How do we measure pleasure?

Pleasure is at the core of our lives, yet comparisons of pleasure across groups is still very primitive. Do obese or thin individuals experience more pleasure from food? Do addicts get more pleasure from cocaine than an undergraduate gets from a Big Mac? Does happiness vary in different parts of the world? Although hedonic comparisons like these are made with abandon, they are trickier than they look and current methods can lead to devastating errors. Psychologists have an important role in showing the rest of the world how to measure pleasure.

The purpose of this lecture is twofold: (1) to describe an error in the way we currently make comparisons of sensory and hedonic experiences across individuals and (2) to suggest a way to correct that error.

The purpose of this post is both to discuss the pros and cons of the arguments presented, and (if you agree with the arguments) to discuss how to persuade our colleagues to mend their ways. Please contribute your thoughts in the comments to start the discussion.

The Gospel of Lamarck

Back in the day, when you learned about genetics and evolution in school (well, grad school), it was all about Mendel and Darwin, or more recent refinements of their basic ideas. As a bit of historical amusement, they also taught you about that other guy, Lamarck, who had oh-so-foolishly believed that traits acquired during an individual’s lifetime could be passed on to offspring. They led you to think that that silly notion was at the bottom of the dustbin of old, discredited science, right down there with the theory of bodily humours or an Earth-centered cosmos.
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Lonely on Facebook

Many of the jewels of the APS convention can be found in the several Poster Sessions–often the work of graduate students and their mentors. One Sunday morning poster was unique in its collaboration–a mother-daughter effort. Cal Poly psychology professor Laura Freberg and daughter Karen Freberg, a doctoral candidate at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, presented data from an exploratory study of loneliness and social networking. The Frebergs (together with Ben Ainley, Rebecca Adams and Cristina Enrique of Caly Poly) compared lonely college students with not-so-lonely students, and found that those who were lonely in “real life” also had fewer “friends” on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace.

This finding runs contrary to the theory that lonely students use social networks to compensate for their lonely lives–or that they put on a happy face online. The lonely students also viewed social networkers more negatively than the less lonely students did: “Like children picked last for a softball team,” the researchers conclude, “lonely students might be devaluing an activity in which they feel rejection or exclusion.” The mother-daughter researchers are both enthusiastic Facebook networkers.

-Wray Herbert

Presidential Symposium and Reception

Learning From The Best

Teaching legend Wilbert McKeachie shared lessons learned in 60 years of teaching during his James McKeen Cattell Fellow Award Address on Saturday. McKeachie was interviewed by longtime friend and colleague William Buskist. In preparing for the event, Buskist asked 67 psychology teachers, “If you could ask Bill McKeachie one question, what would it be?” 47 psychologists submitted a total of 101 questions (no one ever said psychologists followed parameters).  Buskist picked some of the most interesting and frequently asked to pose to McKeachie. The result was a varied tour of a great teaching mind, from general questions about keeping both students and faculty engaged over the course of a semester or a career to specific issues like dealing with personal values when teaching and why to avoid sarcasm in the classroom.  With an unparalleled body of knowledge about teaching and learning, McKeachie provided the audience with valuable lessons in the crucial task of education. 

-Ann Conkle

Ekman on ‘Lie to Me’

On Saturday afternoon, Paul Ekman and Robert Levenson brought a little Hollywood to the APS Convention with “Prime Time Psychology: Science is the Story in ‘Lie to Me.’ ‘Lie to Me,’ a new Fox television show this year, follows the work of the fictional Cal Lightman, a psychological researcher and “Human Lie Detector” with abilities based on Ekman’s work on human expression and emotion. Ekman was joined by Josh Singer, a writer and producer for the show, to discuss the science behind the series and the process of turning statistically significant results into dramatically significant television.  (more…)

Emotional Rollercoaster

Although we can all fly off the handle every now and then, our ability to control and deal with our emotions is a critical tool in our interpersonal relationships and career success. In the wide-ranging theme program “Emotional Ups and Downs: Experiencing, Self-Regulating, and Capitalizing on Affect,” researchers from a variety of disciplines (industrial/organizational psychology, developmental, cognitive, and neuroscience) explained their different approaches to the study of emotional regulation. (more…)

Bower Hour

“Science is not only intellectual but a social enterprise,” Gordon Bower stated matter of factly to his interviewer Walter Mischel during the “Inside the Psychologist’s Studio” event today. This was one of the many words of wisdom imparted by the National Medal of Science Winner during the interview which explored the life of one of this century’s most influential psychologists. 

Bower was born in a small town in Ohio and was fueled by a need to succeed from a young age. Knowing that his father sacrificed a career in academics to return home to take care of his ailing parents, only to have to support a growing family during the depression, Bower was determined to live the life that his father was never able to have. The only question was: Would he become a baseball star or a psychologist?

Bower was a highly sought after high school baseball stud, but went to Case Western Reserve University instead of joining the major leagues. There, he found experimental psychology. From that point forward, Bower immersed himself in quantitative studies comparing the joy of statistics to the feeling of hitting 3 home runs in one game. 

To say Bower is passionate about academics is an understatement. Although he is retired, Bower “wanders around” Stanford University attending classes from European Literature to Art and Architecture. He truly is a perpetual student.

-Catherine Allen-West

Overheard at APS

“I’ll give you $40 for that teal APS shirt!” -registration

“Alan knows how to throw a party!” -Exhibit Hall

“I think they are psychologists, but they are all really attractive and well-dressed, maybe they are model psychologists.” -Hotel guest in the elevator

“This is so cool! This is mad psychology” -Registration Desk

“Normally I would say every other day, but APS is an exception, you should shower everyday when you come here.” - Exhibit Hall

“APS blue is the new yellow.” - Member commenting on the highlighters at the APS booth

Hear something interesting? Let us know in the comments.

The Architecture of the Mind

This morning began with the first theme program of the convention, “The Architecture of the Mind.” This unique program brought together six speakers from fields ranging from psychology to neuroscience to anthropology to discuss their recent findings about how behaviors are influenced by genes and environment, how the architecture of the mind is formed, and how behavior can shape the mind. 

Dario Maestripieri kicked off this program by showing compelling evidence that physical abuse runs in families and that genetic factors may be implicated. Next, Daniel M.T. Fessler described his work on disgust, suggesting that this reaction evolved from keeping us from ingesting toxins to playing a role in reproduction: His data suggests that women are more disgusted by certain sexual behaviors when they are most likely to conceive. Akira Miyake then presented results of twin studies that suggest a strong link between behavioral problems in childhood and executive-function abilities in adulthood.  (more…)