The relationship between information processing style and information seeking,and its moderation by affect and perceived usefulness: Analysis vs. procrastination

We examined the relationship between information processing style and information seeking, and its moderation by anxiety and information utility. Information about Salmonella, a potentially commonplace disease, was presented to 2960 adults. Two types of information processing were examined: preferences for analytical or heuristic processing, and preferences for immediate or delayed processing. Information seeking was captured by measuring the number of additional pieces of information sought by participants. Preferences for analytical information processing were associated positively and directly with information seeking. Heuristic information processing was associated negatively and directly with information seeking. The positive relationship between preferences for delayed decision making and information seeking was moderated by anxiety and by information utility. Anxiety reduced the tendency to seek additional information. Information utility increased the likelihood of information seeking. The findings indicate that low levels of anxiety could prompt information seeking. However, information seeking occurred even when information was perceived as useful and sufficient, suggesting that it can be a form of procrastination rather than a useful contribution to effective decision making.     

Mood and the impact of category membership and individuating information

We investigated how individuals in different mood states are influenced by category membership information, by individuating information, and by the relation of the two in an impression formation task. Subjects in different mood states received positive or negative individuating information and positive or negative category information about a target person. Experiment 1 indicates that sad subjects were influenced by individuating but not by category membership information. In contrast, happy subjects' judgments reflected the implications of the category information as long as the individuating information was not inconsistent with the category, replicating previous research. This pattern was eliminated, however, when category-inconsistent information was provided, suggesting that happy subjects related the individuating information to the category membership information. Additional experiments show that instructing neutral mood subjects to relate category and individuating information or to focus on the individuating information result in patterns that parallel the judgments of happy and sad subjects, respectively, and that these effects are only obtained when the category information precedes (rather than follows) the individuating information. Extending previous theorizing, we conclude that being in a happy mood increases the likelihood that information is processed in the light of pre-existing general knowledge structures.     

市场信息整合的创造性思维机制初探

采用个别测试和集体测试相结合的方法, 辅以个别访谈等技术, 运用自编的实验测试材料, 通过两个实验探索市场信息的量、关键启发信息的突出性等对商业投资问题的思维决策结果的影响, 初步探讨了市场信息整合的创造性思维过程和机制。实验结果发现, 提供给被试的市场信息越多, 信息整合的问题空间越大, 其整合过程难度越大; 在问题空间进行搜索时, 被试需要抓住关键启发信息形成一个初始意向, 明确进一步搜索的思维方向; 初始意向形成后, 被试须筛选必要信息、排除冗余信息, 并进一步整合有用信息, 使初始意向更加精致化, 最终形成一个“可盈利的完善的投资方案”。     

Postdecisional preference for decision-relevant information as a function of the competence of its source and the degree of familiarity with this information

Three experiments are reported concerning the determinants of postdecisional preferences for decision-relevant information. Two factors were considered: the competence of the source of the information and the degree of prior familiarity with the contents of the information. The first two experiments showed that the competence of the source of decision-supporting information affected the desirability of reading both types of information, whereas the competence of the source of decision-opposing information had very little effect on the desirability of reading either type. In the third experiment, the effects of giving subjects access to prior information supporting or opposing their view on their preferences for further information were investigated under conditions in which the number of choices of this later information were either limited or unlimited. The effects of prior information on choices of decision-supporting information were identical regardless of whether the total amount of information available was limited or unlimited: Less decision-supporting information was chosen when subjects had previously been exposed to decision-supporting information than when they had not, and this difference was greater when they had not previously been exposed to decision-opposing information. However, the choices of decision-opposing information under unlimited choice conditions increased with the amount of decision-supporting information previously read, but decreased with the amount of decision-opposing information previously read. The processes that underlie the choices of information under conditions in which several types are available are discussed.     

为什么信息超载损害决策?基于有限认知资源的解释

信息超载是指需要处理的信息量大于信息加工的能力。信息超载会降低决策质量, 延长决策时间, 降低决策满意度, 引起慢性压力。信息超载损害决策的机制可以从有限的注意力资源和工作记忆资源来解释。在信息超载条件下, 一方面用于过滤和控制信息的注意力资源总量被快速消耗, 注意力资源的分配和利用受到无关信息的干扰, 信息得不到高效加工; 另一方面负责保持和加工信息的工作记忆在限定时间内不能充分加工海量信息, 进而损害决策绩效。未来可以运用眼动赋权法探索信息超载下的信息加工模式; 发展意识思维和无意识思维的动态耦合模型指导个体减轻信息超载; 探索运用智能代理和交互记忆系统缓解组织中的信息超载。     

印象形成中社会知觉信息效价冲突的认知控制效应

当个体信息与类别信息同时呈现时,个体的自我控制资源与信息效价产生交互作用,且共同影响他人印象形成的认知控制策略和信息加工深度。为进一步探究这一现象所产生的印象控制效应,采用自我控制资源损耗任务将96名被试随机分为高损耗组和低损耗组,并让他们完成内隐联想测验,以考察个体信息与类别信息的效价冲突时,他人印象控制策略如何受到自我控制资源与信息效价的双重影响。结果发现:(1)个体信息与类别信息的印象控制依赖于自我控制资源。(2)自我控制资源损耗与信息效价类型存在显著的交互作用。当个体损耗了较多的自我控制资源后,对效价冲突的个体信息与类别信息进行印象加工时,消极刻板印象的激活因受到这两类效价冲突信息的限制,只能依赖实时更新的面部表情信息,从而形成自下而上的反应性控制; 当个体损耗的自我控制资源较少时,对同样的个体信息与类别信息,不论效价相容或冲突,均能保持对消极刻板印象的自动激活,从而导致自上而下的主动性控制。     

The good,the bad and the ugly thing to do when sharing information: Revealing,concealing and lying depend on social motivation,distribution and importance of information

Research on information sharing in group decision-making has widely assumed a cooperative context and focused on the exchange of shared or unshared information in the hidden profile paradigm (36 and 37), neglecting the role of information importance. We argue that information sharing is a mixed-motive conflict setting that gives rise to motivated strategic behavior. We introduce a research paradigm that combines aspects of the traditional information sampling paradigm with aspects of a public good dilemma: the information pooling game. In three experiments, we show that information sharing is strategic behavior that depends on people’s pro-social or pro-self motivation, and that people consider information sharedness and information importance when deciding whether to reveal, withhold, or falsify their private or public information. Pro-social individuals were consistently found to honestly reveal their private and important information, while selfish individuals strategically concealed or even lied about their private and important information.     

Diagnosticity,confidence, and the need for information

Recent research has suggested that people prefer to use the most diagnostic available information as the basis for their choices and decisions, and are most confident in those decisions when information is highly diagnostic. However, the effect of information diagnosticity on the need for additional information has yet to be investigated; that is, in an optional stopping task, will the amount of information requested depend upon information diagnosticity? Three models of the role of diagnosticity in information use were examined; expected value, a confidence criterion, and information cost. Subjects attempted to categorize stimuli with the aid of information of varying costs and diagnosticity levels. They requested more information when it was obtained at a low cost. More importantly, across cost conditions, subjects consistently requested greater amounts of information when that information was of a low diagnosticity. These data seem most consistent with use of a confidence criterion that is adjusted for information costs.     

“讳疾忌医”：健康信息回避的影响因素与理论解释

健康信息回避是指有意识地防止或延迟获取可利用的身体健康信息的行为,对疾病的预防与治疗有着重要影响。本文通过回顾前人文献概述了个体因素、社会因素和信息因素对健康信息回避的影响。风险认知理论、信息处理与决策双加工系统理论和威胁资源管理模型为健康信息回避的产生提供了理论依据。未来研究可以关注健康信息回避的分类研究并扩展健康信息回避的研究范围,加强健康信息回避的实证干预研究并根据我国医疗背景开展健康信息回避的本土化研究。     

Structural and functional information—an evolutionary approach to pragmatic information

The paper starts with a critics of the potential information which is related to the statistical entropy. In order to include the syntactic and semantic aspects of information, we propose a distinction between structural and functional information, instead. Structural information represents the structural determination of a system state, it measures the content of information, as given by the material structure. Functional information, on the other hand, represents the operational closure of the system, it could be e.g. an algorithm which activates and interprets the existing structural information.

From an evolutionary point of view, pragmatic information is generated by an interplay of structural and functional information. This leads to a new insight into the concept of pragmatic information, which is not an invariant of evolution, but must be steadily re‐generated.

The active role of information in a self‐organization process is demonstrated in a model of artificial agents. It is shown by means of computer simulations that the feedback of already existing information on the generation of new information performs analogies to the creation of a collective memory.     

Information is intrinsically semantic but alethically neutral

In this paper I argue that, according to a particular physicalist conception of information, information is both alethically neutral or non-alethic, and is intrinsically semantic. The conception of information presented is physicalist and reductionist, and is contrary to most current pluralist and non-reductionist philosophical opinion about the nature of information. The ontology assumed for this conception of information is based upon physicalist non-eliminative ontic structural realism. However, the argument of primary interest is that information so construed is intrinsically semantic on a reductionist and non-alethic basis where semantic content is constituted by indication along causal pathways. Similar arguments have been presented by philosophers with respect to representation. I suggest the conception of information that I present is correct by the lights of the best applied mathematical and scientific theories of information. If so, there is no need for any separate theory of semantic information. Thus I present a theory of intrinsically semantic information which also constitutes an informational theory of truth where truth reduces to information. In the last section I discuss weakly and strongly semantic information, and reject them in favour of alethically neutral intrinsically semantic information.     

Effects of Consensus Information and Task Demonstrability on Preference-Consistent Information Evaluation and Decision Quality in Group Decision Making

Groups often fail to solve hidden profiles even when all information is exchanged. This is partly due to biased evaluation of information. We examined the effects of consensus information and task demonstrability on preference-consistent information evaluation and decision quality. The results showed that the evaluation of unshared but not shared information was moderated by consensus information and task demonstrability. For unshared information, majority members exhibited a higher evaluation bias favoring preference-consistent information than minority members. Task demonstrability reduced the evaluation bias only when group members received no information about the other members' preferences. Finally, majority members were less likely to solve the hidden profile than minority members, and this was partially mediated by the evaluation bias favoring preference-consistent unshared information.     

动态信息呈现对问题发现的影响研究

在多轮次动态和一次性静态两种呈现方式下,采用出声思维研究20名大学生潜藏与矛盾情境的问题发现特点。研究表明:(1)动态呈现促进被试更全面加工信息,发现问题数量和变通性优于静态呈现,但也阻断信息间的关联,不利于发现跨区问题。(2)动态呈现下,问题均匀分布在每个区域并按轮次先后顺序出现,静态呈现与此相反。(3)被试在新信息呈现后发现的问题分全新、改变方向、改变程度、一致性和联系性五类,潜藏情境中问题与先前信息关联更多。(4)被试对新信息影响做出积极评价。     

Selective exposure and information quantity: how different information quantities moderate decision makers' preference for consistent and inconsistent information

Empirical evidence on selective exposure to information after decisions is contradictory: Whereas many studies have found a preference for information that is consistent with one's prior decision, some have found a preference for inconsistent information. The authors propose that different available information quantities moderate these contradictory findings. Four studies confirmed this expectation. When confronted with 10 pieces of information, decision makers systematically preferred decision-consistent information, whereas when confronted with only 2 pieces of information, they strongly preferred decision-inconsistent information (Study 1). This effect was not due to differences in processing complexity (Study 2) or dissonance processes (Study 3) but could be traced back to different salient selection criteria: When confronted with 2 pieces of information, the salient selection criterion was information direction (consistent vs. inconsistent), which caused a preference for inconsistent information. In contrast, when confronted with more than 2 pieces of information, the salient selection criterion was expected information quality, which caused a preference for consistent information (Study 4).     

Reduced or increased influence of non-pertinent information in patients with schizophrenia?

We tested the ability of 18 patients with schizophrenia and 18 matched controls to filter non-pertinent information in orientation matching tasks. The non-pertinent information consisted of pictures conveying semantic information. The pertinent information consisted of oriented line-segments drawn inside pictures or was represented by the overall orientation of the picture itself. The results showed that non-pertinent information interfered with performance of control subjects in all tasks. In contrast, non-pertinent information interfered with the performance of patients with schizophrenia to the same extent as that of matched controls only when non-pertinent and pertinent information was physically mingled, but not when they were separated. Yet, patients processed non-pertinent information in all experiments, as shown by reversed interference effects when non-pertinent and pertinent information was physically separated. These results suggest a deficit at linking physically distinct visual information in patients with schizophrenia. Additionally, performance was more impaired in patients with schizophrenia than in control subjects when the amount of displayed information increased. The results suggest the coexistence, and a possible relationship between attentional deficits and impairments at linking distinct visual information in patients with schizophrenia.     

Self-Evaluation Processes: Motives, Information Use, and Self-Esteem

ABSTRACT At least three motives guide self-evaluation: accuracy, self-enhancement, and self-improvement. To satisfy these motives, self-evaluation may utilize different information sources. Self-esteem may also moderate self-evaluation strategies. Participants evaluated the frequency and usefulness of eight types of information for meeting the three motives in two life domains: academics and social life. Personal standards information was reported to be used more frequently than objective or social comparison information and also perceived as most useful for meeting all three motives. Individuals low in self-esteem reported using more social comparison information than those high in self-esteem, especially upward social comparison information. Individuals with high self-esteem reported using personal standards information more often than they used social comparison information, while individuals with low self-esteem relied equally often on these two types of information. Discussion focuses on the role social comparison information may have for those with unstable self-concepts.     

Selective exposure to information: the impact of information limits

In research on selective exposure to information, people have been found to predominantly seek information supporting rather than conflicting with their opinion. In most of these studies, participants were allowed to search for as many pieces of information as they liked. However, in many situations, the amount of information that people can search for is restricted. We report four experiments addressing this issue. Experiment 1 suggests that objective limits regarding the maximum number of pieces of information the participants could search for increases the preference for selecting supporting over conflicting information. In Experiment 2, just giving participants a cue about information scarcity induces the same effect, even in the absence of any objective restrictions. Finally, Experiment 3 and 4 clarify the underlying psychological process by showing that information limits increase selective exposure to information because information search is guided by the expected information quality, which is basically biased towards supporting information, and information limits act to reinforce this tendency. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Averaging processes in ratings and choices based on numerical information

Ss were presented sets of numbers said to represent sample price information from grocery stores. Ss rated the relative desirability of shopping at each of a series of stores and were also asked to make paired-comparison preference choices. In Experiment I, some sets contained favorable information, some contained unfavorable information, and some contained neutral information added to the favorable or unfavorable information. The addition of neutral information led to a decrease in the polarity of responses. This is consistent with an averaging, but not an adding, formulation of how the information is integrated. In Experiment II, sets of favorable or unfavorable information varied in size and a set-size effect was obtained. The greater the amount of favorable or unfavorable information, the more extreme the response. This was accounted for by assuming that an initial neutral expectancy is averaged with the information presented.     

Young children seek out biased information about social groups

Understanding the origins of prejudice necessitates exploring the ways in which children participate in the construction of biased representations of social groups. We investigate whether young children actively seek out information that supports and extends their initial intergroup biases. In Studies 1 and 2, we show that children choose to hear a story that contains positive information about their own group and negative information about another group rather than a story that contains negative information about their own group and positive information about the other group. In a third study, we show that children choose to present biased information to others, thus demonstrating that the effects of information selection can start to propagate through social networks. In Studies 4 and 5, we further investigate the nature of children's selective information seeking and show that children prefer ingroup‐favouring information to other types of biased information and even to balanced, unbiased information. Together, this work shows that children are not merely passively recipients of social information; they play an active role in the creation and transmission of intergroup attitudes.