The Psychology Book (53 page)

166

A MAN WITH

CONVICTION

IS A HARD MAN

TO CHANGE

LEON FESTINGER (1919–1989)

IN CONTEXT

If we hold
strong beliefs
that are undermined

BRANCH

by
evidence to the contrary
…

Cognitive psychology

APPROACH

Learning theory

BEFORE

1933
Gestalt psychologist Kurt

…we find ourselves in an uncomfortable state of

“cognitive dissonance
.
”

Lewin leaves the Berlin School

of Experimental Psychology

and emigrates to the US.

AFTER

1963
Stanley Milgram

If we
accept the contradiction
, this

publishes his experiments on

causes
further inconsistency
between our

willingness to obey authority

past and present beliefs.

figures, even when orders

conflict with one’s conscience.

1971
Philip Zimbardo’s

Stanford prison study shows

how people adapt to the roles

they are assigned.

So instead we may find ways to
make the new

evidence consistent
with our beliefs.

1972
US social psychologist

Daryl Bem proposes the

alternative self-perception

theory of attitude change.

1980s
Elliot Aronson defends

Festinger’s theory, conducting

A man with conviction is a hard man

experiments into initiation rites.

to change.

COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 167

See also:
Kurt Lewin 218–23 ■ Solomon Asch 224–27 ■ Elliot Aronson 244–45 ■ Stanley Milgram 246–53 ■

Philip Zimbardo 254–55 ■ Stanley Schachter 338

“cognitive dissonance.” He reasoned

their prediction and consequent

that the only way to overcome this

cognitive dissonance would cause

B
y the end of World War II,

social pscychology had

become an important field

discomfort is to somehow make the

cult members to abandon their

of research, spearheaded in the US

belief and the evidence consistent.

beliefs, the opposite occurred. As

by Kurt Lewin, the founder of the

the day of reckoning drew near,

Research Center for Group Dynamics

Unshakeable conviction

another “message” came through,

at the Massachusetts Institute of

After reading a report in a local

declaring that, due to the group’s

Technology in 1945.

newspaper in 1954, Festinger

dedication, the world was to be

On the staff at the center was

saw an opportunity to study the

spared. Cult members became even

one of Lewin’s former students, Leon

reaction to just such a cognitive

more fervent believers. Festinger

Festinger. Originally attracted by

dissonance. A cult claimed to have

had anticipated this; to accept the

Lewin’s work in Gestalt psychology,

received messages from aliens

contradictory evidence would set

he later took an interest in social

warning of a flood that would end

up an even greater dissonance

psychology. In the course of his

the world on December 21; only

between past belief and present

research, Festinger observed that

true believers would be rescued by

denial, he argued. This effect was

people continually seek to bring

flying saucers. Festinger and some

compounded if a great deal

order to their world, and a key part

of his colleagues at the University

(reputation, jobs, and money) had

of that order is consistency. To

of Minnesota gained access to the

been invested in the original belief.

achieve this, they develop routines

group, interviewing them before

Festinger concluded that

and habits, such as establishing

the designated apocalyptic date

cognitive dissonance, or at least

regular mealtimes and choosing

and again afterward, when the

the avoidance of it, makes a man

favorite seats on their daily

events had failed to transpire.

of strong conviction unlikely to

commute to work. When these

The now-famous Oak Park

change his opinion in the face of

routines are disrupted, people feel

study of this group, written up by

contradiction; he is immune to

very uneasy. The same is true, he

Festinger, Henry Riecken, and

evidence and rational argument. As

found, of habitual thought patterns

Stanley Schachter in
When

Festinger explains: “Tell him you

or beliefs. If a very strong opinion is

Prophecy Fails
, describes the

disagree and he turns away. Show

met with contradictory evidence, it

reaction of the cult members.

him facts or figures and he questions

creates an uncomfortable internal

Where common sense might lead

your sources. Appeal to logic and

inconsistency; Festinger called this

us to expect that the failure of

he fails to see your point.” ■

Leon Festinger

Leon Festinger was born in

cult predicting the end of the

Brooklyn, New York, to a Russian

world. He moved to Stanford

immigrant family. He graduated

University in 1955, continuing

from City College of New York in

his work in social psychology,

1939, then studied at the University

but in the 1960s he turned to

of Iowa under Kurt Lewin, finishing

research into perception. He

his PhD in Child Psychology in

later focused on history and

1942. After spending the later

archaeology at the New School

years of World War II in military

for Social Research in New York.

training, he rejoined Lewin in 1945

He died of liver cancer, aged 69.

at the Research Center for Group

Dynamics at the Massachusetts

Key works

Institute of Technology (MIT).

It was during his appointment

1956
When Prophecy Fails

as professor at the University of

1962
A Theory of Cognitive

Minnesota that Festinger made

Dissonance

his famous Oak Park study of a

1983
The Human Legacy

THE MAGICAL

NUMBER 7

PLUS OR MINUS 2

GEORGE ARMITAGE MILLER (1920– )

170 GEORGE ARMITAGE MILLER

IN CONTEXT

APPROACH

Before information is

Memory studies

stored in long-term memory,

it is processed by

BEFORE

working memory
.

1885
Hermann Ebbinghaus

publishes his pioneering book

Memory: A Contribution to

Experimental Psychology
.

1890
William James makes

Working memory has a

the distinction between

limited capacity
—about

primary (short-term) and

seven (plus or minus two) elements.

secondary (long-term) memory

in
The Principles of Psychology.

1950
Mathematician Alan

Turing’s test suggests that a

computer can be considered

If individual “bits” of information

a thinking machine.

are
organized into “chunks”

(meaningful patterns) of information

AFTER

they are easier to store.

1972
Endel Tulving makes the

distinction between semantic

and episodic memory.

2001
Daniel Schacter proposes

a list of the different ways we

Working memory

misremember in
The Seven

can then hold
seven (plus

Sins of Memory
.

or minus two)
of these larger

chunks of information.

and introduction, Miller had a

advances in computer science

serious intent, and the article was

had brought the idea of artificial

G
eorge Armitage Miller

once famously complained:

“My problem is that I have

to become a landmark of cognitive

intelligence closer to reality, and

been persecuted by an integer.

psychology and the study of working

while mathematicians, such as Alan

For seven years this number has

memory (the ability to remember

Turing, were comparing computer

followed me around.” So begins his

and use pieces of information for

processing with the human brain,

now famous article
The Magical

a limited amount of time).

cognitive psychologists were

Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two:

Miller’s paper was published in

engaged in the converse: they

Some Limits on our Capacity for

The Psychological Review
in 1956,

looked to the computer as a

Processing Information
. He goes on:

when behaviorism was being

possible model for explaining the

“There is… some pattern governing

superseded by the new cognitive

workings of the human brain. Mental

its appearances. Either there really

psychology. This fresh approach—

processes were being described in

is something unusual about the

which Miller wholeheartedly

terms of information processing.

number or I am suffering from