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The Power of Assumptions

A few weeks ago I was in some leadership classes at work that were taught by an PhD Industrial Psychologist. It was very interesting and I learned a lot. He was very knowledgeable about what is going on inside the brain during different actions and thought processes. One example was that the act of throwing a ball to someone on the move (i.e. playing catch) uses the same pathways in your brain that all delayed gratification decisions do. You are holding the ball while visualizing where the ball and person will meet at a point in the future. This is why it is very important to play arch with your kids. It trains their brains to use these pathways and help them develop the skills necessary to delay gratification.

How does this relate to audio? Another thing he takes about was the power of assumptions. When we believe/assume that something is true the way our brain reacts to it chemically and electrically is identical rather it is in fact true or not. The secondary effect that happens is that we then become supremely aware of every little thing that supports our assumption and we blindly ignor anything contradictory. He said that this is why it is so difficult to get someone to change their opinion of you. His point was that we needed to be aware of this involuntary response and be willing to ask ourselves if there was any other way to look at a given situation.

It made me think about how this directly relates to audio. What we assume can actually have a stronger impact our experience than the objective facts. For example, if I assume that solid state amplifiers are inferior it will be extremely difficult for me to have a positive experience with one because my brain will be working overtime to find a way to support my assumption. It might take hearing a solid state amplifier while believing it to be a tube amplifier to force my to be objective and at least consider that a solid state amplifier might sound great.
mceljo
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Peter, that really, really hurts. Ouch!

Hey, Peter, how's that wall outlet thing going! What's it been, two years? Haha!
zd542
5,339 posts
 
"07-13-14: Mceljo
Placebo doesn't eliminate the possibility of objective factual opinions. I don't think it is as much a factor on equipment like speakers and amplifiers where the differences can be significant, but for things like cables, isolation devices, etc., where the differences are often small the impact can easily become more real."

I think that's a pretty fair statement. The only thing I would add, is that as the differences get smaller, experience becomes a big factor. When I first started out in audio, I would have never believed my listening skills would evolve to where they are now. I wasn't sure if I could hear things like differences between cables, break in and a lot of the terms they were using in the magazines I was reading.

"07-14-14: Geoffkait
If a placebo improved the sound of your system noticeably would you pay say $100 for it?"

I think you may have painted yourself into a corner with that one. lol. If I didn't know it was a placebo, then I wouldn't know I was paying $100 for one. If I did know it was a placebo, paying the $100 wouldn't work.
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
If a placebo improved the sound of your system noticeably would you pay say $100 for it?
Doing market research, Geoff, or are you planning a price increase for the teleportation tweak ;-)
dragon1952
181 posts
 
"07-12-14: Mceljo
I was doing some internet reading on Friday and came across two Interesting studies.

One was a depression drug study where they proved that the brain reacted in the same areas and in the same way with the drug and placebo. In fact, the prefrontal cortex was actually more active with the placebo. There was more to the study, but it was interesting that the sime belief in the placebo was enough to physically alter the brain activity.

The other was a sleep study where the researchers told people randomly that they had achieved more or less rem sleep compared to the average during a sleep study where they pretended to measure the rem sleep. They also asked each perso. How they felt they slept. Then they tested their cognitive ability and found that those who were told that they slept well scored higher even when they felt otherwise. The brain is a powerful force, but it only takes a little belief in something to trick it.

Wine will generally score higher in a taste test if it is reported to cost more.

Like it or not, our expectations and preconceived notions have a direct impact on how we experience things. Audio is not excluded. Sound goes from our ears and is interpreted in our brains. I would love to know the order of magnitude relative to the measurable difference in audio gear. I suspect the "placebo floor" is quite high..."

In your examples, though, people are being put on the spot, and even fed lies. I realize the concept of placebo effect and preconception but those experiments, as well as group ABX which also tend to put people 'on the spot', are a little different than you or I evaluating a new audio purchase in the privacy of our own listening area.
I'd like to see the difference in opinions in those experiments where in one, they let the person make their own choice without being manipulated vs the second, using manipulative tactics.
dragon1952
181 posts
 
....and to add to that, those types of experiments,as well as group ABX, tend to force an immediate answer rather than allow you to take time to really think about it. Also, those same types of experiments tend to take place outside of our comfort zone, eg not in familiar surroundings. In the case of our own audio evaluations, in a place where we are more confident and comfortable, we may make different choices and/or conclusions. And often times change a short term conclusion after given more time.
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