title: Decomposing Water-Level Responses: Field Effects as Separate Influences
abstract: A previous study on water-level task performance using binomial mixture analyses showed that subgroups of subjects could be identified which used different response rules. Some subjects used a bottom parallel rule, others used a random-like rule, and still others used the correct response rule. The present study relates the water-level task performance of these subgroups to field effect influences. Subjects were 604 children and adolescents aged 7 to 15 years who responded to eight water-level and eight rod-and-frame task items. The results show that the water-level response distribution is influenced by the frame of the vessel. These field effects are relatively small if subjects maintain a fixed response rule, and they are large if subjects use a nonfixed random rule. Both field effects and response rules contribute to the behavior of subjects responding to water-level task items.
authors.affiliation: University of Munster, Munster, Germany
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lohaus
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kessler
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gediga