Self Control and the Nature of Science

PSYC 308 Week 5

How did Dan Ariely sustain taking meds for a year and a half even with side effects?

Associating something good with something bad helped Dan as he substitued caring for liver with movies

• Due to saving liver being a future that we do care about but struggle to see desirable effect with

What are 2 approaches for self control?

• Rewards substitution

• Self control contracts

What does the rat and pigeon pellet study show animals inability and ability to do?

Delay gratification and commitment

• Can’t elay normally

• With a red button to get rid of green button, often do it and thus get more pellets

What is clocky?

• Alarm clock connected to bank account and charity you hate (commitment device)

What is stickk?

Website that helps create contracts (commitment device)

What is the Denver Drug program?

Has drug adict write self incriminating letter about drug addication and who fear most get this letter

• Takes letter and test for heroin in blood for regular check ups then send letter

• If people wanted out, 3 week without drugs

  • People often got clean in those 3 weeks

What is the main reason why our self control is bad?

• We know what good choices are to make which align with long term goals but immediate temptations tend to override better judgement

What are 3 ways to improve self control?

• Commitment devices

• Removing temptations

• Make good habits rewarding

What is p-hacking?

Deciding how to analyze data based on observations

What are 4 ways to increase the likelihood of significance results?

• 2 DP variables

• Add more observations

• Control for gender

• Drop 1 of 3 conditions

What are some factors contributing to the replication crisis? (4/5)

• P hacking to get significant results

• Harking (Hypothesizing after results are known)

• Low statistical power/sample sizes

• Journal refusing to publish replication studies/publication hair

• Data having to be interpreted (can solve when many groups interpret but often groups won’t replicate)

What is the ego depletion theory?

• Self control is like a muscle that you must train

What did the registered replication report show?

Only 2/23 studies replicated the effect that self control is a muscle

What are 3 ways to tell if an article is p-hacking?

• Small samples

• p values close to 0.05 (lazy p hacking)

• Random covariates (Ex. let’s control for age because you know)

What is the fake study on listening to music and age done by Simmons?

• Deliberately flawed study proving easyness to get false positives

• Proved listening to children song showed being older

• Proved listening to beatles song when im 64 to being younger by 1.5 years

What are 4 ways a researchers degrees of freedoms can be manipulated?

• Choosing among multiple DV

• Choosing sample size

• Using covariates

• Reporting subsets of experimental conditions

• Increases to 61% false positive rate if all are used

What is proposed solution did Simmons make as a requirement for authors to publish a study? (6)

• Must decide rule for terminating data collection before collection begins

• Must collect 20 observations per cell

• Must list all variables

• Must report all experimental conditions

• Must report statistical results for all observations

• Must report statistical results of analysis with/without covariate

What are some guidelines for reviewrs that Simmons proposed? (4)

• Should ensure authors follow requirements

• Should tolerate imperfection in results

• Should require authors to demonstrate results

• Should require authors to conduct exact replication if data collection/analysis is not compelling

What are 3 models showing how self control conflicts arise?

• Multiple sequential selves with inconsistent preferences

  • Each self exists at a point in time wanting instant gratification and future life of good behaviour

• Multiple coexisting selves

  • Decisions makers crave instant gratification and also focus on long term outcomes

• Multiple attribute model; Nothing different between conflicts of decisions and other kinds of choice

  • Ex. Cheseburger has high hedonic value, low long term health value

What are some (4) situational interventions that are typically self deployed?

• Commitment devices

• Temptation bundling (watch TV an excercise)

• Situation modification (remove tempations from view)

• Behaviour therapy (therapists help ID trigger stimuli, focus on extrinsic rewards)

What are some (7) cognitive interventions that are typically self deployed?

Enables people to change way they think by making long term choices seem more appealing

• Goal setting

• Planning

• Mental contrasting and implementating intentions

• Self monitoring

• Psychological distnacing

• Mindfulness

• Cognitive therapy

What is temptation bundling?

Doing an indulgent activity along with a self controlled behaviour

What is situation modification?

Removing temptatons from view

What is mental contrasting?

Imagining in vivid detail a positive outcome of attaining a goal then bringing to mind a negative obstacle standing in the way

What is implementation intention?

Linking anticipated cue with desired action

What is self monitoring and why is it neccessary?

Self controlled behaviours should be done consistenly over time for benefits as attention to goals tend to lapse

What is psychological distancing?

People are most attracted to temptations when available in the here and now, so by moving temptation not here and now, the weaker the allure