Bargh, J. A., & Chartrand, T. L. (1999). The unbearable automaticity of being. American psychologist, 54(7), 462.
Summary
In an effort to preserve cognitive resources, repeated effort can eventually become unconscious, “free[ing] one’s limited conscious attentional capacity from tasks in which they are no longer needed.” A tennis player moves unconsciously to return a serve, yet that is the result of many hours of conscious, intentional repetition and practice. When one performs tasks unconsciously, this is referred to as automatization. Automatization can also occur unintentionally, by repeatedly making a choice in a situation. This is one way that stereotypes are formed.
At this point, it’s important to point some things out. Considerable weight is given to Baumeister’s theory of “ego depletion,” which does not seem to replicate very well. The authors then draw on their own research to make several conclusions regarding automaticity and self-regulation. The problem is that a lot of their research has not replicated either. Bargh’s embodied cognition study of priming people with words associated with the elderly and thereby causing the person to walk slower is just one example. The problem is not just with embodied cognition, but also with social priming – which seems to mainly be Bargh’s stimulus. Social priming studies are difficult to replicate, leading many to think that they are not a real phenomenon (Kahneman said priming research is “effectively dead”). Instead, many believe the results procured by social priming to be the result of an experimenter expectancy effect (also called the observer-expectancy effect or the Rosenthal effect). The researcher gives subtle cues (called demand characteristics) which the participant picks up on, consciously or unconsciously. One famous example was of a horse who seemed able to do math, but was in fact simply reacting to people’s expressions as he tapped the ground. While the points the authors are making might be true, other studies by other researchers would be needed to corroborate.
Application
Use double blind studies!
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