Expecting the worst: uncovering the psychology of nocebo effects. Nocebo effects – when negative expectancies trigger adverse outcomes – cause enormous personal and societal harm. We have made great p

Description

Expecting the worst: uncovering the psychology of nocebo effects. Nocebo effects – when negative expectancies trigger adverse outcomes – cause enormous personal and societal harm. We have made great progress identifying the basic psychological processes giving rise to nocebo effects. Yet, we currently know very little about how nocebo effects spread, how they interact with decision-making, and whether they can genuinely occur nonconsciously. The current project uses novel experimental methods to uncover the role of generalisation, decision-making, and nonsconsious learning in nocebo effects as well as how to inhibit them. The results will significantly advance scientific understanding of nocebo effects and pave the way for much needed translational research to reduce the substantial harm they cause.. Scheme: ARC Future Fellowships. Field: 5204 - Cognitive and Computational Psychology. Lead: Prof Ben Colagiuri