Aging and illusory correlation in judgments of co-occurrence.
This study examined the influence of aging on illusory correlation in judgments of co-occurrence. Older and younger Ss judged the probability of co-occurrence for events associated with preexisting expectancies after receiving nonsalient or salient information about the true probabilities of co-occurrence of the events. Results showed that when current information on event co-occurrence was not salient, preexisting expectancies strongly influenced the judgments of both younger and older Ss. However, when this information was salient, younger Ss' judgments reflected more accurate adjustment to the probabilistic relationships in the information than did older Ss' judgments. This age difference may be related to changes in memory processes that accompany increasing age and to differences in judgment processes necessitated by these changes.
Mutter
S A
SA
Department of Psychology, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green 42101.
Pliske
R M
RM
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001245:Association Learning; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006716:Homosexuality / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007088:Illusions; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D010153:Paired-Associate Learning; D010259:Paranoid Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D011337:Probability Learning; D011594:Psychometrics; D012392:Rorschach Test / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012649:Self Concept; D012938:Social Perception