The effect of simultaneous and sequential presentation of stimulus dimensions on absolute judgment accuracy

The effects of spatial stimulus repetition, sequential stimulus repetition, spatially separated dimensional redundancy, and sequentially presented dimensional redundancy on absolute judgment accuracy of hue and brightness were compared. Two exposure durations, 0.1 and 2.0 sec, were used. While spatial repetition did not improve accuracy for either dimension, the sequential repetition of brightness produced a small increase in accuracy. The spatial presentation of correlated values of both dimensions increased accuracy only at the 2.0-sec duration. The sequential presentation of both dimensions increased accuracy, but only at the 2.0-sec duration was this gain substantial and greater than that provided by the sequential repetition of brightness alone.     

Response scales and sequential effects in judgment

There are persistent sequential effects in judgment tasks. For example, responses tend to be similar to the value of the just-prior stimulus. This is called assimilation. Also, if feedback is or is not provided after each trial, then responses contrast with or assimilate to, respectively, each of several earlier stimuli in the sequence. These context effects have been shown to be independent of stimulus modality and of the range of stimulus values within a modality. By providing different sets of feedback in order to affect the responses used, this article shows that these sequential effects in judgment data are also independent of the form and range of the scale of responses used to label stimuli.     

Learning and maintaining rules for decreasing judgment accuracy

A meeting of Psychologists Against Tough-Hearted and Offensive Scientists (PATHOS) was convened to redress the damage done by judgment researchers who have degraded the art of clinical decision making. A special task force drafted a rebuttal and mission statement, which is presented in its entirety.     

Using the conditional grade-of-membership model to assess judgment accuracy

Consider the case whereJ instruments are used to classify each ofI objects relative toK nominal categories. The conditional grade-of-membership (GoM) model provides a method of estimating the classification probabilities of each instrument (or judge) when the objects being classified consist of both pure types that lie exclusively in one ofK nominal categories, and mixtures that lie in more than one category. Classification probabilities are identifiable whenever the sample of GoM vectors includes pure types from each category. When additional, relatively mild, assumptions are made about judgment accuracy, the identifiable correct classification probabilities are the greatest lower bounds among all solutions that might correspond to the observed multinomial process, even when the unobserved GoM vectors do not include pure types from each category. Estimation using the conditional GoM model is illustrated on a simulated data set. Further simulations show that the estimates of the classification probabilities are relatively accurate, even when the sample contains only a small percentage of approximately pure objects.The authors thank Max A. Woodbury, Kenneth G. Manton and H. Dennis Tolley for their help and four anonymous Psychometrika reviewers (including an associate editor) for their beneficial expository and technical suggestions. This work was supported by the Dean's Fund for Summer Research, Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University.     

Comparatal dispersion,a measure of accuracy of judgment

It is suggested that the ambiguity of aset of paired comparison judgments may be measured by the quantity _i ² + _j ² – 2r _{ij ii}, This quantity is termed thecomparatal dispersion. A simultaneous solution for scale values and ratios of comparatal dispersions has been presented and applied to some data on food preferences.This research was jointly supported in part by Princeton University, the Office of Naval Research under contract Nonr-1858(15), and the National Science Foundation under grant NSF G-642, and in part by Educational Testing Service. Reproduction in whole or in part is permitted for any purpose of the United States Government.     

Effects of amount of information on judgment accuracy and confidence

When a person evaluates his or her confidence in a judgment, what is the effect of receiving more judgment-relevant information? We report three studies that show when judges receive more information, their confidence increases more than their accuracy, producing substantial confidence–accuracy discrepancies. Our results suggest that judges do not adjust for the cognitive limitations that reduce their ability to use additional information effectively. We place these findings in a more general framework of understanding the cues to confidence that judges use and how those cues relate to accuracy and calibration.     

Auditory cueing facilitates temporospatial accuracy of sequential movements

Effectively executing goal-directed behaviours requires both temporal and spatial accuracy. Previous work has shown that providing auditory cues enhances the timing of upper-limb movements. Interestingly, alternate work has shown beneficial effects of multisensory cueing (i.e., combined audiovisual) on temporospatial motor control. As a result, it is not clear whether adding visual to auditory cues can enhance the temporospatial control of sequential upper-limb movements specifically. The present study utilized a sequential pointing task to investigate the effects of auditory, visual, and audiovisual cueing on temporospatial errors. Eighteen participants performed pointing movements to five targets representing short, intermediate, and large movement amplitudes. Five isochronous auditory, visual, or audiovisual priming cues were provided to specify an equal movement duration for all amplitudes prior to movement onset. Movement time errors were then computed as the difference between actual and predicted movement times specified by the sensory cues, yielding delta movement time errors (ΔMTE). It was hypothesized that auditory-based (i.e., auditory and audiovisual) cueing would yield lower movement time errors compared to visual cueing. The results showed that providing auditory relative to visual priming cues alone reduced ΔMTE particularly for intermediate amplitude movements. The results further highlighted the beneficial impact of unimodal auditory cueing for improving visuomotor control in the absence of significant effects for the multisensory audiovisual condition.     

Effects of escalated exposure to information on accuracy of personality judgment

In an investigation of the effects of increasing exposure to information on accuracy of personality trait judgments, judges rated a single target on three successive occasions, each of which involved the introduction of a novel piece of personal information. Varying the order in which types of information were presented allowed us to jointly examine the effects of information quality and quantity on accuracy in personality judgment. We found that (a) in general, more information led to higher accuracy, (b) some types of information led to greater gains in distinctive or normative accuracy, and (c) introduction of lower quality information did not negatively affect accuracy.     

Information quantity and quality affect the realistic accuracy of personality judgment

Triads of unacquainted college students interacted in 1 of 5 experimental conditions that manipulated information quantity (amount of information) and information quality (relevance of information to personality), and they then made judgments of each others' personalities. To determine accuracy, the authors compared the ratings of each judge to a broad-based accuracy criterion composed of personality ratings from 3 types of knowledgeable informants (the self, real-life acquaintances, and clinician-interviewers). Results supported the hypothesis that information quantity and quality would be positively related to objective knowledge about the targets and realistic accuracy. Interjudge consensus and self-other agreement followed a similar pattern. These findings are consistent with expectations based on models of the process of accurate judgment (D. C. Funder, 1995, 1999) and consensus (D. A. Kenny, 1994).     

The effect of divided attention on global judgment of learning accuracy

This study examined the effect of divided attention (DA) on global judgment of learning (JOL) accuracy in a multitrial list learning paradigm. A word monitoring task was used to divide attention. Participants were assigned to an attention condition (DA at encoding, DA at judgment, DA at retrieval, or focused attention) and completed 4 learning trials, each comprising a study, judgment, and recall phase. Participants showed greater overconfidence in the DA at encoding (Trial 2) and DA at retrieval (Trials 1 and 2) conditions than in the focused attention condition. DA atjudgment did not affect JOL accuracy, and there was no effect of DA in Trials 3 and 4 on JOL accuracy across all attention conditions. Results indicate that participants consider conditions of encoding and retrieval but do not engage in recall when forming global JOLs. These findings suggest that people rely on extrinsic cues when making repeated, global metamemoryjudgments.     

Improving accuracy in detecting acoustic onsets

In current cognitive psychology, naming latencies are commonly measured by electronic voice keys that detect when sound exceeds a certain amplitude threshold. However, recent research (e.g., K. Rastle & M. H. Davis, 2002) has shown that these devices are particularly inaccurate in precisely detecting acoustic onsets. In this article, the authors discuss the various problems and solutions that have been put forward with respect to this issue and show that classical voice keys may trigger several tens of milliseconds later than acoustic onset. The authors argue that a solution to this problem may come from voice keys that use a combination of analogue and digital noise (nonspeech sound) detection. It is shown that the acoustic onsets detected by such a device are only a few milliseconds delayed and correlate highly (up to .99) with reaction time values obtained by visual waveform inspection.     

Probability judgment accuracy for general knowledge. Cross-national differences and assessment methods

In this study we compare the probability judgment accuracy of subjects from the United States and Turkey. Three different response modes were employed — numerical probabilities, pie diagrams, and odds. The questions employed in the study were restricted to two-alternative, general-knowledge items. The observed pattern of differences in the components of probability judgment accuracy paralleled those of studies that have compared Western and Asian subjects. In particular, Turkish subjects exhibited better discrimination but worse calibration than their US counterparts. This result persisted across all three response modes. These findings lend support to previous assertions that observed cross-national differences arise from socioeconomic rather than Asian versus Western cultural differences. However, the consistency of the observed differences across response modes refutes a previous assertion that observed cultural differences are merely the result of response bias.     

Judgment processes in motivation: Anchoring and adjustment effects on judgment and behavior

The behavioral correlates of human judgment have received little attention from judgment and decision making researchers. One behavioral domain that provides for the study of judgment-behavior relations is task motivation (i.e., the allocation of time and effort to a task). Judgments of contingent relations are primary components of several theories of motivation, including expectancy theories and the theory of behavior in organizations proposed by Naylor, Pritchard, and Ilgen (1980). The characteristics of heuristic judgment processes are hypothesized to affect contingency judgments and thus behavioral allocations of time and effort. This paper examines the effects of the anchoring and adjustment heuristic upon (a) judgments of future effort and performance and (b) upon actual allocations of time and effort using several types of anchoring information. Results indicate that both irrelevant and relevant information have strong anchoring effects on effort and performance judgments, but do not have concomitant effects on behavior. Implications for the role of judgment in motivation and for the link between judgment and behavior are discussed.