Policy conflict and policy change as a function of task characteristics: IV. The effect of cue intercorrelations

Abstract.— The hypothesis that intercorrelations between the cues in the conflict task will inhibit the reduction of the systematic differences in policies in policy conflict as studied in Hammond's "lens model" interpersonal conflict paradigm was tested in two experiments. The results supported the hypothesis, and suggested that the effect was due to the fact that the subjects have greater freedom in developing different policies when the cues are intercorrelated. In addition, the results suggested that the process of policy change when the conflict task has a lower degree of predictability than the original policy learning task might differ from that when the conflict task has the same predictability as the original task.     

Policy conflict and policy change as a function of task characteristics III. The effects of the distribution of the validities of the cues in the conflict task

Abstract.— The effects of the distribution of the validities of the cues in the conflict task on policy conflict, as studied in Hammond's "lens model" interpersonal conflict paradigm, was investigated in a 2 (levels of task predictability) by 2 (levels of cue validity distribution: only one cue valid vs. two equally valid cues) factorial experiment. The results showed that the level of agreement was higher when only one cue was valid than when both cues were valid, but this effect was obtained only when task predictability was high. In the low predictability condition, there were no differences between the two levels of cue validity distribution. In agreement with earlier findings, the results also showed that agreement was a positive function of the predictability of the task. These results show that, to understand policy conflict, it is not sufficient to analyse only the characteristics of the parties to the conflict; it is also necessary to analyse the characteristics of the task facing the parties.     

Policy conflict, policy consistency, and interpersonal understanding

Abstract.— A number of studies have shown that inconsistency in the subjects' policies is a major reason for disagreement in policy conflict. It has been hypothesized that the lack of consistency makes it hard for subjects to understand each other's policies. The present results provided evidence for this hypothesis by showing that subjects asked each other more questions about policy when their policies were less consistent in an experiment where policy consistency was manipulated by varying the predictability of the conflict task.     

Policy conflict and policy change as a function of task characteristics 1. The effects of cue validity and function form

Brehmer, B. & Kostron, L. Policy conflict and policy change as a function of task characteristics. I. The effects of cue validity and function form. Scand. J. Psychol., 1973, 14, 44–55.-Policy conflict and policy change in the "lens model" interpersonal conflict paradigm were studied as a function of the distribution of cue validities in a two-cue task with one linear and one nonlinear cue. Agreement was higher in the conditions where the linear cue was more valid than the nonlinear cue than in the conditions where the nonlinear cue was more valid than the linear cue. This was primarily due to the fact that the subjects' policies were more consistent in predominantly linear conditions. The amount of policy change in the various conditions suggested that the subjects' behavior was the result of a compromise between conflict reduction and task adaptation.     

EFFECTS OF COMMUNICATION AND FEEDBACK ON COGNITIVE CONFLICT

BREHMER, B. Effects of communication and feedback on cognitive conflict. Scand. J. Psychol. , 12, 205–216.–The effects of communication and feedback upon policy similarity and policy consistency in cognitive conflict were studied in a 2×2×5 factorial experiment with communication (present/ absent), feedback (present/absent) and blocks of trials as the factors. Communication increased policy similarity and agreement, but feedback had no effect. Both subjects with linear and subjects with nonlinear policies gave up more of their initial policy in the communication condition, but only the nonlinear subjects managed to utilize communication to acquire new policies. In all conditions, including the condition without feedback and communication, the nonlinear subjects' policies were less consistent than those of the linear subjects. This suggests that nonlinear policies may be less stable than linear policies.     

Social pressure and policy change in the "lens model" interpersonal conflict paradigm

Abstract.— The effects of conflict and policy inaccuracy on policy change in the "lens model" interpersonal conflict paradigm were investigated in an experiment which compared amount of policy change for subjects who were paired with a stooge who did not change his policy even though it was incorrect with the amount of policy change for subjects whose opponents changed their policies to reduce the inaccuracy of these policies. The amount of policy change was the same in both of these conditions, indicating that task adaptation is a more important goal to the subjects than conflict reduction in these experiments.     

POLICY CONFLICT AS A FUNCTION OF POLICY SIMILARITY AND POLICY COMPLEXITY

B rehmer B. Policy conflict as a function of policy similarity and policy complexity. Scand. J. Psychol ., 1972, 13 , 208–221.—The experiment tests the hypotheses, derived from the results of earlier studies on policy conflict, that subjects with similar policies will decrease their agreement in a policy conflict situation, and that subjects with cognitively complex policies will decrease their agreement more than subjects with cognitively simple policies. The results support the hypotheses, and show that the decrease in agreement is due to the decrease in policy consistency which, in turn, is due to the manner in which the subjects change their policies in the conflict situation.     

Effects of primary task predictability and secondary task modality on lane maintenance

The objective of this work was to investigate the effects of auditory and visuo-spatial secondary tasks on variability in lane position in predictable and unpredictable driving conditions. Sixty-six participants drove a simulated vehicle. Predictability was manipulated by adding wind gusts, and the secondary task load by either an auditory task (Experiment 1) or a visuo-spatial task (Experiment 2). Results demonstrated that in the predictable driving condition, lane position variability decreased when auditory secondary task load was given, but it was not affected by visuo-spatial secondary task load. In the unpredictable driving condition; however, while the auditory secondary task load did not affect lane position variability, visuo-spatial secondary task load increased it. The data suggests that the effects of cognitive load on lane maintenance may depend on the type of the secondary task beside predictability of primary task.     

Sequential task predictability in task switching

Many studies of task switching have found that a prolonged preparation time reduces switch costs. An alternative manipulation of task preparation is based on sequential task predictability, rather than preparation time. In Experiments 1 and 2 of the present study, participants performed explicitly instructed task sequences (i.e., AABB) and were then transferred to a random sequence. The observed benefit of predictability-based task preparation was not switch specific. In Experiment 3, the participants changed from random to predictable tasks. The observed predictability benefit again was not switch specific. The data thus suggest that task switching does not necessarily require a switch-specific reconfiguration process. Rather, task-specific control processes may be needed in both task switches and repetitions.     

Exploring relations between task conflict and informational conflict in the Stroop task

In this study, we tested the proposal that the Stroop task involves two conflicts—task conflict and informational conflict. Task conflict was defined as the latency difference between color words and non-letter neutrals, and manipulated by varying the proportion of color words versus non-letter neutrals. Informational conflict was defined as the latency difference between incongruent and congruent trials and manipulated by varying the congruent-to-incongruent trial ratio. We replicated previous findings showing that increasing the ratio of incongruent-to-congruent trials reduces the latency difference between the incongruent and congruent condition (i.e., informational conflict), as does increasing the proportion of color words (i.e., task conflict). A significant under-additive interaction between the two proportion manipulations (congruent vs. incongruent and color words vs. neutrals) indicated that the effects of task conflict and informational conflict were not additive. By assessing task conflict as the contrast between color words and neutrals, we found that task conflict existed in all of our experimental conditions. Under specific conditions, when task conflict dominated behavior by explaining most of the variability between congruency conditions, we also found negative facilitation, thus demonstrating that this effect is a special case of task conflict.     

Internal-external locus of control and performance on a vigilance task.

Previous studies have demonstrated there are large individual differences in subjects' ability to perform on vigilance or watch-keeping tasks. This study used Rotter's Internal-External (I-E) Locus of Control Scale to resolve some of the variance attributed to individual differences and tested the hypothesis that the internally controlled person is a better monitor on a vigilance task than an externally controlled person. There were 64 subjects who performed a visual watch-keeping task for a 1-hr. period. The results indicated that the external subjects made significantly more incorrect responses and missed significantly more signals during the entire task. The internal-external dimension was effective in differentiating performance on a vigilance task.     

Instruction effects in task switching

The present study examined the effect of instructions on sequential task preparation using a cuing paradigm with three tasks. All task transitions were predictable, whereas task identity was unpredictable in switches but predictable in repetitions. In Experiment 1, predictability (predictable vs. random) was manipulated while preparation time (i.e., the cue-stimulus interval, or CSI) remained constantly short. In Experiment 2, CSI was manipulated for predictable task transitions. Both experiments showed clear instruction effects, but these were restricted to predictable task repetitions, for which predictability determined the identity of the upcoming task. Predictability effects were small in task switches and were not modulated by instruction, suggesting that preparation is mainly task-specific rather than switch-specific. Together, these results suggest that intentional processes contribute to predictability benefits in task repetitions, probably by enhancing the monitoring of sequential transitions in working memory in order to maintain activation in task repetitions.     

Dissociating restart cost and mixing cost in task switching

Three experiments investigated the cognitive mechanisms underlying the restart cost and mixing cost in task switching. To this aim, the predictability of task order was varied (unpredictable in Experiment 1 and predictable in Experiments 2 and 3) across experiments, which employed a multiple-trial paradigm. Verbal cues for color and shape matching tasks were presented before a run of four trials. Focusing on task-repetition runs only, we measured restart cost as the difference in performance between trials 1 and 2 and mixing cost as the difference in performance on the non-cued trials under mixed-tasks conditions (Experiments 1 and 2) and single-task conditions (Experiment 3). The restart cost was observed under mixed-tasks conditions with both unpredictable and predictable task orders but not under the single-task condition. In contrast, the mixing cost was observed under the mixed-tasks condition with unpredictable task order only (Experiment 1). This finding implies that the optimal task execution on repetition trials depends on how predictable the identity of the approaching task is. Therefore, we suggest that mixing cost arises from limited preparation on repetition trials when task order is unpredictable, while restart cost arises from processes involved in cue-based task activation that is needed to resolve task interference. Together, these data suggest that restart cost and mixing cost are based on dissociable mechanisms.

---

Evaluating negative tests and refutations in a rule discovery task

Subjects participating in Wason's rule discovery task (1960) overwhelmingly try to confirm rather than refute their currently held hypothesis. Such a strategy is often inadequate and runs counter to the canons of scientific methodology. The present study was designed to investigate subjects' differential evaluation of test strategies and outcome. One-hundred and sixty students participated in two experiments in which they had to judge someone else's potential test items in Wason's task. Experiment 1 demonstrated that exposure to various histories has a mediating effect on the strength of the confirmation bias. In Experiment 2, subjects knew the researcher's rule and thus whether each proposed test item would lead to confirmation or refutation of the hypothesis under consideration. The preferred items were those that alerted the subject to an incorrect hypothesis (refutation) and those that turned out to be positive instances of the rule sought after, with the combination of the two (a negative test leading to refutation) being most highly evaluated.     

A psychophysiological study on the function of the response‐stop in the Eriksen task1,2

Abstract: In the Eriksen task, we examined the hypothesis ( Iwaki, 1998 ) that a negative event‐related potential, which was enlarged at the frontal site synchronized with the presentation of an erroneous response causing stimulus, is related to the response‐stop function. Fourteen subjects responded selectively with their hands to the stimuli that consisted of a central target letter and surrounding compatible noise letters (e.g., HHHHH) or incompatible noise (e.g., SHHHS for small‐conflict condition or SSHSS for large‐conflict). The results showed that the increased negativity for the incompatible stimuli was synchronized with the stimulus onset but not with the response. Based on the hypothesis above, it is predicted that greater enhancement of an erroneous response by a stimulus causes the response‐stop to work harder in order to avoid an error, and this results in the larger negativity. This was supported by the evidence showing that the negativity was largest for the large‐conflict incompatible stimulus, followed by the small‐conflict, and then the compatible. We also discuss the possibility that the negativity is the NO‐GO potential concerned with the response‐stop function.     

Self-organized criticality and learning a new coordination task

The purpose of this study was to investigate the hypothesis that a self-organized criticality (SOC) practice condition would have a higher improvement rate in performance outcome than a typical progressive difficulty of practice regimen. The roller ball task was used where participants undergo a phase transition from failure to successful performance after sufficient practice. The findings from two experiments showed that the SOC condition had the fastest rate of improvement and the highest performance success level. The success probability in the SOC practice regime was close to the theoretically predicted value of 50%. It appears that the SOC practice condition - by scaling task difficulty to skill level in a self-controlled adaptive strategy - facilitates the learning of new movement coordination pattern by keeping the participant close to the parameter region of the transition of the movement dynamics.     

Task self-efficacy and task interest as a function of performance on a gender-neutral task

This study experimentally investigates several hypotheses about the relationships between performance on a gender-neutral task and gender, self-efficacy, performance attributions, and task interest. Ninety-two subjects were randomly assigned to a success or failure condition and attempted to solve a series of easy or difficult anagrams. Results indicated that changes in self-efficacy expectations as a result of task success or failure were in accordance with predictions from self-efficacy theory; 2 × 2 × 4 ANCOVAs, with the pretest as the covariate, were conducted on self-efficacy strength, level, and task interest. Subjects decreased their ratings of self-efficacy and task interest as a result of the failure experience, and the same ratings increased as a result of the success experience. Few gender differences were found, supporting the hypothesis that the sex linkage of the task significantly influences gender differences in self-efficacy. Analyses of global verbal and mathematical ability ratings resulted in the same trends. Finally, women in the success condition were significantly more likely than men in that condition to attribute their performance to luck; women in the failure condition were significantly more likely than men or women in any other group to attribute their failure to their lack of ability. Implications of these results for future research on career self-efficacy were discussed.     

选择损耗自我控制资源:取舍效应还是信息加工难度效应?

研究以自我控制的资源模型为理论框架,从选择难度特征的视角出发,通过两项实验考察选择损耗自我控制资源的成因。结果发现,高取舍冲突组被试的stroop任务成绩显著低于低取舍冲突组被试,高、低阅读难度组被试的stroop任务成绩差异不显著;为自己做选择组被试的stroop任务成绩显著低于为他人做选择组被试,完成3选项和4选项任务组被试的stroop任务成绩差异不显著。研究表明,选择损耗效应是由选择的取舍难度而非信息加工难度造成。。     

Predictability as a task demand in single-trial free recall

In a series of five single-trial free recall experiments it was demonstrated how manipulations of predictability in a list learning task caused reliable effects on the recency portions of the nominal serial position curve. Predictability was defined as knowledge of when the next item in the list should appear ( interval predictability) and knowledge of when the list should end and thus when recall could start ( signal predictability). Predictability was manipulated by varying the inter-item intervals within a list according to different "encoding functions", e.g. a successive increase (Condition I ) or decrease (Condition D ) of the inter-item intervals. Predictability was also manipulated by means of post-list recall signals. The data obtained show, that depending on how the interval and the signal predictabilities were manipulated, either Condition I or Condition D lists could be made more beneficial to the recall of recency items than lists with constant inter-item intervals (Condition C ). Previous encoding, storage and retrieval models were found not to give satisfactory accounts of the obtained recency effects. Neither could any traditional rehearsal model explain the data. Instead it is proposed that the predictability of stimuli in a list learning task explains how changes in recall of recency items come about. It was also hypothesized that the temporal demands, afforded to the subjects by the different encoding functions, explained the obtained output order variations.