The dud-alternative effect in memory for associations: putting confidence into local context.
When participants are asked to provide confidence judgments for each provided alternative in a multiple-choice memory task, such judgments are inflated if the assessed alternatives are accompanied by an implausible (dud) alternative. This finding, termed the dud-alternative effect, has been recently documented in a memory setting with a lineup procedure (Charman, Wells, & Joy, Law & Human Behavior 35:479-500 2011). In the present study, we developed a novel paradigm to investigate the dud-alternative effect in memory. The paradigm utilizes a multiple-choice associative recognition task in which dud alternatives can be rejected on the basis of their unfamiliarity. In two experiments, we demonstrated a reliable dud-alternative effect with our novel procedure. The results demonstrated that the dud-alternative effect in episodic memory is not limited to tasks based on perceptual factors, but is a general phenomenon concerning confidence judgments.
School of Psychology, Cardiff University, 64 Park Place, Cardiff, CF10 3AT, UK, HanczakowskiM@cardiff.ac.uk.
Maciej
M
Hanczakowski
Katarzyna
K
Zawadzka
Philip A
PA
Higham
D000328:Adult; D001244:Association; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult