Effects of trial complexity on decision making.

The ability of a civil jury to render fair and rational decisions in complex trials has been questioned. However, the nature, dimensions, and effects of trial complexity on decision making have rarely been addressed. In this research, jury-eligible adults saw a videotape of a complex civil trial that varied in information load and complexity of the language of the witnesses. Information load and complexity differentially affected liability and compensatory decisions. An increase in the number of plaintiffs decreased blameworthiness assigned to the defendant despite contrary evidence and amount of probative evidence processed. Complex language did not affect memory but did affect jurors' ability to appropriately compensate differentially worthy plaintiffs. Jurors assigned compensatory awards commensurate with the plaintiffs' injuries only under low-load and less complex language conditions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Explanation-based decision making: Effects of memory structure on judgment.

This article reports research that supports an explanation-based model of decision making applied to judicial decisions. In Experiment 1, recognition memory responses demonstrated that subjects spontaneously evaluated evidence in a legal judgment task by constructing an explanatory representation in the form of a narrative story. Furthermore, an item's membership in the story associated with the chosen or rejected verdict predicted subjects' ratings of its importance as evidence. In Experiment 2, subjects listened to evidence from criminal trials presented in various orders designed to manipulate the ease with which a particular explanatory summary of the evidence (story) could be constructed. The order manipulation shifted verdict choices in the direction of the more easily constructed story, implying that story structure causes decisions. In addition, the coherence of the explanatory story structure and the strength of alternative stories were major determinants of perceptions of strength of evidence and of confidence in the decision. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Testing the cognitive content-specificity hypothesis with anxious and depressed youngsters.

A. T. Beck's (1976) cognitive model of psychopathology stipulates that each emotional disorder can be characterized by a cognitive content specific to that disorder. Although other aspects of Beck's theory have been empirically supported with youngsters, few have tested the applicability of the cognitive content-specificity hypothesis to children. 45 youngsters in Grades 4–7 who met diagnostic criteria of the DSM-III—R for a depressive or anxiety disorder and 18 controls completed measures of anxious and depressive cognitions. Analysis revealed that the valence of depressive cognitions played an important role in distinguishing the anxious group from the depressed and mixed groups. Specifically, negatively worded items did not differentiate between groups as well as positively worded items. The anxious, depressed, and mixed depressed-anxious groups were not differentiated on the basis of the anxious cognitions. The results provide partial support for Beck's cognitive content-specificity hypothesis and the broader positive–negative affectivity construct. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Accuracy decomposition and team decision making: Testing theoretical boundary conditions.

The purpose of this study was to examine the implications of accuracy decomposition (D. Gigone & R. Hastie, 1997) for team decision making. Specifically, the authors tested the generalizability of the multilevel theory of team decision making (J. R. Hollenbeck et al., 1995), across various components of accuracy. The authors also tested the generalizability of this theory across different levels of staff-member specialization. Results from a study with 420 individuals in 105 teams demonstrate that the validity of the multilevel theory generalizes across specialization levels but fails to generalize across different components of decision accuracy. The authors concluded that this theory is best conceptualized as a theory of achievement accuracy, rather than mean bias or variability bias. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of sex role attitudes and cognitive styles on career decision making.

Examined the relative influence of gender, sex role attitudes, cognitive styles and decision-making process on choice of major by means of path analysis procedures. 578 college students from all classes completed the Assessment of Career Decision Making, the Paragraph Completion Method (a measure of conceptual level), the Cognitive Differentiation Grid, and the Bem Sex Role Inventory. It was found that progress in the decision-making process most directly influenced choice of major. Gender, sex role attitudes, and cognitive styles had little direct influence on choice of major; rather, their influence was indirect, via the decision-making process. These results support the following causal inferences: Gender influences sex role attitudes; sex role attitudes and cognitive styles influence progress in the decision-making process; and the latter directly influences whether a satisfying choice of major has been made. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Testing models of decision making using confidence ratings in classification.

Classification implies decision making (or response selection) of some kind. Studying the decision process using a traditional signal detection theory analysis is difficult for two reasons: (a) The model makes a strong assumption about the encoding process (normal noise), and (b) the two most popular decision models, optimal and distance-from-criterion models, can mimic each other's predictions about performance level. In this article, the authors show that by analyzing certain distributional properties of confidence ratings, a researcher can determine whether the decision process is optimal, without knowing the form of the encoding distributions. Empirical results are reported for three types of experiments: recognition memory, perceptual discrimination, and perceptual categorization. In each case, the data strongly favored the distance-from-criterion model over the optimal model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Understanding moral thought: Effects on moral reasoning and decision making.

89 16–18 yr olds' understanding of processes involved in moral reasoning and decision making was examined in relation to the Ss' level of moral reasoning, extent of prudential concerns, and consistency of decision making. Four qualitatively different levels of understanding of moral thought were identified. These levels were related to moral scores in 2 dilemmas: one involving a fictitious other and the other involving the self as protagonist. Ss with less understanding of moral thought were more likely to demonstrate lower moral scores and more prudential concerns in each perspective and to make a different decision (often prudentially rather than morally based) in the self-perspective. Ss who changed their decision in the self-perspective demonstrated lower self-perspective moral scores than Ss who demonstrated decision consistency. It is suggested that Ss with less understanding of the processes involved in moral thought are more likely to use moral reasons in the service of decisions they want to make for prudential reasons. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Testing the density hypothesis: Comment on Corter.

Corter (1987) reported a series of six experiments examining three measures of psychological proximity (similarity judgments, discrimination confusions, and identification errors) for effects of adding context stimuli similar to one of the target elements. The density hypothesis (Krumhansl, 1978) and the diagnosticity principle (Tversky, 1977) both predict that the added context elements should decrease the proximity of elements similar to the added context elements relative to elements dissimilar from the added context elements. This comment discusses various theoretical and practical considerations in assessing context effects on psychological proximity. A reanalysis of the data of Corter's first experiment shows a relatively large effect of the density manipulation consistent with predictions. That the remaining experiments do not show the predicted effect may be attributed to the small number of stimuli and limited control over the similarity structure of the stimulus sets. Difficulties are noted in interpreting density effects in identification data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of inconsistencies in eyewitness testimony on mock-juror decision making.

In attempting to impeach an eyewitness, attorneys often highlight inconsistencies in the eyewitness's recall. This study examined the differential impact of types of inconsistent testimony on mock juror decisions. Participants viewed 1 of 4 versions of a videotaped trial in which the primary evidence against the defendant was the testimony of the eyewitness. The types of inconsistent statements given by the eyewitness in the 4 versions were manipulated: (a) consistent testimony, (b) information given on the stand but not during the pretrial investigation, (c) contradictions between on-the-stand and pretrial statements, and (d) contradictions made on the stand. Participants exposed to any form of inconsistent testimony were less likely to convict and found the defendant less culpable and the eyewitness less effective. These effects were larger for contradictions than for information given on the stand but not during pretrial investigations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Keeping the voter's limits in mind: A cognitive process analysis of decision making in voting.

Developed and tested a model of voting that considers the information-processing limits of the human mind. The predecision information-search behavior of 20 undergraduates was recorded along with their concurrent verbal protocols as the Ss prepared to vote in 3 simulated elections. Based on these data and other research in decision making, the following 2-stage process model of voter cognition was constructed: (a) If candidate receives a negative overall evaluation, vote against candidate. (b) Otherwise, compare candidates on a few salient particular items and choose the favored candidate on these items. The process model was tested in a survey of 107 registered voters before an actual election. For those survey respondents who expressed a candidate preference and for whom the model made a prediction, the model's prediction matched the indicated vote preference in 94% of the cases. The model's strengths and weaknesses are discussed, and a slightly modified version of the model is suggested. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of anticipatory stress on decision making in a gambling task.

Recent research has highlighted the fact that emotion that is intrinsic to a task benefits decision making. The authors tested the converse hypothesis, that unrelated emotion disrupts decision making. Participants played the Iowa Gambling Task, during which only experimental participants anticipated giving a public speech (A. Bechara, D. Tranel, & H. Damasio, 2000). Experimental participants who were anticipating the speech learned the contingencies of the choices more slowly, and there was a gender interaction later in the game, with stressed female participants having more explicit knowledge and more advantageous performance and stressed male participants having poorer explicit knowledge and less advantageous performance. Effects of anticipatory stress on decision making are complex and depend on both the nature of the task and the individual. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

SHAPE-assisted intuitive decision making and problem solving: Information-processing-based training for conditions of cognitive busyness.

The present study tested the usefulness of a normative model of decision making designed for individuals and teams that emphasized 5 processes needed in cognitively busy decision situations: scrutinize symptoms, hypothesize solutions, analyze proposed solutions, perform modifications and corrections, and evaluate results (SHAPE). All teams (102) were trained in task skills and practiced solving problems before the experimental decision-making situation, a cognitively busy computer-simulated decision situation. Half of the teams were trained in the SHAPE algorithm. Half of the teams received no decision-making training (the intuition condition). Results indicate that SHAPE-assisted intuitive decision making is faster and more accurate than unassisted intuitive decision making. Furthermore, SHAPE-trained teams experienced lower levels of stress, maintained better task performance, and performed more synchronously than teams receiving no decision-making training. Preliminary evidence that SHAPE creates a shared metacognitive strategy is presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of dominance on group decision making: Toward a stress-reduction explanation of groupthink.

Investigated the effects of procedural guidelines for decision making and a personality trait (dominance) on state anxiety and decision quality. 112 undergraduate students who served as Ss were administered the EPPS to determine high or low dominance. Ss participated in 28 4-person, mixed-sex groups and were audiorecorded while they completed a group decision-making task. Results indicate that groups composed of highly dominant members made higher quality decisions, exhibited lower state anxiety, and took more time to reach a decision. They also tended to make more statements of disagreement and agreement and to report more group influence on the members. Results provide support for a stress-reduction explanation of I. L. Janis's (1972) "groupthink" hypothesis with respect to groups composed of either high- or low-dominance individuals. Despite the support of the groupthink hypothesis with respect to dominance, the manipulation of decision-making procedures affected only decision time. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of stereotypes in decision making and information-processing strategies.

Investigated the effects of stereotyping on reactions to a behavioral transgression and the recall of information bearing on it in 2 experiments with 112 undergraduates. Ss read a case file describing a transgression (a job-related infraction in Exp I, a criminal act in Exp II) committed by a target. In some cases, the target's transgression was stereotypic of the target's ethnic group (conveyed through his name), and in other cases it was not. After reading the case file, Ss judged the likelihood that the transgression would recur and recommended punishment for the offense. These judgment data supported the hypothesis that stereotypes function as judgmental heuristics. Ss used a stereotype of the target to infer the reasons for the transgression and based their punishment decisions on the implications of these inferences, considering other relevant information only when a stereotype-based explanation of the behavior was not available. However, recall data suggest that, once a stereotype-based impression of the crime and its determinants was formed, Ss reviewed other available information to confirm the implications of this impression. This led to differential recall of presented information, depending on whether its implications were consistent with, inconsistent with, or irrelevant to those of the stereotype. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stereotypic biases in social decision making and memory: Testing process models of stereotype use.

Two information-processing mechanisms that could potentially contribute to judgmental discrimination against the members of stereotyped social groups were examined in 2 experiments, using a mock juror decision-making task. Both postulated mechanisms involve biased processing of judgment-relevant evidence. The interpretation hypothesis asserts that the activation of stereotypic concepts influences the perceived probative implications of other evidence. The selective processing hypothesis asserts that stereotype-consistent evidence is processed more extensively than is inconsistent evidence. Judgment and memory data from the 1st experiment supported the general notion that stereotype-based discrimination emerges from biased evidence processing. The specific pattern of results supported selective processing rather than interpretation biases as the critical process underlying observed judgmental discrimination. The 2nd experiment corroborated this conclusion by showing that a manipulation that prevents selective processing of the evidence effectively eliminated biases in judgments and recall pertaining to stereotyped targets. Implications for a general understanding of stereotyping and discrimination are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age, executive function and social decision making: A dorsolateral prefrontal theory of cognitive aging.

Current neuropsychological models propose that some age-related cognitive changes are due to frontal-lobe deterioration. However, these models have not considered the possible subdivision of the frontal lobes into the dorsolateral and ventromedial regions. This study assessed the age effects on 3 tasks of executive function and working memory, tasks dependent on dorsolateral prefrontal dysfunction; and 3 tasks of emotion and social decision making, tasks dependent on ventromedial prefrontal dysfunction. Age-related differences in performance were found on all tasks dependent on dorsolateral prefrontal dysfunction. In contrast, age-related differences were not found on the majority of the tasks dependent on ventromedial prefrontal dysfunction. The results support a specific dorsolateral prefrontal theory of cognitive changes with age, rather than a global decline in frontal-lobe function. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Changing unsubstantiated belief: Testing the ignorance hypothesis.

Measured undergraduates' belief in paranormal phenomena before and after they completed a 1-semester university course that emphasized basic methodological issues concerning good vs bad evidence and provided alternative explanations for the phenomena. It was hypothesized that a course that exposed students to natural explanations for supposedly paranormal phenomena while emphasizing the characteristics of sound evidence collection would reduce their willingness to express belief. 98 Ss completed the course, but only 83 Ss completed both pre- and posttest measures of the belief questionnaire. 90 Ss who completed the course were administered a follow-up study 1 yr later. 35 students enrolled in other courses served as controls. Findings reveal that reliable reductions in belief endured to some extent over a 1-yr period. The changes brought about by the course were interpreted as resulting from decreases in the Ss' ignorance of basic considerations concerning the nature of reliable evidence. (French abstract) (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)