Implicit cognition Essay Example for Free

Implicit cognition Essay Implicit cognition refers to internal influences that affect an individual’s behaviours. The identifying feature of implicit cognition is that an individual’s past experiences can influence their judgements in   fashion that the individual is not introspectively aware of – i.e. the person is not conscious of the fact that the experiences have affected his/her perceptions in such a way. (Greenwald Banaji, pg 4; 1995) Evidence supports the view that social behaviour and attitudes in particular are often based largely on unconscious attitudes, for example an individual’s attitudes towards a specific ethnic group are prone to be implicitly influenced. Implicit attitudes are commonly thought to mainly effect cognitive bias in a negative way (e.g. racism), however Edward Thorndike (1920) named the ‘halo effect’, upon observing that personality ratings showed a tendency for positive attributes to be associated with other positive attributes more than they should be (Greenwald Banaji, pg 9; 1995). A great amount of ‘halo effect’ research has been based on using physical attractiveness as the objectively irrelevant attribute that influences perception of other characteristics. Studies have shown that attractive people are judged to possess greater social skills as well as being more successful in employment (Dion, Berscheid Walster; 1972). As previously mentioned implicit cognition is caused by past experiences influencing judgement in ways that the individual is not introspectively aware, thus it is imperative to use indirect measures to gauge an individual’s implicit attitudes. The distinction between direct and indirect measures depends on the relationship between what the subject is informed about the purpose of a measure and what the researcher chooses to interpret from the subjects response to the measure (Greenwald Banaji, pg 8; 1995) – the researcher will inform the subject that one attribute is being measured when in fact the researcher will interpret information about another attribute based on the subjects response to the measure. It is necessary to use indirect measures because implicit attitudes are by definition attitudes that an individual is unable to report as they are unaware of their existence i.e. implicit attitudes are beyond an individual’s introspective limits. For the purpose of this essay I have chosen to examine the reaction time based ‘Implicit Association Test’ (IAT) and Facial Electromyography (fEMG) which is based on physiological measurement. Implicit attitudes result in projections of behaviour or judgments that are under the control of automatically activated evaluation, without the actor’s awareness of that causation. The IAT procedure seeks to measure implicit attitudes by measuring their underlying automatic evaluation. A beneficial property of the IAT is that it may resist individuals masking their attitudes using self presentation strategies (e.g. providing false responses in order to gain social acceptance or avoid criticism). In short, the IAT may reveal attitudes and other automatic associations even or those who prefer not to express those attitudes (Greenwald et al, pg 1464-5; 1998). The IAT is performed over a series of five stages; the first stage is called ‘Target Concept Discrimination’ in this stage the target concept is introduced and the subject is instructed to simply pair the stimuli with its corresponding concept, for example a study on implicit attitudes towards sexual preference (Project Implicit – an online database of IATs offering the test to the public, spearheaded by Dr Anthony Greenwald, Dr Brian Nosek and Dr Maharin Banaji) presents the subject with the task concepts ‘gay’ and ‘straight’, the subject is then presented with images displaying gay or straight couples or words such as homosexual and heterosexual. When the stimulus appears on screen the subject pairs it with the corresponding category – picture of a man and wife pairs with straight concept. The next stage in the IAT is ‘Associated Attribute Discrimination’ as previously this stage is presented as a two- category discrimination task. The subject is asked to pair words such as happiness, love, agony, strife with the corresponding attributes good and bad according to which attribute best suits their meaning. Following the introduction to the ‘Target Concept Discrimination’ and to the ‘Associates Attribute Dimension’, the two are amalgamated in the third stage –i.e. gay and good on one side of the screen and straight and bad on the other or vice versa. During this stage stimuli for target and attribute discriminations appear on alternate trials. For example’ a picture of a homosexual couple would be shown followed by the word ‘famine’.   As previously the subject pairs the stimuli with their matching category. The fourth stage consists of reversing the target concepts position in the experiment and the final stage of the experiment combines the ‘Reversed Target Concept Discrimination’ with attribute discrimination. For example the gay concept is now on the same side of the screen as bad. The subject is then presented with alternating stimuli and pairs them with the appropriate concept or attribute. If the target concepts are differentially associated with the attribute dimension, the subject should find one of the combined task (either the third stage or the fifth stage) to be more difficult than the other- this is shown in the subjects reaction time; longer reaction times suggest the subject has higher difficulty pairing an attribute with a concept. The measure of the difference in difficulty is used to provide the measure of implicit attitudinal difference between the target categories (Greenwald et al, pg 1465-6; 1998). In the example of implicit attitudes towards sexual preference, it should be easier to complete the task when straight is combined with good if there is a stronger association between heterosexuals and good meanings than between homosexuals and good meaning, thus showing an implicit attitude of bias towards heterosexuals. Also it is common to use training stages before each of the combined discrimination stages to reduce the effects the order of the combined discrimination tasks has on the IAT results. Since the IAT was first described by Dr. Anthony Greenwald et al in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in 1998 it has grown exponentially in popularity, having been used in over 300 published studies and cited in over 800 articles (Azar, 2008). Among the reasons for the success of the IAT are its relative ease of use, the large effect sizes it creates, its high level of adaptability and its resistance to subject’s faking their responses. To show the validity of the IAT Greenway et al (1998) used the classical known-groups validity measure. This measure consists of using groups whom are known previous to the experiment to differ regarding the construct of interest. Greenwald et al used Americans of Korean and Japanese descent to test the validity of the IAT. The participants had to classify positive and negative words along with typical Korean and Japanese names in the combined discrimination stage, as expected the IAT results showed that individuals of Korean or Japanese descent were prone to hold mutually negative implicit attitudes towards the other ethnicity (Banse et al pg 146; 2001). It has been disputed that the reason for these IAT results is at least partially based on ethnic groups being more familiar with names associated with in their own group, i.e. positive IAT scores may reflect familiarity more so than sympathy with their own ethnic group. Another commonly expressed concern with the internal validity of the IAT is the order in which the combined discrimination tasks appear. Greenwald et al (1998) expressed that all other thing being equal, strengths of associations used in the first of the IATs two combined tasks had a tendency to be stronger than those used in the second combined task. However, in a subsequent study Nosek et al (2005) showed that an increase in the length of the training stages before each of the combined discrimination stages can result the order having less of an effect on the IAT scores. If the pairing order effect is due to the interference caused by learning and becoming accustomed to an initial response set and subsequently needing to replace it with a new response set, then extra practice with the new response set may act to reduce this effect. (Nosek et al, pg 177; 2005). Furthermore the IAT is designed that the order of the combined discrimination task be random.

The Unwitting Vehicle for Evil in Moby Dick :: Moby Dick Essays

The Unwitting Vehicle for Evil in Moby Dick My opinion about symbolism in the book Moby Dick is a patchwork of the "Evil Captain" theory and the "Nothingness" theory. In this theory chance and circumstance cause an unlucky (as opposed to ill-fated) captain to become the unwitting vehicle for evil. It is not his fault, he is driven to it by simple bad luck, and so evil is created out of nothingness, and then disappears from whence it came. The whale represents nothing, Starbuck represents nothing, Pip only serves to represent the madness that would have overtaken Ahab had he not invented an evil whale to blame his leg on, and most importantly Ishmael represents God, or the truth, or something I haven't thought up a name for yet. One thing that surprised me about this book was how contradictory the wording was. Sentences, paragraphs, and whole chapters were quite simply put to the ax and cut short as if Herman changed his mind upon further contemplation. At first I thought that Herman had A.D.D. but soon I figured that he was playing the old trick on us. That is, he was intentionally being non-descript in order for everyone to interpret the book in a different way (its such a common trick now that I look back, but it really had me for a while). In the beggining the quote reads, "Whales in the sea, Gods will obey," as if Moby Dick was beyond a force of nature, a tool of consummate evil, but by the end the book the quote reads normal, "Whales in the sea, God's will obey" (notice the possessive apostrophe missing in the first one?[thank you for misquoting]). An example of this type of contridiction of ideas occurs between pages 197 and the last page: Aside from the more obvious considerations touching Moby Dick, which could not but occasionally awaken in any man's soul some alarm, there was another thought, or rather vague, nameless horror concerning him, which at times by its intensity completely overpower all the rest; and yet so mystical and well nigh ineffable was it, that I almost despair of putting it in comprehensible form. it was the whiteness of the whale that above all things appalled me. But how can I hope to explain myself here; and yet, in some dim, random way, explain myself I must, else all these chapters might be naught.

Mountain Man Beer Company – Case Analysis

Case Analysis Mountain Man Brewing Company: Bringing the Brand to Light Mountain Man Brewing Company (MMBC) was founded by Guntar Prangel in 1925. He reformulated an old family brew with quality ingredients, resulting in a flavorful bitter tasting beer which was launched as the Mountain Man Lager. The brand grew to claim a respectable market share for an independent-family-owned-brewery, in whole of the East Central United States by 1960. Even today, after 80 years, the lager is a legacy brew, awarded as the Best Beer in West Virginia for many years in a row.MMBC is still a single product company and generates over $50 million in revenue and selling over 520,000 barrels of Mountain Man Lager. All has been well thus far but now the market trends are changing rapidly. Problem Statement For the first time in the 80+ years MMBC has experienced a 2 percent decline in revenue, relative to the prior fiscal year. Is this a one-time occurrence or a signal shift in the overall marketplace? Bus inesses must act in a certain manner in order to maximize profits or run the risk of losing their place in the marketplace.Chris Prangel, son of the President and owner of MMBC, Oscar Prangel, is to inherit the business in only five years. With differing management styles and thoughts on the direction the organization should take, this uncertainty could be potentially crippling over time. The question of whether or not MMBC should move ahead with Chris's plan to introduce a light beer product is the one that is most pertinent to the overall direction the company will take. The ever changing marketing environment with respect to demographic, socio-cultural, and political cenario will influence management’s decision on which path to take. SWOT Analysis: Strengths Mountain Man Lager has established a brand with a strong loyal blue –collar clientele. This high quality lager is known for its dark color, distinct bitter taste and slightly higher alcohol content. It boasts an unaided response rate of 67% from the adult population of WV and is known to be the best regional beer. In 2005, Mountain Man Lager won â€Å"Best Beer in West Virginia† for its eighth straight year. It also won â€Å"Best Beer in Indiana† and was selected as â€Å"America’s Championship Lager† at the American Beer Championship.Research has shown blue-collar males purchase 60% of the beer they drink from off-premise locations. Currently MMBC sells 70% of its beer at off-premise locations which is quiet consistent with the industry wide sales. The lager is affordably priced for the middle-to-lower income â€Å"working man†, at $2. 25 for a 12-ounce serving of draft beer in a bar and selling for $4. 99 for a six-pack in a local convenience store. Market research shows, Mountain Man’s position as an independent, family owned brewery provides a sense of â€Å"authenticity† with â€Å"anti-big-business† core drinkers.The brand is a s recognizable in the East Central region as Chevrolet and John Deere. MMBC has proven to be successful in grass-root marketing with a sales force which is known to not just push the brand but influence customers to embrace Mountain Man and promote the brand by word of mouth. Weaknesses: MMBC is well known for their bitter tasting product. This has given them great success in the past, however with the changing market they need to conform to the new way of doing business if they wish to continue to succeed in the future.Having only one main beer that is sold in the East Central region of the United States makes it hard to maintain profits. MMBC has been experiencing a decline in their sales by nearly 2%. MMBC has a very small demographic to which the lager appeals to. As such they are losing their influence over the younger market, as well as the women drinkers. The attractiveness of a bitter tasting lager doesn’t quite win over the younger generation. Studies have shown they prefer a light beer, something MMBC is considering developing. MMBC needs to consider the cost associated with launching the new line.They would sell the MMLight at the same price as the regular beer; however it costs considerably more to produce. Advertising would also add to the burden of MMLight. Advertising alone would cost over $750K for a six month campaign to reach brand awareness of 60%. As they still would only be able to sell the new product at the same price that their competitors are selling theirs, the cost might outweigh the rewards. Opportunities: Looking externally one can see that MMBC has many possible avenues they could take advantage of, in the changing U.S. demographic and beverage market. MMBC is known for their traditional high quality lager with the potential to expand into several fast growing markets such as light beer and super-premium beer. By entering a growing market MMBC could gain drinkers from different demographics which they currently lack, for in stance women and those in their twenties new to drinking. By implementing these changes it could offset the market share loss MMBC lager is currently facing. MMBC could restructure how they market their beer, looking at new avenues.The internet is one possibility, capitalizing on the younger generation and their anti-big-business-sentiment as a marketing tool. MMBC could try to increase sales in ‘on-premise’ locations. MMBC should also look to expand their distribution range to acquire more states in the U. S. focusing on their core grass root marketing strategies to grow their market share. Threats: The â€Å"threats† portion of a SWOT analysis is best described as an analysis of external environmental threats to the business itself.The following is a discussion of the most pertinent potential external influencers facing MMBC. Over the past four years per capita beer consumption in the US has declined by 2. 3% due in some part to competition from wine and spirit based drinks but also due to changing cultural mores encouraging moderation and personal responsibility. If this trend continues MMBC will be competing for an ever shrinking piece of the market. The potential economic and marketing response from the major brewery competitors is daunting to a company the size of Mountain Man.With economies of scale in brewing, transportation and marketing, the Budweisers of the world are formidable rivals to say the least. They could respond in such a way as to make doing business very difficult moving forward. Governmental involvement in the beer industry is another issue at hand. The Federal Government has already raised the excise tax and with laws changing how beer can be promoted in a retail setting newly passed in WV could other states in the East Central region be too far behind? The biggest potential threat is the shift in beer consumers taste to light beer and away from the premium beers overall.Light beer sales account for over 50% of all beer sales and are growing at a compound rate of 4% per year. One of the most troubling aspects of the surge in light beers popularity is the demographic that is driving it. Young, first time, beer buyers / drinkers are at the crux of the demographic and marketers understand that if you can capture a customer young enough you have them as a customer for life. Financials: A look at the market analysis show alarming trends. In 2005 MMBC’s revenue was down relative to the prior fiscal year.Changes in beer consumption are being driven by changing consumer segments. Light beer sales are increasing while Premium beer sales are decreasing in the east central region as seen in Exhibit 5 in the MMBC case. Super-premium beer sales increased the most by well over 9% in the past 6 years. This shows beer drinkers’ tastes are shifting significantly causing sales to reflect this trend. Exhibit 5 shows light beer has a much greater volume than premium beer; signifying even small marke t penetration can mean significant volumes.Looking at Exhibit 6 part A, the other brands have 14% of the light beer market beating out Coors coming in at 11%. This could imply that the light beer market is easily penetrated by a new product. Exhibit 2 examines the beer drinker demographics in 2005, MMLager has 19% of the female demographic which is only a small portion, while domestic light beer boasts of 42% of the female beer drinking demographic. MMLager is the preferred beer of only 2% people in the 21-24 yr age bracket. In the 25-34 yr age group, 15% people prefer the lager and in 19% prefer the lager in the 35-44 yr age bracket.These numbers are significantly less than those drinking domestic light beer and domestic premium beer. MMLager is losing the younger generation hands down. A large segment of the light beer drinkers (24%) make over $100 thousand dollars a year, so introducing a newer light beer at a slightly higher cost will hit a new income demographic that is not as worried about pricing. Recommendations: 1. Do nothing – MMBC customers base drinking lager is a shrinking market. The rate at which MMBC can make new customers can only replace a fraction of existing ones.Assuming the 2% annual sales decline, by 2010, sales would have declined by 10%, the profit margin would be drastically shrunk, and with fixed costs remaining the same the company might be out of business in a matter of years. Keeping in mind the demographics, there is quiet a possibility that the rate of declining sales might accelerate due to the aging customer base. The senior management at MMBC is reluctant to launch the new product and site the examples of over 40 breweries those have closed down. But this does not, in anyway, provide any solid evidence that MMBC will fall in those same footsteps if they are to launch the new line.According to research, product line extensions â€Å"helped brewers obtain greater shelf space of products† and â€Å"created greater product focus among distributers and retailers†. Suggesting that MMBC do nothing would be a very short-sighted decision and classic mistake of â€Å"marketing myopia†. MMBC should do something soon in order to keep up with the changing market. 2. Launching Mountain Man light – The research suggests that where the brand equity drives the sales of lager; the same strategy would not work for light beer as the association of stronger, bitter flavor is not going to capture the light beer segment.MMBC needs to distance itself from the blue-collar beer image in order to attract the younger generation. 3. Launching light beer with a new name – Data suggests that light beer should not be marketed to the existing customer base, as they are simply loyal to the original lager. As such, they should still incorporate the Mountain Man brand but name it something like â€Å"Mountain Light†. Having an affiliation with the brand will allow the same grass-root market ing strategy to be applied for marketing the light beer to the younger segment. Exhibits [pic] [pic] [pic]

What´s Social Psychology Essay - 1576 Words

Social psychology is a scientific-based study which is used to examine and explain how an individual’s thoughts and feelings affect their behaviour within a society; how the members socially interact, including their motives; and what influences these members have on each other. This essay will endeavour to introduce the key psychologists, their theories and the idiographic research they conducted. In particular, it will focus on the features and definition of conformity and the investigations into the views on conformity. Furthermore, it aims to critically analyse and reveal a correlation in the results and conclusions in respect to the current comprehension of human social behaviour. Conformity is a form of social influence and is†¦show more content†¦It is when a smaller portion of a group takes an unpopular stance and they manage to persuade the mass over to their way of thinking. This is usually a tactical and consistent influence performed over a longer period of time, with the minority being stubborn in their views, never compromising and always giving passionate arguments to every dispute or indifference. Christopher Columbus was in the minority in his belief that the earth was spherical. â€Å"Columbus had to fight these foolish beliefs in order to get men to sail with him. He felt sure the earth was round.† It is a normative social influence when people conform to ideas which bring acceptance and approval from others. One real account of this is an experience publicised by a lady known as ‘Mary-Anne,’ whilst socialising with three friends. She displayed an instance of public compliance, through concurring with a group norm, even though it conflicted with her inner principles. Mary-Anne explains how she later regretted this moment of weakness. This particular type of conformity can be defined as a person allowing an influence from (an)other person(s) to determine their decisions and behaviour, thus rejecting or ignoring their own true needs and impulses and often going against a better judgement. Crutchfield (1962) proposed that it is (individuals) â€Å"...yielding to group pressures.† AShow MoreRelatedAdaptive Social Behaviors, Conformity, Compliance And Obedience1369 Words   |  6 PagesAdaptive Social Behaviours Conformity, compliance and obedience are a set of adaptive social behaviours that one makes use of to get by in daily social activities. They are all some form of social influence, which causes a change in a particular person or group’s behaviour, attitude and/or feelings (Cialdini, 2000, 2006). 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