engleski

The influence of item similarity on metacognitive monitoring in simple and complex categorization tasks

The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of item similarity on classification accuracy and confidence judgments in categorization tasks with two mutually exclusive categories defined by a simple or a complex rule. Two experiments using pictorial stimuli that varied on five binary-valued dimensions were conducted. In Experiment 1 (N=71) stimuli were colored arrows presented on a background similar to those used by Waldron and Ashby (2001). In Experiment 2 (N=64) stimuli were drawings of imaginary animals adapted from previous studies by Regehr and Brooks (1993). In both experiments, participants were divided into two groups that learned either a simple task in which categories were separated by a one-dimensional rule or complex task in which categories were separated by a three-dimensional rule. The experiments consisted of category learning and transfer phases. In ten learning blocks participants were asked to learn category memberships relying on feedback about the correctness of their responses. In the transfer phase, novel items that varied in similarity to items observed in the learning phase were introduced. Similarity was manipulated by altering one or two dimensions irrelevant for correct classification. Participants were asked to classify the presented items and to give confidence judgments about each classification. The results of both experiments showed higher accuracy and confidence in simple tasks. Furthermore, in both tasks of Experiment 1 and in the simple task of Experiment 2 accuracy was not influenced by similarity to learned exemplars, while confidence increased as a function of similarity. The results suggest that metacognitive monitoring is influenced by task similarity even when simple one-dimensional rule is available for classification. In the complex task of Experiment 2, accuracy and confidence increased as a function of item similarity suggesting that with more complex pictorial stimuli metacognitive monitoring relies on the same sources as classification decisions.

category learning ; classification accuracy ; metacognitive monitoring ; item similarity ; taks complexity

nije evidentirano