The effect of accuracy motivation on anchoring and adjustment: Do people adjust from provided anchors?

Increasing accuracy motivation (e.g., by providing monetary incentives for accuracy) often fails to increase adjustment away from provided anchors, a result that has led researchers to conclude that people do not effortfully adjust away from such anchors. We challenge this conclusion. First, we show that people are typically uncertain about which way to adjust from provided anchors and that this uncertainty often causes people to believe that they have initially adjusted too far away from such anchors (Studies 1a and 1b). Then, we show that although accuracy motivation fails to increase the gap between anchors and final estimates when people are uncertain about the direction of adjustment, accuracy motivation does increase anchor–estimate gaps when people are certain about the direction of adjustment, and that this is true regardless of whether the anchors are provided or self-generated (Studies 2, 3a, 3b, and 5). These results suggest that people do effortfully adjust away from provided anchors but that uncertainty about the direction of adjustment makes that adjustment harder to detect than previously assumed. This conclusion has important theoretical implications, suggesting that currently emphasized distinctions between anchor types (self-generated vs. provided) are not fundamental and that ostensibly competing theories of anchoring (selective accessibility and anchoring-and-adjustment) are complementary. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Glossolalia: A test of the "trance" and psychopathology hypotheses.

Tested 3 hypotheses concerning glossolalia: that glossolalia (a) results from a "hyperaroused trance," (b) is associated with high levels of hypnotic susceptibility, and (c) is symptomatic of psychopathology. Contrary to the "trance" hypothesis, 12 experienced glossolalics (aged 18–23 yrs) performed glossolalia with eyes open and without accompanying kinetic activity (e.g., trembling, shaking) or residual disorientation. Moreover, memory deficits following glossolalic speech occurred to the same degree following nontrance control activity. Glossolalics and 36 nonglossolalic control Ss matched for age, sex, and level of education did not differ from one another on hypnotic susceptibility, absorption, or measures of psychopathology (e.g., Rokeach Dogmatism Scale, Eysenck Personality Inventory). Findings are consistent with nontrance formulations that conceptualize the acquisition and maintenance of glossolalia in terms of social-learning variables. (52 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sensitivity to violations of "run" and "trill" structures in rat serial-pattern learning.

Rats learned serial patterns composed of either "run" chunks (e.g., 123 234…) or "trill" chunks (e.g., 121 232…). For each type of pattern, 1 group of rats encountered an element at the end of the pattern that violated the run or trill structure. In both run and trill patterns violations were unusually difficult for rats to learn, whereas corresponding elements in "perfect" patterns that did not violate pattern structure were easy. Additionally, rats' errors on violation elements conformed to the structure of the patterns in which they were embedded. Thus, rats were sensitive to the run or trill organization of their patterns and mastered the rules governing the pattern before learning "exceptions to the rule." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Fair" allocations of salaries and taxes.

Undergraduate judges were asked to "fairly" allocate salaries to hypothetical faculty members on the basis of their merit ratings. Individual merit ratings, total budgets to be distributed, and distributions of merit ratings for the entire group were manipulated. In another set of studies, undergraduate judges were asked to "fairly" assign income taxes to hypothetical persons given their salaries, and individual salaries, amounts of revenue to generate, and distributions of salaries for the group were varied. Overall results are explained by a theory of relative equity that suggests that an equitable state is one in which the relative position of a stimulus (e.g., merit or salary) in the distribution of stimuli matches the relative position of the response (e.g., salary or tax) in the distribution of responses. The relative position of a stimulus or response is defined as its range-frequency value based on the range-frequency compromise. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"What else could he have done?" Creating false answers in child witnesses by inviting speculation.

In 2 experiments (N?=?111 children), a suggestive technique for interviewing child witnesses called "inviting speculation" was examined. Children were presented with atypical actions for common objects in a clown show. One week later, the children were asked to speculate (e.g., "What else could he have done with the knife?") in a between-subjects design on all or none of the items (Experiment 1) and in a within-subjects design on part of the items (Experiment 2), thereby getting highly probable speculations (e.g., "to cut"). After a 3-week delay, the experimenters found more highly probable but not more other false answers for the experimental items (Experiment 2). After a 5–6-month delay, the rate of (unspecified) false answers increased compared with the baseline (Experiments 1 and 2). The short-term effect is explained by a speculation-as-misinformation assumption, whereas the long-term effect is explained by the use of a metastrategy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bias and obfuscation in Kendler's (2005) "clarification."

Comments on the article "Psychology and Phenomenology: A Clarification" by H. H. Kendler (see record 2005-05480-003). In this article, Kendler misrepresented contemporary existential-humanistic psychology and conventional (or natural) scientific psychology. With regard to the former, he presented a confused, unwittingly biased, and all-too-stereotypic picture. Aside from failing to cite virtually any contemporary existential-humanistic theorists (with the possible exceptions of Polkinghorne and Smith), he profoundly mischaracterized the phenomenological perspective on which existential-humanistic principles are based (e.g., see Cain & Seeman, 2002, Giorgi, 1970, and Schneider, Bugental, & Pierson, 2002, for an elaboration). To cite but a few problems to which Kendler (2005) fell victim, I consider first his characterization of phenomenological philosophy and psychology as "purely subjective" and "free of any scientific consideration or interpretation" (p. 318). With regard to Kendler's (2005, p. 322) characterization of conventional (or natural scientific) psychological inquiry as "objective" and amoral, there are several problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Application of random-effects probit regression models.

A random-effects probit model is developed for the case in which the outcome of interest is a series of correlated binary responses. These responses can be obtained as the product of a longitudinal response process where an individual is repeatedly classified on a binary outcome variable (e.g., sick or well on occasion t), or in "multilevel" or "clustered" problems in which individuals within groups (e.g., firms, classes, families, or clinics) are considered to share characteristics that produce similar responses. Both examples produce potentially correlated binary responses and modeling these person- or cluster-specific effects is required. The general model permits analysis at both the level of the individual and cluster and at the level at which experimental manipulations are applied (e.g., treatment group). The model provides maximum likelihood estimates for time-varying and time-invariant covariates in the longitudinal case and covariates which vary at the level of the individual and at the cluster level for multilevel problems. A similar number of individuals within clusters or number of measurement occasions within individuals is not required. Empirical Bayesian estimates of person-specific trends or cluster-specific effects are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some problems with the process-dissociation approach to memory.

The process-dissociation framework (L. L. Jacoby, see record 1992-07943-001) is a technique for deriving estimates of controlled (e.g., recollection) and automatic (e.g., familiarity) memory processes. The authors examined 3 assumptions of this framework. In Experiment 1, estimates of familiarity were affected by varying the proportion of old targets to old nontargets on the inclusion and exclusion tests and whether or not the tests were completed with full or divided attention, violating the assumption that familiarity's influence is automatic. In Experiment 2, the similarity of old targets and old nontargets was manipulated to show that source confusions (i.e., misrecollections) violate the assumption that the process of recollection is all-or-none. Source confusions also create an imbalance in the influence of recollection on the inclusion and exclusion tests, violating the consistency assumption. The source-monitoring framework is consistent with the present findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

General processes, rather than "goals," explain imitation errors.

The goal-directed theory of imitation (GOADI) states that copying of action outcomes (e.g., turning a light switch) takes priority over imitation of the means by which those outcomes are achieved (e.g., choice of effector or grip). The object     

The idea of history in psychoanalysis: Freud and the "Wolf-Man."

Discusses the question of history in psychoanalysis. The advocates of narrative (e.g., R. Schafer, 1983) question whether there is a history in the positivist sense, whereas the followers of Kohut (e.g., A. Ornstein, 1983) want to revive the idea that patients suffer from real past events. Through a close reading of Freud's (1918) "Wolf-Man," the author elaborates the conflicts and contradictions in the psychoanalytic attempt to establish a history. The way Freud complicates the idea of history in the "Wolf-Man" is an example of the psychoanalytic willingness to stay in the ambiguous area between fact and fiction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adaptation fran?aise de "l'Inventaire de risque et d'activation" (IRA).

The aim of this article is to validate in French Taylor and Hamilton's questionnaire "Risk and Excitement Inventory" (REI) which measures "escape" and "compensation." "Escapists" would take risks (e.g., drug use) to escape their self-awareness, whereas "compensatory types" would seek sensations in other risky activities (e.g., high risk sports) to enhance and build up their personality. Analyses show that the French validation has good construct validity: the factorial structure and internal consistency are good. Temporal stability and correlational analyses with other measures confirm the validity of the French questionnaire. Correlations were found between the escape scale and emotional problems (anxiety, neuroticism and impulsivity). These correlations will be discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Nature of priming effects in semantic matching": Correction to Whitlow.

Reports an error in "Nature of priming effects in semantic matching" by J. W. Whitlow (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 1986[Jul], Vol 12[3], 353-360). The Appendix table was constructed incorrectly. The correct table appears in the erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 1986-29114-001.) Studied priming effects in a semantic matching task that distinguished visually based matching processes from nominally and semantically based matching processes, using 24 undergraduates. Ss judged semantic matches for 3 types of word pairs: identical (e.g., robin-robin), same category (e.g., robin-sparrow), and different category (e.g., robin-truck). Visual matching was isolated by comparing performance between physical identity (e.g., robin-robin) and nominal identity (e.g., robin-ROBIN) pairs. Physical identity pairs, which allowed visually based matching, exhibited an interaction between priming and the typicality of category exemplars that was absent in nominal identity and same-category pairs. Priming had no effect on nominal identity pairs. For same-category pairs, which required semantically based matching, priming produced facilitation at all levels of typicality. The results bring the semantic matching paradigm into agreement with other procedures that show that priming facilitates processing for all related targets. Categories and exemplars used as stimulus materials are appended. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perspective Taking as Egocentric Anchoring and Adjustment.

The authors propose that people adopt others' perspectives by serially adjusting from their own. As predicted, estimates of others' perceptions were consistent with one's own but differed in a manner consistent with serial adjustment (Study 1). Participants were slower to indicate that another's perception would be different from--rather than similar to--their own (Study 2). Egocentric biases increased under time pressure (Study 2) and decreased with accuracy incentives (Study 3). Egocentric biases also increased when participants were more inclined to accept plausible values encountered early in the adjustment process than when inclined to reject them (Study 4). Finally, adjustments tend to be insufficient, in part, because people stop adjusting once a plausible estimate is reached (Study 5). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Allocation of self-paced study time and the "labor-in-vain effect."

This research explored the possibility that a metacognitive control process (namely, the allocation of self-paced study time) might be affected by the output from metacognitive monitoring processes (i.e., ease-of-learning and/or feeling-of-knowing judgments). In three experiments, university undergraduates received instructions that emphasized either accuracy of learning or speed of learning. The major findings were (a) ease-of-learning judgments and feeling-of-knowing judgments are reliably related to study-time allocation, with more self-paced study time being allocated to the supposedly more difficult items; (b) even when instructed to master every item and when allowed unlimited study time to do so, people terminate study before learning is completed; and (c) large increases in self-paced study time can yield little or no increase in the subsequent likelihood of recall (the "labor-in-vain effect"). Implications are drawn for a model of the interplay between metacognitive monitoring processes and metacognitive control processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introducing the new Health Psychology series "Evidence-based treatment reviews": Progress not perfection.

Introduces the new Health Psychology series "Evidence-Based Treatment Reviews." Psychologists struggle continuously with the tension between the general implications of research conducted in their treatment area and the often unique needs and treatment possibilities for their individual patients. Recent concerns about this struggle in psychology have led to the initiation of an American Psychological Association presidential taskforce to propose an evidence-based policy: Evidence-Based Psychology Practice (EBPP). This struggle is not new. Medicine, similarly, has been dealing with the issue of how to translate research findings into evidence-based assessments and treatments. The process of joining our research with our practice, known as Evidence-Based Medicine, will be the cornerstone of a new series of articles in Health Psychology, entitled "Evidence-Based Treatment Reviews." Evidence-Based Behavioral Medicine is an extension of the Evidence-Based Medicine movement that identified the necessity of critically evaluating research to inform clinical practice (Rosenberg & Donald, 1995). In addition to mentoring researchers in presenting their findings in a more user-friendly style (e.g., Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials, or CONSORT, guidelines; Altman, Schulz, Moher, Egger, Davidoff, Elbourne, et al., 2001), teaching clinicians how to review the evidence (e.g., Evidence Based Medicine Tool Kit), and compiling and summarizing the existing evidence for public consumption (e.g., the Cochrane Collaboration), it makes sense to integrate these efforts by presenting research reviews with clinician commentary in our professional journals as has already been done by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA, e.g., DeAngelis & Fontanarosa, 2002; Levinson & DeAngelis, 2002). We seek to add to the health psychology evidence base by including two articles for each topic chosen: an Evidence Review and a Clinician's Comment. For this series, we envision that three or four evidence-based reviews will be published per year in Health Psychology and that each review will be accompanied by a three- or four-page commentary by a clinician to aid in the application of the research to a clinical practice. In this format, we hope to capture both the state of the clinical science and the challenging art of translating it into clinical practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"The nature of self-referent encoding: The contributions of elaborative and organizational processes": Correction to Klein and Loftus.

Reports an error in "The nature of self-referent encoding: The contributions of elaborative and organizational processes" by Stanley B. Klein and Judith Loftus (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1988[Jul], Vol 55[1], 5-11). The word case should have been deleted from the first sentence of the left-hand column of page 9. The sentence should read, "Here, self-reference produced recall almost identical to that found for the definition task." (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 1988-28556-001.) A number of investigators have demonstrated that relating information to the self (self-referent encoding) produces better recall than structural or semantic encoding of the same material. The mechanisms responsible for this self-referent recall advantage, however, still are not well understood. Some have proposed an elaborative processing explanation (e.g., Rogers, Kuiper, & Kirker, 1977), whereas others have argued for an organizational processing interpretation (e.g., Klein & Kihlstrom, 1986). We present a paradigm for clarifying the respective contributions of these two processes to the recall of material encoded self-referentially. Our findings suggest that both elaborative and organizational processes are involved, but which process plays the larger role in recall depends on the material being judged. We discuss the implications of a dual-processing explanation of self-referent encoding. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Low prosocial attachment, involvement with drug-using peers, and adolescent drug use: A longitudinal examination of mediational mechanisms": Correction to Henry (2008).

Reports an error in "Low prosocial attachment, involvement with drug-using peers, and adolescent drug use: A longitudinal examination of mediational mechanisms" by Kimberly L. Henry (Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 2008[Jun], Vol 22[2], 302-308). In Table 2, several numbers were missing negative signs due to a typesetting error. The correct version of Table 2 is presented in the erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2008-06772-016.) The process of disengagement from prosocial entities (e.g., family and school) and either simultaneous or subsequent engagement with antisocial entities (e.g., friends who use drugs) is a critical contributor to adolescent drug use and delinquency. This study provides a series of formal mediation tests to demonstrate the relationship between poor family attachment, poor school attachment, involvement with friends who use drugs, and a student's own use of drugs. Results indicate that poor family attachment exerts its effect on drug use through poor school attachment and involvement with friends who use drugs. In addition, poor school attachment exerts its effect on drug use through involvement with friends who use drugs. The results of this study corroborate theories that suggest disengagement from prosocial entities is associated with involvement with antisocial entities and eventual involvement in drug use. Implications for prevention strategies are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differences in preschool children's conceptual strategies when thinking about animate entities and artifacts.

Two-, 3-, and 4-year-old children viewed 10 stimulus sets. Each set contained a sample picture (e.g., a dog), a basic-level taxonomic match (e.g., another dog), a thematic match (e.g., a bone), and an irrelevant match (e.g., a pen). The children were asked to choose a match that "goes with" each sample. Sample pictures were either animate entities or artifacts. The children's choice behavior indicated that a shift occurs between 3 and 4 years of age from a taxonomic bias to a thematic bias and that, at both ages, animate sample stimuli enhance the children's tendency to adopt thematic conceptual strategies. These data are consistent with recent suggestions that thematic thinking presupposes basic-level taxonomic thinking during early conceptual development and that this developmental progression occurs more rapidly in some domains of knowledge than in others. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)