Peter Freytag

Pseudocontingencies in a simulated classroom.

The pseudocontingency (PC) illusion is investigated in a simulated classroom setting. Related to the notion of ecological correlations, PCs arise when the assessment of contingencies at the individual level is affected by the base-rate relations at the group level. Positive PCs arise when base rates of 2 variables are skewed in the same direction (e.g., high ability and high motivation), whereas negative PCs arise when base rates are skewed in opposite directions. Experiment 1 demonstrates that PCs between student ability and motivation are contingent on effective base-rate assessment at the group level, with a bias toward positive PCs reflecting prior expectancies. Ruling out prior expectancies, Experiment 2 yields symmetric positive and negative PCs. Experiment 3 provides evidence for PC effects on gender stereotypes. Finally, Experiment 4 extends PCs from group base rates to individual student base rates, ruling out an explanation in terms of capacity deficits or inability to assess individuating information.

Inductive Reasoning and Judgment Interference: Experiments on Simpson’s Paradox

In a series of experiments on inductive reasoning, participants assessed the relationship between gender, success, and a covariate in a situation akin to Simpson’s paradox: Although women were less successful then men according to overall statistics, they actually fared better then men at either of two universities. Understanding trivariate relationships of this kind requires cognitive routines similar to analysis of covariance. Across the first five experiments, however, participants generalized the disadvantage of women at the aggregate level to judgments referring to the different levels of the covariate, even when motivation was high and appropriate mental models were activated. The remaining three experiments demonstrated that Simpson’s paradox could be mastered when the salience of the covariate was increased and when the salience of gender was decreased by the inclusion of temporal cues that disambiguate the causal status of the covariate.

Explaining Asymmetric Intergroup Judgments through Differential Aggregation: Computer Simulations and Some New Evidence

Outgroups are often judged to be less differentiated, more homogeneous, and more polarized than ingroups. Theoretical accounts of this outgroup homogeneity effect (OHE) emphasize impoverished knowledge of outgroups, qualitatively different memory representations, or the motivational impact of group membership. A parsimonious explanation for all these findings is proposed, based on the assumption that most operational variants of the OHE can be understood as a result of differential aggregation from unequal stimulus samples. Given that (a) ingroup–related samples are typically larger and richer than outgroup–related samples, and (b) perception in the social domain rests on multiple probabilistic cues, latent information can be extracted more efficiently for ingroups than outgroups. The processes through which differential aggregation in a noisy environment produces different measures of the OHE, the so-called outgroup co-variation effect, outgroup polarization, and other paradigmatic findings, are explicat...

An adaptive-learning approach to affect regulation: Strategic influences on evaluative priming

An adaptive cognition approach to evaluative priming is not compatible with the view that the entire process is automatically determined by prime stimulus valence alone. In addition to the evaluative congruity of individual prime–target pairs, an adaptive regulation function should be sensitive to the base rates of positive and negative stimuli as well as to the perceived contingency between prime and target valence. The present study was particularly concerned with pseudocontingent inferences that offer a proxy for the assessment of contingencies from degraded or incomplete stimulus input. As expected, response latencies were shorter for the more prevalent target valence and for evaluatively congruent trials. However, crucially, the congruity effect was eliminated and overridden by pseudocontingencies inferred from the stimulus environment. These strategic inferences were further enhanced when the task called for the evaluation of both prime stimuli and target stimuli.

Exploiting Attractiveness in Persuasion: Senders’ Implicit Theories About Receivers’ Processing Motivation

Previous research suggests a positive correlation between physical attractiveness and the expectation of positive outcomes in social interactions, such as successful persuasion. However, prominent persuasion theories do not imply a general advantage of attractive senders. Instead, the persuasion success should vary with the receivers’ processing motivation and processing capacity. Focusing on the perspective of the sender, the authors elaborate on lay theories about how attractiveness affects persuasion success. They propose that lay theories (a) match scientific models in that they also comprise the interaction of senders’ attractiveness and receivers’ processing characteristics, (b) guide laypersons’ anticipation of persuasion success, and (c) translate into strategic behavior. They show that anticipated persuasion success depends on the interplay of perceived attractiveness and expectations about receivers’ processing motivation (Experiment 1 and 2). Further experiments show that laypersons strategically attempt to exploit attractiveness in that they approach situations (Experiment 3) and persons (Experiment 4) that promise persuasion success.

On Splitting and Merging Categories: A Regression Account of Subadditivity

Frequency judgments tend to be subadditive: A category’s frequency is judged to be lower than the summed frequency of its subcategories. Thus, by splitting or merging categories, subjective frequencies increase or decrease, respectively. We offer an account of this phenomenon that is based on the statistical principle of regression. Because empirical information is never noise-free, high frequencies are underestimated, and low frequencies are overestimated. The underlying regression principle explains available evidence on subadditivity and allows novel predictions. The findings from two experiments supported predictions derived from the regression account of frequency estimates for split and merged categories: Subadditivity varied systematically as a function of the two parameters determining regression (extremity and reliability). More extreme frequencies and reduced reliability led to increased regression effects. Theoretical implications for subadditive judgments (of frequency, probability, and/or value) are discussed. Although other factors may contribute to subadditivity, their influence needs to exceed the baseline expected from the regression model alone.

Inferring correlations: From exemplars to categories

Research and theorizing suggest a processing advantage of category-level correlations over exemplar-level correlations. That research has also shown that category-level correlations serve as a proxy for inferring exemplar-level correlations. For example, an individual may learn that the demand for a product category, like cheese, in one store predicts the demand for this category in another. The individual could then draw the unwarranted conclusion that the demand for an exemplar, like cheddar, would also predict the demand for this exemplar in the other store. This notion is supported by previous experiments demonstrating that the subjective exemplar-level correlation follows the implication of the category-level correlation. However, in virtually all previous experiments suggesting a processing advantage for category-level over exemplar-level correlations, the stimulus correlation at the category level was substantial, whereas the correlation at the exemplar level was weak. Here, we tested the hypothesis that individuals process the level that is most informative, either the exemplar or the category level. We presented participants with a zero correlation at the category level, but varied the correlation at the exemplar level. Participants presented with a zero correlation across exemplar products correctly reproduced a zero correlation across product categories. When presented with a substantial correlation at the exemplar level, however, they erroneously reproduced a similar correlation at the category level. These findings therefore imply that there is no general processing advantage for correlations at higher aggregation levels. Instead, individuals seemingly attend to the level that holds the most regular information. Findings are discussed regarding the role of covariation strength in correlation detection and use.

Pseudocontingencies derived from categorically organized memory representations

Pseudocontingencies (PCs) allow for inferences about the contingency between two variables X and Y when the conditions for genuine contingency assessment are not met. Even when joint observations Xi and Yi about the same reference objects i are not available or are detached in time or space, the correlation r(Xi,Yi) is readily inferred from base rates. Inferred correlations are positive (negative) if X and Y base rates are skewed in the same (different) directions. Such PC inferences afford useful proxies for actually existing contingencies. While previous studies have focused on PCs due to environmental base rates, the present research highlights memory organization as a natural source of PC effects. When information about two attributes X and Y is represented in a hierarchically organized categorical memory code, as category-wise base rates p(X) and p(Y), the reconstruction of item-level information from category base rates will naturally produce PC effects. Three experiments support this contention. When the yes base rates of two respondents in four questionnaire subscales (categories) were correlated, recalled and predicted item-level responses were correlated in the same direction, even when the original responses to specific items within categories were correlated in the opposite direction.

Fußball verstehen - Beiträge der Sozialpsychologie

Zusammenfassung: Mit der Fusballweltmeisterschaft 2006 in Deutschland werden erneut einige Problemfelder des Fusballs, die im Kern psychologischer Natur sind, eine erhohte offentliche Aufmerksamkeit erzeugen. Dazu zahlen unter anderem die Frage nach dem Heimvorteil des ausrichtenden Verbandes, die Fehleranfalligkeit von Schiedsrichterentscheidungen und die Gefahr von Zuschauerausschreitungen. Anhand eines Uberblicks uber empirische Arbeiten zu diesen ausgewahlten Themenbereichen wird deutlich gemacht, dass es insbesondere Beitrage mit sozialpsychologischem Hintergrund sind, die es ermoglichen, zu entsprechenden Fragestellungen fundiert Stellung zu beziehen und Ansatze fur Problemlosungen zu erarbeiten. Daruber hinaus wird aufgezeigt, dass der Fusballsport unter Umstanden ein besonders gunstiges Anwendungsfeld zur Uberprufung sozialpsychologischer Theorien bietet.

Relational integrativity of prime-target pairs moderates congruity effects in evaluative priming

In evaluative priming, positive or negative primes facilitate reactions to targets that share the same valence. While this effect is commonly explained as reflecting invariant structures in semantic long-term memory or in the sensorimotor system, the present research highlights the role of integrativity in evaluative priming. Integrativity refers to the ease of integrating two concepts into a new meaningful compound representation. In extended material tests using paired comparisons from two pools of positive and negative words, we show that evaluative congruity is highly correlated with integrativity. Therefore, in most priming studies, congruity and integrativity are strongly confounded. When both aspects are disentangled by manipulating congruity and integrativity orthogonally, three priming experiments show that evaluative-priming effects were confined to integrative prime-target pairs. No facilitation of prime-congruent targets was obtained for non-integrative stimuli. These findings are discussed from a broader perspective on priming conceived as flexible, context-dependent, and serving a generative adaptation function.