The elusive matching bias effect in the disjunctive selection task

When reasoning with conditional statements (i.e., if [not] p then [not] q), for example when solving Wason's selection task, subjects tend to display matching bias: Options which match the entities named in the rule tend to be selected irrespective of whether this is logically appropriate. Recently, there have been suggestions that the underlying causes of matching bias reflect a general phenomenon that applies to many types of logical rule, not just conditionals. A study is reported in which performance is investigated for selection tasks with categorical or disjunctive rules. Although matching bias was clearly present for categorical rules, inverted matching bias was identified for disjunctive rules, calling into question the generality of the phenomenon and its explanations. In addition, performance at one task was not correlated with performance at the other, calling into question recent cognitive capacity accounts of selection task performance.     

Sex bias in hiring: Effects of job demands and applicant competence

Managers in a large corporation evaluated application materials representing one of eight hypothetical job candidates. In order to examine the effects of two types of information on sex bias, three factors were manipulated in a factorial design: (1) Applicants were either male or female engineers; (2) they appeared highly competent or moderately competent based on academic performance; (3) they were applying for an engineering job that entailed either technical engineering tasks or managerial tasks in addition to the technical tasks. Greater discrimination against women occurred in evaluations for the technical-managerial job, even with highly competent applicants. These results are explained in terms of ambiguity: Because it was not obvious that applicants would succeed on the additional managerial tasks, the evaluators resorted to stereotypes in order to make their predictions.     

Causal discounting in the presence of a stronger cue is due to bias

People use information about the covariation between a putative cause and an outcome to determine whether a causal relationship obtains. When there are two candidate causes and one is more strongly related to the effect than is the other, the influence of the second is underestimated. This phenomenon is called causal discounting. In two experiments, we adapted paradigms for studying causal learning in order to apply signal detection analysis to this phenomenon. We investigated whether the presence of a stronger alternative makes the task more difficult (indexed by differences in d′) or whether people change the standard by which they assess causality (measured by β). Our results indicate that the effect is due to bias.     

Attentional selection of a peripheral ring overrules the central attentional bias

In visual search, distractors that fall between fixation and the target are more disruptive than distractors that fall at the same eccentricity as the target (Wolfe, O'Neill, & Bennett, 1998). This sensitivity to the relative eccentricity of target and distractor elements originates from a space-based bias favoring stimuli closer to the fovea. We show that this spatial bias can be overruled by cuing attention to a ring-shaped object. We rule out various space-based explanations of these findings, including (1) attention to fronto-parallel planes in depth and (2) serial attention to different portions of a ring. We suggest that attentional selection of a ring-shaped object operates independently of, and can overrule, spatial biases in selection.     

A general linear model for estimating effect size in the presence of publication bias

When the process of publication favors studies with smallp-values, and hence large effect estimates, combined estimates from many studies may be biased. This paper describes a model for estimation of effect size when there is selection based on one-tailedp-values. The model employs the method of maximum likelihood in the context of a mixed (fixed and random) effects general linear model for effect sizes. It offers a test for the presence of publication bias, and corrected estimates of the parameters of the linear model for effect magnitude. The model is illustrated using a well-known data set on the benefits of psychotherapy.Authors' note: The contributions of the authors are considered equal, and the order of authorship was chosen to be reverse-alphabetical.     

The role of linguistic experience in the development of the consonant bias

Consonants and vowels play different roles in speech perception: listeners rely more heavily on consonant information rather than vowel information when distinguishing between words. This reliance on consonants for word identification is the consonant bias Nespor et al. (Ling 2:203–230, 2003). Several factors modulate infants’ development of the consonant bias, including fine-grained temporal processing ability and native language exposure [for review, see Nazzi et al. (Curr Direct Psychol Sci 25:291–296, 2016)]. A rat model demonstrated that mature fine-grained temporal processing alone cannot account for consonant bias emergence; linguistic exposure is also necessary Bouchon and Toro (An Cog 22:839–850, 2019). This study tested domestic dogs, who have similarly fine-grained temporal processing but more language exposure than rats, to assess whether a minimal lexicon and small degree of regular linguistic exposure can allow for consonant bias development. Dogs demonstrated a vowel bias rather than a consonant bias, preferring their own name over a vowel-mispronounced version of their name, but not in comparison to a consonant-mispronounced version. This is the pattern seen in young infants Bouchon et al. (Dev Sci 18:587–598, 2015) and rats Bouchon et al. (An Cog 22:839–850, 2019). In a follow-up study, dogs treated a consonant-mispronounced version of their name similarly to their actual name, further suggesting that dogs do not treat consonant differences as meaningful for word identity. These results support the findings from Bouchon and Toro (An Cog 2:839–850, 2019), suggesting that there may be a default preference for vowel information over consonant information when identifying word forms, and that the consonant bias may be a human-exclusive tool for language learning.

     

The development of ordinal numerical competence in young children

Two experiments assessed ordinal numerical knowledge in 2- and 3-year-old children and investigated the relationship between ordinal and verbal numerical knowledge. Children were trained on a 1 vs 2 comparison and then tested with novel numerosities. Stimuli consisted of two trays, each containing a different number of boxes. In Experiment 1, box size was held constant. In Experiment 2, box size was varied such that cumulative surface area was unrelated to number. Results show children as young as 2 years of age make purely numerical discriminations and represent ordinal relations between numerosities as large as 6. Children who lacked any verbal numerical knowledge could not make ordinal judgments. However, once children possessed minimal verbal numerical competence, further knowledge was entirely unrelated to ordinal competence. Number may become a salient dimension as children begin to learn to count. An analog magnitude representation of number may underlie success on the ordinal task.     

Longitudinal direct and indirect pathways linking older sibling competence to the development of younger sibling competence

A 4-wave longitudinal model tested direct and indirect links between older sibling (OS; M = 11.7 years) and younger sibling (YS; M = 9.2 years) competence in 152 rural African American families. Data were collected at 1-year intervals. At each wave, different teachers assessed OS competence, YS competence, and YS self-regulation. Mothers reported their own psychological functioning; mothers and YSs reported parenting practices toward the YS. OS competence was stable across time and was linked with positive changes in mothers' psychological functioning from Wave 1 to Wave 2. Mothers' Wave 2 psychological functioning was associated with involved-supportive parenting of the YS at Wave 3. OS Wave 2 competence and Wave 3 parenting were indirectly linked with Wave 4 YS competence, through Wave 3 YS self-regulation. Structural equation modeling controlled for Wave 1 YS competence; thus, the model accounted for change in YS competence across 3 years.     

The intervention selection bias: an underrecognized confound in intervention research

Selection bias can be the most important threat to internal validity in intervention research, but is often insufficiently recognized and controlled. The bias is illustrated in research on parental interventions (punishment, homework assistance); medical interventions (hospitalization); and psychological interventions for suicide risk, sex offending, and juvenile delinquency. The intervention selection bias is most adequately controlled in randomized studies or strong quasi-experimental designs, although recent statistical innovations can enhance weaker designs. The most important points are to increase awareness of the intervention selection bias and to systematically evaluate plausible alternative explanations of data before making causal conclusions.     

The development of general competence and domain-specific competencies

The development of competence was studied in a longitudinal sample of 98 children, with measurement points when the children were 7, 10, and 12 years old. Competence was defined in terms of adequate adaptation to developmental tasks, both on a general and on a domain-specijic level. The general form of competence was measured by ego-resiliency, reflecting fexibility and ability to solve developmental problems Domain-specific competencies were measured by school achievement and social preference. The results showed that ego-resiliency was related to the two domain-specific competencies, although the hypothesized causal direction from general competence to specific competencies was not supported. Both domain-specific competencies were found to have a feedback effect on ego-resiliency. This feedback effect was stronger for social preference. These results suggest a transactional relationship between general and domain-specific competencies, and point to the importance of domain-specific competencies (especially social preference by the peer group) in the development of general competence in the child.     

Symptoms and selection bias: The influence of selection towards specialist care on the relationship between symptoms and diagnoses

Observations with respect to the relationship between symptoms and diseases can seriously be biased by selection phenomena. This selection may occur from the general population, via consultation behavior, diagnostic and therapeutic activities of the general practitioner, and by referral. Relationships may be suggested and reproduced even if they do not exist in unselected populations, as a product of diagnostic routines. Correction for selection bias can only be achieved by choosing proper comparison groups. While this can be done in a general practice setting, this is almost impossible after referral, as is demonstrated in this paper. Surprisingly, the most unbiased estimation of the relationship between symptoms and diseases after referral can be made from patient groups that are referred for reason unrelated to the disease under study. Definitive answers for the general practitioner can only be provided by prospective studies from a primary care setting. In the meantime, however, biased relationships can be maintained by teaching knowledge derived from a specialist experience.     

Evidence from a response choice task reveals a selection bias in the attentional cueing paradigm

In a typical attentional cueing paradigm, irrelevant peripheral cues produce early facilitation (fast responses) followed by later inhibition (slow responses) to cued locations. Here we examine whether cues not only influence the speed with which responses are produced, but also impact or bias which location is ultimately selected as requiring a response. Specifically, can cues influence not only the speed with which we respond but also influence the behavior produced? To examine this question, a choice localization task was used in which no targets were presented, and subjects were asked to choose which effector (left hand, right hand) to use in response to a centrally presented tone. Thus, following either a left or right peripheral cue, and then a central tone, subjects were free to respond with either their left or right hand. Early facilitation and later inhibition with this choice procedure were found in both response times and the proportion of responses to the cued and uncued locations. These results suggest that there are processes which initially bias response selection toward cued locations and then subsequently bias response selection away from cued locations.     

Not all emotions are created equal: the negativity bias in social-emotional development

There is ample empirical evidence for an asymmetry in the way that adults use positive versus negative information to make sense of their world; specifically, across an array of psychological situations and tasks, adults display a negativity bias, or the propensity to attend to, learn from, and use negative information far more than positive information. This bias is argued to serve critical evolutionarily adaptive functions, but its developmental presence and ontogenetic emergence have never been seriously considered. The authors argue for the existence of the negativity bias in early development and that it is evident especially in research on infant social referencing but also in other developmental domains. They discuss ontogenetic mechanisms underlying the emergence of this bias and explore not only its evolutionary but also its developmental functions and consequences. Throughout, the authors suggest ways to further examine the negativity bias in infants and older children, and they make testable predictions that would help clarify the nature of the negativity bias during early development.     

An examination of psychometric bias due to retesting on cognitive ability tests in selection settings

Using a latent variable approach, the authors examined whether retesting on a cognitive ability measure resulted in measurement and predictive bias. A sample of 941 candidates completed a cognitive ability test in a high-stakes context. Results of both the within-group between-occasions comparison and the between-groups within-occasion comparison indicated that no measurement bias existed during the initial testing but that retesting induced both measurement and predictive bias. Specifically, the results suggest that the factor underlying the retest scores was less saturated with g and more associated with memory than the latent factor underlying initial test scores and that these changes eliminated the test's criterion-related validity. This study's implications for retesting theory, practice, and research are discussed.     

Negations and natural sampling in data selection: Ecological versus heuristic explanations of matching bias

Matching bias occurs when people ignore negations when testing a hypothesis--for example, if A, then not 2--and select possible data types that are named in the hypothesis (i.e., A and 2; Evans & Lynch, 1973). There are two explanations of this bias: the heuristic account and the contrast class account. The latter is part of Oaksford and Chater's (1994) ecological approach to data selection. On this account, a contrast set (i.e., birds that are not ravens) has a higher probability than the original set (i.e., birds that are ravens). This article reports two experiments in which these accounts make divergent predictions. The same materials were used as those in Yama (2001), who found more support for the heuristic approach. Experiment 1 replicated Yama with Western participants. Experiment 2 used a procedure introduced by Oaksford and Wakefield (2003). Rather than present participants with one of each of the four possible data types all at once, 50 were presented one at a time. The proportions of each data type reflected the relevant probabilities. The results supported the ecological approach, showing that people constructed contrast sets that strongly influenced their data selection behavior. The results were not consistent with the heuristic approach.     

Designing Pareto-optimal selection systems: formalizing the decisions required for selection system development

The article presents an analytic method for designing Pareto-optimal selection systems where the applicants belong to a mixture of candidate populations. The method is useful in both applied and research settings. In an applied context, the present method is the first to assist the selection practitioner when deciding on 6 major selection design issues: (1) the predictor subset, (2) the selection rule, (3) the selection staging, (4) the predictor sequencing, (5) the predictor weighting, and (6) the stage retention decision issue. From a research perspective, the method offers a unique opportunity for studying the impact and relative importance of different strategies for reducing adverse impact.     

Beyond competence: The significance of performance for conceptual development

Conceptual constraints must change with age if they are to account for children's acquisition of kinds of knowledge that do not fall within the initial constraints. A bi-directional relation between competence and performance is therefore hypothesized, such that cognitive competences not only guide performance but also are shaped by it. This hypothesis offers a solution to the difficulties that current competence models have in accounting for developmental change. Goals are proposed as a potential source of changing constraints because they change with age, they shape what children do, and they also influence what children learn from what they do. These ideas are illustrated with examples drawn primarily from research on children's quantitative concepts.     

Lexical decision and naming asymmetries: Influence of response selection and response bias

Signal detection measures were used to evaluate the effects of several response variables (manual vs. vocal, Go-NoGo vs. Yes-No) on lexical decision asymmetries. An unvarying right visual field advantage in discriminability (d') was observed in each condition. However, response criteria (beta) varied over visual fields and conditions. Naming and lexical decision were shown to have equivalent asymmetries when the effects of response bias are removed. The results indicate that postaccess decision processes make important contributions to lexical decision asymmetries.