The Effects of Explicit and Implicit Cognitive Factors on the Learning Patterns in the Iowa Gambling Task

The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) has become a standard tool in the area of decision making, but recent studies have indicated that cognitive factors might distort the implicit learning expected from the original design of the task. This paper examines the effects of cognitive factors on the performance and learning outcomes of the IGT along two dimensions. First, the instructions for the task are manipulated to test whether more detailed information is conducive to adopting a winning strategy in the IGT. Second, procedural priming’s role is investigated by administering a pattern recognition task ahead of the IGT. The results indicate that instructional variation did not have a significant effect on learning patterns. Furthermore, the priming did not yield better results in the IGT compared to the control group. These findings suggest that the IGT is not driven by cognitive awareness of the nature of the task

Using a Fork as a Hairbrush: Investigating Dual Routes to Release from Functional Fixedness

Functional fixedness involves difficulty with conceptualizing creative object uses. When it obstructs problem solving, individuals must reframe their approach. We examined how different training techniques – chunk decomposition (i.e., considering an object’s basic parts and physical properties) and constraint relaxation (i.e., considering an object’s different functions) – might rely upon different routes to creative reframing. Additionally, we investigated how different forms of cognitive load interact with these dual routes. Participants learned one of three techniques. Chunk decomposition participants created object breakdown diagrams; constraint relaxation participants created object functions lists; and, free association (control) participants wrote a word that they associated with each of several concrete nouns. After training, participants attempted to solve five functional fixedness problems. E1 investigated how increasing germane cognitive load via either direct or indirect prompting affected training transfer. Experiment 2 investigated how reducing extraneous cognitive load by providing no transfer instructions and using an eye-closure strategy. Across both experiments, results supported differences in accuracy and response latency by training. However, chunk decomposition and constraint relaxation did not follow the same pattern, suggesting different mechanisms of the effect. We discuss possible applications to increase innovation in real-world domains such as education, business, and engineering

You Shall Not Pass: How Facial Variability and Feedback Affect the Detection of Low-prevalence Fake IDs

In many real-world settings, individuals rarely present another person’s ID, which increases the likelihood that a screener will fail to detect it. Three experiments examined how within-person variability (i.e., differences between two images of the same person) and feedback may have influenced criterion shifting, thought to be one of the sources of the low-prevalence effect (LPE). Participants made identity judgments of a target face and an ID under either high, medium, or low mismatch prevalence. Feedback appeared after every trial, only error trials, or no trials. Experiment 1 used two controlled images taken on the same day. Experiment 2 used two controlled images taken at least 6 months apart. Experiment 3 used one controlled and one ambient image taken at least 1 year apart. Importantly, receiver operating characteristic curves revealed that feedback and greater within-person variability exacerbated the LPE by affecting both criterion and discriminability. These results carry implications for many real-world settings, such as border crossings and airports, where identity screening plays a major role in securing public safety

The Effect of Viewing Distance on Empirical Discriminability and the Confidence–Accuracy Relationship for Eyewitness Identification

The distance from which an eyewitness views a perpetrator is a critical factor for eyewitness identification, but has received little research attention. We presented three mock-crime videos to participants, varying distance to three perpetrators (3, 10, or 20 m). Across two experiments, increased distance reduced empirical discriminability in the form of a mirror effect, such that correct identifications decreased while false identifications increased. Moreover, high confidence identifications were associated with high accuracy at 3 m (Experiment 1 and 2) and 10 m (Experiment 2), but not at 20 m. We conclude that eyewitnesses may be less likely to identify a perpetrator viewed at a distance, and also more likely to falsely identify an innocent suspect. Furthermore, there may be certain boundary conditions associated with distance and the impact it has on the confidence-accuracy relationship. More research is needed to elucidate the effect of estimator variable manipulations on the confidence-accuracy relationship

The Weapon Focus Effect: Testing an Extension of the Unusualness Hypothesis

The weapon focus effect (WFE) occurs when a weapon distracts eyewitnesses, harming memory for the perpetrator and other details. One explanation is that weapons are unusual in most contexts, and unusual objects distract eyewitnesses. We extended this unusualness hypothesis to include typical objects used in a distinctive manner, as criminals often make use of a typical object as a weapon (e.g., tire iron, beer bottle). Undergraduates (N = 963) viewed a video depicting a man with a handgun, distinctive object, typical object and action, or typical object used as a weapon. Only the handgun reduced eyewitness identification accuracy relative to the typical object and action, replicating the WFE. Importantly, participants who reported high confidence after choosing from a lineup tended to be highly accurate, regardless of condition

ROCs in Eyewitness Identification:Instructions versus Confidence Ratings

From the perspective of signal-detection theory, different lineup instructions may induce different levels of response bias (Clark, 2005). If so, then collecting correct and false identification rates across different instructional conditions will trace out the ROC – the same ROC that, theoretically, could also be traced out from a single instruction condition in which each eyewitness decision is accompanied by a confidence rating. We tested whether the two approaches do in fact yield the same ROC. Participants were assigned to a confidence rating condition or to an instructional biasing condition (liberal, neutral, unbiased, or conservative). After watching a video of a mock crime, participants were presented with instructions followed by a 6-person simultaneous photo lineup. The ROCs from both methods were similar, but they were not exactly the same. These findings have potentially important policy implications for how the legal system should go about controlling eyewitness response bias

ROCs in Eyewitness Identification: Instructions vs. Confidence Ratings

From the perspective of signal-detection theory, different lineup instructions may induce different levels of response bias (Clark, 2005). If so, then collecting correct and false identification rates across different instructional conditions will trace out the ROC – the same ROC that, theoretically, could also be traced out from a single instruction condition in which each eyewitness decision is accompanied by a confidence rating. We tested whether the two approaches do in fact yield the same ROC. Participants were assigned to a confidence rating condition or to an instructional biasing condition (liberal, neutral, unbiased, or conservative). After watching a video of a mock crime, participants were presented with instructions followed by a 6-person simultaneous photo lineup. The ROCs from both methods were similar, but they were not exactly the same. These findings have potentially important policy implications for how the legal system should go about controlling eyewitness response bias

Westworld Psychology: Violent Delights

In Michael Crichton’s 1973 motion picture Westworld, people playing out fantasies find their lives in danger when robots built to entertain start to kill, creating an opportunity for viewers to examine an array of psychological phenomena. Today, the HBO television series reframes those questions and fears of technology gone awry in terms of twenty-first century concerns about rapidly evolving AI. The essays in this collection, edited by Travis Langley and Wind Goodfriend, explore those issues, offering fans an in-depth psychological exploration of the Westworld universe, including: When do synthetic people become sentient? When is artificial intelligence simply intelligence? What is the appeal of live-action role playing? Why does the Wild West intrigue us? How far will people go in pursuit of violent delights? Westworld Psychology: Violent Delights takes aim at these and many other issues.https://digitalcommons.tamusa.edu/psyc_books/1005/thumbnail.jp