|
|
 |
Listserv Message Center
 |
May We Cite You? |
 |
|
|
|
| Posted by: | Roy F. Baumeister |
| Title/Position: | Professor |
| School/Organization: | Florida State University |
| Sent to listserv of: | SPSP, SESP, SPSSI |
| Date posted: | October 2nd, 2009 |
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
Effects of Consciousness on Behavior
We are preparing an Annual Review chapter reviewing the effects of conscious, controlled processes on behavior. We are casting a wide net.
Please let us know if you have relevant papers (or know of relevant research). A reference is helpful; an e-print or PDF document is even better.
This article is intended to complement the many fine reviews of how automatic, nonconscious processes influence behavior. Nobody much is talking about what conscious, controlled processes can do. Sometimes conscious effects don’t get appreciated because they may seem obvious.
Some category descriptions to help you detect whether you may have or know of relevant data:
(1) We are looking for experiments in which the independent variable is a conscious event or conscious state and the dependent variable is behavior. Examples of relevant independent variables:
--Mental simulations, imagining yourself doing something
--Cognitive load
--Conscious goals or goal setting (e.g., implementation intentions)
--Empathy, mind-reading
--Special instructions to do the same task different ways
--Induced attributions or beliefs
--Anything that varies talking, such as if group members can communicate vs not communicate about the task
--Perspective taking
--Conscious reflection, deliberation, rumination
--Metacognition
--Monitoring (a) of thoughts (e.g., thought listing), or (b) behavior (e.g., being aware of how many cookies you ate or beers you drank)
--Induced beliefs (e.g., encouraging people to believe in free will)
*Of particular interest: Studies in which an effect changes or disappears when participants know what the effect is. (Even if you have a significant effect but among suspicious participants who guessed the hypothesis, the effect came out differently.)
(2) We are also interested in any evidence of conscious mediating processes playing a distinct causal role. Examples include when coping with a problem/difficulty or encountering a conflict and to one engages in conscious reflection (vs. not), conscious interpretation, rumination, or analysis.
(3) Behavioral dependent measures: By restricting our inquiry to behavior, we are trying to eliminate effects that go from one questionnaire to another, or one conscious state to another. So we are NOT looking for DVs such as ratings, reaction times, etc. Behavior includes:
--Movements of more than fingers
--Choice, decision
--Task performance
--Self-reports of behavior are fine (“what did you do?”), as are promises, commitments, and firm intentions (“what will you do?”), but NOT imaginary/hypothetical behaviors (“what would you do?”).
(4) We are interested in variance in any kind of outcomes, this includes ratings as well. If your data show that higher involvement of conscious processes produces higher (or lower) variance in any outcome, let us know that. (Here we are interested in ratings as well.)
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Forum Home Page
