The Word Association Implications Test:: do poor judges of implications read too little or too much between the lines?

Abstract

The Word Association Implications Test (WAIT) is an experimental analogue for studying the processes by which novice clinicians learn to read between the lines of psychological data. This research explored the illogic used by poor judges on the WAIT. In a qualitative pilot study, 37 college students used a think-aloud methodology to generate 36 statements as they reasoned about the WAIT judgments. In the main study, 71 new participants rated their agreement with these logical and illogical arguments to assess which were endorsed by good and poor judges. Results suggested that poor judges on the WAIT overgeneralize, make arbitrary inferences and overinterpret diagnostic signs in a pseudo-psychological manner. Thus, poor judges do indeed seem to read too much between the lines.