Retelling by Cheri Hiatt

Retelling is when someone recounts a story, but change the facts of it, often through exaggeration.

example: I couldn’t find a clip of it, but in the movie Holes, Stanley writes home telling his mom how wonderful camp green lake is and how much he is loving it, when in reality it is nothing like what he describes.

conclusion: As Stanley changes his story about the events at camp green lake in his letter, he is displaying retelling.

Social Norm Violation by Cheri Hiatt

People take refuge in their shopping trips. It is a time to be focused solely on the task at hand as well as the few people that might be in your company. There is a strong norm where you do not interact with other shoppers. We even go so far as to avoid eye contact of others and in essence ignore their existence entirely.

So naturally, I had to break this norm. While on a shopping trip at City Creek, I spent some quality time dancing all around others that were shopping and breaching their personal space. Some people tried to ignore me while others weren’t quite sure how to act. As some people made eye contact with their friends they were with and gestured with a head nod over to me, I felt slightly awkward and stupid, which is a rare feeling for me. A few people appeared to be unphased, but the majority of shoppers were visibly uncomfortable.

Doing this made it clear to me how strongly people abide by different social norms.

 

Social Comparison by Cheri Hiatt

Misinformation Effect is when a memory is recalled and influenced in a way that tampers with the memory, after which the new and impure version of the memory is retained.

An example of this can be seen through young kids. If a fight occurs between two children, they may be questioned by their parents. If the parents ask one of the kids if a particular action happens, they child might integrate this action into the memory while recalling it, thus changing the memory and affecting the reliability of their witness.

Conclusion: As can be seen, situations like this can exhibit misinformation effect as memories and blurred and incorrect information is assumed to be right.

Complementarity by Cheri Hiatt

Complementarity is when one has the feeling that they are completed by someone else and that they together form a whole.

example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m600ftvH5xY

Dr. Evil, was upset when his son Scott didn’t have the traits he wanted him to have or complement him like he had wished for, but mini me filled in all the gaps he was aching for and made him feel completed.

Altruism by Cheri Hiatt

Altruism is the selfless act of doing good without expecting anything in return.

example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_S2U5v1OWps

Harry Potter faces Voldemort knowing fully that he will die. He is under the impression that not only will he not experience anything in return for his sacrifice, but that he will be faced with death. Despite this knowledge, he knows that he must be killed by Voldemort in order for Voldemort to be defeated, so he altruistically presents himself to be killed.

Catharsis Hypothesis by Cheri Hiatt

Catharsis is a proposed method for relieving aggression where someone takes their anger out on an indirect object or person that is not the true source of the aggression. This method, however, has been shown to build aggression rather than reduce it.

Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3l6yfaEWv0

As this clip illustrates, the lead character is angry because he was blamed for the death of his father who was killed while driving drunk. As a result of this anger, he beats up some men in the car behind him after they triggered the release of his aggression. Ordinarily their actions would most likely not have resulted in a physical fight, but because he was angry at something else, he used this opportunity to manifest his aggression. However, the end of the fight, he still appears to be steaming and angry, showing that his cathartic methods were unsuccessful.

Racism by Cheri Hiatt

Racism is when someone has negative thoughts, discriminates against, and acts differently towards a particular race.

example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ipEflG4lxc

As this clip demonstrates, Michael Scott is behaving in a racist manner as he is expressing negative stereotypes about Indians. Even if he meant it to be done in a joking manner, he still displayed discriminatory behavior towards Kelly because of her race, thus demonstrating racism.

Evaluation Apprehension by Cheri Hiatt

Evaluation Apprehension is when the knowledge of others judging you affects your performance.

Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1zY38p0Lpw

Conclusion: As can be seen, the child in this video agreed to singing happy birthday, something he is likely to have done several times. However, as soon as the cameras started rolling and he knew others would be seeing what he was doing, he was clearly effected by the prospective judgement of those watching, completely froze up and was unable to carry out the task, thus illustrating evaluating apprehension.

Cohesion by Cheri Hiatt

 Cohesion is the unifying bond that a group may have which causes them to stick together and act similarly to one another.

Example:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJsjNNp0foE&feature=related

Conclusion: Even though standing on desks in the middle of class is not something that is regularly done, one student decided to do just that. Because the majority of these students have a close bond, they are unified and support the decisions of other members of the group. For this reason, most of the boys in the class decided to stand on their desks as a collective group, thus demonstrating cohesion.

Empathy by Cheri Hiatt

Empathy is when we connect with the feelings of others and try to understand what they are going through; in theory, we put ourselves in their “shoes”, meaning we try to relate to their situation.

An example of this is explained here: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/BeautySecrets/story?id=1280787#.T6x76OveDIc

This is a perfect example of empathy. Tyra Banks, a renowned supermodel, has never experienced what it is like to be an obese woman who is looked down on because of her weight. By putting on a fat suit and going out in public and around other people, she put herself in the shoes of those who she was empathizing with, and did whatever she could to try to understand what it is like to be them.

Cognitive Dissonance by Cheri Hiatt

Cognitive Dissonance is when there are two potentially opposing sides to a topic, and you have conflicting feelings that support both sides.

Example: While this example might be a bit politically correct, it is something I have thought a lot about, and therefore the most honest and real example I can share. It is no secret that the topic of gay marriage is one that sparks a lot of controversy. It usually tends to create two completely opposing sides; one that is fully and complete for the legalization of gay marriage, and one that is not. As I have reflected on my feelings concerning this topic, I have felt a lot of conflict. On one hand, I am fully aware of the Church’s stance on marriage, and I have a testimony that it should be between a man and a woman. On the other hand, I have opposing feelings where I have a lot of love for those who struggle with same gender attraction and I’m not sure how I feel about the government controlling things such as marriage when I know how much the freedom I have to do things such as openly practice my religion means to me.

Conclusion:  While I have chosen one side of this argument to support, I have supportive feelings towards both sides and thus experience cognitive dissonance in regards to the topic of gay marriage. I support one side, but I feel the tension that is created from not being completely at peace about my support and feeling a pull to stand on each sides of this difficult issue.

Belief Perseverance by Cheri Hiatt

Most People have at one time or another exhibited the behavior known as belief perseverance. This is when someone believes something that is incorrect, then this person is instructed by someone else that their idea is false. Even when they are presented with specific logical reasons concerning the false nature of their belief, they refuse to change their thoughts and cling to their incorrect presumption.

An example of this was found in last week’s episode of The Office. At a charity even attended by all the office employees, there is a silent auction. Dwight, however, believes that if you correctly guess the amount that the item is worth, you will win the item, free of charge. When Jim tries to explain the true nature and procedure of how it works, Dwight will not listen, but continues to insist that his belief is more logical and continues to guess the price of everything up for bid. This clip is what results: http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/hulu/index.php?id=60065984

As this clip demonstrates, Dwight held onto his beliefs all the way until he was publicly proven wrong and humiliated. Even though Jim tried to warn Dwight and urge him to stop his actions, Dwight stubbornly and firmly held onto what he believed to be true, thus demonstrating belief perseverance.

Planning Fallacy by Cheri Hiatt

Planning  Fallacy is when someone incorrectly guesses the length of time that a particular action requires.

Description: A description of this is my home subdivision. Just outside of where I live, the road was being reconstructed to contain two lanes as opposed to just one. This construction was started when I was 7 and supposed to be finished just to years later when I was 9. Driving past the end of this construction10 years later when I was 17 demonstrates the existence of planning fallacy.

Conclusion: Planning Fallacy is evident in this example, as this construction taking 10 years to complete as opposed to the 2 years that was assumed and planned displays. Because situations like this can add stress and unpredictability to the lives of those who unsuccessfully predict schedules, it is important to plan and schedule carefully.

Correlational Research by Cheri Hiatt

Correlational Research is when a relationship between two variables is examined. While experiments use the manipulation of a variable to examine causation, correlations look at the already existing information of two variables that cannot be manipulated to see if there is a correlation.

Example:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK3V9yPcEJM

Conclusion: The study explained in this clip is a correlational study conducted by Michael McCullogh at the University of Miami. In this study, the two variables examined were religion and self control. Neither religion nor self control can be manipulated, thus an experimental design is not possible and a correlation is conducted. This study examined the relationship between these two variables. Because the study is correlational, causation cannot be claimed, but further research can provide support for the type of relationship between these factors. This particular study claims that there is a positive correlation between the two where a stronger practice of religion leads to higher levels of self control.