Reasoning about complex probabilistic concepts in childhood

The competencies of children, particularly their understanding of the more complex probabilistic concepts, have not been thoroughly investigated. In the present study participants were required to choose the more likely of two events, a single event, and a joint event (conjunctive or disjunctive). It was predicted that the operation of the representativeness heuristic would result in erroneous judgements when children compared an unlikely component event with a likely-unlikely conjunction (the conjunction fallacy) and when a likely component event was compared to a likely-unlikely disjunction. The results supported the first prediction with both older children aged between 9 and 10 years and younger children aged between 4 and 5 committing the conjunction fallacy. However, the second prediction was not confirmed. It is proposed that the basis of representativeness judgements may differ between the conjunctive and disjunctive cases with absolute frequency information possibly playing a differential role.     

Not so fast! (and not so frugal!): rethinking the recognition heuristic

The 'fast and frugal' approach to reasoning (Gigerenzer, G., & Todd, P. M. (1999). Simple heuristics that make us smart. New York: Oxford University Press) claims that individuals use non-compensatory strategies in judgment--the idea that only one cue is taken into account in reasoning. The simplest and most important of these heuristics postulates that judgment sometimes relies solely on recognition. However, the studies that have investigated usage of the recognition heuristic have confounded recognition with other cues that could also lead to similar judgments. This paper tests whether mere recognition is actually driving the findings in support of the recognition heuristic. Two studies provide evidence that judgments do not conform to the recognition heuristic when these confounds are accounted for. Implications for the study of simple heuristics are discussed.     

Replies

I reply to challenges raised by contributors to this book symposium. Key challenges include (but are not limited to): distancing my new account of reductionism-in-practice from my previous “new wave” account; clarifying my claimed “heuristic” status for higher-level investigations (including cognitive-neuroscientific ones); defending the “reorientation of philosophical desires” I claim to be required by my project; and addressing consideration about normativity.     

Disambiguating the effects of target travelled distance and target vanishing point upon representational momentum

Representational Momentum (RM) was the name given to a phenomenon whereby the last seen position of a suddenly vanished moving target is judged as located further ahead in the direction of movement. We argue in this paper that the role of target travelled distance and of target vanishing position in the modulation of RM have been unduly confounded in previous research. Shortcomings arising from this confounding are noticed and discussed. An experiment that dissociates factorially the effects of these two variables in Michotte-like causal displays as well as in noncausal displays is presented and concludes that vanishing point, not length of travel, is the relevant factor to consider.     

Embodied Information in Cognitive Tasks: Haptic Weight Sensations Affect Task Performance and Processing Style

Research in the field of embodied cognition showed that incidental weight sensations influence peoples’ judgments about a variety of issues and objects. Most studies found that heaviness compared to lightness increases the perception of importance, seriousness, and potency. In two experiments, we broadened this scope by investigating the impact of weight sensations on cognitive performance. In Experiment 1, we found that the performance in an anagram task was reduced when participants held a heavy versus a light clipboard in their hands. Reduced performance was accompanied by an increase in the perceived effort. In Experiment 2, a heavy clipboard elicited a specific response heuristic in a two-alternative forced-choice task. Participants showed a significant right side bias when holding a heavy clipboard in their hands. After the task, participants in the heavy clipboard condition reported to be more frustrated than participants in the light clipboard condition. In both experiments, we did not find evidence for mediated effects that had been proposed by previous literature. Overall, the results indicate that weight effects go beyond judgment formation and highlight new avenues for future research.     

The Adaptive Use of Recognition in Group Decision Making

Applying the framework of ecological rationality, the authors studied the adaptivity of group decision making. In detail, they investigated whether groups apply decision strategies conditional on their composition in terms of task‐relevant features. The authors focused on the recognition heuristic, so the task‐relevant features were the validity of the group members' recognition and knowledge, which influenced the potential performance of group strategies. Forty‐three three‐member groups performed an inference task in which they had to infer which of two German companies had the higher market capitalization. Results based on the choice data support the hypothesis that groups adaptively apply the strategy that leads to the highest theoretically achievable performance. Time constraints had no effect on strategy use but did have an effect on the proportions of different types of arguments. Possible mechanisms underlying the adaptive use of recognition in group decision making are discussed.     

走向完善：人本主义心理学研究方案

为了完善人本主义心理学方法论,人本主义心理学家发展了多种研究方案。每一种方案都设定了自己特定的研究问题,确定了自己独特的研究过程。现象学、解释学、启发式和体验研究方案是其中较为重要的几种。这些方案体现出人本主义心理学家试图将心理学作为人文科学的努力,使人本主义心理学方法论不再流于理论倡导,而是融入到人性研究的具体实践并因此走向完善。在未来,它尚需以辩证唯物主义实践观看待人的本质,确立心理学的整合视野。     

记忆源检测的加工分离

同一个记忆源检测任务是否可以依赖两种不同的加工——无意识启发式加工和有意识系统式加工,是源检测加工机制研究探索的一个重要问题。本研究拟借助加工分离程序来分离同一个源检测任务中的启发式和系统式加工,并进一步考察了启发式和系统式加工受刺激呈现时间的影响。结果发现:位置源检测任务依赖于启发式和系统式两种加工,且随着刺激呈现时间的增长,系统式加工的贡献显著地提高,启发式加工的贡献却无显著提升。这一结果既验证了记忆源检测的双加工机制,也暗示了两种加工在加工深度上的差异。