Journal of Experimental Psychology: General最新文献

{"title":"Human children, chimpanzees, and orangutans act rationally in an adaptive collaborative choice task.","authors":"Alejandro Sánchez-Amaro, Roman Stengelin, Luke Maurits, Zohara Jabeen, Carmen Ramoser, Sebastian Grueneisen, Daniel Haun","doi":"10.1037/xge0001923","DOIUrl":"10.1037/xge0001923","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Humans are believed to be uniquely motivated to form and pursue joint goals with conspecifics within collaborative activities. In experimental studies, a preference for collaboration emerges early in child development and is considered a cornerstone of sociocognitive development. Whether the human motivation to collaborate is an autapomorphic trait remains debated: Direct comparisons of collaborative motivations across primate species are rare and often fail to capture individuals' flexibility as well as variation in collaborative tendencies within and across species. The present study introduces an adaptive testing paradigm that allows for tailored comparisons of preferences for collaborative versus individual action by adjusting reward payoffs based on participants' prior choices. Human children aged 4-6 years from Leipzig, Germany (n = 64), zoo-housed chimpanzees (n = 3), and orangutans (n = 3) participated in the study. Participants of all three species predominantly acted as rational maximizers, favoring options yielding higher reward payoffs regardless of whether required actions involved joint or individual effort. Among human children, sensitivity to reward disparities increased with age. Chimpanzees' sensitivity to reward disparities was higher than that of orangutans. These findings demonstrate a greater flexibility in children's collaborative tendencies than previously assumed and suggest that, like nonhuman great apes, children may often act as rational maximizers in collaborative contexts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":15698,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Psychology: General","volume":"155 6","pages":"1536-1549"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148251780","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Does the magnitude of numbers cause lateral shifts of spatial attention (also taking into account directional counting habits and the speed of reaction times)?","authors":"Sara Lo Presti, Angelica Scuderi, Valentina Piga, Silvana Lozito, Mario Pinto, Gabriele Scozia, Stefano Lasaponara, Marco Perugini, Fabrizio Doricchi","doi":"10.1037/xge0001934","DOIUrl":"10.1037/xge0001934","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Both single-lab and multilab replication studies have consistently demonstrated that merely seeing small- or large-magnitude Arabic number cues at central fixation does not shift an observer's attention toward ensuing visual targets into the left and right hemispace, respectively. Other investigations showed no consistent shifts of attention even when, following the detection of lateral targets, participants were asked to process the magnitude of preceding central Arabic cues. Shaki and Fischer (2024) have recently argued that when participants with stable left-to-right (or right-to-left) visual counting habits are asked to detect lateral targets only in trials with small- or large-magnitude cues, that is, are asked to process number magnitude ahead of target detection, then lateral shifts of attention congruent with the magnitudes of the cues and the direction of visual counting habits are observed. Here, we wished to verify this new finding in an adequately large sample of 140 left-to-right counting participants, since exploring and confirming an inherent link between number magnitude processing and spatial attention might have crucial implications in the space-number association functional bases debate. The analyses of reaction times (RTs) showed no evidence of shifts of attention induced by central Arabic cues. No shift was also found when the influence of the speed of RTs was taken into account through RT bin analyses run with vincentization procedure. These results point out that the isolated processing of number magnitude does not inherently entail the activation of a spatial representation of magnitude and the triggering of corresponding shifts of spatial attention along a left-to-right oriented mental number line. This negative evidence indirectly supports alternative views that conceive the space-number association as the product of the concomitant processing of both magnitudes, \"small/large,\" and spatial codes, \"left/right,\" in the task at hand. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":15698,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Psychology: General","volume":" ","pages":"1500-1511"},"PeriodicalIF":3.5,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147816134","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Why young children think actions aren't swayed by sunk costs: Testing two accounts.","authors":"Claudia G Sehl, Stephanie Denison, Ori Friedman","doi":"10.1037/xge0001933","DOIUrl":"10.1037/xge0001933","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Adults think that sunk costs are relevant to predicting choices, but young children do not. In this article, we tested between two accounts for why children do not make sunk cost predictions. One account holds that children conceive of sunk costs in a fundamentally different way than adults. The other account denies this but holds that children do not reason about sunk costs spontaneously. We tested between these accounts in three experiments on 4- to 7-year-olds (<i>N</i> = 484). Children saw sunk cost scenarios where an agent collected objects that were easy or difficult to obtain but could only keep one. Before predicting the agent's choice, children were prompted to think about some aspect of the situation theorized to underlie sunk cost predictions in adults (effort, waste, emotion) or instead were asked a control question. The findings supported both accounts. In line with the spontaneity account, children aged 6 and older made sunk cost predictions when prompted to think about effort (all experiments), the agent's emotions (Experiment 1), and one form of waste (Experiment 3). However, in line with the account positing discontinuity between children and adults, prompting did not bring younger children to make sunk cost predictions, and even among older children, predictions were not at ceiling. This suggests that sunk costs are not fundamental to conceptions of choice. The developmental shift we observed likely reflects broadening in the factors that children see as relevant for choices around objects. We discuss potential drivers of this shift, including firsthand experience with costs and enculturation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":15698,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Psychology: General","volume":" ","pages":"1512-1522"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147868503","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Attributing experts' achievements to effort rather than to natural ability leads to better performance.","authors":"Nuria Tolsá-Caballero, Chia-Jung Tsay","doi":"10.1037/xge0001916","DOIUrl":"10.1037/xge0001916","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Prior research shows that how people interpret their own achievements-whether stemming from effort or natural talent-influences their motivation. Yet little is known about whether attributions for others' achievements shape observers' motivation and performance. Across five studies, we investigate the effects of attributions about the achievements of experts on learners. Studies 1-3 test the motivational impact of effort versus natural talent narratives-stories portraying achievements as driven by hard work or innate ability-using complementary approaches: an observational analysis of \"Rate My Professors,\" the largest publicly available data set of teaching evaluations (N = 1,227); a preregistered lab experiment (N = 791); and a meta-analysis of 12 additional replication experiments (N = 3,563). Effort narratives enhanced learners' self-efficacy and valuation of effort, yielding better learning outcomes. Studies 4 and 5 tested whether effort narratives about experts outperform narratives without attributional cues and whether this advantage varies as a function of expertise level. In Study 4, a large randomized field experiment with Guatemalan high school students (N = 27,791), effort narratives about experts improved learning outcomes relative to no-cue narratives. The results of Study 5, a preregistered lab experiment (N = 1,576), suggest that effort narratives may particularly benefit learners who, in the absence of cues, default to natural talent explanations-a common pattern among participants. The advantages of effort versus no-cue narratives did not extend to peer role models, and among experts, differences in accomplishment did not moderate the effect. Together, our findings extend attribution theories of motivation into the interpersonal domain and suggest that framing experts' achievements as effort-based can be a powerful, low-cost tool to boost motivation and performance. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":15698,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Psychology: General","volume":"155 6","pages":"1479-1499"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148251088","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Intrusions into script-like action sequences: A behavioral investigation.","authors":"Maomiao Peng, Mary A Peterson, Lynn Nadel","doi":"10.1037/xge0001937","DOIUrl":"10.1037/xge0001937","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Prior knowledge can facilitate the learning of related material, while this new learning can itself modify the memory underlying that prior knowledge. Research on the flexibility of memory has concentrated on episodic memories (Hupbach et al., 2007), fear-related associations (Su et al., 2022), and categorical knowledge (Richter et al., 2019); little is known about the memories for structured action sequences. To address this, we trained participants on two minimal script-like action sequences containing repeated object pairs while manipulating two factors: the similarity between scripts (four vs. six repeated pairs) and the required action linking objects to target boxes into which they were to be moved (click vs. drag). We found that memory intrusions-recalling elements or subsequences from the later sequence when asked to recall the initial sequence-occurred not only for isolated elements but also as linked intrusions involving both object and location. These memory intrusions were more likely with six (vs. four) repeated pairs and when participants used the drag (vs. click) action. Experiment 2 tested whether the results of Experiment 1 could be replicated at the group level and assessed their stability across time at the individual level. While the basic results of Experiment 1 were replicated in Experiment 2, its results were less conclusive regarding whether memory intrusions reflect trait-like stability across time. Together, these findings demonstrated that intrusions into previously learned action sequences occur with new learning, highlighting the plasticity of memories involving script-like behaviors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":15698,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Psychology: General","volume":"155 6","pages":"1575-1588"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148251770","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Applicants of color encounter discrimination based on cultural foreignness stereotypes in the labor market.","authors":"Terrènce Pope, Linda Zou, Fasika Hailu, Laura Banham, Mona El-Hout, Sapna Cheryan","doi":"10.1037/xge0001902","DOIUrl":"10.1037/xge0001902","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The stereotype that people of color are less American than White Americans may lead to hiring and employment discrimination. We test this prediction in four experiments that simulate hiring decisions with White adults, White students, and racially diverse students (total <i>N</i> = 2,146) and one archival analysis (330 discrimination cases). We further identify job contexts where this form of discrimination is likely to occur and which groups may be most vulnerable. In Studies 1 and 2, Asian and Latino Americans were less likely to be selected than Black Americans for a job that emphasized stereotypically American characteristics (e.g., English skills, familiarity with American culture), even when their first names were Anglicized. Stereotypes about Asian and Latino Americans' cultural foreignness mediated their lower perceived hireability. Extending to a broader range of racial identities, gender identities, and job contexts revealed that for a stereotypically American job, Asian, Arab, and Latino/a American men and women were perceived as less hireable than Black Americans, who were perceived as less hireable than White Americans. However, when a job favored stereotypically high-status characteristics (e.g., technical skills, advanced education), Black, Latino/a, and Arab American men and women were perceived as less hireable than Asian and White Americans (Studies 3 and 4). An analysis of U.S. employment discrimination court cases revealed that Asian, Arab, and Latino American plaintiffs were more likely than Black American plaintiffs to report experiencing discrimination based on cultural foreignness stereotypes (Study 5). Findings illuminate when, why, and for whom stereotypes about cultural foreignness shape experiences with racial discrimination in the U.S. labor market. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":15698,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Psychology: General","volume":" ","pages":"1347-1370"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147816196","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Does one person make a difference? Many-one effects in judgments of prosocial action.","authors":"Joshua Lewis, Shalena Srna, Johanna Salu, Carter Allen, Erin Morrissey, Matti Wilks, Christoph Winter, Lucius Caviola","doi":"10.1037/xge0001924","DOIUrl":"10.1037/xge0001924","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>With prosocial action, there are both benefits to society and personal costs to those who act. We document a \"many-one effect\" in how people weigh these costs and benefits when assessing others' actions. For example, people might believe the expected air-quality benefits outweigh the personal inconvenience to 10,000 people walking to work instead of driving, but not one person. More generally, people more often judge the combined prosocial benefits to outweigh the combined personal costs when there are many actors than when there is just one (or a few). We find support for this hypothesis across 13 experiments (N = 8,402), including samples of adults and children, individualistic and collectivistic sample populations, elected policymakers, and lawyers and judges, in both between-subjects and within-subjects designs and in both judgments of hypothetical scenarios and real decisions about how other participants should spend bonus payments. The many-one effect persists in scenarios designed to limit rational justifications, for example, when each additional actor has a smaller marginal impact (Experiments 2A-2E). We propose that this effect arises from \"differential scope sensitivity.\" Compared to personal costs, the societal benefits can more easily be compared to the size of the societal problem (Experiment 2F), which will make people more scope sensitive to them. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":15698,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Psychology: General","volume":"155 6","pages":"1457-1478"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148251344","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Supplemental Material for Signatures of Adaptive Memory Search: How Early Linguistic Input Shapes Strategic Use of Lexical Information","authors":"","doi":"10.1037/xge0001917.supp","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001917.supp","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":15698,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Psychology: General","volume":"33 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148287355","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Supplemental Material for Calibrating Growth Mindset About Intelligence: Increased Blame, Effort Misperception, and a Genes-and-Growth Solution for Blame","authors":"","doi":"10.1037/xge0001944.supp","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001944.supp","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":15698,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Psychology: General","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148286804","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Supplemental Material for Sequential Information Preferences in Uncertain Decision Making","authors":"","doi":"10.1037/xge0001941.supp","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001941.supp","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":15698,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Psychology: General","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148287354","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}