RESUMO
Fuzzy-trace theory predicts that decisionmakers process numerical information about risk at multiple levels in parallel: the simplest level, nominal (categorical some-none) gist, and at more fine-grained levels, involving relative comparison (ordinal less-more gist) and exact quantities (verbatim representations). However, little is known about how individual differences in these numerical representations relate to judgments and decisions, especially involving health tradeoffs and relative risks. To investigate these differences, we administered measures of categorical and ordinal gist representations of number, objective numeracy, and intelligence in two studies (Ns = 978 and 956). In both studies, categorical and ordinal gist representations of number predicted risk judgments and decisions beyond objective numeracy and intelligence. Participants with higher scores in categorical gist were more likely to choose options to avoid cancer recurrence risks; those who were higher in ordinal gist of numbers were more likely to discriminate relative risk of skin cancer; and those with higher scores in objective numeracy were more likely to choose options that were numerically superior overall in terms of relative risk of skin cancer and of genetic risks of breast cancer (e.g., lower numerical probability of cancer). Results support parallel-processing models that assume multiple representations of numerical information about risk, which vary in precision, and illustrate how individual differences in numerical representations are relevant to tradeoffs and risk comparisons in health decisions. These representations cannot be reduced to one another and explain psychological variations in risk processing that go beyond low versus high levels of objective numeracy.
Assuntos
Neoplasias Cutâneas , Humanos , Tomada de Decisões , Individualidade , Fatores de Risco , Lógica FuzzyRESUMO
Neste artigo apresenta-se uma revisão da literatura sobre as principais teorias e mecanismos explicativos da ocorrência de falsas memórias no paradigma Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM). São também apresentados dados de artigos empíricos que suportam cada uma das teorias, e discutidas as suas implicações para a compreensão deste fenômeno. Historicamente, as primeiras explicações teóricas centravam-se no conceito de associação para explicar as intrusões em tarefas de memória. Mais tarde, o conceito de ativação assumiu grande relevância para explicar a ocorrência de memórias falsas no paradigma DRM. Contudo, o conceito de ativação revelou-se insuficiente para explicar alguns resultados descritos por vários autores. Assim, junto com os mecanismos de ativação, as duas grandes teorias explicativas (teoria de ativação e monitoramento e teoria do traço difuso) consideram a existência de mecanismos de monitoramento ou controle. Os mecanismos de monitoramento permitem explicar a diminuição ou o desaparecimento das memórias falsas em algumas condições experimentais. Apesar de serem diferentes, as visões de ambas as teorias não são inconciliáveis e talvez sejam necessárias para a integral compreensão das falsas memórias no paradigma DRM. Assim, propõe-se a adoção de uma abordagem teórica que integre contributos das duas teorias.
This literature review explores the major theories and explanatory mechanisms in the occurrence of false memories in the Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm (DRM). This study presents data from empirical studies that support each of the theories and discusses their implications for understanding false memories. Historically, the first theories explaining false memories focused on the concept of association in order to explain intrusions in memory tasks. Later on, the concept of activation received greater importance in explaining false memories in the DRM paradigm. However, activation by itself is insufficient to explain all the results described by several authors. Therefore, the two current major theories that explain false memories in the DRM paradigm (activation monitoring theory and fuzzy trace theory) consider the existence of monitoring or control mechanisms, together with activation mechanisms. These monitoring mechanisms, which operate in opposite direction to activation mechanisms, explain the decrease or disappearance of false memories under certain circumstances. Although different, activation monitoring and fuzzy trace theories have reconcilable perspectives and may be both necessary for a comprehensive understanding of false memories in the DRM paradigm. Thus, we propose the adoption of a theoretical approach that integrates contributionsfrom both theories.
Assuntos
Teoria Psicológica , MemóriaRESUMO
Despite evidence that individual differences in numeracy affect judgment and decision making, the precise mechanisms underlying how such differences produce biases and fallacies remain unclear. Numeracy scales have been developed without sufficient theoretical grounding, and their relation to other cognitive tasks that assess numerical reasoning, such as the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT), has been debated. In studies conducted in Brazil and in the USA, we administered an objective Numeracy Scale (NS), Subjective Numeracy Scale (SNS), and the CRT to assess whether they measured similar constructs. The Rational-Experiential Inventory, inhibition (go/no-go task), and intelligence were also investigated. By examining factor solutions along with frequent errors for questions that loaded on each factor, we characterized different types of processing captured by different items on these scales. We also tested the predictive power of these factors to account for biases and fallacies in probability judgments. In the first study, 259 Brazilian undergraduates were tested on the conjunction and disjunction fallacies. In the second study, 190 American undergraduates responded to a ratio-bias task. Across the different samples, the results were remarkably similar. The results indicated that the CRT is not just another numeracy scale, that objective and subjective numeracy scales do not measure an identical construct, and that different aspects of numeracy predict different biases and fallacies. Dimensions of numeracy included computational skills such as multiplying, proportional reasoning, mindless or verbatim matching, metacognitive monitoring, and understanding the gist of relative magnitude, consistent with dual-process theories such as fuzzy-trace theory.