Construal processes and trait ambiguity: Implications for self-peer agreement in personality judgment.

The relationship between trait ambiguity and self–peer agreement in personality judgment was examined. In Study 1, self–peer agreement was lower on ambiguous traits (those with many behavioral referents) than on unambiguous ones (those with few behavioral referents). This finding was partially moderated by the level of friendship between peers. These results suggest that people disagree in their judgments because they use idiosyncratic trait definitions when making judgments on ambiguous traits. Study 2 tested this explanation by exploring self–peer agreement when participant pairs were forced to use the same trait definition versus different ones when judging themselves and each other. Forcing participants to use the same trait definition increased the degree to which their judgments covaried with one another. Discussion centers on the cognitive and motivational forces that can influence the degree to which personality judgments differ. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aging, source, and decision criteria: When false fame errors do and do not occur.

Two experiments investigated the influence of decision criteria on source memory performance of older adults and younger adults. Experiment 1 used the false fame paradigm, which encourages people to use relatively loose decision criteria when making what are, in essence, source judgments. Consistent with previous research, older adults made more false fame errors than younger adults. Experiment 2 was identical to Experiment 1 except that the fame judgments were made with the traditional source task format that encourages relatively stringent decision criteria when making source judgments: Possible sources were listed, and participants categorized names in terms of their source. In contrast to Experiment 1, older adults reduced their false fame errors to the level of younger adults. Encouraging older adults to use relatively stringent decision criteria when making source discriminations can reduce age differences in source misattributions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Context affects feeling-of-knowing accuracy in younger and older adults.

In feeling of knowing (FOK) studies, participants predict subsequent recognition memory performance on items that were initially encoded but that cannot presently be recalled. Research suggests that FOK judgment magnitude may be influenced by the total amount, or quantity, of contextual information retrieved related to the unrecalled target (e.g., Koriat, 1993). The present study examined the contribution of quality of that information to episodic FOK judgments. In addition, we tested whether the episodic FOK deficit demonstrated by older adults could be reduced by encouraging retrieval of contextual information relevant to the target. Three experiments demonstrated that quality of the retrieved partial information influenced FOK judgments in both older and younger adults; however, the manifestation of that influence was age dependent. The results also indicated that older adults required explicit retrieval of contextual information before making FOK judgments in order to make accurate FOK predictions. The results suggest that FOK accuracy may be partially determined by search processes triggered when participants are queried for contextual information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Applied information quality: a framework for thinking about the quality of specific information

Information quality, considered abstractly, may seem to be a relatively straightforward matter. Information should be accurate, up to date, useful, and attributable to reputable sources. However, determining the quality of a specific piece of information for a specific use is a more complicated process. The concept of applied information quality is defined in this paper as a judgment of information quality (1) made by a specific person or persons, (2) in a specific situational context for use of that information, and (3) based on the characteristics of the information. Each of the three elements of the judgment influences its outcome. Information judgments are made by individuals in the context of their discipline and community of practice. The situational context includes the specifics of the context for use of the information, the questions that the information must address, the strategy for locating potentially relevant information, and the body of information that is retrieved and is available for judgment and use. The paper focuses on the third element of a judgment of information quality--the characteristics of the information on which the judgment is based. These characteristics are grouped for discussion under six metaquestions: What is the information item of interest? How was the focal information created and when? Who is involved with the focal information? From what perspective was the information created and why? What relationships does the focal information have to other information--its antecedents, sources, and other related information? What approval, review, or other filtering processes, if any, has the information gone through? Approaches to improving quality judgments can focus on improving the information itself, improving the channels that organize and deliver information, or improving the individual's ability to judge the quality of information for a specific purpose. These are not mutually exclusive and, probably, all should be pursued. Applied judgments of information quality are ultimately the responsibility of the individuals using information; they need to be supported in this professional activity as they are in the other responsibilities of their professional practice.     

Affect regulation and temporal discounting: Interactions between primed, state, and trait affect.

Previous research has largely focused on the influence of experienced affect on decision making; however, other sources of affective information may also shape decisions. In two studies, we examine the interacting influences of affective information, state affect, and personality on temporal discounting rates (i.e., the tendency to choose small rewards today rather than larger rewards in the future). In Study 1, participants were primed with either positive or negative affect adjectives before making reward choices. In Study 2, participants underwent either a positive or negative affect induction before making reward choices. Results in both studies indicate that neuroticism interacts with state unpleasant affect and condition (i.e., positive or negative primes or induction) to predict discounting rates. Moreover, the nature of the interactions depends on the regulatory cues of the affective information available. These results suggest that irrelevant (i.e., primes) and stable (i.e., personality traits) sources of affective information also shape judgments and decision making. Thus, current affect levels are not the only source of affective information that guides individuals when making decisions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Judgments about forces in described interactions between objects.

In 4 experiments, participants made judgments about forces exerted and resistances put up by objects involved in described interactions. Two competing hypotheses were tested: (1) that judgments are derived from the same knowledge base that is thought to be the source of perceptual impressions of forces that occur with visual stimuli, and (2) that judgments are generated using simple models or heuristics for deriving force judgments from kinematic information. The results show some similarities with perceptual impression research, particularly that an active object is judged to exert more force on an inactive object than the latter exerts on the former. However, most of the available kinematic information had little or no effect on judgment, supporting the hypothesis that force judgments are generated according to simple rules. Presentation of information about damage to the objects resulted in use of all available kinds of information; this could reflect greater imageability of damage information than kinematic information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Increasing peer praise of socially rejected delinquent youth: Effects on cooperation and acceptance.

This study assessed the effects of positive peer reporting (PPR) on the cooperative behaviors and peer acceptance of 3 socially rejected, delinquent youths (2 males and 1 female) in residential care. PPR involved rewarding classroom peers with token points for publicly praising the social behavior of target students. A nonconcurrent multiple baseline was used to assess the effects of the procedure. Results indicated that PPR increased the use of cooperative statements made to peers. For all 3 students, PPR also led to increases in their peer status. Social validity measures indicated high treatment acceptability and a match between the amount of cooperative behavior emitted by participants and randomly selected classmates. Findings support the use of peers as sources of reinforcement for a rejected youth's prosocial behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Explaining the enigmatic anchoring effect: Mechanisms of selective accessibility.

Results of 3 studies support the notion that anchoring is a special case of semantic priming; specifically, information that is activated to solve a comparative anchoring task will subsequently be more accessible when participants make absolute judgments. By using the logic of priming research, in Study 1 the authors showed that the strength of the anchor effect depends on the applicability of activated information. Study 2 revealed a contrast effect when the activated information was not representative for the absolute judgment and the targets of the 2 judgment tasks were sufficiently different. Study 3 demonstrated that generating absolute judgments requires more time when comparative judgments include an implausible anchor and can therefore be made without relevant target information that would otherwise be accessible. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A pattern recognition account of decision making

In the domain of pattern recognition, experiments have shown that perceivers integrate multiple sources of information in an optimal manner. In contrast, other research has been interpreted to mean that decision making is nonoptimal. As an example, Tversky and Kahneman (1983) have shown that subjects commit a conjunction fallacy because they judge it more likely that a fictitious person named Linda is a bank teller and a feminist than just a bank teller. This judgment supposedly violates probability theory, because the probability of two events can never be greater than the probability of either event alone. The present research tests the hypothesis that subjects interpret this judgment task as a pattern recognition task. If this hypothesis is correct, subjects' judgments should be described accurately by the fuzzy logical model of perception (FLMP)--a successful model of pattern recognition. In the first experiment, the Linda task was extended to an expanded factorial design with five vocations and five avocations. The probability ratings were described well by the FLMP and described poorly by a simple probability model. The second experiment included (1) two fictitious people, Linda and Joan, as response alternatives and (2) both ratings and categorization judgments. Although the ratings were accurately described by both the FLMP and an averaging of the sources of information, the categorization judgments were described better by the FLMP. These results reveal important similarities in recognizing patterns and in decision making. Given that the FLMP is an optimal method for combining multiple sources of information, the probability judgments appear to be optimal in the same manner as pattern-recognition judgments.     

Conscious self-appraisal of achievement motivation: The self-peer rank method revisited.

Describes 2 studies with 41 and 20 undergraduates, respectively, on the self-peer rank of need for achievement (n Ach) and correlation with academic success. It was found that (a) when Ss use their peers as reference points, they are able to give self-reports of their levels of n Ach which are predictive of academic success; (b) these judgments of motivation are independent of achievement-success information; (c) when Ss are given a common standard, the level of accuracy of the predictions is higher than reported previously; and (d) the correlations between judgments of motivation and measures of performance are relatively independent of correlations between measures of ability and measures of performance. It is concluded that n Ach is not, as traditionally considered, an unconscious characteristic and that the self-peer rank method may be a useful adjunct to assessment procedures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The administrative judgment test as related to descriptions of executive judgment behaviors.

"Relationships between the Administrative Judgment Test of the United States Civil Service Commission and ratings by superiors and peers of aspects of executive judgment were studied in a group of 127 federal administrators. A wide variety of rated characteristics correlated significantly with the test. When the ratings were adjusted to correct for the influence of the rater's general impression of effectiveness in making judgments, both superiors and peers described executives who scored highly on the test as competent in making decisions with policy making implications and in screening factual information for relevance and accuracy. Superiors, in addition, described high scoring executives as making decisions which are internally consistent, working successfully with implicit, concealed facets of the problem situation, and timing their decisions appropriately. Peers, on the other hand, viewed their more adequate co-workers, as appraised by the test, as those capable of implementing rather than making policy, and those who know when it is prudent to avoid decision." From Psyc Abstracts 36:04:4LI57F. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The testing effect in recognition memory: A dual process account.

The testing effect, or the finding that taking an initial test improves subsequent memory performance, is a robust and reliable phenomenon--as long as the final test involves recall. Few studies have examined the effects of taking an initial recall test on final recognition performance, and results from these studies are equivocal. In 3 experiments, we attempt to demonstrate that initial testing can change the ways in which later recognition decisions are executed even when no difference can be detected in the recognition hit rates. Specifically, initial testing was shown to enhance later recollection but leave familiarity unchanged. This conclusion emerged from three dependent measures: source memory, exclusion performance, and remember/know judgments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conformity to peer-sponsored misconduct at four grade levels.

Used semantic differential and rating scales to measure resistance to endorsing peer-sponsored misbehavior, judgments of the wrongness of such behavior in the abstract, and attitudes toward self, mother, father, peers, and adults in 116 females and 117 males at 4 grade levels (Grades 3, 6, 8, and 11) at one school and 3 levels (Grades 3, 6, and 8) at another. Ss were instructed differentially that no one, peers or parents would be informed of their responses. Results support U. Bronfenbrenner's (see PA, Vol 43:5218 and 44:16460) findings that American children resist more under the parent and less under the peer than under the neutral condition. Ss did not grow more exacting grade by grade, nor did they remain stable in their judgments of wrongness. Resistance and judgment of wrongness were highly correlated and steadily declined to the 8th grade, with females consistently higher than males. Differences in resistance for sex, grade, and instruction remained even when variance associated with judgment of wrongness was reduced. Difference between schools, however, did not remain. A marked loss in favorableness toward adults provides a basis for explaining the results. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Response requirements and primacy-recency effects in a simulated selection interview.

Mailed information about 8 hypothetical applicants for a secretarial job to 140 personnel interviewers for evaluation. Analysis of the decisions of the 77 respondents shows that contrary to previous findings, recency effects of information favorability were found when Ss made repeated judgments. Consistent order effects were not found when only final judgments were required, although a primacy effect was observed with a rating of overall job suitability in 1 condition. The obtained recency effects were consistent with data from impression-formation studies. It is suggested that the impression-formation literature might serve as a useful source of selection interview research hypotheses. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Condom use: A self-efficacy model.

A survey of heterosexually active college students gathered information about condom use, self-efficacy (SE), outcome expectancies, sexual attitudes, peer group influences, AIDS knowledge, and a perceived vulnerability to AIDS. On the basis of A. Bandura's (1986) social-cognitive theory, a structural model with SE as the central mediator was formulated and evaluated with LISREL. This model explained 46% of the variance in condom use from judgments of SE and effects attributable to peers and 53% of the variance in SE from outcome expectancies and peer group influences. Sexual attitudes, AIDS knowledge, and perceived vulnerability did not predict condom use. Most students were well-informed about HIV transmission but reported not feeling at risk, even though many engaged in risky sexual behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Becoming famous overnight: Limits on the ability to avoid unconscious influences of the past.

Nonfamous names presented once in an experiment are mistakenly judged as famous 24 hr later. On an immediate test, no such false fame occurs. This phenomenon parallels the sleeper effect found in studies of persuasion. People may escape the unconscious effects of misleading information by recollecting its source, raising the criterion level of familiarity required for judgments of fame, or by changing from familiarity to a more analytic basis for judgment. These strategies place constraints on the likelihood of sleeper effects. We discuss these results as the unconscious use of the past as a tool vs its conscious use as an object of reflection. Conscious recollection of the source of information does not always occur spontaneously when information is used as a tool in judgment. Rather, conscious recollection is a separate act. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Young children's conception of lying: Moral intuition and the denotation and connotation of "to lie."

126 children (aged 4 yrs 2 mo to 5 yrs 11 mo) were told stories in which a protagonist with the intention to communicate truthfully said something false because he himself was mistaken. Ss were asked to judge whether the protagonist should be rewarded or punished for his false statement (moral judgment) and whether he had lied (lexical judgment). Replicating an earlier finding by the present authors (see record 1984-14615-001), there was a high number of inconsistent responses when the moral judgment was elicited first: Frequent subjectivist reward judgments were followed by realist "lying" judgments. Such an inconsistent response pattern was nearly absent when the lexical judgment was elicited first. Here the frequent realist lying judgments led to subsequent realist punishment judgments. Findings show (1) that young children's moral intuition about lying is advanced as compared to their definition to lie and (2) that children's realist definition of to lie carries a strong negative moral connotation that overrides their usual subjectivist moral intuitions. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of typical diagnosticity in stereotype-based judgments.

The relative impact that categorical information and nondiagnostic individuating information each have on stereotype-based judgments was examined. Three experiments tested and found consistent support for the hypothesis that the impact of Ss' stereotypes on their judgments of target individuals would be diluted significantly more by the presence of individuating information that was nondiagnostic for the judgment task at hand but was relatively high in typical diagnosticity (i.e., useful across many social judgment tasks) than by individuating information that was nondiagnostic for the judgment task at hand and was relatively low in typical diagnosticity (i.e., useful across few social judgment tasks). The authors conclude that the typical diagnosticity of individuating information is an important, although previously overlooked, factor in social perception. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)