The interplay of memory and judgment processes in effects of aging on hindsight bias.

Hindsight bias is the phenomenon that after people are presented with the correct answer to a question, their judgment regarding their own past answer to this question is biased toward the correct answer. In three experiments, younger and older adults gave numerical responses to general-knowledge questions and later attempted to recall their responses. For some questions, the correct answer was provided during recall (Experiment 1) or before recall (Experiments 2 and 3). Multinomial model-based analyses show age differences in both recollection bias and reconstruction bias when the correct judgment was in working memory during the recall phase. The authors discuss implications for theories of cognitive aging and theories of hindsight bias. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does incorrect guessing impair fact learning?

Taking a test has been shown to produce enhanced retention of the retrieved information. On tests, however, students often encounter questions the answers for which they are unsure. Should they guess anyway, even if they are likely to answer incorrectly? Or are errors engrained, impairing subsequent learning of the correct answer? We sought to answer this question in 3 experiments. In Experiments 1 and 2, subjects read 80 obscure facts (e.g., “Where is Disko Island? Greenland”) and then took a cued recall test. When a subject reported being unable to answer a question, on a randomly chosen half of those questions the computer program insisted upon a guess. Corrective feedback was provided either immediately (Experiment 1) or after a delay (Experiment 2). Forced guessing did not affect subjects' performance on a final test given 1 day later. We extended the investigation to more complex material in Experiment 3. Subjects saw a question (e.g., “Why do ice cubes often pop as they melt in your drink?”) and its answer, but for half of the questions, subjects did not see the answer until they first provided a plausible explanation. On a test administered either on the same day or 1 week later, recall performance was again unaffected by a prior wrong guess. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evolution de la confiance excessive en fonction du nombre d'indices re?us pour répondre à une question.

Studied the development of overconfidence with regard to answering a general knowledge questionnaire when questions were given with no clues and repeated with 1 to 3 clues. Human subjects: 25 male and female Canadian adults (mean age 30 yrs 2 mo). Ss were given a notebook with 50 questions: all questions appeared 4 times—once with no clues, and 3 times with 1 to 3 clues. Ss were asked to answer the questions and to indicate on a scale of 0.5 to 1 how sure they were of their answers. The results were analyzed statistically according to sex, confidence level, and number of clues, using an analysis of variance (ANOVA). (English abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Unsuccessful retrieval attempts enhance subsequent learning.

Taking tests enhances learning. But what happens when one cannot answer a test question—does an unsuccessful retrieval attempt impede future learning or enhance it? The authors examined this question using materials that ensured that retrieval attempts would be unsuccessful. In Experiments 1 and 2, participants were asked fictional general-knowledge questions (e.g., “What peace treaty ended the Calumet War?”). In Experiments 3–6, participants were shown a cue word (e.g., whale) and were asked to guess a weak associate (e.g., mammal); the rare trials on which participants guessed the correct response were excluded from the analyses. In the test condition, participants attempted to answer the question before being shown the answer; in the read-only condition, the question and answer were presented together. Unsuccessful retrieval attempts enhanced learning with both types of materials. These results demonstrate that retrieval attempts enhance future learning; they also suggest that taking challenging tests—instead of avoiding errors—may be one key to effective learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Leadership Behavior and Subordinate Well-Being.

The authors used a longitudinal design to investigate the relation between leadership behavior and the well-being of subordinates. Well-being is conceptualized as people's feelings about themselves and the settings in which they live and work. Staff members (N = 562) of 2 Community Trusts participated 4 times in a 14-month period. Five models were formulated to answer 2 questions: What is the most likely direction of the relation between leadership and well-being, and what is the time frame of this relation? The model with the best fit suggested that leadership behavior and subordinate responses are linked in a feedback loop. Leadership behavior at Time 1 influenced leadership behavior at Time 4. Subordinate well-being at Time 2 synchronously influenced leadership behavior at Time 2. Leadership behavior at Time 4 synchronously influenced subordinate well-being at Time 4. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interaction among genotype, unconditioned stimulus, d-amphetamine, and one-way avoidance behavior of rats.

In the genetic analysis of avoidance learning, questions relating to the generality to other avoidance behaviors and the role of motivation were investigated in 61 RHA/Lu and 61 RLA/Lu rats. Significant differences were found in 1-way avoidance behavior of the strains selectively bred for 2-way active avoidance. In 6 experiments, these differences in 1-way avoidance either disappeared or were minimized to a great extent under the effects of dextroamphetamine. The experimental manipulation of motivation (i.e., unconditioned stimulus shock level equivalent to the unconditioned flinch, jump, and fleeing response measures) accounted for only part of the variation in avoidance learning of these strains. Results are discussed in the terms of inverted-–U arousal function and quantitative genetics. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intuitive psychologist or intuitive lawyer? Alternative models of the attribution process.

The notion that humans commonly commit a "fundamental attribution error" by overattributing causality to persons rather than situations rests on the scientific analysis of causality in the attribution process. Based on legal reasoning, the present article contrasts the scientific model, "intuitive psychologizing," with an alternative view of attributions as sanctioning decisions or "intuitive lawyering." It is suggested that sanctioning attributions test whether the actor could have done otherwise. H. Kelley's (1967, 1973) model of the attribution process is fundamentally a scientific analysis, whereas E. Jones and K. Davis's (1965) model is a sanctioning analysis. The supposed error of overattributing to persons is an error only within the 1st type of model and may be perfectly rational within the 2nd. Given that how experimental Ss interpret the situation or the questions they answer is not always known, further exploration of human use of both intuitive models is important for future attribution research. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alternate test forms as a means of reducing multiple-choice answer copying in the classroom.

Tested 54 undergraduates on a multiple-choice test when they were flanked and fronted by either the same test form, a form in which the order of the questions had been arranged randomly, or a form in which both questions and answers had been rearranged randomly. Using an index of answer copying developed by the present author (see record 1979-27832-001), it was found that rearranged questions alone did not reduce answer copying, whereas rearrangement of both questions and answers effectively eliminated detectable cheating. Alternate test forms were related to loci as well as amounts of answer copying. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive behavior modification or new ways to change minds: Reply to Mahoney and Kazdin.

Defends the "myths" that cognitivism necessitates mentalism and that therapists can be classified on the basis of technique. Two studies cited by M. J. Mahoney and A. E. Kazdin (see record 1979-34250-001) as evidence of the potential of cognitive perspectives are found to raise more questions than they answer. It is urged that the phrase "behavior modification" not be used to describe cognitive approaches, since failure to distinguish the 2 kinds of therapy invites a conceptual confusion of cognition with behavior. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counselor hypothesis-testing strategies.

Conducted 2 experiments relevant to the questioning strategies counselors use in testing their hypotheses about clients. In Exp I, 60 undergraduates were asked to select 12 questions from a list of 38 that would be most helpful in getting to know someone. Ss were asked to test a hypothesis that the other person was an extravert or introvert. The questions were categorized by the experimenters as extraverted, introverted, unbiased, or irrelevant. Most Ss selected a strategy that favored unbiased questions over biased ones. In Exp II, 40 Ss played the roles of clients, and 40 advanced doctoral students in counseling or clinical psychology played the roles of counselors. Counselors were advised that they would soon meet with their client to test a hypothesis that the client possessed or lacked self-control. Counselors were instructed to compose 10 questions to ask the client. The actual interviews were then recorded. The frequency with which counselors developed questions that were confirmatory, disconfirmatory, irrelevant, or unbiased in regard to the hypothesis was not influenced by the specific hypothesis. Results of both experiments do not confirm the hypothesis that counselors preferentially seek information to confirm hypotheses about clients. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Deny nothing, doubt everything: A comment on Westen and Morrison (2001).

It is remarkable that so many important issues in psychotherapy research are touched on and, in some cases, more thoroughly explored in D. Westen and K. Morrison's (2001) meta-analysis (see record 2001-05666-001) and its discussion. Although no previously unanswered questions are resolved on the basis of their findings, original approaches to familiar questions are attempted and intriguing data are presented. Westen and Morrison's capacity to "think outside the box" while they seek to answer very familiar questions is most impressive. In the final analysis, the most significant outcome of Westen and Morrison's laudable effort can be that it might lead other psychotherapy researchers to do important things differently in the future. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Functional dissociation within the caudate nucleus of rats.

Reports results of 3 experiments with a total of 134 male albino rats. Ss with posteroventral caudate nucleus lesions were impaired, relative to controls, on 1-way, 2-way, and passive avoidance conditioning; anterodorsal caudate lesions interfered only with 2-way and passive avoidance learning. The anterodorsal group was significantly more impaired than the posteroventral group on the 2-way task, and there were also important differences in passive avoidance learning. Enhancement of positive and negative cues in a 2-way avoidance task selectively benefited the anterodorsal group. It is concluded that the caudate nucleus was functionally dissociated with respect to avoidance conditioning. The importance of the caudate nucleus in motor control and spatial orientation is discussed. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Retrieval processes in transactive memory systems.

Two experiments examined retrieval processes in transactive memory systems (D. M. Wegner, 1987). In Experiment 1, intimate couples who worked face to face performed better on a knowledge-pooling task than strangers who worked face to face and better than intimate couples who worked via a computer conferencing system. Additional analyses indicated that intimate couples when interacting face to face were better able to determine which partner was correct on questions that only 1 member knew the answer to prior to discussion. In Experiment 2, intimate couples scored significantly better on the knowledge task when they had access to either nonverbal or paralinguistic communication cues than when they had access to neither. Taken together, the results indicate that both nonverbal and paralinguistic communication play an important role in the retrieval of knowledge in transactive memory systems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Strangers, travelers, and Greyhound terminals: A study of small-scale helping behaviors.

Four questions designed to elicit helping behaviors were posed to 646 adult strangers in 120 bus terminals throughout the US. American and Australian experimenters (Es) tested whether familiar strangers (fellow bus travelers) would help more than total strangers and whether helping effects were influenced by nationality. Results indicate that Australian and American females, but not male American Es, were helped more by familiar strangers. Chi-square analyses also demonstrated an interaction effect between E's sex, nationality, and familiar–total stranger helping. The findings for Australian Es are considered to be consequences of a particular social role, labeled "foreign tourist," which legitimizes help-seeking behavior. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of study strategies for passages: Rereading, answering questions, and generating questions.

Students are often encouraged to generate and answer their own questions on to-be-remembered material, because this interactive process is thought to enhance memory. But does this strategy actually work? In three experiments, all participants read the same passage, answered questions, and took a test to get accustomed to the materials in a practice phase. They then read three passages and did one of three tasks on each passage: reread the passage, answered questions set by the experimenter, or generated and answered their own questions. Passages were 575-word (Experiments 1 and 2) or 350-word (Experiment 3) texts on topics such as Venice, the Taj Mahal, and the singer Cesaria Evora. After each task, participants predicted their performance on a later test, which followed the same format as the practice phase test (a short-answer test in Experiments 1 and 2, and a free recall test in Experiment 3). In all experiments, best performance was predicted after generating and answering questions. We show, however, that generating questions led to no improvement over answering comprehension questions, but that both of these tasks were more beneficial than rereading. This was the case on an immediate short-answer test (Experiment 1), a short-answer test taken 2 days after study (Experiment 2), and an immediate free recall test (Experiment 3). Generating questions took at least twice as long as answering questions in all three experiments, so although it is a viable alternative to answering questions in the absence of materials, it is less time-efficient. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Regulation of memory accuracy with multiple answers: The plurality option.

We report two experiments that investigated the regulation of memory accuracy with a new regulatory mechanism: the plurality option. This mechanism is closely related to the grain-size option but involves control over the number of alternatives contained in an answer rather than the quantitative boundaries of a single answer. Participants were presented with a slideshow depicting a robbery (Experiment 1) or a murder (Experiment 2), and their memory was tested with five-alternative multiple-choice questions. For each question, participants were asked to generate two answers: a single answer consisting of one alternative and a plural answer consisting of the single answer and two other alternatives. Each answer was rated for confidence (Experiment 1) or for the likelihood of being correct (Experiment 2), and one of the answers was selected for reporting. Results showed that participants used the plurality option to regulate accuracy, selecting single answers when their accuracy and confidence were high, but opting for plural answers when they were low. Although accuracy was higher for selected plural than for selected single answers, the opposite pattern was evident for confidence or likelihood ratings. This dissociation between confidence and accuracy for selected answers was the result of marked overconfidence in single answers coupled with underconfidence in plural answers. We hypothesize that these results can be attributed to overly dichotomous metacognitive beliefs about personal knowledge states that cause subjective confidence to be extreme. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clever hands: Uncontrolled intelligence in facilitated communication.

Five studies examined how people who are answering questions on behalf of another person may use their own knowledge to answer correctly while attributing authorship of their answers to the other. Experiments 1 and 2 found that participants instructed to answer yes/no questions randomly were unable to do so. They were more often correct on easy than hard questions, and extended opportunity and incentive did not reduce this effect. Experiments 3-5 found similar correctness for participants who were asked to answer yes/no questions by sensing either the ostensible keyboard finger movements or unvoiced inclinations of another person who had been admonished not to answer, and who was in fact a confederate and was not even given the questions. In this paradigm, the answers were often attributed to the other. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

One-way experimentation does not prove one-way causation.

Comments on the defense of the external validity of laboratory experiments by L. Berkowitz and E. Donnerstein (see record 1982-29293-001), arguing that they overlook the fact that lab experiments are not adept at demonstrating exclusive 1-way causality when 2-way causality is a distinct possibility in real-world settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)