Psychology 2800E Chapter Notes -Ronald Reagan
Document Summary
Placebo effect: the tendency of people to report that any treatment has helped them, regardless of whether it has a real or therapeutic element. Also testimonials are just people"s words, they aren"t scientific or standardized. The vividness effect is also why testimonials can"t be trusted. When faced with a problem-solving or decision-making situation, people retrieve from memory the information that seems relevant to the situation at hand. Thus, they are more likely to use the facts that are more accessible to solve a problem or make a decision. One factor that strongly affects accessibility is the vividness of the information. Vividness effect: the phenomenon of how vividly or highly graphic and dramatic events affect an individuals perception of a situation. People start doing things when people they"re aware of are affected, even when theres been a bunch of attention/ research on it beforehand (president. Reagan learning about aids when famous actor dies from it, etc. )