THE LEARNING OF INFLUENCE STRUCTURES.
Abstract
Two experiments in which subjects learned hypothetical influence structures were conducted to examine cognitive biases in the representation of influence relationships. In Experiment I it was found that the degree of hierarchization of the structures does not affect learning, and hence is not a source of bias. However, hierarchial positions with greater influence were easier to learn. These position effects could not be attributed to the abstract structural properties of the learning task: in another group of subjects who learned structurally identical lists of nonsense syllables, no such effects were obtained. Experiment II confirmed the general relationship between the influence of a position and the ease of learning, except for positions having no influence at all, which were the easiest to learn. In addition, greater hierarchical distances were found to be easier to learn. The findings were interpreted in terms of more fundamental cognitive biases, such as transitivity and irreciprocity. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 15, 1965
- Accession Number
- AD0617394
Entities
People
- David Van Kreveld
- Robert B. Zajonc
Organizations
- University of Michigan