Recursive retrospective revaluation of causal judgments.
Recursive causal evaluation is an iterative process in which the evaluation of a target cause, T, is based on the outcome of the evaluation of another cause, C, the evaluation of which itself depends on the evaluation of a 3rd cause, D. Retrospective revaluation consists of backward processing of information as indicated by the fact that the evaluation of T is influenced by subsequent information that is not concerned with T directly. Two experiments demonstrate recursive retrospective revaluation with contingency information presented in list format as well as with trial-by-trial acquisition. Existing associative models are unable to predict the results. The model of recursive causal disambiguation that conceptualizes the revaluation as a recursive process of disambiguation predicts the pattern of results correctly.
Macho
Siegfried
S
Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, Switzerland. siegfried.macho@unifr.ch
Burkart
Judith
J
D000328:Adult; D001245:Association Learning; D001288:Attention; D015984:Causality; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008128:Logic; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D011340:Problem Solving; D011932:Reading