Gut feelings
Does playing violent video games cause aggression? A longitudinal intervention study
Simone Kühn et al.
Molecular Psychiatry, forthcoming
Abstract:
It is a widespread concern that violent video games promote aggression, reduce pro-social behaviour, increase impulsivity and interfere with cognition as well as mood in its players. Previous experimental studies have focussed on short-term effects of violent video gameplay on aggression, yet there are reasons to believe that these effects are mostly the result of priming. In contrast, the present study is the first to investigate the effects of long-term violent video gameplay using a large battery of tests spanning questionnaires, behavioural measures of aggression, sexist attitudes, empathy and interpersonal competencies, impulsivity-related constructs (such as sensation seeking, boredom proneness, risk taking, delay discounting), mental health (depressivity, anxiety) as well as executive control functions, before and after 2 months of gameplay. Our participants played the violent video game Grand Theft Auto V, the non-violent video game The Sims 3 or no game at all for 2 months on a daily basis. No significant changes were observed, neither when comparing the group playing a violent video game to a group playing a non-violent game, nor to a passive control group. Also, no effects were observed between baseline and posttest directly after the intervention, nor between baseline and a follow-up assessment 2 months after the intervention period had ended. The present results thus provide strong evidence against the frequently debated negative effects of playing violent video games in adults and will therefore help to communicate a more realistic scientific perspective on the effects of violent video gaming.
Easier Seen Than Done: Merely Watching Others Perform Can Foster an Illusion of Skill Acquisition
Michael Kardas & Ed O’Brien
Psychological Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
Modern technologies such as YouTube afford unprecedented access to the skilled performances of other people. Six experiments (N = 2,225) reveal that repeatedly watching others can foster an illusion of skill acquisition. The more people merely watch others perform (without actually practicing themselves), the more they nonetheless believe they could perform the skill, too (Experiment 1). However, people’s actual abilities — from throwing darts and doing the moonwalk to playing an online game — do not improve after merely watching others, despite predictions to the contrary (Experiments 2–4). What do viewers see that makes them think they are learning? We found that extensive viewing allows people to track what steps to take (Experiment 5) but not how those steps feel when taking them. Accordingly, experiencing a “taste” of performing attenuates the illusion: Watching others juggle but then holding the pins oneself tempers perceived change in one’s own ability (Experiment 6). These findings highlight unforeseen problems for self-assessment when watching other people.
The Seesaw Self: Possessions, Identity (De)activation, and Task Performance
Jaeyeon Chung & Gita Johar
Journal of Marketing Research, forthcoming
Abstract:
Research has shown that possessions have the power to change consumers' self-construal and activate different aspects of the self. Building on this literature, we suggest that the salience of product ownership not only activates the product-related self, but also simultaneously deactivates product-unrelated selves, resulting in impaired performance on tasks unrelated to the activated self. In five experiments, we first elicit feelings of ownership over a product (e.g., a calculator) to activate a product-related identity (e.g., the math self). Participants then engage in a task that is labeled as being a product-related task (e.g., math task) or a product-unrelated task (e.g., visual task). Despite the task being the same, participants in the ownership condition perform worse on a task labeled as product-unrelated than those in the baseline condition. Support for the underlying identity activation process comes from the finding that performance impairment is more likely to hold under conditions of low self-concept clarity, where identity is malleable. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of this finding.
Break the “wall” and become creative: Enacting embodied metaphors in virtual reality
Xinyue Wang et al.
Consciousness and Cognition, forthcoming
Abstract:
This study investigated whether the experience of “breaking the walls”, the embodiment of the metaphor “breaking the rules”, could enhance creative performance. The virtual reality technology was used to simulate the scenario where participants could “break the walls” while walking in a corridor. Participants were asked to solve the creativity-demanding problems (ie., alternative uses tasks, AUT) in either the “break” condition in which they had to break the walls to move forward in VR, or the “no-break” condition where no barrier walls would appear. Results showed higher AUT originality and AUT fluency in the “break” condition than in the “no-break” condition. Moreover, the effects of “breaking the walls” on AUT originality were fully mediated by cognitive flexibility and persistence. These findings may indicate that enacting metaphors such as “breaking the rules” contribute to creative performance. The enhanced cognitive flexibility and persistence may account for the benefits.
Interpersonal touch enhances cognitive control: A neurophysiological investigation
Blair Saunders et al.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, forthcoming
Abstract:
Touch is central to mammalian communication, socialization, and wellbeing. Despite this prominence, interpersonal touch is relatively understudied. In this preregistered investigation, we assessed the influence of interpersonal touch on the subjective, neural, and behavioral correlates of cognitive control. Forty-five romantic couples were recruited (N = 90; dating >6 months), and one partner performed an inhibitory control task while electroencephalography was recorded to assess neural performance monitoring. Interpersonal touch was provided by the second partner and was manipulated between experimental blocks. A within-subject repeated-measures design was used to maximize statistical power, with our sample size providing 80% power for even small effect sizes (ds > .25). Results indicated that participants were not only happier when receiving touch, but also showed increased neural processing of mistakes. Further exploratory cognitive modeling using indirect effects tests and drift diffusion models of decision making revealed that touch was indirectly associated with both improved inhibitory control and increased rates of evidence accumulation (drift rate) through its influence on neural monitoring. Thus, beyond regulating emotion and stress, interpersonal touch appears to enhance the neurocognitive processes underling flexible goal-directed behavior.
Action Dominance: The Performance Effects of Multiple Action Demands and the Benefits of an Inaction Focus
Dolores Albarracin, Wei Wang & Kathleen McCulloch
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, forthcoming
Abstract:
Four experiments uncovered an action dominance error by which people’s natural focus on actions hinders appropriate responses to social and nonsocial stimuli. This surprising error comprises higher rates of both omission (misses) and commission (false alarms) when, in responding to action and inaction demands, people have higher numbers of action targets. The action dominance error was verified over four experiments using an analog that required responses to words and to target individuals. Experiments 1 and 2 tested our hypotheses and distinguished the action error effect from the effects of practicing action or inaction responses. Experiment 3 linked the error to the greater cognitive load imposed by the higher proportion of action over inaction targets. Furthermore, Experiment 4 demonstrated that (a) there is a default tendency to pay more attention to action (vs. inaction) targets and (b) shifting focus to inaction targets reduces the action dominance error.