1. Class 6: The New Look I

2. New Look I Timeline: 1940s – 1950s
a. NOT a single theory, but family of related theories and approaches.
b. Integrates psychoanalytic concepts with social
psychology (social perception, aggression, etc).
c. Demonstrates psychodynamic phenomena: projection, suppression, displacement.
d. New Look the Phoenix of psychology. Dies, returns.

3. Examples of New Look Investigations
a. Value and need shape perception
b. Displacement and scapegoating; frustration --> aggression.
They Saw a Game, Hastorf & Cantrel,1954.
Value and need---in perception:
Bruner & Postman, 1947
Albert Hastorf

4. Untimely Demise of New Look
New Look emphasizes unconscious processes on external perception
a. Perceptual Defense – fail to see threats, or see them fully, to avoid anxiety threats arouse.
b. Perceptual Vigilance – over-attend to, perhaps exaggerate, threatening stimuli.
Fatal criticism:
Perceptual defense = See thing --> fear thing --> mentally block out thing.
How is it possible to NOT SEE a thing you saw?
New developments answer this but not available 50 yrs ago.

5. Feshbach & Singer, 1957 Purpose: Demonstration of projection
Projection = "Infusion of perception with emotion“
Symmetrical: Project own emotions on to others.
"I feel afraid, therefore see you as afraid”
Complementary: Project instigating emotion on to others.
"I feel afraid, therefore see you as scary”

6. Feshbach & Singer, 1957 Predictions
1. When afraid, will see fear in others
2. Suppression of fear will --> more projected fear.
Method
Ss shocked or not shocked, and watch neutral film of person completing tasks.
Also, Ss either express or don't express feelings
when shocked.
Use of neutral faces for projection is like? ______________
DVs Direct fear: Looks afraid right now
Indirect fear: Temperamentally frightened
Indirect aggression: Temperamentally angry
Neg. personality: Untrustworthy, etc. (control for ind. agress)
Kuleshov Effect

7. Feshbach & Singer Results
Fear Condition show more fear than controls
Suppressors show more fear than expressors (somewhat)
Projection is stronger for "indirect fear" than for "direct fear“
Fear condition  complementary projection; see target as angrier.
Why does suppression amplify projection?
a. Self-perception: "Gee, hard to suppress. Therefore
I must be really upset".
b. Increased tension: Fear --> tension -> increased fear --> increased projection.

8. Emotional Restraint and Projection of Positive Affect
Feshbach, 1963
Emotional Restraint and Projection of Positive Affect
Purposes:
1. Projection occurs for positive as well as negative states
2. To refute Freudian explanation (hidden desires)
3. To support alternative explanation: as emotion becomes more salient, harder to separate the source from the result of the emotion (e.g., misattribution, Zillman)
Predictions:
1. Happy --> perception of more happiness in happy others
2. Happy --> perceive less happiness in sad others
3. Suppressed happy --> more projection
4. Projection more likely in same-sex target

9. Feshbach Results Self-rated happiness:
Restraint > Express; "Laughter in church" phenomenon
Ratings of faces:
Restraint > Express
Projection occurs more for genuinely happy faces,
less so for mildly happy or neutral faces.
Suggests projection amplifies existing attributes of target,
rather than imposes attributes that do not exist.

10. Communication and Hostility
Thibaut & Coules, 1952
Communication and Hostility
Purpose: Demonstrate catharsis
Catharsis = reduction of emotional tension by
expressing underlying emotion.
Prediction: Expressing hostility toward offender
--> reduced hostility towards this person.
Method: Obnoxious confederate and note-swapping task.
Experimental conditions
Comm: Can respond to insult
No-comm: Can’t respond to insult
DV: Diagnostic evaluation of confederate
Results: Comms produce more friendly comments than do No-comms.

11. Subliminally Activated Symbiotic Fantasies: Richard Hardaway, Psych
Subliminally Activated Symbiotic Fantasies: Richard Hardaway, Psych. Bulletin, 1990
Silverman's Mission
Believes in Psychoanalysis
But, also is empiricist
Psychoanalysis appears to be untestable
Silverman attempts to show psychodynamic processes can be empirically demonstrated.

12. Subliminal Symbiotic Activation
Symbiotic Attachment: Infant needs mom to buffer external and internal stimuli.
(Also, needs mom to confirm ability to be understood.)
Infant needs opportunity to explore on his/her own.
Drama of individuation —gaining independence w/o being in danger or feeling deserted.
Schizophrenia (according to Psychoanalysis): Failure to resolve individuation drama. Schizophrenic can't
distinguish internal from external stimuli.

13. Object Relations Theory
Good parent is good object--internalized "working model" of security, affection, caring available at hard times. Reified into general sense of being good, lovable.
Requires that actual parents do these things, during critical devel. phases
People who didn't get this have weaker sense of own worth, competence.
Schizeo like diabetic. Diabetic can't produce insulin
Schizo can't generate own ego-support
Diabetic treated with exogenous insulin
Can Schizo be treated with exogenous support?
Subliminal message: psychic hypodermic

14. SSA Technique Subliminally flash messages to subject (schizo).
Palliative message: MOMMY AND I ARE ONE
Control message: PEOPLE ARE WALKING

15. SSA Procedure S is assessed for schizo. symptoms
S. gets: Mommy and I are One (M + I = 1) or
People are Walking (PAW)
S is reassessed for symptoms
Repeat, but S gets opposite message, and again reassessed
Result: Symptoms improve after getting M + I = 1

16. Are SSA Results Real? Maybe just a happy-mood effect
Maybe PAW is a downer
Silverman's studies riddled with methodological flaws
Not all studies work

17. Hardaway approach: Meta-Analysis (M-A)
1. M-A is way to review entire body of research
2. Logic of M-A
a. Get all relevant research on topic
b. Establish inclusion/exclusion rules
c. Treat each study as if it were a subject
d. Compute overall effect, across all studies
3. Hardaway result: SSA effect is modest but reliable
a. Not due to "mommyness"
b. Not due to "are one"
c. Not gender specific
d. Not restricted to schizos—works on "normals"

18. So How Does SSA Work? Not clear from Silverman
Hardaway explanation: semantic network
a. SSA  reduced anxiety
b. SSA  positive memories
c. Pos memories  pos emotions
d. Pos emotions  stabilized distress, improved
coping