region-ß paradox

region-ß paradox

region-ß paradox

region-ß paradox

The region-beta paradox denotes the phenomenon that people can sometimes recover more quickly from more intense emotions or pain than from less distressing experiences. The hypothesized reason is that intense states trigger psychological defense processes that reduce the distress, while less intense states do not trigger the same psychological defense processes and, therefore, less effective attenuation of the stress occurs. However, people typically predict intense states to last longer.

The paradox has been observed in the psychological effects of exposure to terrorist attacks. This is likely related to activation of ,  and other forms of mental mobilization.

It has been computationally modelled in an  model.

1.  Jane is trying to decide whether she should marry Jim.  She sits down with a piece of paper and makes a list of all the positive aspects about marrying Jim, and then a list of all the negative aspects.  After looking at both lists, she can see that the good things outweigh the bad.  So, she calls Jim up and says, “OK, let’s set a date for the wedding!”  Jane’s way of making up her mind is an example of:

a.         felicific calculus

b.         distinctiveness decision making

c.          decisional framing

d.         the contrast effect

Why is this the best answer?

2.  In an experiment by Kenrick and Gutierres, male college students were asked to evaluate a potential blind date before or after watching the television show “Charlie’s Angels” (which features three glamorous actresses).  How did those who gave their ratings of the blind date after the viewing the show compare to subjects who rated the blind date before watching the show.  To what factor was this difference attributed?

3.  From Article #13 in Readings About the Social Animal, in demonstrating the “region-ß paradox,” what do Gilbert and his colleagues suggest about people’s willingness to endure painful medical procedures?

4.  It’s New Year’s Eve, and you’ve been invited to a large party where there will be lots of people you’ve never met before.  When you arrive, the person hosting the party hands you a blue party hat to wear and you put it on.  As you mingle through the crowd, you notice that some people are wearing blue hats like yours, and other people are wearing green party hats.  By the end of the evening, you realize you have spent most of your time with people wearing blue hats.  Somehow, they just seemed to be nicer people-they even dance better than those other people wearing green hats.  Moreover, a guy with a green hat bumped into you at one point during the evening and spilled your drink!  Given your knowledge of social cognition (and despite the somewhat far-fetched nature of this scenario), how could you explain your perceptions and judgments?

5.  How do cognitive biases involving the self contribute to the goal of maintaining and enhancing our view of ourselves?  Of what value are such biases, and what are the potential consequences of not having them?  Describe two self-biases, providing research evidence that demonstrates their effects

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

• Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
• Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
• One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
• I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

• Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
• In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
• Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
• Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

• Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
• Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
• I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

• I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
• As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
• It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

 

LopesWrite Policy

• For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
• Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
• Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
• Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

• The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
• Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
• If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
• I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
• As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

• Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: 
  • Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
  • Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.