Literature Review Homework Assignment

Using the resources and skills discussed in class, please answer each of the following questions. Type your answers (double-spaced). Submit via digital dropbox Blackboard: look under "Course Documents" and "Click here to submit assignments via Blackboard." If you have problems, feel free to consult with me or Jen Jarson at the library. But remember, we may not be available the night before or morning that the assignment is due.  See the course schedule for the due date.

1. Below is an excerpt from a news release. Find the abstract for the published article and report the reference in APA format:

Face Value: Hidden Smiles Influence Consumption
Psychology Studies Confirm 'Unfelt' Emotion Can Alter Consequential Behavior

     Current research makes no comment on horses, but it seems that humans can be made to drink. In studies led by Piotr Winkielman, associate professor of psychology at the University of California, San Diego, people altered their consumption behaviors after exposure to subliminal facial expressions. Hidden smiles persuaded thirsty subjects to pour more and drink more of an unidentified beverage than did neutral expressions. Frowns had the opposite effect. Study participants who were unconsciously "primed" with happy faces also reported being willing to pay up to triple the price for the mystery drink. And they reported wanting another half cup instead of just a sip or two more. Remarkably, the test subjects, whose actions had been influenced by these emotional cues, — were not aware of their feelings having changed. "This is the first demonstration that you can influence consequential, real-world behavior without affecting conscious feeling. We can change what you do, without changing how you feel," Winkielman said. Winkielman believes the findings support the existence of unconscious or "unfelt" emotion. "Emotional states operating outside conscious awareness can drive behavior. The subjective experience of a feeling is not always necessary to the process," said Winkielman. "Feelings are often slow," he said. "In a frightening situation, you run first, feel afraid later."
     To tease apart emotional reaction and subjective feeling, Winkielman and colleagues devised two different experiments. In both studies, subjects were first asked to rate how thirsty and hungry they were. Next, they were subliminally exposed to a series of photographs of happy, angry or neutral faces — masked each time by a neutral face. Consciously, the subjects were aware only of seeing the second, neutral image, which they were then asked to classify as male or female. Immediately afterwards, they were asked (in varying order) to interact with the beverage and rate their moods.
     Happy and angry expressions were selected as primes, Winkielman said, because it is easy to extract a simple positive and negative interpretation from them: Grins and glowers are flashed at us in approval and reproach since Day 1 and are essentially equivalent to "stop" and "go" signs. The researchers chose drinking in part because ingesting an unknown substance can have obvious biological consequences and is therefore not a trivial act — even if, as in this case, the drink is made of nothing more than water, sugar and lemon-lime Kool-Aid.
     In the first experiment, 39 undergraduates freely helped themselves and drank as much as they wanted. Unknown to them, the amounts poured and consumed were recorded using an electronic scale. Thirsty participants poured and drank more than twice the amount of the beverage after happy primes than after angry primes. In the second experiment, 29 undergraduates tasted a small, predetermined sample and were then asked to evaluate it after one sip. Those at the high level of thirst reported willingness to pay 38 cents (U.S.) after happy primes and only 10 cents after angry ones. They also expressed desire for an additional half cup instead of one to two sips.
     In both studies, thirst proved a necessary precondition for influence. Moderately thirsty participants were only moderately affected. And those not thirsty, not at all. Thirst also correlated positively with ratings of the beverage's deliciousness and thirst-quenching abilities. "Motivation matters," Winkielman said. "Your motivational state — your level of need — prepares you to process relevant information and gives value to the stimulus. Otherwise, the emotional message falls on deaf ears."  

     To business-people or politicians tempted to apply these findings to advertising, Winkielman says: It won't work. The effects of subliminal expressions were too short-lived. By the time people arrived at the store or polling booth, all influence would have worn off.

2. In 2001, Jennifer Crocker and Connie Wolfe published a landmark article introducing a new theory about self-esteem called contingencies of self-worth. Search for this article in PsychINFO and answer the following questions:

a. Does Trexler library have this article? If so, in what form (electronic or hard-copy)? If hard-copy, where is it in the library? If it is not in Trexler, how could you get it?

b. How many references does this article use? How many times has this article been cited by other articles in PsychINFO since its publication?

c. Browse the titles/abstracts of recent articles that have cited Crocker & Wolfe (2001). Besides self-esteem in general, list three different topic areas which the influence of contingencies of worth have been examined.

d. By looking at the titles of the journals in which these articles (those that cite Crocker & Wolfe, 2001), what sub-field of psychology (e.g., developmental, clinical etc.) seems to publish the most material on the theory? How might knowing this information help someone interested in self-esteem research?

3. You decide to apply for graduate school in Social Psychology. One of the programs that you are considering is the University of Michigan. To prepare your application, you decide to investigate the interests of the faculty. You notice that one of the faculty members is Richard Nisbett, the author of your Social Psychology textbook. You know that he is a respected member of the field and has been publishing articles for over 25 years. Search PsychINFO for Nisbett’s work and answer the following questions:

a. Across his 25 year career, how many publications has Nisbett authored or co-authored?

b. What seems to be his primary area(s) of expertise?

4. Does the library have access to the journal “Psychological Science”? If so, in what forms (electronic or hard-copy)? If not, how could you get it?

5. Pick a general area that you might find interesting for your group project. What broad search term(s) would you type in first, and in what field(s) would you look for the term(s)?

6. Do the search from #5. Based on that search, list 5 other search terms that would be useful to narrow or broaden your results (narrow if you got lots of hits; broaden if you did not get enough).

7. Pick a specific topic based on your choices in #5 and #6. Please tell me what that topic is and describe 3 different search strategies for finding articles on that topic. Be specific in describing your three strategies (list all search terms, Boolean operators and fields). Do those 3 searches and type out the citation (in proper APA style) for one article that captures your interest. Does Trexler own this article? Is it electronic or hard copy? How would you get a copy of this article?

SAVE YOUR IDEAS - I'D RECOMMEND A RESEARCH NOTEBOOK.