Discussion Notes

Advertising and Conditioning

How effective is advertising? Is advertising a form of conditioning?

Advertising is very effective, and it’s due largely to understanding psychology and market research...
Have you noticed that when you are watching something that you want to watch more commercials tend to relate to you, versus when you are ‘forced’ into watching something someone else wants to watch (be it your spouse, parent, child, or a friend with different tastes) less of the commercials interest you? Likewise, when you go to see a movie and half the ones you see in the previews are now on your “to see” list. This is because you are a targeted demographic for that particular advertisement.

When companies need to find their target audiences and find out how they “tick”, that is where the field I work in comes in. We handle finding what is called the “target demographic”, which can be anyone from stay at home moms, to teenagers, to specialty specific physicians (all dependent on the product or service being researched), and pull them in for “Nonexperimental Research Methods” (as described in Module 1.6, page 46).

We have done case studies with many types of patients including those with less common illnesses (having to do with how they cope with their disease, how it influences their day to day happenings and relationships, medication compliance, ease of medication administration, etc), physician’s offices (one in particular had to do with the way they referred patients to various other offices for procedures and we had to speak to almost a dozen different people in a half dozen offices for each “tree”), and even mock trials to help examine theory and bias without having to do it in front of an actual judge.

We will also send out a ton of surveys in any given day, which gather a lot of correlational data for our clients. Some that may seem “commonsense” but as we now understand “common sense is flawed” therefore “psychologists have a special respect for scientific observation, which is based on gathering empirical evidence” and so, scientific observation is both carefully planned and intersubjective (Coon, page 14) which is why they perform the studies instead of only pulling correlational data.

Now, what does all this have to do with advertising or it’s use, or not, as a form of conditioning? In short, everything.

Companies find out not only who their target audience is, but what they want, through companies like the one I work for. Everything from the top ad choices for the product, packaging design (including the taste when referring to any food or beverage product and smell when referring to detergents/ soaps/ air fresheners/ deodorants), where it is placed on the shelf, how you shop for these items, how you use them at home, your likelihood to recommend, etc is all carefully evaluated by these companies through companies like ours who have found respondents in the product’s demographics to come in and give their opinions on any of the prior mentioned prior to the product’s advertising and roll out in the market.

By the time you see something in the stores it has already been researched that this is going to work to pull you into buying it. This includes an advertiser’s use of “the two motives that are widespread in our society: anxiety and sex” (Coon, page 191). Though although this is how our culture is, please do realize that just because something works in one market, it doesn’t mean it will work in every market. “According to psychologist Richard Nisbett and his colleagues, people from different cultures do, in fact, perceive the world differently” (Coon, Human Diversity box, page 193). Therefore, these studies must take place in the market you wish to address.
Now, is this a form of conditioning? I can see where the argument lies for "yes, it is", but I personally disagree. Advertising gains its effectiveness off the conditioning we receive growing up, but is it actually doing any of the conditioning? Was the "respect" you give to celebrities forged by ads or by the media and your peers? Was the gender role given to you by ads or was that your parents, who got it from their parents, and so on. “Our gender roles are by no means “natural” or universal” (Coon, page 429), but the process of learning them begins at birth with our parent’s guidance.
Advertising, in all of it's effectiveness, may feed the conditioning we subconsciously receive daily from our society, but I don't see it as an initiator. It definitely plays off the psychological concept for a company's monetary gain though.
Improving Memory

What are some of the techniques you use to study? How could you improve your memory? Do we really remember exactly what occurs?

Probably the most often used technique for me when studying is elaborative encoding “in which you look for connections to existing knowledge” (Coon, page 322). Most everything I read or take in (by whichever sensory method) is automatically connected to something else I have already remembered. For instance, when I learn a new language, I automatically find the visual or auditory similarities with the English and Latin I know in order to find a “sister word” to help me remember the new vocabulary later via a cue “that [was] present during encoding” (Coon, page 323). Many times my cue for seemingly forgotten information is “to go through the alphabet, trying each letter as the first sound of a name or word you are seeking” (Coon, page 324). My husband will giggle at me when he catches me singing the alphabet slowly, but it really does work!

Association by concept/ mind mapping (http://www.usingmindmaps.com/how-to-mind-map-in-seven-steps.html) is another I find extremely useful when learning more complex ideas and theories and it seems more organized than just another outline. I will also make sure to included various colors and shapes throughout instead of just black on white paper. I have found it more useful when the colors and shapes follow a pattern as it aids the encoding of the information since you are also linking information based on colors and shapes and not just bubble and line connections.

There are a few different methods I could utilize to improve my memory, one of which is by whole and part learning. That is, learning smaller packages of information at a time when needing to learn a large amount of information or when the information needing to be learned is complex (part learning) or by learning the whole of the information when it is only a small amount of information needing to be learned (whole learning). I will need to make note to “also practice by starting at points other than A” as “this helps prevent getting “lost” or going blank in the middle of a performance” (Coon, page 323).

I do not believe we (generally speaking) really remember exactly what occurs. “Like the other senses, vision acts as a data reduction system. It selects and analyzes information to code and send to the brain only the most important data (Goldstein, 2010)” (Coon, page 152). “Selective attention (focusing on a selected portion of sensory input) controls what information is retrieved from sensory memory and subsequently encoded in short-term memory” (Coon, page 293). Because of these (data reduction and selective attention), we do not intake and process everything that is actually going on in the world around us.

Aside from these, Ebbinghaus showed us how “forgetting is rapid at first and is then followed by a slow decline” (Coon, page 309). Other reasons that a loss of information (or a distortion of information related to the event as a whole) can occur can be attributed to such things as, an encoding failure in which “a memory was never formed in the first place” (Coon, page 310) which can be attributed to things like multitasking or distraction, a storage failure due to memory decay, or an error in the retrieval process.

Weight Management

Why does the United States have a very high percentage of people who are obese? What are some ways people can manage their weight?

While my sister and my mother are overweight, my father and I are not - but their body type differs from mine and my fathers. They tend to gain weight easier, but more so because of genetic and medical issues, than because of poor diet or lack of exercise. My dad and I, can keep our “figure” simply by making sure we are at least walking a bit everyday and watching the amount of alcohol (empty calories), sugar, salt (because high blood pressure runs on his side of the family), and fat (because high cholesterol run on his side of the family) we intake. In spite of this, I am not one of those who has the issue with overeating when stressed, instead I tend to cut (if not all but eliminate) my calories for that day - and this is by no means on purpose or an actual thought out process. I actually only realized I was doing this last year, so I try to make a more conscious effort to check the clock to help cue me into eating when I need to because undereating is, to it’s own degree, just as dangerous to your health as overeating. But I think it serves to prove that there is a lot more to look at with this question, than just “why are people overweight” and that there is more to the answer than just “because our evolved brain says to eat”.

The obvious top two reasons for our population’s weight issue are of course lack of exercise and either overeating or improper eating. And since many people have already touched on those, let us instead examine some others from the following list as noted in an article on CBSNews.com (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/study-suggests-10-new-obesity-causes/) which highlights how “obesity isn't all about eating and inactivity.”

“[University of Alabama at Birmingham clinical nutrition research center]... puts forth these 10 "additional explanations" for obesity:

1. Sleep debt. Getting too little sleep can increase body weight. Today's Americans get less shut-eye than ever.
2. Pollution. Hormones control body weight. And many of today's pollutants affect our hormones.
3. Air conditioning. You have to burn calories if your environment is too hot or too cold for comfort. But more people than ever live and work in temperature-controlled homes and offices.
4. Decreased smoking. Smoking reduces weight. Americans smoke much less than they used to.
5. Medicine. Many different drugs — including contraceptives, steroid hormones, diabetes drugs, some antidepressants, and blood pressure drugs — can cause weight gain. Use of these drugs is on the upswing.
6. Population age, ethnicity. Middle-aged people and Hispanic-Americans tend to be more obese than young European-Americans. Americans are getting older and more Hispanic.
7. Older moms. There's some evidence that the older a woman is when she gives birth, the higher her child's risk of obesity. American women are giving birth at older and older ages.
8. Ancestors' environment. Some influences may go back two generations. Environmental changes that made a grandparent obese may "through a fetally driven positive feedback loop" visit obesity on the grandchildren.
9. Obesity linked to fertility. There's some evidence obese people are more fertile than lean ones. If obesity has a genetic component, the percentage of obese people in the population should increase.
10. Unions of obese spouses. Obese women tend to marry obese men. If there are fewer thin people around — and if obesity has a genetic component — there will be still more obese people in the next generation.

"We do not claim that all of the additional explanations definitively are contributors [to obesity] but only that they are as plausibly so as are the 'big two' and deserve more attention and study," [David B.] Allison [PhD] and colleagues conclude.”

There are more than a dozen studies that link sleeping less to weighing more. Why is this? Well, the last time you didn’t sleep too well, and were tired and fatigued, what was the first thing you did in order to “wake up” and get through your day? How about reaching for things like caffeine (through coffee, energy drinks, chocolate) or a sugary, fatty, or full of carb food? Definitely not the healthiest thing. A lack of sleep can also decrease your metabolism, and decrease your desire to exercise.

Smoking - it is not being said that you need to pick up the habit in order to lose weight, but the fact is, nicotine (which is a stimulant) suppresses hunger, and increases your heart rate, blood pressure, respirations, increasing your basal metabolic rate. I know my husband (who has been smoking since about age 13 and in the 8 years we have been together has been a steady and unwavering 145 lbs) has put on 10-15 pounds in the last 6-8 months as he has decreased his smoking/ nicotine intake.

Various medications also have a side effect of weight gain. These include (as found on www.health.com) big ones like Paxil (an SSRI), Depakote (an antiepileptic also used to treat bipolar disorder), Remeron (an antidepressant), atypical antipsychotics like Zyprexa and Clorazil, oral corticosteroids, Thorazine (first-gen antipsychotic), tricyclic antidepressants, antihistamines, some type 2 diabetes medications (which seems like a bit like an oxymoron seeing as obesity can lead to diabetes), some birth control, and long term use of Prozac (short term use has been associated with weight loss).

There are also many health conditions that can lead to obesity. Menopause, hypothalamic lesions and tumors, thyroid problems, chronic stress and general adaptation syndrome (which is “a series of bodily reactions to prolonged stress” (Coon, page 510)), hormonal imbalance, depression (or it can have the complete opposite effect and cause you to lose an unhealthy amount of weight), digestive issues, even musculoskeletal or orthopedic issues that are debilitating enough to cause you to move less.

Finally, one that people won’t think of, because these people aren’t really “fat” are those in an overweight or obese BMI because of excessive muscle. Yes, bodybuilders and that hot guy at the gym, are not a “healthy BMI”. The BMI chart measures only your weight against your height and since muscle weighs more than fat, there are many people who, though they have maybe a 3% body fat measurement are considered overweight or obese. According to http://obesityinamerica.org/understanding-obesity/ “it’s important to remember that being overweight may not only be the result of increased body fat, but the result of increased lean muscle as well”. We should realize that excessive exercise, or improperly trying to lose weight and gain muscle is not really healthy either, even though it may seem the opposite. Too much cardio and excessive exercise can lead to overuse injuries in your muscles and joints and such cardiac problems as an enlarged heart, aortic tears, and “can also acutely and transiently increase the risk of sudden cardiac death and acute myocardial infarction in susceptible persons” (Exercise and Acute Cardiovascular Events: Placing the Risks Into Perspective - A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association, http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/115/17/2358.full.pdf, originally published online April 27, 2007).

On top of all of these, the beginning to the issue of solving the problem of obesity is knowing that not everyone gains weight because of the same reasons and therefore everyone cannot lose weight by the same methods. Some may only be able to get from obese to mildly overweight without being able to drop down to “perfect”, but they can still be healthy.

In order to decrease this amount of unhealthy weight and get healthy, we need to remember the following “lifestyle diseases can be treated or prevented by making specific, minor changes in behavior” (Coon, page 506). Each week change just one thing, you can start by switching from soda to water. “Understanding stress and learning to control it can improve not only your health, but the quality of your life as well (Suinn, 2001)” (Coon, page 508). No, we don’t get as much vacation time as other countries, like those in Europe namely, so we need to remember to stop and smell the roses when we can. Take a walk with our kids because whoever said exercise can only be in the gym or can only be done alone? We need to teach our kids healthy habits as their parents even though “Many health programs also teach students general life skills. The idea is to give kids skills that will help them cope with day-to-day stresses. That way, they will be less tempted to escape problems through drug use or other destructive behaviors” (Coon, page 508).

I also suggest the following:

If you are able to afford it or if your health plan will cover it (for only a copay):

- Consult your primary care physician for a full physical and lab tests prior to beginning any workout regimen or diet. This will not only help you understand what may be causing your weight gain outside possible overeating and lack of or too little exercise, but will also set a base level for your physician to monitor through your regimens, and clear you for (or advise you against) types of exercise or diets.
- Consult a personal trainer for an exercise plan based specifically on what you are able to accomplish, what your goals are, and have it reevaluated regularly.
- Consult a nutritionist for a food plan specific to your needs with your planned exercise routine and to address any health concerns you do have.

If you are unable to do the prior:

- See a free-clinic and get a work up from them. They may refer you out to a hospital free clinic or the like if they find anything needing further examination. This will give you a good idea of where you are health-wise.
- Look online for fitness routines that match what you can do physically (there are many basic fitness tests available online to determine this) and that are good for whatever conditions you may have. Remember to not do the same thing over and over again. This will cause muscle memory and you will plateau. Change it up, exercise is supposed to be FUN.
- look online at the food pyramid and adjust only for those caloric needs for your exercise regimen and those which are necessary for your medical conditions. Raw fruits and vegetables taste good too, so you can cut time there. But if you find yourself with extra time on the weekends, you can cook extras and pack snacks so you don’t have to do it later. There are many recipe resources and ideas at your disposal online.

According to http://health.usnews.com/health-news/articles/2012/08/16/why-were-so-fat-whats-behind-the-latest-obesity-rates "We need to mobilize all sectors of society," Blumenthal says, calling for policies that will create more places to walk and exercise, as well as physical and health education in schools and healthier choices in vending machines, for example. But communities can begin the intervention, she says, noting the Affordable Care Act's Prevention and Public Health Fund, which can seed local efforts. Neighborhoods might come together to organize a health fair, coordinate a race to motivate community weight loss, or plant community gardens, she advises.

Resources: www.snaptohealth.org, which provides a forum on food stamps and nutrition, and features healthy recipes for the budget-constrained. www.cdc.gov/obesity/strategies, which provides "strategies to combat obesity" for individuals, families, and communities.