (2003). Inattentional blindness: Looking without seeing. Curent Directions in
Psychological Science, 12, 180-184.
Nalebuff, B., Ayres, I. (2004). Why Not? MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Pennell, G. Integrating complexity into the study of life events: Comment on Suedfield
and Bluck (1993). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 71, No 4,
777-780 (1996)
Roser, M. and Gazzaniga, M.S. Automatic brains – interpretive minds. Current
Directions in Psychological Science, 13, 56-57.
Walsh, R. (1988). Two Asian psychologies and their implications for Western
psychotherapists. American journal of psychotherapy, 42, 543-560.
Browning, D. (2011). Slow Love: How I Lost My Job, Put on My Pajamas, and
Found Happiness. Penguin.
Van Doesum, N., Van Lange, D. & Van Lange, P. (2013). Social mindfulness: skill
and will to navigate the social world. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 105(1), 86-103.
Horowitz, A. (2013). On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes. Scribner.
Questions:
1.
How does learning to see lead to blindness?
2.
What is the relationship between the idea of “being centered,” “beinggenuine,” and mindfulness?
3.
4.
5.
6.
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What would society look like if we agreed to stop evaluating?
What would life be like if we decided not to make decisions?
Find a novel use of the suggestions Alain de Botton makes in The Art of Travel.
Generate ten novel questions regarding health or healthcare.
2670a (Fall 2015) Psychology of Decision Making and Perceived Control
Prof. E. J. Langer
Week 12: December 9
Review – GLADO
Final Paper to be handed in 12/10
Final paper (10-15 pages): Virtually all of us work. Many work mindlessly. Take the
ideas reviewed this semester and suggest in NOVEL ways how the typical work context
might be changed by the working person for the working person. Use evidence to
support your views
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2670a (Fall 2015) Psychology of Decision Making and Perceived Control
Prof. E. J. Langer