270223 Irrationality in Thought and Action (S) (WiSe 2014/2015)

Human thought and action in a social context often appears to be irrational. We will examine and discuss theoretical explanations and empirical studies regarding a host of phenomena that may be subsumed under the heading of "irrationality," among them:
• judgmental bias as a result of heuristic thinking
• magical thinking
• superstition
• intuition and feeling-based judgment
• treating animals and inanimate objects as if they were human (anthropomorphization)
etc.
Some of the questions we will address: Are there underlying principles that apply to all of these phenomena? How are they distinct? May what appears irrational actually have adaptive benefits?

Requirements for participation, required level

IMPORTANT: In the first week of the semester there will be a joint preliminary meeting of the two social psychology seminars in Module 27-M-G (Diehl / Bohner). This will take place on Thursday, 9 October 2014, 12.15-13.00h (room tba). Students who wish to participate but cannot attend the preliminary meeting should call the social psychology office 0521 1064436 (Mrs. Akkaya-Willis) and indicate their preference for one of the two seminars.

This seminar will be held in English. This means that *all* materials, communications, and correspondence will be in English. Participating students should thus be comfortable with reading English literature, completing English-language homework assignments, and contributing actively to discussions in English each week.

The seminar forms part of MSc module 27-M-G (G.2 or G.3) and should be taken in either the second or third semester.

Bibliography

The list below is selective – additional literature will be compiled in the seminar.
Ariely, D. (2012). Predictably irrational: The hidden forces that shape our decisions (2nd ed.). New York: HarperCollins.
Ariely, D. (2012). The upside of irrationality: The unexpected benefits of defying logic at work and at home. New York: HarperCollins.
Epstein, S., Pacini, R., Denes-Raj, V., & Heier, H. (1996). Individual differences in intuitive-experiential and analytical-rational thinking styles. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 390–405.
Fogg, B. J., & Nass, C. (1997). Silicon sycophants: The effects of computers that flatter. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 46, 551–561.
Kahneman, D., Slovic, P., & Tversky, A. (Eds.). (1982). Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Risen, J. L., & Gilovich, T. (2008). Why people are reluctant to tempt fate. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 293–307. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.95.2.293
Rozin, P., Millman, L., & Nemeroff, C. (1986). Operation of the laws of sympathetic magic in disgust and other domains. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 703-712.
Shafir, E., & Tversky, A. (1992). Thinking through uncertainty: Nonconsequential reasoning and choice. Cognitive Psychology, 24, 449-474.
Tversky, A., & Shafir, E. (1992). The disjunction effect in choice under uncertainty. Psychological Science, 3, 305-309.

There will be seminar pages on the Stud.IP platform.