The mediating effect of reflective-analytic cognitive style on rational thought

Abstract

We investigate whether non-miserly cognitive styles mediate the effects of cognitive ability and thinking dispositions on rational thought. Specifically, we review relevant literature on two dimensions that define non-miserly cognitive style: reflection-impulsivity and analytic-intuitive. We use these two dimensions to identify a continuum of cognitive styles that vary from miserly (impulsive-intuitive) to non-miserly (reflective-analytic) and are congruent with tendencies to commit specific rational thinking errors. Further, we argue that this continuum, which we label reflective-analytic cognitive style, mediates the effect of cognitive ability and thinking dispositions on rational thought. We conduct an experiment testing our predictions and find evidence, via structural equation modelling, that reflective-analytic cognitive style does mediate the effect of cognitive ability (as measured by working memory capacity) and thinking dispositions (as measured by need for cognition and actively open-minded thinking) on responses to traditional rational thinking tasks.     

(In)accuracy at Detecting True and False Confessions and Denials: An Initial Test of a Projected Motive Model of Veracity Judgments

Absent a perceived motive for deception, people will infer that a message source is honest. As a consequence, confessions should be believed more often than denials, true confessions will be correctly judged as honest, and false confessions will be misjudged. In the first experiment, participants judged true and false confessions and denials. As predicted, confessions were judged as honest more frequently than denials. Subsequent experiments replicated these results with an independent groups design and with a sample of professional investigators. Together, these three experiments document an important exception to the 50%+ accuracy conclusion, provide evidence consistent with a projected motive explanation of deception detection, and highlight the importance of the content‐in‐context in judgmental processes.     

MOTIVATING STUDENTS TO ACTIVELY ENGAGE IN READING

An understanding of human motivation is an essential component of effective reading instruction. Rather than rely totally upon making activities “fun” for students, this paper proposes that the understanding of basic theories of motivation can result in a pervasive concern for motivation in the classroom. Utilizing a balance of intrinsic and extrinsic means of motivation, teachers can set the stage for increased involvement and learning.     

PRIMARY TEACHERS' ASSIGNMENT AND SUPERVISION OF STUDENTS' READING SEATWORK

Twelve primary teacher were observed by trained observers during their assignment and supervision of students' seatwork tasks for a minimum of seven scheduled reading periods. Data were collected during each observation by recording what the teacher did in assigning seatwork and what the students did in completing the assignment. Observation data for each teacher were summarized over the seven observations. Teachers' behaviors were then compared to recent recommendations found in the teacher effectiveness and direct‐instruction literature. The results indicated that teachers failed to follow the majority of recommendations found in the literature and did not assume a central role in students' learning. The use of modeling, guided practice and feedback were lacking in these teachers' assignment and supervision of students' reading seatwork.     

Discrimination between outcomes in instrumental learning: Effects of preexposure to the reinforcers

In two experiments rats received instrumental training with two response levers, one response being reinforced by sucrose solution and the other by sucrose pellets. Prior to a test session, on which both levers were made available in the absence of reinforcement, the rats were given free access to one of the reinforcers, a procedure known to reduce its value. It was found that the rats responded at a lower rate on the lever that had produced the now-devalued reinforcer, but that this effect was substantial only in rats that had received preexposure to the two reinforcers before instrumental training was begun (Experiment 1). Experiment 2 demonstrated that this effect was obtained only when presentations of the two reinforcers were presented according to an inter-mixed schedule during preexposure. It is suggested that this result constitutes an instance of the perceptual learning effect in which intermixed preexposure to similar events enhances their discriminability.