FasttrackreportThepenismightierthantheword:Objectprimingofevaluativest - PDF document

FasttrackreportThepenismightierthantheword:ObjectprimingofevaluativestandardsABRAHAMM.RUTCHICK,MICHAELL.SLEPIANANDBENNETTD.FERRISDepartmentofPsychology,CaliforniaStateUniversity,Northridge,USADepartmentofPsychology,TuftsUniversity,Medford,USA 2008).Thepresenceoffuneralhomescanincreasecharitablebehavior(Jonas,Schimel,Greenberg,&Pyszczynski,2002),andeventheheightofaroom’sceilingcaninuencecognitiveprocessing(Meyers-Levy&Zhu,2007).Theseexamplesofobjectprimingshowthat,inessence,anyobjectthatiscloselyassociatedwithaconceptcouldpotentiallyinuencebehaviorbymakingthatconceptmoreaccessible.Colors,too,carryimplicitassociationsthatcaninuencecognitionandbehavior.Elliot,Maier,Moller,Friedman,andMeinhardt(2007)foundthatparticipantsexposedtoredwritingonthecoverofanexperimentalpacketperformedmorepoorlyonasubsequentanagramtaskcomparedtoparticipantsexposedtogreenorblackwriting.Insubsequentstudies,Elliotetal.(2007)demonstratedthatevenbriefexposuretothecolorredcouldproducethiseffect,andprovidedevidencesuggestingthattheeffecttakesplaceoutsideparticipants’consciousawareness.FurtherevidencethatthelinkbetweenredandfailureisautomaticwasrecentlyprovidedbyMoller,Elliot,andMaier(2010),whofoundthatwordsrelatedtofailureandnegativitywererespondedtomorequicklyiftheyweredisplayedinredcomparedtoothercolors.Morerecentresearch,however,suggeststhatexposuretoredisnotalwayslinkedtoimpairedperformanceandnegativity.MehtaandZhu(2009)conductedaseriesofstudiescomparingtheeffectsofexposuretoredandblueinavarietyofcontexts.Theyfoundthatredincreasedtheaccessibilityofavoidance-relatedwords,whereasblueincreasedtheaccessibilityofapproach-relatedwords.Participantspreferredprevention-orientedproducts(e.g.,atoothpastethatreducestheincidenceofcavities)topromotion-orientedproducts(atoothpastethatwhitensteeth)whentheircomputerscreenshadredbackgrounds;theyhadtheoppositepreferenceswhentheirscreenshadbluebackgrounds.Inthecontextofproductdesign,participantswhodesignedachildren’stoyusingpartsdrawninredproducedtoysthatwerejudgedtobemoreappropriateandpractical;thosewhousedpartsdrawninblueproduceddesignsthatweremorecreative.MehtaandZhu(2009)suggestthatexposuretoredfacilitateseffectiveperformanceoftasksthatdemandvigilance,attention,andafocusondetail.Inthecontextofachievement,exposuretoredinducesparticipantstoadoptanavoidanceorientation.Elliot,Maier,Binser,Friedman,andPekrun(2009)demonstratedthatparticipantsbrieyexposedtoredonthecoverofatesttheywereabouttotakeexhibitedmoreavoidancebehaviors(knockingfewertimesonalaboratorydoor,physicallyleaningfurtherawayfromacomputerscreendisplayingthetest)thandidparticipantsexposedtoothercolors.Thesebehaviorswereonlyobservedwhenparticipantsweretakingatest;however,anotherwiseequivalentcontextunrelatedtoachievement(makingratingsoflikeability)revealednodifferencesbetweencolors.Thisavoidanceorientation,then,likelyexplainshowredaffectsperformanceonanagramsandsimilartasks(Elliotetal.,2007).Becausethecolorredisimplicitlyassociatedwithavoidanceandfailure,andredpensspecicallyhavelongbeenassociatedwitherrors,weproposethatexposuretoaredpenactivatestheconceptsoferrors,poorperformance,andevaluativeharshness.Inthecurrentpaper,weconductedthreestudiestodemonstratetheactivationoftheseconceptsandassesstheinuenceofredpensonerror-markingandevaluationinarealisticcontext.Study1examinedwhethertheuseofredpensincreasesthecognitiveaccessibilityoftheconceptsoferrorsandevaluativeharshness.Study2examinedwhetherparticipantsmarkmoreerrorswhenusingredpensthanwhenusingbluepens.Study3comparedthesubjectiveevaluationsmadebypeopleusingredpenstothosemadebypeopleusingbluepens.STUDY1If,aswepropose,redpensareassociatedwitherrorsandharshevaluations,theuseofredpensshouldspontaneouslyactivatetheseconcepts.Totestthishypothesis,participantsperformedaword-stemcompletiontaskinwhichseveralofthewordstemscouldbecompletedwithwordsrelatedtoerrorsandpoorperformance(e.g.,‘‘wrong’’).Wepredictedthatparticipantsusingredpenswouldbemorelikelytoformsuchwords.Onehundredandtwentystudentsrecruitedfromvariousuniversitylocationsvolunteeredtoparticipateinthestudy.Eachparticipantwasgivenaword-stemcompletiontask(Gilbert&Hixon,1991;Tulving,Schacter,&Stark,1982),inwhichtheywereaskedtollinthemissinglettersofaseriesofwords.Fiveoftheword-stemscouldbecompletedwithwordsrelatedtoerrorsandpoorperformance(‘‘FAI_,’’whichcouldbecompletedas‘‘FAIL’’or‘‘fair’’;‘‘_RRO_,’’ERRORorarrow;‘‘MIN__,’’MINUSormines/minty/etc.;‘‘_LUNK,’’FLUNKorplunk/clunk;and‘‘WRO__,’’WRONGorwrote).Thelikelihoodwithwhichpeoplecompletewordsrelatedtoerrorsandpoorperformanceshould2010JohnWiley&Sons,Ltd.Eur.J.Soc.Psychol.,704–708(2010)DOI:10.1002/ejspObjectprimingofevaluativestandards reectthedegreetowhichtheseconceptsareaccessible.Theremaining12word-stemswereunrelatedtotheconceptsoferrorsandperformance(e.g.,‘‘RIC_,’’whichcouldbecompletedas‘‘rice’’or‘‘rich’’).Participantsweregivenaredorblackpen,assignedrandomly,tocompletetheword-stems.Theyweregivenasmuchtimeastheyneededtocompletethetask,afterwhichtheywerethanked,probedforsuspicion,debriefed,anddismissed.Participantsusingredpenscompletedmoreword-stemswithwordsrelatedtoerrorsandpoorperformance(1.09)thandidparticipantsusingblackpens(.01,Cohen’s0.49.Thissuggeststhatusingredpensmadetheconceptoferrorsandpoorperformancemorecognitivelyaccessible.STUDY2Iftheconceptsoferrors,poorperformance,andharshevaluationareactivatedbyusingredpens,peopleusingredpenstocorrectothers’workshouldmarkmoreerrorsthanparticipantsusingpensofothercolors.Totestthishypothesis,participantswereinstructedtocorrectanessayusingeitheraredorabluepen.Wepredicted,then,thatasaresultofobjectpriming,participantswhousedredpenswouldmarkmoreerrorsthanparticipantswhousedbluepens.Onehundredandthreeparticipants,whovolunteeredtheirtime,wererecruitedinandaroundauniversitycampus.Participantsweregivenatwo-paragraphexcerpttakenfromanessayostensiblywrittenbyastudentwhowaslearningEnglish.Theexcerptconcernedtheconsequencesofarecentmedicalexaminationundergonebytheauthor,andcontainedanumberoferrors.Theessaywasprintedinblackinkonwhitepaper.Participantswereinstructedtomarkanyerrorsinpunctuation,spelling,grammar,andwordchoice,andwererandomlyassignedtouseeitheraredorbluepeninmarkingtheessay.Participantsweregivenasmuchtimeastheywishedtocompletetheirevaluation.Judgesunawareofthehypothesistalliedthenumberofmarksmadebyeachparticipant;compoundmarks(e.g.,crossingoutamisspelledwordandwritingthewordcorrectlyaboveit)werecountedasoneerror.Aspredicted,evaluatorsusingredpensmarkedmoreerrors(thandidparticipantsusingbluepens(2.05,.04,Cohen’sThesendingsconstituteinitialevidenceinsupportofourcentralhypothesisthatredpensinduceevaluatorstomarkmoreerrors.However,itisnotclearfromthisstudyalonethatredpenspromoteevaluativeharshness;themarkingoferrorscouldsimplyreectincreasedvigilanceandattentiontodetail(seeMehta&Zhu,2009).Toreneourndings,wenextexaminedamoreclearlysubjectiveevaluativetask:Assigningagradetoanessaythatlackedobjectiveerrors.STUDY3Participantswereinstructedtoevaluateanessayandwereprovidedwitheitheraredorabluepen.Astheyread,theywereaskedtomarkawsintheessayandmakecriticalcommentsattheirdiscretion.Wehypothesizedthatusingaredpentocompletethistaskwouldcauseparticipantstoassignlowergradesthanusingabluepen.Onehundredandtwenty-ninestudentswererecruitedfromintroductorypsychologycourses,andwerecompensatedwithpartialcoursecredit.Participantsweregivenaone-pageessayostensiblywrittenbyaneighth-gradestudent.Theessaywasapersuasiveargumentadvocatingeldtripsinmiddleschooleducation,andasbeforewasprintedinblackinkonwhitepaper.Theessaycontainednogrammaticalorspellingerrors,although(asmightbeexpectedofaneighthgrader’swork)therewereanumberofsuboptimalwordchoices.Forinstance,onesentenceread,‘‘Asyoucansee,eradicationofeldtripswouldn’tbegood.’’Participantswereinstructedtoevaluatetheessay,indicatingaws(suchaspointsatwhichthephrasingorwordchoicecouldbeimproved),andtoawardtheessayagradefromzero(worst)toonehundred(best).AsinStudy2,participantswererandomlyassignedtouseeitheraredorbluepeninevaluatingtheessay.Toexaminethepossibilitythatusingredpenssimplyactivatednegativityorinuencedmood,aseparatestudywasconductedinwhichparticipants131)completedthePositiveandNegativeAffectSchedule(Watson,Clark,&Tellegen,1988)usingeitheraredorblackpen.Participantsusingredpensdidnotindicatethattheywereexperiencinglesspositiveaffect(.44)ormorenegativeaffect(.45)thanparticipantsusingblackpens.Interrateragreementforthistallyexceeded98%.Oneparticipantmarked124errors.Excludingthisoutlierdidnotsubstantiallychangetheresults:.05,Cohen’s2010JohnWiley&Sons,Ltd.Eur.J.Soc.Psychol.,704–708(2010)DOI:10.1002/ejspAbrahamM.Rutchicketal Aspredicted,participantsusingredpensassignedlowergrades12.29)thandidparticipantsusingbluepens,.048,Cohen’s0.35.Inaddition,judgesunawareofthehypothesisexaminedtheessaysandcountedthenumberofcriticalcommentsmadebyeachparticipant.Asmightbeanticipated,thenumberofcommentsmadewasnegativelycorrelatedwiththegradeawarded,.01.However,evaluatorsusingredpensdidnotmakesignicantlymorecomments(10.24)thanparticipantsusingbluepens(DISCUSSIONThecurrentstudiesprovideevidencethattheuseofredpensincreasesthecognitiveaccessibilityoftheconceptsoferror-markingandpoorperformance,leadstoincreasederror-marking,andinducesharsherevaluation.Repeatedpairingsofredpensanderror-markinghavelikelycreatedastrongmentalassociation;thepresenceofredwritingineffectdenotesanerror.Consequently,exposuretoaredpeninthecontextofgradingapapercaninuencebehavior,likelywithouttheawarenessofthepersonbeinginuenced.Thesendingsextendtheexistingliteratureontheimpactofexposuretothecolorredbyforgingalinkwiththeliteratureonobjectpriming,byexaminingexplicitlyevaluativebehavior,andbydemonstratingthatusingredpensincreasesthecognitiveaccessibilityoffailure-relevantconcepts.Elliotandhiscolleagues(Elliotetal.,2007,2009;Molleretal.,2010)haveshownanassociationbetweenthecolorredandtheconceptsoffailureandavoidance.Thecurrentndingsaddtothisbodyofresearchbyshowingthataredpenmayhavecontext-specicassociationsbeyondthecolorreditself,andthattheseassociationsaffectbehaviorinanecologicallyrelevantcontext.Althoughweproposethattheredpeneffectisdrivenbyincreasedaccessibilityoftheconceptsoferrors,poorperformance,andevaluativeharshness(andprovideinitialevidencethatnegativemooddoesnotdrivetheeffect),thereareotherpossibilities.Forexample,redpenscouldinuencelevelsoftestosteroneandaggression(Hagemann,Strauss,&Ließing,2008;Hill&Barton,2005),orexposuretothecolorcouldactivateanavoidanceorientation(Elliotetal.,2009),leadingevaluatorstobemorecautiousandcritical.Itwillbeimportanttomoredirectlyexaminethemeditationalmechanismoftheredpeneffectinfutureresearch.Thecurrentndingsarequaliedbyadditionallimitations,primarilyconcerningtheparticipantsinthestudies.Duetotimeconstraintsassociatedwithconductingtheexperimentsinarealisticsetting,littlewasknownabouttheparticipantsbeyondtheirpresenceintheuniversityenvironment;theirage,ethnicbackground,levelofeducation,andotherfactorswerenotassessed.Severaloftheseindividualdifferences,suchasverbalability,educationalbackground,andeldofstudy,couldinuenceparticipants’abilitytodetecterrors,theirpropensitytomarkthem,andtheharshnesswithwhichtheymakeevaluations.However,theseuncontrolleddifferencesshouldmanifestasrandomvariability,andthusmakeitmoredifculttodetecttheeffectswereport.Asecondconcernisthatparticipantslikelyhadlittleexperiencemarkingerrorsandevaluatingothers’work.Itmaywellbethecasethat,whileinexperiencedevaluatorsaresubjecttotheinuenceofredpens,trainedteacherswhoareaccustomedtomakingcorrectionsareunaffected.Infuturestudies,weintendtoexaminethisissuebycomparingnovicestoteachers-in-trainingandexperiencedteachers,directlyexaminingthepotentialroleofexpertiseinmoderatingtheredpen’sinuence.Ourcurrentndingscouldbeextendedinseveralways.First,additionalexaminationsofthemechanismbywhichtheeffectoccursshouldbeconducted.Althoughredpensinducebothincreasederror-markingandtheaccessibilityoftheconceptsoferrorsandfailure,itisnotclearwhethertheseconcepts’increasedaccessibilitymediatestheerror-markingeffect.Thisshouldbeclariedinfutureinvestigations.Second,theboundaryconditionsontheeffectimposedbyculturaldifferencesshouldbeexplored.If,asweargue,theobjectprimingeffectismediatedbytheincreasedaccessibilityoftheconceptoferror-marking,theeffectshouldonlyoccurifevaluatorsarefromacultureinwhichtheredpen-errorassociationexists.Iftheeffectweretooccurinparticipantsfromculturesthatlackthisassociation,itwouldsuggestthatOneparticipantneglectedtoassignagradeandwasexcludedfromanalysis.Toexaminethepossibilitythattheobservedeffectwasdrivenbythecolorreditselfratherthanredpensperse,wereplicatedStudy3usingcoloredfolders.Participants(113;threeneglectedtoassignagrade)evaluatedtheessayusingbluepens;theexperimentalmaterialswerecontainedineitheraredfolderoragrayfolder(amanipulationakintothatusedbyElliotetal.,2009).Essayscontainedinredfolderswerenotawardedlowergradesthanthosecontainedingrayfolders(.56),nordidtheyreceivemorecriticalcomments(2010JohnWiley&Sons,Ltd.Eur.J.Soc.Psychol.,704–708(2010)DOI:10.1002/ejspObjectprimingofevaluativestandards anothermediator(e.g.,testosterone,negativeaffect)mightunderlietheeffectdescribedinthecurrentstudies.Third,theimpactofredpensontherecipientsofcorrectedessaysshouldbeexamined.Aswehavenoted,anecdotalreportssuggestthatsometeachersaremovingawayfromtheuseofredpensingrading,astheybelievethatredwritinghasademoralizingeffectonstudents(e.g.,Aoki,2004;Hale,2003;Lion,2008).Indeed,itseemssensibletoavoidpresentingstudents’workcoveredinacolorautomaticallyassociatedwithfailureandnegativity(Molleretal.,2010).Toourknowledge,thisdemoralizationhasnotbeenempiricallydemonstrated,andwouldbeanimportantcomplementtothecurrentndings.Redpens,ubiquitousinacademicsettings,arenotinertobjects;theyareladenwithmeaning.Byvirtueoftheirstrongassociationwithfailureanderror-marking,redpenscanchangethewaysteacherscorrectstudentwork.Althougheducatorshaverecently(andperhapsrightly)becomeconcernedwiththeeffectofredinkonstudents,wesuggestthatagreaterconcerncouldbetheeffectofredpensonteachers.REFERENCESAoki,N.(23August2004).Harshnessofredmarkshasstudentsseeingpurple.TheBostonGlobe,p.A1.Berkowitz,L.,&LePage,A.(1967).Weaponsasaggression-elicitingStimuli.JournalofPersonalityandSocialPsychology,202–Elliot,A.J.,Maier,M.A.,Binser,M.J.,Friedman,R.,&Pekrun,R.(2009).TheeffectofredonavoidancebehaviorinachievementPersonalityandSocialPsychologyBulletin,365–375.Elliot,A.J.,Maier,M.A.,Moller,A.C.,Friedman,R.,&Meinhardt,J.(2007).Colorandpsychologicalfunctioning:Theeffectofredonperformanceinachievementcontexts.JournalofExperimentalPsychology:General,154–168.Feller,B.(5April2005).Doesredmakestudentsblue?TheSeattleTimes.Retrievedfromhttp://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20050405&slug=redpen05Friedman,R.,&Elliot,A.J.(2008).Exploringtheinuenceofsportsdrinkexposureonphysicalendurance.PsychologyofSportandExercise,749–759.Gilbert,D.T.,&Hixon,J.G.(1991).Thetroubleofthinking:Activationandapplicationofstereotypicbeliefs.JournalofPersonalityandSocialPsychology,509–517.Hagemann,N.,Strauss,W.,&Ließing,J.(2008).WhentherefereeseesredPsychologicalScience,769–771.Hale,B.(23January2003).Teachersbannedfrommarkinginredincaseitupsetsthechildren.DailyMail,p.39.Hill,R.A.,&Barton,R.A.(2005).Redenhanceshumanperformanceincontests.Nature,293.Jonas,E.,Schimel,J.,Greenberg,J.,&Pyszczynski,T.(2002).Thescroogeeffect:Evidencethatmortalitysalienceincreasesprosocialattitudesandbehavior.PersonalityandSocialPsychologyBulletin,1342–1353.Kay,A.C.,Wheeler,S.C.,Bargh,J.A.,&Ross,L.(2004).Materialpriming:Theinuenceofmundanephysicalobjectsonsituationalconstrualandcompetitivebehavioralchoice.OrganizationalBehaviorandHumanDecisionProcesses,83–96.Lion,P.(4December2008).Redalert:Teacherstoldtousekidgloveswithpupils.TheCourierMail,p.1.Mehta,R.,&Zhu,R.J.(2009).Blueorred?Exploringtheeffectofcoloroncognitivetaskperformances.,1226–1229.Meyers-Levy,J.,&Zhu,R.(2007).Theinuenceofceilingheight:Theeffectofprimingonthetypeofprocessingthatpeopleuse.JournalofConsumerResearch,174–186.Moller,A.C.,Elliot,A.J.,&Maier,M.A.(2010).Basichue-meaningassociations.,898–902.Red-pencil.(1992).AmericanHeritageDictionaryoftheEnglishLanguage(3rded.).Boston:Houghton-Mifin.Tulving,E.,Schacter,D.L.,&Stark,H.A.(1982).Primingeffectsinword-fragmentcompletionareindependentofrecognitionmemory.JournalofExperimentalPsychology:Learning,Memory,andCognition,336–342.Watson,D.,Clark,L.,&Tellegen,A.(1988).Developmentandvalidationofbriefmeasuresofpositiveandnegativeaffect:ThePANASJournalofPersonalityandSocialPsychology,1063–1070.2010JohnWiley&Sons,Ltd.Eur.J.Soc.Psychol.,704–708(2010)DOI:10.1002/ejspAbrahamM.Rutchicketal