PSYC3002 Lecture 5 - Part 2 Lecture Notes PDF

Dr Li Qian Tay PSYC3002 22 March 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C Integrating social and cognitive psychology to study misinformation and truth perception Disclaimer - My goal is to provide a broad perspective on how we can integrate social and c...

Dr Li Qian Tay PSYC3002 22 March 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C Integrating social and cognitive psychology to study misinformation and truth perception Disclaimer - My goal is to provide a broad perspective on how we can integrate social and cognitive psychology to study how individuals decide what is true vs. false Remember to be critical [email protected] - 2 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C 3 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C Outline 1. 2. 3. 4. 4 What are models? Modelling the decision-making process Modelling identity-driven decisions about truth Implications for misinformation research and beyond ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C What are models? - Take a look at the positions of planets in the night sky over time They seem to suddenly reverse direction at times (viewed against the fixed background of stars) This strange loop in the otherwise curvilinear paths is known as the retrograde motion How would you describe and explain this pattern? - Example from Farrell & Lewandowsky (2018) 5 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C What are models? - One model considers Earth as the centre of the solar system (i.e., the geocentric model) Explains retrograde motion by planets orbit around Earth and also circle around a point along their own orbits This model actually provides a reasonable account of the data (Hoyle, 1974) - 6 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C What are models? - But we can test different models against the same data A second model has the Sun at the centre of the solar system (i.e., the heliocentric model) Here, retrograde motion is explained via the notion that planets travel at different speeds along their orbits As Earth “overtakes” Mars, for example, Mars would appear to reverse direction as it falls behind the Earth Turns out that this simpler model also provides a better fit to the data - 7 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C What are models? - The key takeaway here is that data do not actually speak for themselves, especially as we are only observing a very small part of a very complex system We use models that abstract key features of the systems we’re studying to help us predict and explain the systems A model represents its target as a map represents its territory (Nguyen et al., 2021) Particularly useful in terms of instantiating, integrating, and comparing different theories - 8 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C What are models? - We as psychologists typically work with statistical models (e.g., regression models) But there are also other types, including mechanical models (e.g., a physical model of the DNA double helix) and computational models (e.g., drift-diffusion model for decision making), etc. - 9 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C What are models? - Today, I’ll give a high-level introduction to a computational model of decision making And then I’ll go over one of my recent studies to show you how we can use such models to study how people decide what’s truth vs. false and misinformation - 10 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C Modelling the decision-making process - Let’s first consider an experiment in which participants are tasked with deciding whether what they’re shown on screen is or is not a real word Thinking that response time may be important, the researchers also recorded how long participants take to make each decision - Is this a real word? Bapple Yes 11 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 No 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C Modelling the decision-making process - Let’s first consider an experiment in which participants are tasked with deciding whether what they’re shown on screen is or is not a real word Thinking that response time may be important, the researchers also recorded how long participants take to make each decision - Is this a real word? Apple Yes 12 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 No 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C Modelling the decision-making process - Let’s first consider an experiment in which participants are tasked with deciding whether what they’re shown on screen is or is not a real word Thinking that response time may be important, the researchers also recorded how long participants take to make each decision - Is this a real word? Bearl Yes 13 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 No 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C Modelling the decision-making process - This is how such a dataset might look— does it remind you of planetary movements? Probably not, but it should be at least equally difficult to describe and explain without some sort of model We can use statistical models to test for trends etc. We can also apply a computational model of decision making that represents the psychological processes that may have generated this data - 14 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C Modelling the decision-making process - Drift diffusion model is a leading computational model, under the class of evidence accumulation models It models the evidence accumulation process during decision making It has been shown to provide an excellent fit to data from across a range of two-alternative decision-making tasks As with all computational models, the drift diffusion model is defined by a series of equations and parameters - 15 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C Modelling the decision-making process - This is a simplification, but you can think of model parameters as control bars that configure a system’s output For example, we can use buttons in a stereo system to control the tone, volume, etc., to reach the desired sound effect In the same way, different parameters in the drift diffusion model would produce different model predictions regarding the choice But we can also account for response time in each decision context at the same time This is one advantage of such a model 16 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C Modelling the decision-making process Figure from Farrell & Lewandowsky (2018) 17 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C Modelling the decision-making process Response caution Figure from Farrell & Lewandowsky (2018) 18 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C Modelling the decision-making process Speed of evidence accumulation Figure from Farrell & Lewandowsky (2018) 19 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C Modelling the decision-making process Initial level of evidence or expectation Figure from Farrell & Lewandowsky (2018) 20 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C Modelling the decision-making process 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Start with a (could even be random) set of parameter (drift rate etc.) values Plug the values into the model and simulate data Compare simulated data with empirical data from a single participant Update parameters values Repeat a large number of times, until we find best fitting values (values that allow the simulation to most closely replicate the empirical data) 6. Repeat Steps 1-5 for all participants 21 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C Modelling the decision-making process Effect of aging on recognition memory (e.g., Ratcliff & McKoon, 2015) Effect of depression on sensitivity to reward (e.g., Pitliya et al., 2022) Effect of hunger on food choices (Garlasco et al., 2019) Linking drift-diffusion parameters to brain regions (e.g., Domenech et al., 2018; Gupta et al., 2022) - 22 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C Modelling the decision-making process Lots of successful modelling examples But to the best of my knowledge, there hasn’t been much work integrating such models with what we already know from the social identity approach And we know quite a bit - - 23 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C Explaining the identity-truth relationship 24 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C Explaining the identity-truth relationship Salient identity Decisions about what is true 25 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C Explaining the identity-truth relationship Salient identity Memory of identityrelevant information Decisions about what is true 26 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C Andersen & Pichert (1978) - Randomized participants into adopting homebuyer vs. burglar identity Participants read a story that involves a description of a house Homebuyer identity led participants to better recall information relevant to homebuyer (e.g., whether there was a leaky roof) Burglar identity led participants to better recall information relevant to burglars (e.g., whether there was a coin collection) - - 27 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C Andersen & Pichert (1978) Salient identity Memory of identityrelevant information Decisions about what is true 28 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C A study I just ran… Randomization (homebuyer identity vs. control) Participants presented with a series of inference claims to judge as either true or false Short story 50 homebuyer-relevant claims, 50 fillers Assess truth judgments 29 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C Example Story detail Homebuyerrelevant Filler 30 “We had a really bad flood down here last year when the foundation to the house cracked” “We live in an area very convenient to other things so it’s still easy for me to get around” "It’s a school holiday and my mom is never home during the day” ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 Inference claim The area Mark lives in tends to experience heavy rainfall Mark’s house is probably near a supermarket Mark's mother is likely working a fulltime job 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C Example I was not interested in “accuracy” (there are no right or wrong answers per se), but rather whether participants in the homebuyer condition are more likely to judge homebuyer-relevant inference claims as true (because they better remember the story details required for making those inferences) Story detail Homebuyerrelevant Filler 31 “We had a really bad flood down here last year when the foundation to the house cracked” “We live in an area very convenient to other things so it’s still easy for me to get around” "It’s a school holiday and my mom is never home during the day” ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 Inference claim The area Mark lives in tends to experience heavy rainfall Mark’s house is probably near a supermarket Mark's mother is likely working a fulltime job 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C Example 32 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C Modelling identity-driven decisions about truth ”true” boundary ”false” boundary 33 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C Modelling identity-driven decisions about truth 34 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C Modelling identity-driven decisions about truth - Results suggest that adopting different salient identities can cause individuals to attend to and remember different identity-relevant information The information stored within memory can then drive decisions about what is and is not true This is just one possible explanation (there are others such as motivated reasoning), but this has important implications for misinformation research - 35 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C Implications for misinformation research - Misinformation is typically defined as information that is false or otherwise misleading Existing research on misinformation has mostly focussed on identifying individual biases (e.g., lack of reasoning, lack of attention, etc.) Unfortunately, the studies have examined misinformation mostly in a ”social vacuum” - - 36 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C Implications for misinformation research - As a result, interventions have also focussed on “correcting” such biases For example, research on prebunking misinformation aims to teach individuals critical thinking skills before they encounter misinformation But recent work suggests that the intervention effect decays overtime - - 37 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C Implications for misinformation research - Given what we know from the social identity approach, given the impact of salient identity on memory and decisions about truth, perhaps future interventions should seek to be more relevant to the audience’s identity Although more research is needed, such interventions might be more effective and have more enduring effects… - 38 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C Key takeaways - Data do not speak for themselves, so we use theories and models to predict and explain Insights from different areas of psychology can (and, in my opinion, should) be combined Better memory of identity-relevant information may be one explanation for the identity-truth relationship - 39 ANU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND PSYCHOLOGY | PSYC3002 22 MAR 2024 TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C Thank you! TEQSA PROVIDER ID: PRV12002 (AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITY) | CRICOS PROVIDER CODE: 00120C