Psychology and Pranking Psychology The scientific study of

Psychology and Pranking

Psychology: The scientific study of behavior and mental processes • Scientific study – Empirical research • Experiments, observations • Behavior: observable actions/reactions – Examples? • Mental processes: internal activities – Cognitions = thoughts • Examples? – Affect/Emotion = feelings • Examples?

Psychology • In this course we will discuss some aspects of cognitive and social psychology. – Cognitive Psychology: The scientific study of human mental processes – Social Psychology: The scientific study of human behavior and mental processes as shaped by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others

Psychology • Why is it important in the context of pranking?

Remember the Canons of Rhetoric? • Invention – concerned with finding something to say (what is gonna be said). • Use topoi (relationships among ideas) to generate something to say. • • Arrangement – concerned with how ya order communication. • • To culture jam, a lotta times ya gotta imitate the style of the jammed. Memory – concerned with remembering communication, making communication memorable, and having the ability to “off the cuff. ” • • To culture jam, ya gotta recognize the order of the jammed. Style – concerned with how ya “say” or present what you communicate (words, art, images used, use of metaphors, and stuff like that). • • Cause/effect Past/future Similarities/differences To culture jam, ya gotta figure out how to make the jam memorable to an audience. Delivery – also concerned with how ya say or present your communication (gonna have an accent, gonna stand up straight, gonna use Twitter, gonna video, gonna be live – how ya gonna deliver the information? ) • To culture jam ya gotta figure out how you are gonna deliver your communication.

Mnemonics • Mnemonic technique: A strategy that improves memory • Examples – Interactive Images – Method of Loci

Interactive Images • Create interactive images that link the isolated words in a list.

Method of Loci • Visualize walking around an area with distinctive landmarks that you know well, and then link the various landmarks to specific items to be remembered.

Memory/Mind Palace • The method of loci has been know by different names.

Let’s briefly discuss a few memory theories.

Different Memory Stores • We have three different memory stores, or sets of neurons that maintain information • Each memory store has a different… – Duration: the length of time information is maintained – Capacity: the amount of information that is maintained – Theory of Forgetting: how information is lost

Different Memory Stores • Fundamental distinctions among memory stores were first characterized by Atkinson and Shiffrin – Three-Stage Model of Memory (Modal Model)

The Atkinson & Shiffrin Thee-Stage Memory Model SM STM LTM Capacity Quite Large 7+/ - 2 chunks Quite Large Duration 100 -250 msec 10 -30 secs Forgetting Decay Interference Lifetime Retrieval Failure

Levels of Processing (Craik & Lockhart, 1972) • Info processing at varying levels of depth – Deep Processing: Meaning and importance – Shallow Processing: Surface forms of items • Deep Processing results in greater memory • Depth is a continuum – Structural: The properties of the stimulus word • Shallow • HOW MANY VOWELS DOES THE WORD HAVE? – Phonemic: The sound of the spoken word • Intermediate • WHAT IS A WORD THAT RHYMES WITH THIS WORD? – Semantic: The meaning of the word • Deep • DOES THE WORD FIT IN THIS SENTENCE? : THERE WAS A _____ ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD.

Paivio’s Dual Coding Theory • Dual coding theory – memory is improved when items can be stored as verbal and visual codes – Makes memory better – You can forget one without forgetting the other

Improving Memory • Engage in deep processing (elaborative rehearsal) – Semantic encoding • Understand what material means

Improving Memory • Engage in deep processing (elaborative rehearsal) – Self-referencing encoding • Make material personally meaningful

Improving Memory 18 • Information on any given topic will be remembered better by individuals who have great interest in it than those who don’t – e. g. , the Swazi’s of South Africa superior memory for information about cows (Bartlett, 1932) • Interest in a topic is positively associated with pre -existing knowledge and schemas into which new information can be integrated – e. g. , existing soccer knowledge correlates highly with the ability to remember made-up soccer scores (Morris et al. , 1981)

Improving Memory • Engage in deep processing (elaborative rehearsal) – Make the information distinct • Primary distinctiveness – item is distinct from other items in the immediate context – cup saucer plate fork spoon knife bowl • Secondary distinctiveness – distinct from items stored in LTM – Orthographic distinctiveness – lowercase words that have an unusual shape – lymph, khaki, afghan LYMPH, KHAKI, AFGHAN • Emotional distinctiveness – items that produce an intense emotional reaction • Processing distinctiveness – creation of a memory code that makes that memory distinct from others

Improving Memory • Engage in adequate rehearsal – Repetition (maintenance rehearsal) is not enough – Testing effect • Doing practice questions increases retention – Expanding retrieval • Each item should be tested at the longest interval at which it can be reliably recalled

21 Mind Maps • Mind Map: – A notetaking/brainstorming strategy consisting of a diagram, including: • A central idea • Related ideas – More closely related concepts are located closer to the central concept • Links connecting them • Buzan and Buzan (1993)

22 Benefits of Mind Maps • Presumed Benefits – Encourage active learning – More natural than linear note taking – Ideas are distilled to their core, leaving out unimportant details – Visual images may be easier to remember – Color coding can be used to indicategory relations • Empirical Benefits – Farrand, Hussaine, and Hennessy (2002) • Task: – Learn the material by: » Mind mapping » Usual study techniques – Tested 1 week later • Results: – Mind-mapping group recalled 10% more » Even though mind mappers had less motivation for their technique

Improving Memory • Study in the state/context you will be tested Gooden & Baddeley (1975)

How can you improve the memory of other individuals?

How can you make a prank more memorable?

What if your audience doesn’t want to learn the information?