Hidden covariation detection produces faster, not slower, social judgments.

In P. Lewicki's (1986b) demonstration of hidden covariation detection (HCD), responses of participants were slower to faces that corresponded with a covariation encountered previously than to faces with novel covariations. This slowing contrasts with the typical finding that priming leads to faster responding and suggests that HCD is a unique type of implicit process. The authors extended Lewicki's methodology and showed that participants exposed to nonsalient covariations between hair length and personality were subsequently faster to respond to faces with those covariations than to faces without, despite lack of awareness of the critical covariations. This result confirms that people can detect subtle relationships between features of stimuli and that, as with other types of implicit cognition, this detection facilitates responding. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Judgment by quantity.

Presents 5 studies that demonstrate the influence of computationally simple quantity information on judgment and the regulation of behavior. Study 1 revealed that 38 undergraduate Ss used the height of a pile of pages of text to judge their proofreading performance, even when pile size was obviously not determined by the amount of text proofread. In Studies 2 and 3, 109 undergraduate Ss also used nondiagnostic size information to regulate the amount of time and effort they spent on the task. In Study 4, 98 undergraduate Ss regulated the amount of effort they spent on a complex essay-writing task by using nondiagnostic page length information. In Study 5, with 24 undergraduates, nondiagnostic size information dominated objective performance information, but only when the completed task was in full view of the S. A linguistic mechanism is suggested to explain the use of a judgment by quantity strategy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Judgment of adjustment by psychologists, psychiatric social workers, and college students, and its relationship to social desirability.

Q-sort arrays of the characteristics of "well-adjusted people" were elicited from psychologists. These were compared one with the other, with ratings by social workers and college students, as well as with the findings of previous research. The results indicated that psychologists as a group seem to agree, social workers are less consistent amongst themselves. There is general agreement between all 3 groups, partial agreement with previous research. The dimension of social desirability was seen to be playing a role in what characteristics were culled as being characteristic of adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On cognitive busyness: When person perceivers meet persons perceived.

Person perception includes three sequential processes: categorization (what is the actor doing?), characterization (what trait does the action imply?), and correction (what situational constraints may have caused the action?). We argue that correction is less automatic (i.e., more easily disrupted) than either categorization or characterization. In Experiment 1, subjects observed a target behave anxiously in an anxiety-provoking situation. In Experiment 2, subjects listened to a target read a political speech that he had been constrained to write. In both experiments, control subjects used information about situational constraints when drawing inferences about the target, but cognitively busy subjects (who performed an additional cognitive task during encoding) did not. The results (a) suggest that person perception is a combination of lower and higher order processes that differ in their susceptibility to disruption and (b) highlight the fundamental differences between active and passive perceivers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived covariation among the features of ingroup and outgroup members: The outgroup covariation effect.

The authors show a new outgroup homogeneity bias—outgroup covariation. They investigated perceived covariation among the features describing group subtypes. Results support a familiarity covariation effect. Those more familiar with a group perceive lower covariation among features of group members. Results also support an outgroup covariation effect. In cases in which people are less familiar with the outgroup, they perceive greater covariation among features of outgroup members. For age, in which young and old people were less familiar with the outgroup, both perceived greater covariation among features of outgroup subtypes. For occupation, in which undergraduates had less work experience than masters of business students, undergraduates perceived greater covariation among features of business subtypes. For gender, in which students were equally familiar with men and women, no covariation effect occurred. Familiarity mediated outgroup covariation effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Eye movement of perceivers during audiovisual speech perception

Perceiver eye movements were recorded during audiovisual presentations of extended monologues. Monologues were presented at different image sizes and with different levels of acoustic masking noise. Two clear targets of gaze fixation were identified, the eyes and the mouth. Regardless of image size, perceivers of both Japanese and English gazed more at the mouth as masking noise levels increased. However, even at the highest noise levels and largest image sizes, subjects gazed at the mouth only about half the time. For the eye target, perceivers typically gazed at one eye more than the other, and the tendency became stronger at higher noise levels. English perceivers displayed more variety of gaze-sequence patterns (e.g., left eye to mouth to left eye to right eye) and persisted in using them at higher noise levels than did Japanese perceivers. No segment-level correlations were found between perceiver eye motions and phoneme identity of the stimuli.     

Basic forms of covariation and concomitance designs.

The covariation chart, a graphic model illustrating 6 basic forms of covariation dealt with in psychological research, is extended from Cattell's original schema. Certain problems in the original work are described and appropriate modifications are included in the extended classifications. From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:3AF17C. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Positive bias in the perception of covariation.

Perception of covariation often differs from statistically normative values: People find order in random series and relationships between uncorrelated values. Theoretical analysis, allowing for working-memory limitations, shows that the degree of covariation in the typical, locally representative series is more negative, whereas that of the atypical series is more positive, than the covariation in the complete set. I assumed that typical series serve as a norm to which other series are compared, and predicted a positive bias in the perception of covariation. This prediction was tested and found to hold across a wide range of actual relationships in 2 experiments involving sequential dependencies and events with co-occurring values. Another analysis revealed positive correlations to be more informative than negative ones when events are not equiprobable. Positive bias may thus be a rational predisposition for early detection of a potentially more informative relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fear-relevant selective associations and covariation bias.

Three experiments used an illusory correlation paradigm to assess the effects of fear on the perception of the covariation between fear-relevant stimuli and shock. In Exp 1, high- and low-fear women were exposed to 72 trials during each of which a fear-relevant (snake or spider) or fear-irrelevant (mushroom and flower) slide was followed by a shock, a tone, or nothing. Although the relation between slide types and outcomes was random, high-fear subjects markedly overestimated the contingency between feared slides and shock. Exp 2 showed that this bias was due to the aversive, rather than more generally salient, features of shock. Low-fear subjects demonstrated biases equivalent to those of high-fear subjects only when the base rate of shock was increased from 33 to 50% in Exp 3. It is concluded that fear may be linked to biases that serve to confirm fear. The relevance of the present findings to preparedness theory is also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When power does not corrupt: Superior individuation processes among powerful perceivers.

To examine whether powerful people fail to individuate the less powerful, the authors assigned participants to either a high-power or low-power role for a computer E-mail role play. In 3 studies, participants in the high-power role made decisions and determined the outcomes of interactions; low-power role players had no power and relied on high-power targets for outcome decisions. Studies 1 and 2 found that high-power perceivers better individuated low-power targets. Study 3 demonstrated that high-power role players' superior judgment can be impaired by including a task that directs their responsibility toward organizational rather than interpersonal concerns. In all, results suggest that the effect of power on social judgment may be more complex and multifaceted than has previously been acknowledged. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Targets as perceivers: How people determine when they will be negatively stereotyped.

Research on stereotype threat has demonstrated that when targets are forced to contend with the threat of being negatively stereotyped, their academic performance suffers (C. M. Steele & J. Aronson, 1995). The present research explored how the targets of negative stereotypes determine when they must contend with this threat. Across 5 experiments, the authors manipulated both the possibility and probability that Black and female students would be stereotyped as unintelligent prior to taking an analytical test. Collectively, these experiments showed that these students contended with stereotype threat only when they perceived that it was both possible and probable that they would be negatively stereotyped. The authors discuss the implications of these findings on the experience of being the target of negative stereotypes and on the academic achievement of Blacks and women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Methods of assessing strategies for judging covariation between events.

Investigated method of assessment as one possible source of the poor agreement in research about strategies people use to assess covariation between events. A set of problems was developed in such a way that different judgment rules would produce different decisions about the relationships between events. 116 college students (aged 18–32 yrs) judged these problems and were then asked to explain their judgment strategy. In addition, they were shown model strategies and asked to choose the one like their own strategy and the model that would be the best strategy. Ss whose judgments indicated use of the most sophisticated strategy were quite accurate in reporting their judgment rules. Ss using the less accurate rules most commonly reported using strategies that could not have produced the obtained pattern of problem solutions. These findings suggest that self-report is a weak basis for conclusions about sources of error in covariation judgment. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hidden covariation detection might be very hidden indeed.

P. Lewicki and colleagues (e.g., P. Lewicki, T. Hill, and M. Czyzewska, see record 79-33878, for a review) have demonstrated that people can unconsciously detect and retain a nonsalient covariation embedded within presented stimuli. In 9 conceptual replications of the hidden covariation detection (HCD) paradigm, there was little evidence for HCD. In exact replications of 3 of Lewicki's studies (T. Hill, P. Lewicki, M. Czyzewska, and G. Schuller, see record 77-29976; P. Lewicki, 1986, see also record 73-13630; and P. Lewicki, T. Hill, and I. Sasaki, see record 77-09019), only 1 yielded HCD. These results cast doubt on the generality and robustness of HCD. Candidate boundary conditions for HCD are considered on the basis of the available data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of nicotine deprivation on craving response covariation in smokers.

Most models of craving propose that when cravings are strong, diverse responses--thought to index an underlying craving state--covary. Previous studies provided weak support for this hypothesis. The authors tested whether nicotine deprivation affects degree of covariation across multiple measures related to craving. Heavy and light smokers (N=127) were exposed to smoking cues while either nicotine deprived or nondeprived. Measures included urge ratings, affective valence, a behavioral choice task assessing perceived reinforcement value of smoking, and smoking-related judgment tasks. Results indicated higher correlations in the nicotine-deprived than in nondeprived group. The measures principally responsible for this effect loaded onto a single common Craving factor for nicotine-deprived but not nondeprived smokers. These findings suggest that, under certain conditions, measures of craving-related processes covary. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hidden covariation detection: A fundamental and ubiquitous phenomenon.

H. Hendrickx, J. De Houwer, F. Baeyens, P. Eelen, and E. Van Avermaet (see record 1997-02349-012) reported a series of (mostly unsuccessful) studies on nonconscious hidden covariation detection (HCD); for example, they reported that out of 3 attempts to replicate P. Lewicki et al.'s studies (1986, see also records 73-13630, 77-29976 and 09019, and 79-38878) only 1 produced the expected results. They concluded that HCD may be not as general and robust as the previous research suggested, and they considered boundary conditions. In this article, the authors discuss a number of weaknesses of H. Hendrickx et al.'s experiments (and systematic deviations from the original methodology) that are potentially responsible for the lack of the expected results and discuss missing facts in their arguments (e.g., they failed to mention any published replications of the HCD studies from other than the present authors' laboratories). It is argued that when all evidence is considered, the proper conclusion is that nonconscious processing of covariations is not only general and robust but also a ubiquitous phenomenon mediating a variety of processes of acquisition of information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

From covariation to causation: A causal power theory.

Because causal relations are neither observable nor deducible, they must be induced from observable events. The 2 dominant approaches to the psychology of causal induction—the covariation approach and the causal power approach—are each crippled by fundamental problems. This article proposes an integration of these approaches that overcomes these problems. The proposal is that reasoners innately treat the relation between covariation (a function defined in terms of observable events) and causal power (an unobservable entity) as that between scientists' law or model and their theory explaining the model. This solution is formalized in the power PC theory, a causal power theory of the probabilistic contrast model (P. W. Cheng & L. R. Novick, 1990). The article reviews diverse old and new empirical tests discriminating this theory from previous models, none of which is justified by a theory. The results uniquely support the power PC theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression and delinquency covariation in an accelerated longitudinal sample of adolescents.

Objectives: The current study tested opposing predictions stemming from the failure and acting out theories of depression–delinquency covariation. Method: Participants included a nationwide longitudinal sample of adolescents (N = 3,604) ages 12 to 17. Competing models were tested with cohort-sequential latent growth curve modeling to determine whether depressive symptoms at age 12 (baseline) predicted concurrent and age-related changes in delinquent behavior, whether the opposite pattern was apparent (delinquency predicting depression), and whether initial levels of depression predict changes in delinquency significantly better than vice versa. Results: Early depressive symptoms predicted age-related changes in delinquent behavior significantly better than early delinquency predicted changes in depressive symptoms. In addition, the impact of gender on age-related changes in delinquent symptoms was mediated by gender differences in depressive symptom changes, indicating that depressive symptoms are a particularly salient risk factor for delinquent behavior in girls. Conclusion: Early depressive symptoms represent a significant risk factor for later delinquent behavior—especially for girls—and appear to be a better predictor of later delinquency than early delinquency is of later depression. These findings provide support for the acting out theory and contradict failure theory predictions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Judging the relatedness of variables: The psychophysics of covariation detection.

Conducted 3 experiments to demonstrate that because Pearson's correlation is composed of 3 distinct components (slope, error variance, and variance of X), it is better to look at judgments as a function of these components rather than as a function of Pearson's correlation. These 3 components of Pearson's correlation and presentation format (graphical and tabular) were manipulated factorially. The 1st 2 experiments used naive Ss (79 undergraduates), and the 3rd experiment used expert Ss (25 professionals knowledgeable in statistics). Scatterplots with the same value of Pearson's correlation were judged to possess different degrees of relation if the correlations were based on different combinations of the 3 components. With Pearson's correlation held constant, the error variance was the most important component. Graphical formats led to higher judgments of relatedness than did tabular formats, with this effect being larger for naive than for expert Ss. It is also concluded that attempts to determine the psychophysical function between Pearson's correlation and judgments of relatedness are of questionable value. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Agreement on initial impressions: Differences due to perceivers, trait dimensions, and target behaviors.

Assesses agreement as a function of the trait being judged, the information presented, and individual differences to spontaneously use particular trait dimensions. In Experiment 1, there was a reliable amount of agreement in rating the targets, but this was greater if the traits were related to extraversion (Factor 1 traits) than to intelligence, honesty, or conscientiousness (Factor 2 traits). In Experiment 2, Ss viewed videotapes of interviews in which the questions focused on information relevant to either Factor l or Factor 2 traits. Again there was greater agreement in ratings of Factor 1 than Factor 2 traits, but this difference was reliably reduced if Ss saw the tape that focused on Factor 2 information. Regardless of the tape viewed, Ss who frequently used Factor 2 traits gave ratings on these that were in greater agreement with those of judges as a whole. Ss judged Factor 2 traits as more difficult to clearly confirm. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)