If You Hear Old, You’ll Walk Old: Building on the Psychology of Priming
The developing research on “priming” is fascinating and important for anyone who wants to improve human behavior and the world.
“Priming” refers to prompts or primes intended to influence people’s thinking and/or actions, and since the 1990s, social scientists have uncovered many ways that people respond to primes. In an earlier and now classic priming study, psychologists found that people primed with words associated with the elderly (e.g., retirement), walked more slowly upon leaving the experiment than those who had not been so primed (Bargh, Chen & Burrows 1996). In a different study, students primed with professor stereotypes answered more questions correctly on a knowledge test than those primed with supermodel stereotypes (Dijksterhuis et al. 1998). Another experiment found that visitors of an online auto market who had been primed on money with a green site background featuring pennies looked at pricing information longer than those who had been primed about safety (Mandel & Johnson 2002). In a more recent and troubling case, children and adults exposed to food advertising ate more, and in the kids’ case significantly (45%) more (Harris, Bargh & Brownell 2009).
For better or worse then, priming influences people. This generally holds true even for those who claim to be immune to priming because they are more informed or self-aware. The point though is not to deplore priming or people’s manipulability. Humans tend to be sensitive to contextual cues, consciously or not, and have always sought to influence each other, subtly or not. The fact that humans are responsive to priming is not an inherently good or bad thing. Much depends on whether priming is done to encourage good or bad behavior.
And the good news is that priming has been shown to encourage good thinking and behavior. In one experiment, subjects who heard music that urged helping others (e.g., the Beatles’ Help, USA for Africa’s We are the World, Michael Jackson’s Heal the World) were more willing to donate money to a nonprofit than those who had not heard such music (Greitemeyer 2009). In another study, restaurant customers who received the short quote “a good turn never goes amiss” printed at the bottom of their bill on average left larger tips than those who got the neutral quote “He who writes reads twice,” or no quote at all (Jacob & Gueguen 2012). And most recently, an experiment showed that consumers who ate an apple before shopping bought 25% more produce than those who did not eat an apple, and 28% more than those who ate a cookie (Tal & Wansink 2015).
This research suggests that there is promise in efforts to prime acts of kindness, civic engagement, voting, learning, saving, exercise, healthier eating, and a host of other good behaviors. There are questions about how long priming effects last, especially in the real world where people are exposed to so many and sometimes conflicting primes, rather than the carefully controlled experimental labs where most priming studies thus far have been done. The experience of real-world marketers focused on priming consumerism may hold at least some of the answer: it takes repeated, widespread and varied priming to yield the greatest impact on thinking or behavior. That, in turn, takes time and money, which most organizations have in quite short supply.
Still, for organizations interested in promoting particular good behaviors, the research on priming recommends developing and testing effective ways to prime people in everyday life. The evidence from marketing, in turn, recommends that organizations interested in nurturing the same good behaviors collaborate to enhance their capacity to carry out sustained, widespread and varied priming campaigns.
For the many business, nonprofit, academic and government organizations directly or indirectly interested in cultivating a wider culture of learning, a good first step may be to come together regularly to talk about what they are doing, and could be doing together to prime learning not just in schools, but in everyday life beyond schools. Monthly city, state, national or even international tele- or video-dialogues, for instance, may go a long way toward nurturing – and modeling – learning and collaboration in the service of better behavior, better communities, and better societies.
Jacob, Celine and Nicolas Gueguen. 2012. “Exposition to Altruism Quotes and Helping Behavior: A Field Experiment on Tipping in a Restaurant.” Annals of Tourism Research 39:3:1694-1698.
Kahneman, Daniel. 2011. Thinking, Fast and Slow. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
Thaler, Richard H., and Cass R. Sunstein. 2009. Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness. New York: Penguin Books.
Intern Spotlight: Joseph Pelczar
This is the second in a series of five individual profiles of our summer 2015 student interns. This summer, Learning Life’s social enterprise partner, Signia Surfaces, has five interns who are working on marketing, sales and educational content. To learn more about interning with Learning Life or Signia Surfaces, contact us at email@learninglife.info.
Where were you born and raised?
I was born in Lake Ridge in northern Virginia. During my adolescence my parents moved to Fairfax, where I am still currently living.
What is your current occupation?
I am an undergraduate student at George Mason University in Virginia, near Washington D.C. I study information systems and operations management.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I enjoy spending quality time with friends, hiking many of Virginia’s Trails, and playing my guitars (I have two acoustic and two electric guitars). I have a passion for food and enjoy cooking and learning how to eat healthier. Throughout the summer, I enjoy going to the gym, running, and playing rugby.
What is the most beautiful place you have seen on Earth, and why is it so beautiful?
I regularly visit different regions of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, which have always been a favorite scenic location of mine. The views are spectacular during the fall when the leaves turn different colors.
Is there a particular life experience you have had that has shaped you as a person? If so, what was it, and how has it shaped who you are?
Going on mission trips in college to help others in various states, to learn about their cultures and how to interact with people from various backgrounds has been very influential in my life. I have been fortunate to have gone to New York and Tennessee. These trips have helped me to better appreciate my peers and mentors, develop a stronger knowledge of myself, and adapt to different locations.
Why did you choose to intern with Signia Surfaces?
I am excited to intern with Signia Surfaces because I believe it will provide me with valuable, real world experiences learned from working in a social enterprise, and I was very impressed with its unique brand of advertising clients and connecting metro D.C. locals with their community.
What are your career plans?
I intend to pursue a career as a business analyst or management consultant in the D.C. metro area. My long-term goals are still very open, and I intend to keep all my options open as I approach graduation. As long as I am near friends and am happy at my job, I will be content.
Intern Spotlight: Fatima Khan
In summer 2015, Learning Life’s social enterprise partner, Signia Surfaces, has five summer interns whom we will profile one by one during the summer, starting below with Fatima Khan. To learn more about interning with Learning Life or Signia Surfaces, contact us at email@learninglife.info.
Where were you born and raised?
I was born and raised In Afghanistan in the city of Kandahar. I moved to the United States at age 21 to escape the culture of the Taliban extremists as they would not allow me or anyone to get anything but their version of Islamic education.
What is your current occupation?
I am currently a senior at George Mason University majoring in information systems and operations management.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I spend my free time either with family or friends. For me this is quality time.
What is the most beautiful place you have seen on Earth, and why is it so beautiful?
I am a very emotional person and for me the most beautiful place is my mother’s eyes, through which I feel safe and satisfied.
Is there a particular life experience you have had that has shaped you as a person? If so, what was it, and how has it shaped who you are?
My mother is a teacher and a very religious woman. She is my inspiration and has influenced me to be the person I am today: pious, humble, merciful, with a passion for education.
Why did you choose to intern with Signia Surfaces?
It will help me improve my marketing skills and experience while I take summer classes.
What are your career plans?
After completing my bachelor’s degree, I am planning to apply for a job in information technology and continue my studies in the field.
New Report: Most U.S. Students Fail Civics, History & Geography
The majority of American 8th graders failed a nationwide test of proficiency in civics, history and geography in 2014, according to a recent report released by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The report underscores the need for creative approaches to nurture a culture of learning in everyday life.
More than 29,000 8th graders in public and private schools nationwide participated in the 2014 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The students answered multiple choice and open-ended questions on the following themes:
Geography: space and place, environment and society, spatial dynamics and connections
U.S. Civics: defining politics, government and civic life, U.S. political system, government embodiment of American democracy, U.S. relationship to other nations, and role of citizens
U.S. History: democracy, culture, technology and world role
The results show that 27% of 8th graders scored proficient or advanced in geography, 23% scored so in civics, and just 18% did in U.S. history. Further, the vast majority of these students scored proficient; only 3%, 2% and 1% of all students tested scored advanced in geography, civics and history, respectively. The remaining majority of students demonstrated basic or below-basic knowledge:
Geography: 48% basic, 25% below basic
U.S. Civics: 51% basic, 26% below basic
U.S. History: 53% basic, 29% below basic
The good news is that overall student scores have improved slightly in civics (from 150 to 154 out of 300 points), and history (from 259 to 267 out of 500 points) from 1994 to 2014, with the lowest performing students showing some of the strongest gains in all three subject areas. The bad news is that the improvements overall over the last twenty years have indeed been slight, and that most students still fail to attain proficiency.
The NAEP is the largest nationally representative and ongoing test of U.S. students’ knowledge in math, science, reading, writing, the arts, civics, geography, economics, American history, and since 2014, in technology and engineering. The first national assessments were conducted in 1969, and have since occurred every two to four years. The NAEP tests students at critical 4th, 8th and 12th grade junctures, and provides a rich, long-term measure of educational proficiency and progress.
I suspect that if NAEP tested the same students’ knowledge of major league sports, video games, movies and television entertainment alongside geography, civics, history and the other subjects it tests, their scores would be higher on the former. I say this less to denigrate students for what they are drawn to. Afterall, most if not all human beings, not just young students, tend to be more attracted to entertainment than education, especially because popular entertainment is typically more visual, fast, simple, emotional, attractive and/or extraordinary while learning is typically slow, complex, rational and challenging.
For these reasons, for most kids most if not all their education happens in schools, where children are required or feel compelled to go. Outside of school though, now perhaps more than ever, children lead very different lives. With intensifying educational and job competition plus rising income and wealth inequality, upper and upper-middle class parents are investing more money and time into after-school and weekend enrichment – tutoring, test prep, music, arts, travel, etc. – (not to mention better schools) for their kids (Lareau 2003, Putnam 2015). In contrast, lower-income parents often don’t have the resources or wherewithal for such investment so their kids are more likely to play on their own, naturally gravitating to video games, TV, and other alluring entertainment.
Of course, much can still be done in schools to improve student learning, but a lot of public discourse on education pays insufficient attention to what happens outside of school. There is, no doubt, much and longstanding interest in how families, nonprofits and governments can nurture children’s development (e.g., see Cotton & Wikelund 1989, Carter 2002, Harvard Family Research Project 2012). But there is less attention paid to developing new ways to nurture a wider culture of learning to counter the pervasive entertainment industry. Educational video games are proliferating, yet still constitute a small fraction of video game sales.
Learning Life’s approach to nurturing a wider culture of learning is different. By spreading knowledge (e.g., facts, questions, comparisons) on important public topics from food psychology to terrorism through everyday surfaces – napkins, placemats, fortune cookies as well as PCs, tablets and phones via our website and social media pages – we’re working to develop not deliberate learning, but incidental learning: the unplanned occasions for learning in everyday life. Using everyday surfaces to spur incidental learning is not a panacea, but it is a largely undeveloped tool for nurturing a wider culture of learning, especially among the too many students failing knowledge tests like NAEP.
Cotton, Kathleen, and Karen Reed Wikelund. 1989. “Parental Involvement in Education.” Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Research & Improvement.
For better or worse then, priming influences people. This generally holds true even for those who claim to be immune to priming because they are more informed or self-aware. The point though is not to deplore priming or people’s manipulability. Humans tend to be sensitive to contextual cues, consciously or not, and have always sought to influence each other, subtly or not. The fact that humans are responsive to priming is not an inherently good or bad thing. Much depends on whether priming is done to encourage good or bad behavior.
