| Abstract: |
Numerous studies have found that top-down processes can affect perceptions.
This study examines some of the issues involved in designing field experiments
aimed at discovering whether top-down mental processes affect perceptions,
and, if so, how the influence takes place. Lee, Frederick, and Ariely (2006)
(LFA) attempt to go further by testing whether expectations affect perception
directly, by altering how sensory receptors and/or the brain’s processing
centers interpret a outside stimulus—or indirectly, for example, by changing
the amount of attention paid to the outside stimulus. In order to test the
robustness of the findings in LFA, this paper reports the results of a field
experiment similar to the one analyzed in LFA. The field experiment, designed
to address some potential confounding factors in this type of research,
confirms that expectations can alter perceptions. However, it also shows that
heterogeneity across individuals can play a role in determining the nature of
this effect, a finding that complicates the interpretation of results such as
those in LFA. To frame the analysis, this paper discusses the difficulties in
designing this type of experiment, makes some improvements to existing
designs, and suggests some ways of eliminating the confounding influences that
remain. |