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Episode 63: Cognitive Dissonance, the Monty Hall Problem and a Possible Resolution?

Cognitive Dissonance – one of the most established and respected theories in psychology – is under attack. An economist – M. Keith Chen – uses what is called the “Monty Hall problem” to show that the research on cognitive dissonance may be seriously flawed. In this episode I explain Chen’s concerns about the research on and then I propose that a new study which uses neurofeedback to study cognitive dissonance may come to the rescue at just the right moment. Join me to find out how.

Here is the table from M. Keith Chen’s article, “Rationalization and Cognitive Dissonance: Do Choices Affect or Reflect Preferences?” that shows why, once a Monkey has chosen one letter over another (in this case letter A – which could be a red M&M – over letter B, the blue M&M), letter C is likely to be chosen.

Resources on Cognitive Dissonance

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Michael

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4 Comments

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    Michael

    July 13, 2008

    Thanks Louisa. I went to your site and downloaded the paper. I’ll definitely read it and see if this episode needs to be updated. Thanks! Michael

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    Louisa Egan

    July 13, 2008

    Hi,

    I’m the lead author on the original monkey M&M cognitive dissonance work. We have a new paper that’s just been published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology that demonstrates choice-based attitude change even in the case of blind choices, that is, even when preferences can’t play a role. This refutes Keith’s argument that previous results are due to pre-existing preferences.

    You can find the paper on my website, here:
    http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/Faculty/Directory/Egan_Louisa.aspx#research

    Or in the January 2010 issue of the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

    Best,
    Louisa

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    Michael Britt

    July 13, 2008

    Thanks so much. Appreciate it. This episode required a bit of work digging through the articles and making sure I understood
    the problem correctly.

    Michael

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    Jean-Michel Abrassart

    July 13, 2008

    Really good episode. You did a good job explaining the problem.

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