Abstract
| Language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages | 1664-1680 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| Journal | Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology |
| Volume | 59 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2006 |
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Keywords
- digit invariance learning
- social psychology
- educational psychology
- abstraction
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A dual process account of digit invariance learning. / Kelly, S.W.; Wilkin, K.
In: Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, Vol. 59, No. 9, 2006, p. 1664-1680.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - A dual process account of digit invariance learning
AU - Kelly, S.W.
AU - Wilkin, K.
PY - 2006
Y1 - 2006
N2 - Performance in the McGeorge and Burton (1990) digit invariance task was originally thought to be mediated by unconscious abstraction of a "rule" that identified the invariant feature across all study items. Subsequent explanations have suggested explicit strategy use or similarity-to-exemplar matching rather than abstraction. This paper presents data that suggest that both similarity and abstraction can be used under different task demands. Delay between study and test afforded abstraction of the invariant knowledge whereas reducing the pool of study exemplars enhanced responding based on specific similarity. These results parallel effects found in the categorization literature. Rule abstraction in this sense may be due to statistical learning of feature frequency rather than abstraction of a central tendency or a complex/conceptual rule. Categorizing responses into subjective memory states (remember/know/guess) demonstrates that neither the similarity matching nor the abstraction mechanism uses information from episodic memory. Confidence measures show that participants are more confident of responses when the prototypical representation is used but not specific similarity. Taken together, these data suggest that abstracted knowledge is not held consciously but that participants have meta-awareness of when they are using the abstracted representation.
AB - Performance in the McGeorge and Burton (1990) digit invariance task was originally thought to be mediated by unconscious abstraction of a "rule" that identified the invariant feature across all study items. Subsequent explanations have suggested explicit strategy use or similarity-to-exemplar matching rather than abstraction. This paper presents data that suggest that both similarity and abstraction can be used under different task demands. Delay between study and test afforded abstraction of the invariant knowledge whereas reducing the pool of study exemplars enhanced responding based on specific similarity. These results parallel effects found in the categorization literature. Rule abstraction in this sense may be due to statistical learning of feature frequency rather than abstraction of a central tendency or a complex/conceptual rule. Categorizing responses into subjective memory states (remember/know/guess) demonstrates that neither the similarity matching nor the abstraction mechanism uses information from episodic memory. Confidence measures show that participants are more confident of responses when the prototypical representation is used but not specific similarity. Taken together, these data suggest that abstracted knowledge is not held consciously but that participants have meta-awareness of when they are using the abstracted representation.
KW - digit invariance learning
KW - social psychology
KW - educational psychology
KW - abstraction
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17470210500303839
U2 - 10.1080/17470210500303839
DO - 10.1080/17470210500303839
M3 - Article
VL - 59
SP - 1664
EP - 1680
JO - Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
T2 - Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
JF - Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
SN - 1747-0218
IS - 9
ER -