PSYC2040 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Satisficing, Affective Forecasting, Critical Role
18 Jun 2018
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PSYC2040 NOTES
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Key definitions
Functions, processes and components
Important points
Lecture 12 - Happiness
Testing the Parable of the Good Samaritan
●Study: seminary students at Princeton read either about the Parable of the Good
Samaritan or a control passage and were told to give a speech about what they read at
the building next door
○They were told either that they were right on time, late or ahead of schedule,
and were given a specific route to follow to get to the building in order for them
to happen upon a confederate acting as a victim
○Although participants who were ahead of schedule were more likely to help the
victim than those who were on time or late, the proportion of those who did was
only 60% - low considering they were giving a talk on the Good Samaritan and
helping thy neighbour
○The participants were preoccupied with planning for their talk
●Humans have the unique ability to think about and plan for the future, but while this
adaptive behaviour can be helpful we tend to get caught up in those thoughts and fail
to pay attention to the present
The remembering self and the experiencing self
●Individuals have an experiencing self that navigates life and a remembering self that
takes note of memorable events
●Study: experience sampling - alert participants on their phone to get reports on what
they were doing, their positive affect and their negative affect at that moment; this
shows the mood of the experiencing self
○Results showed that positive affect was second highest when participants were
watching TV, but we are unlikely to think about watching TV as particularly
memorable
○Time with children was found to correspond with the the second most negative
level of affect, but despite us possibly feeling negative taking care of children
we tend to look back on these experiences positively
Document Summary
Study: seminary students at princeton read either about the parable of the good. Samaritan or a control passage and were told to give a speech about what they read at the building next door. The participants were preoccupied with planning for their talk. Humans have the unique ability to think about and plan for the future , but while this adaptive behaviour can be helpful we tend to get caught up in those thoughts and fail to pay attention to the present. Individuals have an experiencing self that navigates life and a remembering self that. Results showed that positive affect was second highest when participants were watching tv, but we are unlikely to think about watching tv as particularly memorable. Time with children was found to correspond with the the second most negative level of affect, but despite us possibly feeling negative taking care of children we tend to look back on these experiences positively.
