"The Impact of Stereotype-Incongruent Information on Perceived Group Variability and Stereotype Change." Correction to Garcia-Marques and Mackie (1999).

Reports an error in "The impact of stereotype-incongruent information on perceived group variability and stereotype change" by Leonel Garcia-Marques and Diane M. Mackie (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1999[Nov], Vol 77[5], 979-990). In this article, Table 3 (p. 987) contained an error. The row "Number of subgroups" was inadvertently omitted. The corrected table appears in this erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 1999-01257-006.) Three experiments showed increases in the perceived variability of social groups after perceivers received stereotype-incongruent information about group members. In Experiment 1, participants generated flatter distributions after exposure to incongruent information, compared with equally deviant congruent information, in the form of typical verbal materials. Experiment 2 indicated similar changes in dispersion after the presentation of numeric information about a single group member. In Experiment 3, the authors manipulated cognitive load at encoding or at the time group judgments were requested. Under conditions of cognitive constraint, stereotype-incongruent information ceased to promote more dispersed group representations. These results are consistent with the idea that incongruent information triggers more deliberative and comprehensive retrieval and generation of exemplars. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for stereotype change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Experts appear to use angle of elevation information in basketball shooting.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 35(6) of Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance (see record 2009-22869-012). On page 754 of the article, Figure 3 was repeated in place of Figure 4. The correct version of Figure 4 is provided in the erratum.] For successful basketball shooting, players must use information about the location of the basket relative to themselves. In this study, the authors examined to what extent shooting performance depends on the absolute distance to the basket (m) and the angle of elevation (α). In Experiment 1, expert players took jump shots under different visual conditions (light, one dot glowing on the rim in the dark, and dark). Task performance was satisfactory under the one-dot condition, suggesting that m and α provided sufficient information during movement execution. In Experiment 2, expert wheelchair basketball players performed shots binocularly and monocularly, under one-dot and light conditions. Performance under the one-dot condition was similar binocularly and monocularly, suggesting that distance information was not crucial for the online control of shooting. In Experiment 3, experts took jump shots under light, one-dot, and dark conditions while the basket’s height was varied between trials unbeknownst to the participants. Players relied on α in combination with the official basket’s height to guide their shooting actions. In conclusion, basketball shooting appears to be based predominantly on angle of elevation information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multiple communicators with unique target information transmit less stereotypical impressions.

Four studies examined how multiple communicators who have unique target information transmit less stereotypical impressions. Co-communicators with unique information should feel accountable for providing unique perspectives and consequently will try to be accurate. This accuracy goal should increase their focus on stereotype-incongruent behaviors, resulting in more counterstereotypical transmissions. Study 1 showed that communicators with unique information about an alcoholic target abstractly characterized incongruent attributes and allocated more transmission time to them. Study 2 showed that the effect of communicators' unique information on receivers' less stereotypical impressions was mediated by focus on incongruent attributes. Because the first 2 studies used a target whose stereotypical features were negative, Studies 3 and 4 provided a replication with a target whose stereotypical features were positive. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Experts appear to use angle of elevation information in basketball shooting": Correction to de Oliveira, Oudejans, and Beek (2009).

Reports an error in "Experts appear to use angle of elevation information in basketball shooting" by Rita Ferraz de Oliveira, Ra?ul R. D. Oudejans and Peter J. Beek (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 2009[Jun], Vol 35[3], 750-761). On page 754 of the article, Figure 3 was repeated in place of Figure 4. The correct version of Figure 4 is provided in the erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2009-07761-010.) For successful basketball shooting, players must use information about the location of the basket relative to themselves. In this study, the authors examined to what extent shooting performance depends on the absolute distance to the basket (m) and the angle of elevation (α). In Experiment 1, expert players took jump shots under different visual conditions (light, one dot glowing on the rim in the dark, and dark). Task performance was satisfactory under the one-dot condition, suggesting that m and α provided sufficient information during movement execution. In Experiment 2, expert wheelchair basketball players performed shots binocularly and monocularly, under one-dot and light conditions. Performance under the one-dot condition was similar binocularly and monocularly, suggesting that distance information was not crucial for the online control of shooting. In Experiment 3, experts took jump shots under light, one-dot, and dark conditions while the basket’s height was varied between trials unbeknownst to the participants. Players relied on α in combination with the official basket’s height to guide their shooting actions. In conclusion, basketball shooting appears to be based predominantly on angle of elevation information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Context and spoken word recognition in a novel lexicon.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 35(1) of Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition (see record 2008-18581-022). Figure 9 was inadvertently duplicated as Figure 10. Figure 9 in the original article was correct. The correct Figure 10 is provided.] Three eye movement studies with novel lexicons investigated the role of semantic context in spoken word recognition, contrasting 3 models: restrictive access, access-selection, and continuous integration. Actions directed at novel shapes caused changes in motion (e.g., looming, spinning) or state (e.g., color, texture). Across the experiments, novel names for the actions and the shapes varied in frequency, cohort density, and whether the cohorts referred to actions (Experiment 1) or shapes with action-congruent or action-incongruent affordances (Experiments 2 and 3). Experiment 1 demonstrated effects of frequency and cohort competition from both displayed and non-displayed competitors. In Experiment 2, a biasing context induced an increase in anticipatory eye movements to congruent referents and reduced the probability of looks to incongruent cohorts, without the delay predicted by access-selection models. In Experiment 3, context did not reduce competition from non-displayed incompatible neighbors as predicted by restrictive access models. The authors conclude that the results are most consistent with continuous integration models. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Understanding unfamiliar words: The influence of processing resources, vocabulary knowledge, and age.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 15(3) of Psychology and Aging (see record 2010-01363-001). Please note that the Action Editor for this article was Anderson D. Smith.] In a 2-experiment design, the authors assessed the role of age and ability in defining unfamiliar words from context. In Experiment 1, 60 adults aged 18-33 and 60 adults aged 61-96 read passages with cues to the meaning of rare words, then defined them. Older adults produced fewer components of the words' meanings and were more likely to produce generalized interpretations of the precise meaning. In Experiment 2, 726 adults aged 30-97 selected definitions from 4 choices: the exact definition, a generalized interpretation of the exact definition, a generalized interpretation of the story, and definition irrelevant information from the story. Adults over age 75 selected fewer precise definitions and more generalized interpretations of the story than younger ones. Findings suggest that older adults may have special difficulties in deriving the meaning of unfamiliar words from context. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Determinants of linear judgment: A meta-analysis of lens model studies.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 134(5) of Psychological Bulletin (see record 2008-11487-006). In this article, two columns of data were inadvertently transposed and thus listed under their incorrect column headers. The correct version is presented in the erratum.] The mathematical representation of E. Brunswik's (1952) lens model has been used extensively to study human judgment and provides a unique opportunity to conduct a meta-analysis of studies that covers roughly 5 decades. Specifically, the authors analyzed statistics of the "lens model equation" (L. R. Tucker, 1964) associated with 249 different task environments obtained from 86 articles. On average, fairly high levels of judgmental achievement were found, and people were seen to be capable of achieving similar levels of cognitive performance in noisy and predictable environments. Further, the effects of task characteristics that influence judgment (numbers and types of cues, inter-cue redundancy, function forms and cue weights in the ecology, laboratory versus field studies, and experience with the task) were identified and estimated. A detailed analysis of learning studies revealed that the most effective form of feedback was information about the task. The authors also analyzed empirically under what conditions the application of bootstrapping--or replacing judges by their linear models--is advantageous. Finally, the authors note shortcomings of the kinds of studies conducted to date, limitations in the lens model methodology, and possibilities for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory for in-group and out-group information in a minimal group context: The self as an informational base.

The authors argue that persons derive in-group expectancies from self-knowledge. This implies that perceivers process information about novel in-groups on the basis of the self-congruency of this information and not simply its valence. In Experiment 1, participants recalled more negative self-discrepant behaviors about an in-group than about an out-group. Experiment 2 replicated this effect under low cognitive load but not under high load. Experiment 3 replicated the effect using an idiographic procedure. These findings suggest that perceivers engage in elaborative inconsistency processing when they encounter negative self-discrepant information about an in-group but not when they encounter negative self-congruent information. Participants were also more likely to attribute self-congruent information to the in-group than to the out-group, regardless of information valence. Implications for models of social memory and self-categorization theory are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Surprise, memory, and retrospective judgment making: Testing cognitive reconstruction theories of the hindsight bias effect.

Hindsight bias has been shown to be a pervasive and potentially harmful decision-making bias. A review of 4 competing cognitive reconstruction theories of hindsight bias revealed conflicting predictions about the role and effect of expectation or surprise in retrospective judgment formation. Two experiments tested these predictions examining the effects of manipulating the information presented in a text-based scenario and its congruency with the given outcome on surprise, hindsight bias, and recall. The results of Experiment 1 revealed evidence of hindsight bias after exposure to incongruent and ambivalent outcomes but not after exposure to congruent outcomes. Experiment 2 replicated the hindsight bias results and found that the ratio of outcome consistent information recalled was higher than expected in the incongruent and ambivalent conditions but equaled the ratio presented to participants in the congruent condition. The results were interpreted as supporting the general predictions of sense-making models of the hindsight bias. A refined version of this model is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive control: Dynamic, sustained, and voluntary influences.

The cost of incongruent stimuli is reduced when conflict is expected. This series of experiments tested whether this improved performance is due to repetition priming or to enhanced cognitive control. Using a paradigm in which Word and Number Stroop alternated every trial, Experiment 1 assessed dynamic trial-to-trial changes. Incongruent trials led to task-specific reduction of conflict (trial n + 2) without cross-task modulation (trial n + 1), but this was fully explained by repetition priming. In contrast, an increased ratio of incongruent words did lead to sustained task-specific enhancement, above and beyond repetition priming (Experiment 2). Experiments 3 and 4 assessed the voluntary modulation of cognitive control: A cue predicted the congruency of the incoming trial, allowing participants to establish the correct mindset (Word Stroop in Experiment 3, Flanker task in Experiment 4). Preparing oneself to process an incongruent word (or flanker) enhanced conflict resolution in the subsequent Number Stroop, an example of cross-task modulation. Taken together, these experiments reveal the multifaceted aspects of conflict resolution: Trial-to-trial changes are often due to repetition priming; sustained modulations brought about by task demands are task specific; and voluntary modulations are task general. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

More on recognition and recall in amnesics.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 15(3) of Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition (see record 2008-10697-001). In this article, the authors failed to specify how the group of amnesics that they test in their article differed from the nonalcoholic amnesics tested in Hirst, Johnson, Kim, Phelps, Risse, and Volpe (1986). The pertinent statistics are given in the erratum. Additionally, in the last sentence on page 760, the degrees of freedom for the t test should be 8 instead of 10.] Hirst et al. (1986) reported that amnesic forced-choice recognition was relatively preserved when compared with amnesic recall. They equated normal recognition and amnesic recognition by extending exposure time for the amnesics and then comparing amnesic recall and normal recall. Amnesic recall was worse than normal recall, despite equated recognition. We conducted two experiments to extend that result. Experiment 1 established that the findings of Hirst et al. are not paradigm specific and hold when amnesic recognition and normal recognition are equated by increasing the retention interval for normals. In Experiment 2 we further established the generality of the result by examining yes–no recognition. Findings further specify the selective nature of the direct memory deficits in amnesics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The utility of Stroop task switching as a marker for early-stage Alzheimer's disease.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 25(4) of Psychology and Aging (see record 2010-22172-001). Author Janet M. Duchek’s name was misspelled as Janet M. Ducheck. The online version has been corrected.] Past studies have suggested attentional control tasks such as the Stroop task and the task-switching paradigm may be sensitive for the early detection of dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT). The authors of the current study combined these tasks to create a Stroop switching task. Performance was compared across young adults, older adults, and individuals diagnosed with very mild dementia. Results indicated that this task strongly discriminated individuals with healthy aging from those with early-stage DAT. In a logistic regression analysis, incongruent error rates from the Stroop switching task discriminated healthy aging from DAT better than any of the other 18 cognitive tasks given in a psychometric battery. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Determinants of linear judgment: A meta-analysis of lens model studies": Correction.

Reports an error in "Determinants of linear judgment: A meta-analysis of lens model studies" by Natalia Karelaia and Robin M. Hogarth (Psychological Bulletin, 2008[May], Vol 134[3], 404-426). In this article, two columns of data were inadvertently transposed and thus listed under their incorrect column headers. The correct version is presented in the erratum. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2008-04614-003.) The mathematical representation of E. Brunswik's (1952) lens model has been used extensively to study human judgment and provides a unique opportunity to conduct a meta-analysis of studies that covers roughly 5 decades. Specifically, the authors analyzed statistics of the "lens model equation" (L. R. Tucker, 1964) associated with 249 different task environments obtained from 86 articles. On average, fairly high levels of judgmental achievement were found, and people were seen to be capable of achieving similar levels of cognitive performance in noisy and predictable environments. Further, the effects of task characteristics that influence judgment (numbers and types of cues, inter-cue redundancy, function forms and cue weights in the ecology, laboratory versus field studies, and experience with the task) were identified and estimated. A detailed analysis of learning studies revealed that the most effective form of feedback was information about the task. The authors also analyzed empirically under what conditions the application of bootstrapping--or replacing judges by their linear models--is advantageous. Finally, the authors note shortcomings of the kinds of studies conducted to date, limitations in the lens model methodology, and possibilities for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Suckers or saviors? Consistent contributors in social dilemmas.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 96(1) of Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (see record 2008-18683-006). An incorrect DOI was printed. The correct DOI is provided in the erratum.] Groups and organizations face a fundamental problem: They need cooperation but their members have incentives to free ride. Empirical research on this problem has often been discouraging, and economic models suggest that solutions are unlikely or unstable. In contrast, the authors present a model and 4 studies that show that an unwaveringly consistent contributor can effectively catalyze cooperation in social dilemmas. The studies indicate that consistent contributors occur naturally, and their presence in a group causes others to contribute more and cooperate more often, with no apparent cost to the consistent contributor and often gain. These positive effects seem to result from a consistent contributor's impact on group members' cooperative inferences about group norms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Resistance: Psychodynamic and Behavioral Approaches.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 7(1) of Psychoanalytic Psychology (see record 2007-10573-001). In this review, the phrase "in his inimical style" (p.238) should read "in his inimitable style.] This three-part edited collection of chapters considers the problem of resistance in psychotherapy. The term is defined and considered from several radically difference psychological perspectives. The psychoanalytic approach in Part I consists of four chapters written by authorities in the field. The four chapters of Part II concern both cognitive and pure behavioral approaches. Part III contains eight brief chapters in which the authors were invited to comment on one author's contributions. In the main the authors remain focused and concise, but it is very obvious that resistance has a remarkably broad variety of definitions, and that some of these definitions are so different that the authors do not appear to be speaking of similar phenomena. What is also clear from this complicated edited collection is that the clinician needs to be much more flexible in his theoretical positions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Context and spoken word recognition in a novel lexicon": Correction.

Reports an error in "Context and spoken word recognition in a novel lexicon" by Kathleen Pirog Revill, Michael K. Tanenhaus and Richard N. Aslin (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 2008[Sep], Vol 34[5], 1207-1223). Figure 9 was inadvertently duplicated as Figure 10. Figure 9 in the original article was correct. The correct Figure 10 is provided. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2008-11850-014.) Three eye movement studies with novel lexicons investigated the role of semantic context in spoken word recognition, contrasting 3 models: restrictive access, access-selection, and continuous integration. Actions directed at novel shapes caused changes in motion (e.g., looming, spinning) or state (e.g., color, texture). Across the experiments, novel names for the actions and the shapes varied in frequency, cohort density, and whether the cohorts referred to actions (Experiment 1) or shapes with action-congruent or action-incongruent affordances (Experiments 2 and 3). Experiment 1 demonstrated effects of frequency and cohort competition from both displayed and non-displayed competitors. In Experiment 2, a biasing context induced an increase in anticipatory eye movements to congruent referents and reduced the probability of looks to incongruent cohorts, without the delay predicted by access-selection models. In Experiment 3, context did not reduce competition from non-displayed incompatible neighbors as predicted by restrictive access models. The authors conclude that the results are most consistent with continuous integration models. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exhaustive and heuristic retrieval processes in person cognition: Further tests of the TRAP model.

The twofold retrieval by associative pathways (TRAP) model (L. Garcia-Marques & D. L. Hamilton, 1996) proposes that two distinct modes of retrieval typically underlie recall and frequency estimation. The model accounts for the simultaneous occurrence of greater recall of incongruent information and higher frequency estimation of congruent information. Three experiments provided further tests of the TRAP model. Experiment 1 manipulated cognitive load (at encoding and at retrieval) and the selectivity of the retrieval goal. Under either high load or a selective retrieval goal, incongruent items ceased to be better recalled. Experiment 2 manipulated the accessibility of expectancy-congruent, -incongruent, or -neutral episodes and found corresponding effects in frequency estimates. Finally, Experiment 3 showed that providing part-list retrieval cues inhibits recall but increases frequency estimates. The TRAP model predicted these results. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The lasting effect of words on feelings: Words may facilitate exposure effects to threatening images.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 8(4) of Emotion (see record 2008-12765-001). The URL provided for the supplemental materials was incorrect. The correct URL is provided in the erratum.] Previous studies have shown that mere words, particularly affective words, can dampen emotional responses. However, the effect of affective labels on emotional responding in the long term is unknown. The authors examined whether repeated exposure to aversive images would lead to more reduction in autonomic reactivity a week later if the images were exposed with single-word labels than without labels. In Experiment 1, healthy individuals were exposed to pictures of disturbing scenes with or without labels on Day 1. On Day 8, the same pictures from the previous week were exposed, this time without labels. In Experiment 2, participants were spider fearful and were exposed to pictures of spiders. In both experiments, although repeated exposure to aversive images (without labels) led to long-term attenuation of autonomic reactivity, exposure plus affective labels, but not nonaffective labels, led to more attenuation than exposure alone. Thus, affective labels may help dampen emotional reactivity in both the short and long terms. Implications for exposure therapy and translational studies are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)