In a new article, psychological scientists Maryanne Garry andRobert Michael of Victoria University of Wellington, along withIrving Kirsch of Harvard Medical School and Plymouth University,delve into the phenomenon of suggestion, exploring the intriguingrelationship between suggestion, cognition, and behavior. Thearticle is published in the June issue of Current Directions in Psychological Science , a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. Over their research careers, Garry and Kirsch have both studied theeffects of suggestion on cognition and behavior. Kirsch focusedmostly on suggestion in clinical psychology, while Garry, whosework is supported by the Marsden Fund of New Zealand, wasinterested in the effects of suggestion on human memory. When thetwo got to talking, "we realized that the effects ofsuggestion are wider and often more surprising than many peoplemight otherwise think," says Garry. Across many studies, research has shown that deliberate suggestioncan influence how people perform on learning and memory tasks,which products they prefer, and how they respond to supplements andmedicines, which accounts for the well-known placebo effect. But what can explain the powerful and pervasive effect thatsuggestion has in our lives? The answer lies in our 'responseexpectancies,' or the ways in which we anticipate our responses invarious situations. These expectancies set us up for automaticresponses that actively influence how we get to the outcome weexpect. Once we anticipate a specific outcome will occur, oursubsequent thoughts and behaviors will actually help to bring thatoutcome to fruition. So, if a normally shy person expects that a glass of wine or twowill help him loosen up at a cocktail party, he will probably feelless inhibited, approach more people, and get involved in moreconversations over the course of the party. Even though he may givecredit to the wine, it is clear that his expectations of how thewine would make him feel played a major role. But it's not just deliberate suggestion that influences ourthoughts and behaviors -- suggestions that are not deliberate canhave the very same effects. As the authors point out, "simplyobserving people or otherwise making them feel special can besuggestive," a phenomenon termed the Hawthorne effect. As aresult, people might work harder, or stick to a task for longer.And this case is more worrying, says Garry, "because althoughwe might then give credit to some new drug or treatment, we don'trealize that we are the ones who are actually wielding theinfluence." It is for precisely this reason that the issue of unintentionalsuggestion has important implications for academic researchers."In the scientific community, we need to be aware of -- andcontrol for -- the suggestions we communicate to subjects,"says Garry. The authors note that some recent failures to replicateprevious research findings may ultimately be explained by suchunintentional suggestion. "Recent research suggests that someof psychological science's most intriguing findings may be driven,at least in part, by suggestion and expectancies," Garryobserves. "For example, a scientist who knows what thehypothesis of an experiment is might unwittingly lead subjects toproduce the hypothesized effect -- for reasons that have nothing todo with the experiment itself." And the unintended effects of suggestion aren't just restricted tothe laboratory -- they cut across many real world domains,including the fields of medicine, education, and criminal justice.For example, converging evidence on eyewitness identificationprocedures demonstrates that the rate of false identifications issignificantly higher when lineups are conducted by people who knowwho the suspect is than when the lineups are conducted by peoplewho don't. While research has provided clear evidence for the phenomenon ofsuggestion, there is still much more to learn about the underlyingrelationship between suggestion, cognition, and behavior. As theauthors point out, researchers still don't know where theboundaries and limitations of these effects lie. "And, if a'real' treatment and a 'suggestion' lead to a similar outcome, whatdifferentiates between the two?" says Garry. Understandingthese issues has important real world implications. "If we canharness the power of suggestion, we can improve people'slives.". The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as China Xlpe power cable , ACSR Manufacturer, and more. For more , please visit ACSR today!
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