The abstract selection task: New data and an almost comprehensive model.

A complete quantitative account of P. Wason's (1966) abstract selection task is proposed. The account takes the form of a mathematical model. It is assumed that some response patterns are caused by inferential reasoning, whereas other responses reflect cognitive processes that affect each card selection separately and independently of other card selections. The model parameters assess the contributions of different interpretational, inferential, and heuristic factors that jointly determine performance in the selection task. The interpretation of most of the model parameters in terms of these different factors is validated experimentally. This model of the selection task is the first to account for the observed frequencies of all 16 possible response patterns that can arise. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A simplified conjoint recognition paradigm for the measurement of gist and verbatim memory.

The distinction between verbatim and gist memory traces has furthered the understanding of numerous phenomena in various fields, such as false memory research, research on reasoning and decision making, and cognitive development. To measure verbatim and gist memory empirically, an experimental paradigm and multinomial measurement model has been proposed but rarely applied. In the present article, a simplified conjoint recognition paradigm and multinomial model is introduced and validated as a measurement tool for the separate assessment of verbatim and gist memory processes. A Bayesian metacognitive framework is applied to validate guessing processes. Extensions of the model toward incorporating the processes of phantom recollection and erroneous recollection rejection are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Double Dissociations in Visual and Spatial Short-Term Memory.

A visual short-term memory task was more strongly disrupted by visual than spatial interference, and a spatial memory task was simultaneously more strongly disrupted by spatial than visual interference. This double dissociation supports a fractionation of visuospatial short-term memory into separate visual and spatial components. In 6 experiments, this interpretation could be defended against alternative explanations in terms of trade-offs in resource allocation between memory tasks and interference tasks, in terms of an involvement of short-term consolidation and long-term memory, in terms of differential phonological-loop and central-executive involvement, and in terms of similarity-based interference. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Decision Support for the Selection of Measures according to the Requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive

One major scientific challenge posed by the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) is the design of a decision support process that meets the Directive’s requirement to achieve “good status” for all water bodies using a cost-effective combination of measures. This paper presents BASINFORM, a new decision methodology for selecting cost-effective management measures, developed in close co-operation with the water authorities and tested in the 5,154 km2 mesoscale river Weisse Elster in central Germany. BASINFORM comprises (i) a procedure for framing the specific problems in the water bodies, including quantification of the need for action, (ii) modelling tools for quantifying the impacts of management measures, and (iii) a method for selecting cost-effective combinations of measures. One innovative feature of BASINFORM is that it structures the complex decision problems appropriately for practical use and provides an easy-to-use framework for integrating scientific and practical knowledge. A trial run applying BASINFORM to the Weisse Elster catchment revealed that good surface water status with respect to nutrient levels cannot be achieved if only the “standard” actions of current water management are taken to reduce point sources (sewage treatment) and diffuse agricultural sources. It also became clear that the nutrient-reduction measures available will generate considerable costs. The application of BASINFORM in this case study demonstrated its practical applicability in the WFD implementation process. Beyond the case study described here BASINFORM is currently being used for practical implementation of the WFD in the German Federal State of Thuringia.     

Process components of the Implicit Association Test: A diffusion-model analysis.

The authors present a diffusion-model analysis of the Implicit Association Test (IAT). In Study 1, the IAT effect was decomposed into 3 dissociable components: Relative to the compatible phase, (a) ease and speed of information accumulation are lowered in the incompatible phase, (b) more cautious speed-accuracy settings are adopted, and (c) nondecision components of processing require more time. Studies 2 and 3 assessed the nature of interindividual differences in these components. Construct-specific variance in the IAT relating to the construct to be measured (such as implicit attitudes) was concentrated in the compatibility effect on information accumulation (Studies 2 and 3), whereas systematic method variance in the IAT was mapped on differential speed-accuracy settings (Study 3). Implications of these dissociations for process theories of the IAT and for applications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On belief bias in syllogistic reasoning.

A multinomial model is used to disentangle the respective contributions of reasoning processes and response bias in conclusion-acceptance data that exhibit belief bias. A model-based meta-analysis of 22 studies reveals that such data are structurally too sparse to allow discrimination of different accounts of belief bias. Four experiments are conducted to obtain richer data, allowing deeper tests through the use of the multinomial model. None of the current accounts of belief bias is consistent with the complex pattern of results. A new theory of belief bias is proposed that assumes that most reasoners construct only one mental model representing the premises as well as the conclusion or, in the case of an unbelievable conclusion, its logical negation. New predictions derived from the theory are confirmed in 4 additional studies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

From sunshine to double arrows: An evaluation window account of negative compatibility effects.

In category priming, target stimuli are to be sorted into 2 categories. Prime stimuli preceding targets typically facilitate processing of targets when primes and targets are members of the same category, relative to the case in which both stem from different categories, a positive compatibility effect (PCE). But negative compatibility effects (NCEs) are also sometimes observed. An evaluation window account (Klauer, Teige-Mocigemba, & Spruyt, 2009) of PCE and NCE in evaluative priming (category good versus category bad) is applied to masked arrow priming (Eimer & Schlaghecken, 1998; category left versus category right). Key principles of the account are that participants evaluate incoming evidence across a time window, and decisions about stimulus category are driven by changes in evidence weighted according to the Weber-Fechner law, leading to NCE for primes falling outside the time window and PCE for primes inside the time window. In Experiments 1–4, factors considered obligatory for NCE by current accounts of arrow priming are successively removed; yet, NCE remained intact as predicted by the evaluation window account. Furthermore, the evaluation window account, but none of the current accounts, predicts NCE without a stimulus intervening between prime and target at intermediate prime–target stimulus-onset asynchrony (Experiment 5) and when target onset comes as a surprise (Experiment 6). We conclude that the evaluation window account describes a hitherto overlooked mechanism that contributes to PCE and NCE in arrow priming and that it appears to generalize beyond the confines of evaluative priming to the diverse class of category-priming paradigms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Correcting for measurement error in detecting unconscious cognition: Comment on Draine and Greenwald (1998).

A. G. Greenwald, M. R. Klinger, and E. S. Schuh (1995) have proposed a regression method for detecting unconscious cognition in experiments that obtain measures of indirect and direct effects of stimuli with suspected unconscious effects. Their indirect-on-direct-measure regression approach can produce misleading evidence for indirect effects in the absence of direct effects when the direct-effect measure has typical measurement error. This article describes an errors-in-variables variant of the regression method that corrects for error in the direct-effect measure. Applied to the uses of the regression method by S. C. Draine and A. G. Greenwald (see record 1999-10824-004), the errors-in-variables method affirms substantial evidence for indirect effects in the absence of direct effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)