IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/minsoc/v19y2020i1d10.1007_s11299-020-00229-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

On the category adjustment model: another look at Huttenlocher, Hedges, and Vevea (2000)

Author

Listed:
  • Sean Duffy

    (Rutgers University-Camden)

  • John Smith

    (Rutgers University-Camden)

Abstract

Huttenlocher et al. (J Exp Psychol Gen 129:220–241, 2000) introduce the category adjustment model (CAM). Given that participants imperfectly remember stimuli (which we refer to as “targets”), CAM holds that participants maximize accuracy by using information about the distribution of the targets to improve their judgments. CAM predicts that judgments will be a weighted average of the imperfect memory of the target and the mean of the distribution of targets. Huttenlocher et al. (2000) report on three experiments and conclude that CAM is “verified”. We attempt to replicate the conditions in Experiment 3 from Huttenlocher et al. (2000). We analyze judgment-level data rather than averaged data. We find evidence of a bias toward a set of recent targets rather than a bias toward the running mean. We do not find evidence of learning. The judgments in our dataset are not consistent with CAM. We discuss other defects in HHV—including dividing by zero. It seems that evidence for CAM is a statistical artifact that appears when researchers analyze data averaged across trials and do not consider a recency bias.

Suggested Citation

  • Sean Duffy & John Smith, 2020. "On the category adjustment model: another look at Huttenlocher, Hedges, and Vevea (2000)," Mind & Society: Cognitive Studies in Economics and Social Sciences, Springer;Fondazione Rosselli, vol. 19(1), pages 163-193, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:minsoc:v:19:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1007_s11299-020-00229-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s11299-020-00229-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11299-020-00229-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11299-020-00229-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sarah R., Allred & L. Elizabeth, Crawford & Sean, Duffy & John, Smith, 2015. "Working memory and spatial judgments: Cognitive load increases the central tendency bias," MPRA Paper 63520, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Paymon Ashourian & Yonatan Loewenstein, 2011. "Bayesian Inference Underlies the Contraction Bias in Delayed Comparison Tasks," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(5), pages 1-8, May.
    3. repec:cup:judgdm:v:7:y:2012:i:6:p:746-749 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Crosetto, Paolo & Filippin, Antonio & Katuščák, Peter & Smith, John, 2020. "Central tendency bias in belief elicitation," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    5. Duffy, Sean & Smith, John, 2020. "Omitted-variable bias and other matters in the defense of the category adjustment model: A comment on Crawford (2019)," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    6. Duffy, Sean & Smith, John, 2017. "Category effects on stimulus estimation: Shifting and skewed frequency distributions - A reexamination," MPRA Paper 76042, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:2:p:623-650 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hertel, Johanna & Igan, Deniz & Smith, John, 2023. "On the dynamics of the responses in Frydman and Jin (2022): Nullius in verba," MPRA Paper 117788, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Irenaeus Wolff, 2023. "Heuristic Centered-Belief Players," TWI Research Paper Series 128, Thurgauer Wirtschaftsinstitut, Universität Konstanz.
    2. Crosetto, Paolo & Filippin, Antonio & Katuščák, Peter & Smith, John, 2020. "Central tendency bias in belief elicitation," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    3. Ofri Raviv & Merav Ahissar & Yonatan Loewenstein, 2012. "How Recent History Affects Perception: The Normative Approach and Its Heuristic Approximation," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(10), pages 1-10, October.
    4. Sarah R., Allred & L. Elizabeth, Crawford & Sean, Duffy & John, Smith, 2015. "Working memory and spatial judgments: Cognitive load increases the central tendency bias," MPRA Paper 63520, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Deck, Cary & Jahedi, Salar, 2015. "The effect of cognitive load on economic decision making: A survey and new experiments," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 97-119.
    6. Folli, Dominik & Wolff, Irenaeus, 2022. "Biases in belief reports," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    7. Sean Duffy & J. J. Naddeo & David Owens & John Smith, 2024. "Cognitive Load and Mixed Strategies: On Brains and Minimax," International Game Theory Review (IGTR), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 26(03), pages 1-34, September.
    8. Collins, Sean M. & James, Duncan, 2024. "Hidden in plain sight: Payoffs, probability, space, and time in isomorphic tasks," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 117-136.
    9. Hartwig, Fredrik & Landström, Mats & Sörqvist, Patrik, 2022. "Averaging bias in firm acquisition processes," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    10. Allred, Sarah & Duffy, Sean & Smith, John, 2016. "Cognitive load and strategic sophistication," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 162-178.
    11. Ofri Raviv & Merav Ahissar & Yonatan Loewenstein, 2012. "How recent history affects perception: the normative approach and its heuristic approximation," Discussion Paper Series dp628, The Federmann Center for the Study of Rationality, the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
    12. Sagi Jaffe-Dax & Ofri Raviv & Nori Jacoby & Yonatan Loewenstein & Merav Ahissar, 2015. "A computational model of implicit memory captures dyslexics’ perceptual deficits," Discussion Paper Series dp690, The Federmann Center for the Study of Rationality, the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
    13. I. Hachen & S. Reinartz & R. Brasselet & A. Stroligo & M. E. Diamond, 2021. "Dynamics of history-dependent perceptual judgment," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-15, December.
    14. Adrien Wohrer & Christian K Machens, 2015. "On the Number of Neurons and Time Scale of Integration Underlying the Formation of Percepts in the Brain," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(3), pages 1-38, March.
    15. Burdea, Valeria & Woon, Jonathan, 2022. "Online belief elicitation methods," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    16. Ofri Raviv & Itay Lieder & Yonatan Loewenstein & Merav Ahissar, 2014. "Contradictory Behavioral Biases Result from the Influence of Past Stimuli on Perception," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(12), pages 1-10, December.
    17. Øivind Schøyen, 2024. "Suspicious minds and views of fairness," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 97(1), pages 67-88, August.
    18. Duffy, Sean & Smith, John, 2017. "Category effects on stimulus estimation: Shifting and skewed frequency distributions - A reexamination," MPRA Paper 76042, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Duffy, Sean & Smith, John, 2020. "Omitted-variable bias and other matters in the defense of the category adjustment model: A comment on Crawford (2019)," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    20. Allred, Sarah & Crawford, L. Elizabeth & Duffy, Sean & Smith, John, 2014. "Cognitive constraints increase estimation biases: Cognitive load and delay in judgments," MPRA Paper 58314, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Judgment; Memory; Category adjustment model; Central tendency bias; Recency effects; Bayesian judgments;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C9 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments
    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:minsoc:v:19:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1007_s11299-020-00229-1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.