Post on 29-Jan-2016
Pictures and Words
Behavioral Decision Making: Building Approaches from Laboratory Insights
October 31th 2011
Elinor Amit
How do we think about things?...
The 3 main approaches:
• Words (inner speech) (e.g., Vygotsky, 1934; Oppenheim & Dell, 2010)
• Pictures (mental imagery) (e.g., Kosslyn et al)
• Abstract, a-modal representations (e.g., Caramazza, Hillis, Rapp, & Romani, 1990; Lambon Ralph, Graham, Patterson, & Hodges, 1999; Rapp, Hillis, & Caramazza, 1993; Tyler & Moss, 2001; Mahon & Caramazza, 2008)
How do we think about things?...
The 3 main approaches:
• Words (inner speech) (e.g., Vygotsky, 1934; Oppenheim & Dell, 2010)
• Pictures (mental imagery) (e.g., Kosslyn et al)
• Abstract, a-modal representations (e.g., Caramazza, Hillis, Rapp, & Romani, 1990; Lambon Ralph, Graham, Patterson, & Hodges, 1999; Rapp, Hillis, & Caramazza, 1993; Tyler & Moss, 2001; Mahon & Caramazza, 2008)
“the two most vivid forms of working memory are mental images... and snatches of inner speech”
Pinker, 2008
Apple
Red apple
Apple
Red apple
Differences between words and pictures
Red apple
Medium
words pictures
Dissimilar to the object:
Cognized
Arbitrary
Abstract
Gist
Simple
Similar to the object:
Perceived
Not arbitrary
Concrete
Peripheral
Complex
- The association between medium and psychological distance
- The implications of the medium of representation to moral judgment
We will discuss today…
- The association between medium and psychological distance
- The implications of the medium of representation to moral judgment
We will discuss today…
The medium/morality hypothesis
Proximal event Visual representation
Distal event Verbal representation
It depends…
Amit, Algom, & Trope, 2009
How do we think about things?...
What is psychological distance?
The distance between an individual and a target.
• Subjective• Egocentric
What is psychological distance?• Temporal: How much time separates between the individual’s present and the target event
• Spatial: How far in space is the event from the individual
• Social: How different is the social target from the individual
Bar Anan, Liberman & Trope, 2006
Why is medium associated with distance?
• Pictures and words serves different cognitive functions:
• Words preserve the invariant & essential properties of the item for a distal use
• Pictures preserve the stimulus in details for an immediate use.
Construal Level Theory (CLT) Mental construal processes serve to traverse psychological distances and switch between perspectives.
Trope & Liberman, 2003; 2010
Distal events not so much information =>
Proximal events there is information =>
abstract representation, entailing the essence, invariant features of the referent.
concrete, subordinate representation.
Main hypothesisPictures and words are associated with psychological
distance:
• People elect to represent close targets in pictures and distal targets in words.
• Pictures impart a feeling of proximity, whereas words impart a feeling of distance.
• cognitive processing: - Identification - Categorization - Selective attention - Memory
• Social cognition: - Interpersonal communication - Moral judgment
• Neural correlates
• cognitive processing: - Identification - Categorization - Selective attention - Memory
• Social cognition: - Interpersonal communication - Moral judgment
• Neural correlates
Speeded Identification: Social distance
football
soccer
Amit, Algom, & Trope, 2009, Jep: General
Socially proximal
Socially distal
Medium: pictures, wordsDistance: socially near, far Task: speeded identification
Speeded Identification: Social distance
570
590
610
630
650
picture word
Reaction Time (ms)
proximal
distal
F(1,13)=7.63, p < .05Amit, Algom, & Trope, 2009, Jep: General
Speeded Identification: Spatial distance
Medium: pictures, wordsDistance: spatially near, far Task: speeded identification
Amit, Algom, & Trope, 2009, Jep: General
Speeded Identification: Spatial distance
Amit, Algom, & Trope, 2009, Jep: General
600
620
640
660
680
700
picture word
Reaction Time (ms)
proximal
distal
F(1,15)=6.3, p < .05
Amit, Rim, Greene, & Trope, in prep
+
TomorrowCHAIR
+
10 yearsAPPLE
+
20 sec
1 sec
Mental travel
Exp.1: event related design, 11 subjectsExp.2: block design, 10 subjects
near>far
N=10, p =.001
calcarine
far>near
BA 21 L
Language regions Visual regions
Fusiform L
BA47L
precuneus
Fusiform R
Mental travel (Harvard sample)
Interim conclusion
Pictures are associated with proximity, whereas words are associated with distance.
- This association influence performance in various cognitive tasks (e.g., identification)
- People spontaneously elect to represent proximal things visually (embodied cognition), and distal things verbally.
Implications of the medium/distance association for public policy
paths
cost
air pollution
convenience for costumers
pressure from the government
bus driver’s union demands
location of businesses
existing routes
location of main public services
Walk a lotWait a little
Walk a littleWait a lot?
- The association between medium and psychological distance
- The implications of the medium of representation to moral judgment
We will discuss today…
- The association between medium and psychological distance
- The implications of the medium of representation to moral judgment
We will discuss today…
The medium/morality hypothesis
Proximal event Visual representation
Distal event Verbal representation
The medium/distance hypothesis
The medium/morality hypothesis
Proximal eventVisual representation
Distal eventVerbal representation
The medium/distance hypothesis
The medium/morality hypothesis
Proximal eventVisual representation
Distal eventVerbal representation
The medium/distance hypothesis
If you see something
Do something!
Implications for behavior…
• Pictures “emergency” reaction
• Words not so much
Visual processing
High emotionalreaction
Verbal processing
Low emotionalreaction
5 >1
Psychologically proximal
Psychologically distal
Visual processing
High emotionalreaction
Verbal processing
Low emotionalreaction
5 >1
Psychologically proximal
Psychologically distal
Emotionally-drivenjudgments
“cognitive”-drivenjudgments
Dual-Process Moral Cognition
5 >1 Yes
?
Dual-Process Moral Cognition
5 >1
No
Yes
?
XGreene et al, Cognition, 2009
Visual processing deontological judgments (rely on emotional reactions)
Verbal processing utilitarian judgments (rely on “controlled” reaction)
Predictions
Another rationale for the medium/moral judgment prediction
Pictures thinking about means (consistent with deontological moral reasoning)
Words thinking about end-goals (consistent with utilitarian moral reasoning)
Exp 1: How media preferences are related to moral judgments?
L.A. Times Wall Street journal
r(108) = 0.233, p = 0.011*After controlling for level of education: r(107) = .22, p = 0.018*
Exp 1: How media preferences are related to moral judgments?
More utilitarian
R(170) = -0.18, p = 0.017*After controlling for education: r(169) = -0.18, p = 0.01**
Hours/day of TV watching
Exp 1: How media preferences are related to moral judgments?
More utilitarian
Conclusions from Experiment 1:
Media consumption preferences are associated with moral judgments tendencies:
Visual deontological styleVerbal utilitarian style
* Cannot be accounted for by education
Exp 2: How cognitive style is related to moral judgments?
Amit & Greene, under revision
Verbal - Visual Accuracy
utilitarian
N = 50r = .35p = .01
R(50)=.346, p < .01
Exp 2: How cognitive style is related to moral judgments?
More utilitarian
Conclusions from Experiment 2:
Cognitive style is associated with moral judgments tendencies:
Visual style deontological Verbal style utilitarian
Amit & Greene, under revision
Enemy soldiers have taken over your village….
Is it appropriate to smother your baby?
2.5 secno…..yes
5 sec
Exp 3: How visual and verbal interference affect moral judgments?
5 sec
Amit & Greene, under revision
You are standing near a footbridge…
Is it appropriate to smother your baby?
no…..yes
Condition 1 Condition 2
Prediction:
• pictorial interference prevents representing the dilemma visually, thus leads to more utilitarian judgment.
• Verbal interference prevents representing the dilemma verbally, thus leads to more deontological judgment.
Amit & Greene, under revision
Interference type
* n.s
Exp 3: How visual and verbal interference affect moral judgments?
More utilitarian
Amit & Greene, under revision
Conclusions from Experiment 3:
Visual imagery creates more deontological judgments.
No effect for words (compared to control) – suggests that the default mode of thinking about moral dilemmas is visual.
Amit & Greene, under revision
Exp. 4
• Subjects read mean vs. side dilemma. • Than made moral permissibility judgment• And reported whether they imagined the one
to be killed or the five to be saved.
F(1,331) = 15.1, p < .0001
What did you imagine more?
The 5
The one
Dilemma(mean, side)
imagery
Moral judgment
P = .000*** P = .001**
P = .000***
Sobel = -2.04, p = .004
Take-home messageIntriguing implications for the differences between
pictures and words…- People think about proximal things in pictures
and about distal things in words- They think about “means” in pictures and about
“end-goals” in words- Thinking in pictures lead to deontological moral
judgments, and thinking in words lead to utilitarian moral judgments.
Thanks
• Joshua Greene• Yaacov Trope• Daniel Algom• Galit Yovel• Evelina Fedorenko• SoYon Rim• Georg Halbeisen
•Nobuhito Abe•Alek Chakroff•Fiery Cushman•Joe Paxton•Steven Frenkland•David Rand•Regan Bernhard•Ryan Halprin•Sara Gottlieb•Allison Gofman•Rebecca Fine•Warren Winter•Paul Lively
Thanks!