Sex Differences in Self-Estimates on Two Validated IQ Test Subscale Scores

Two related studies investigated sex differences in self- and parental estimates of IQ scores on specific scales derived from standardized and validated IQ tests. In the first study 210 participants were asked to estimate their scores on the 11 WAIS-R subtests as well as their overall general IQ. Results showed males estimated their overall score, plus their total WAIS score, significantly higher than females, with effect sizes around 0.5. Factor analysis showed participants did differentiate between verbal and performance subscale scores on this test. In the second study 117 participants performed a similar task, but this time on the 12 subscales of the Stanford-Binet test. Males estimated their overall score higher than females. Factor analysis also showed 2 clear factors that reflected exactly the verbal and performance subscale scores.     

Accuracy in judgments of aggressiveness

Perceivers are both accurate and biased in their understanding of others. Past research has distinguished between three types of accuracy: generalized accuracy, a perceiver's accuracy about how a target interacts with others in general; perceiver accuracy, a perceiver's view of others corresponding with how the perceiver is treated by others in general; and dyadic accuracy, a perceiver's accuracy about a target when interacting with that target. Researchers have proposed that there should be more dyadic than other forms of accuracy among well-acquainted individuals because of the pragmatic utility of forecasting the behavior of interaction partners. We examined behavioral aggression among well-acquainted peers. A total of 116 9-year-old boys rated how aggressive their classmates were toward other classmates. Subsequently, 11 groups of 6 boys each interacted in play groups, during which observations of aggression were made. Analyses indicated strong generalized accuracy yet little dyadic and perceiver accuracy.     

Accuracy in scientific discourse

Response to Rudmin, F. W. & Ahmadzadeh, V. (2001). Psychometric critique of acculturation psychology: The case of Iranian migrants in Norway.     

Accuracy of aiming in linear hand-movements

Six subjects took part in an experiment which consisted of drawing, in a horizontal plane, a number of lines of different lengths and in different directions. The lines were drawn from a starting-point towards a target-point, and the instructions and previous practice were designed to ensure that the lines were drawn in one movement without appreciable amendment during the drawing. The direction and length of the lines were both found to affect the accuracy of aiming, and certain directions showed a persistent bias in the distribution of their errors. Closing the eyes just prior to and during the drawing of the lines had the result of diminishing the effect of changes in direction and length, but it increased the bias. In attempting a theoretical analysis of the results, some of the limitations imposed by human anatomy have been considered in an elementary way. The general conclusion is that, in this task, the effects of altering length, of altering direction and of opening or closing the eyes can, to a great extent, be plausibly ascribed to the particular anatomical nature of the human operator, provided one makes certain simple assumptions about the theory of movement control.     

Empathic Accuracy

ABSTRACT People are motivated to understand each other's psychological states as well as each other's personality traits. As a consequence, the more traditional study of accuracy in trait inference can be complemented by, and potentially benefit from, the insights provided by the more recent study of empathic accuracy. Findings in this area suggest that future research should devote more attention to (a) the history of the perceiver-target relationship; (b) the perceiver's desired future relationship with the target; (c) the possibility that perceivers have little or no “metaknowledge” regarding their own empathic ability; and (d) the possibility that, under certain conditions, perceivers might be motivated to be inaccurate, rather than accurate, in their inferences about other people's dispositions.     

Repugnant Accuracy

Accuracy‐first epistemology is an approach to formal epistemology which takes accuracy to be a measure of epistemic utility and attempts to vindicate norms of epistemic rationality by showing how conformity with them is beneficial. If accuracy‐first epistemology can actually vindicate any epistemic norms, it must adopt a plausible account of epistemic value. Any such account must avoid the epistemic version of Derek Parfit's “repugnant conclusion.” I argue that the only plausible way of doing so is to say that accurate credences in certain propositions have no, or almost no, epistemic value. I prove that this is incompatible with standard accuracy‐first arguments for probabilism, and argue that there is no way for accuracy‐first epistemology to show that all credences of all agents should be coherent.     

Age Differences in Output-Monitoring Accuracy

ABSTRACT

Output monitoring refers to memory for whether an intended action has been completed. Failures in output monitoring can lead to action repetitions or action omissions. Output monitoring is difficult for both younger and older adults, but few studies have examined age differences in output monitoring. Two experiments using a picture-based prospective memory task with an output-monitoring component were conducted to investigate the role of increased contextual detail and pre-exposure on output-monitoring accuracy in younger and older adults. Across the two experimental manipulations older adults demonstrated less accurate output monitoring by primarily committing errors of repetition. Pre-exposure to targets resulted in worse output-monitoring accuracy for both younger and older adults.     

Effects of Accuracy Motivation and Anchoring on Metacomprehension Judgment and Accuracy

The current research investigates how accuracy motivation impacts anchoring and adjustment in metacomprehension judgment and how accuracy motivation and anchoring affect metacomprehension accuracy. Participants were randomly assigned to one of six conditions produced by the between-subjects factorial design involving accuracy motivation (incentive or no) and peer performance anchor (95%, 55%, or no). Two studies showed that accuracy motivation did not impact anchoring bias, but the adjustment-from-anchor process occurred. Accuracy incentive increased anchor-judgment gap for the 95% anchor but not for the 55% anchor, which induced less certainty about the direction of adjustment. The findings offer support to the integrative theory of anchoring. Additionally, the two studies revealed a “power struggle” between accuracy motivation and anchoring in influencing metacomprehension accuracy. Accuracy motivation could improve metacomprehension accuracy in spite of anchoring effect, but if anchoring effect is too strong, it could overpower the motivation effect. The implications of the findings were discussed.     

The Factor of Sex in Testimonial Accuracy

Abstract

The study assessed the effects of character, professional status, and intentions of a criminal on the magnitude of suggested punishment in a hypothetical experimental setting. The sample was composed of 120 male Indian undergraduates. The analysis yielded a significant main effect of intentions as well as interaction effects of Intentions × Character and of Intentions × Character × Status Factor. The results lend support to cognitive dissonance and attribution theories.     

The Social Accuracy Model of Interpersonal Perception: Assessing Individual Differences in Perceptive and Expressive Accuracy

The social accuracy model of interpersonal perception (SAM) is a componential model that estimates perceiver and target effects of different components of accuracy across traits simultaneously. For instance, Jane may be generally accurate in her perceptions of others and thus high in perceptive accuracy—the extent to which a particular perceiver's impressions are more or less accurate than other perceivers on average across different targets. Just as well, Jake may be accurately perceived by others and thus high in expressive accuracy—the extent to which a particular target is accurately perceived on average across different perceivers. Perceptive and expressive accuracy can be further decomposed into their constituent components of normative and distinctive accuracy. Thus the SAM represents an integration of Cronbach's componential approach with Kenny's (1994) social relations model. The SAM is illustrated using both a half-block as well as a round-robin design. Key findings include reliable individual differences in several specific aspects of interpersonal perceptions.     

Training in Timing Improves Accuracy in Golf

In this experiment, the authors investigated the influence of training in timing on performance accuracy in golf. During pre- and posttesting, 40 participants hit golf balls with 4 different clubs in a golf course simulator. The dependent measure was the distance in feet that the ball ended from the target. Between the pre- and posttest, participants in the experimental condition received 10 hr of timing training with an instrument that was designed to train participants to tap their hands and feet in synchrony with target sounds. The participants in the control condition read literature about how to improve their golf swing. The results indicated that the participants in the experimental condition significantly improved their accuracy relative to the participants in the control condition, who did not show any improvement. We concluded that training in timing leads to improvement in accuracy, and that our results have implications for training in golf as well as other complex motor activities.     

Determinants of Confidence in Accuracy of Knowledge Retrieval

It was hypothesised that retrospective feelings of confidence in accuracy of knowledge retrieval are, at least in part, influenced by factors that differ from those responsible for the accuracy of knowledge retrieval. The initial level of confidence was suggested to be a major determinant of retrospective confidence which does not affect performance, and quality of available information was thought to be a determinant of performance quality which does not affect retrospective feelings of confidence. To test these hypotheses, bank managers were presented with cases of trials in the domain of banking law. The managers were provided with information which could have either low, medium or high diagnostic value and were asked to predict the trial outcome. Half the cases were difficult and half were easy in terms of being able to predict the outcome. Levels of managers' initial and retrospective feelings of confidence were measured. The hypotheses were supported and it was suggested that the lack of sensitivity of a person's retrospective confidence to his or her actual performance level is related to the dissociation between processes leading to feelings of retrospective confidence and processes responsible for performance quality.     

Accuracy and bias in estimates of others' knowledge

Perspective-taking is central to much social interaction, but the processes by which it is accomplished are poorly understood. The current study examines accuracy and bias in one type of perspective-taking: inferences about what others know. Twenty-two New York City landmarks were presented in three conditions: Picture Only, Picture-+ Name and Name Only. Subjects estimated the proportion of short- and long-term New York City residents who could identify each landmark from its picture. They also rated their subjective recognition of the stimuli. Subjects in all three conditions were good at estimating stimulus identifiability, but their estimates were biased in the direction of their own knowledge. Estimates of the difference in identifications by short-and long-term residents were relatively inaccurate, probably because the two groups differed less than anticipated. For most but not all subjects, subjective feelings of recognition were significantly correlated with estimates of identifiability. We conclude that perceptions of the distribution of knowledge are socially shared.     

Anticipations of Effort and Accuracy in Multiattribute Choice

Research on multiattribute choice strategies suggests that decision makers adapt to variations in task features by switching decision strategies. One perspective is that strategy selection is determined by a trade-off between the goals of minimizing effort and maximizing accuracy. However, since strategy selection is based on anticipated effort and accuracy, empirical evidence is needed on the nature of these anticipations. An experiment examines how well decision makers anticipate the influence of two particular task features, information display organization and number of alternatives, on effort and accuracy. Subjects chose the best alternative from sets of loan applications described by six relevant attributes. Prior to each choice, they prospectively judged the effort required and the accuracy that would result. Results suggest that anticipated consequences deviate substantially from experienced consequences for both effort and accuracy. Neither task experience nor explicit feedback brought anticipations and experiences closer together. These findings underscore the importance of anticipation judgments in multiattribute choice.     

Organizing Interactions in the Study of Judgmental Accuracy

Over the last two decades, an emphasis on cognitive factors in depression has contributed significantly to the psychological modeling of this disorder and to the development of effective treatments. This work has spanned basic processes of mood and cognition regulation as well as more applied work in the evaluation of psychotherapy outcome, short-term therapy delivery, and adherence to protocol. Reconciliation of cognitive models of depression with more recent experimental work, and the implications of the success of models that emphasize primarily noncognitive variables in predicting and treating depression, has yet to be fully explored. To grapple with these challenges, the Consensus Development Conference on Cognitive Models of Depression was convened to appraise the field and advise on future directions in the areas of cognitive models, cognitive assessment, cognitive vulnerability, and theoretical integration. This report describes obstacles to the continued progress of this approach for understanding affective disorders and psychological distress in general and offers specific recommendations for research strategies thought to be most productive for their resolution.