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Type:	Book chapter
Title:	Bottom-up associative mechanisms and generalization can account for apparent contrast effects between causes of different strengths
Author:	Lober, J. Baetu, I. Baker, A.
Citation:	Associative Learning and Cognition: Homage to Professor N.J. Mackintosh. In Memoriam (1935-2015), 2016 / Trobalon, J., Chamizo, V. (ed./s), Ch.4, pp.109-140
Publisher:	University of Barcelona
Publisher Place:	Barcelona, Spain
Issue Date:	2016
Series/Report no.:	Homenatges (Universitat de Barcelona), 51
ISBN:	9788447540563
Editor:	Trobalon, J. Chamizo, V.
Statement of Responsibility:	Janie Lober, Irina Baetu, A. G. Baker
Description:	[Author supplied Abstract] The presence of a strong predictor of an outcome often reduces judgments of a weaker one. One top-down explanation of this finding has been that the stronger cause provides all the information that is needed to predict the outcome -- so the weaker cause is discounted. We have reported results that are inconsistent with this view because judgments of a moderate cause can be enhanced rather than reduced. In two experiments we replicate the fact that the presence of highly informative causes of opposite polarity sometimes enhance rather than reduce judgments of moderate causes. Furthermore, stronger causes of the same polarity can even push judgments of a moderate cause past zero so the causes are judged as opposite to their objective polarity. Moreover, we find that manipulating the number of common perceptual elements in the causes or the salience of the context moderates these competition effects. We present simulations with the Rescorla-Wagner model that are more consistent with these effects than the top-down statistical model.
Rights:	Copyright status unknown
Published version:	http://www.publicacions.ub.edu/ficha.aspx?cod=08516
Appears in Collections:	Aurora harvest 7 Psychology publications

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