Fuzzy-trace Theory Research Articles

Using fuzzy-trace theory to understand and improve health judgments, decisions, and behaviors: A literature review.

Using fuzzy-trace theory to understand and improve health judgments, decisions, and behaviors: A literature review.

Supplemental Material for Using Fuzzy-Trace Theory to Understand and Improve Health Judgments, Decisions, and Behaviors: A Literature Review

Supplemental Material for Using Fuzzy-Trace Theory to Understand and Improve Health Judgments, Decisions, and Behaviors: A Literature Review

Intuition and analytic processes in probabilistic reasoning: The role of time pressure

Dual-process theories distinguish between human reasoning that relies on fast, intuitive processing and reasoning via cognitively demanding, slower analytic processing. Fuzzy-trace theory, in contrast, holds that intuitive processes are at the apex of cognitive development and emphasizes successes of intuitive reasoning. We address the role of intuition by manipulating time pressure in a probabilistic reasoning task. This task can be correctly solved by slow algorithmic processes, but requiring a quick response should encourage the use of fast intuitive processes. Adolescents and undergraduates completed three problems in which they compared a small-numbered ratio (which was always 9-in-10) to a large-numbered ratio that varied: a) 85-in-95 (smaller than 9-in-10); b) 90-in-100 (equal to 9-in-10); and c) 95-in-105 (larger than 9-in-10). Surprisingly, time pressure did not affect performance. Intelligence, cognitive reflection, and numeracy were correlated with performance, but only under time pressure. Advanced reasoning processes can be fast, intuitive, and contribute to cognitive abilities, in accordance with fuzzy-trace theory.

Fuzzy-trace theory and lifespan cognitive development

Fuzzy-trace theory (FTT) emphasizes the use of core theoretical principles, such as the verbatim-gist distinction, to predict new findings about cognitive development that are counterintuitive from the perspective of other theories or of common-sense. To the extent that such predictions are confirmed, the range of phenomena that are explained expands without increasing the complexity of the theory's assumptions. We examine research on recent examples of such predictions during four epochs of cognitive development: childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, and late adulthood. During the first two, the featured predictions are surprising developmental reversals in false memory (childhood) and in risky decision making (adolescence). During young adulthood, FTT predicts that a retrieval operation that figures centrally in dual-process theories of memory, recollection, is bivariate rather than univariate. During the late adulthood, FTT identifies a retrieval operation, reconstruction, that has been omitted from current theories of normal memory declines in aging and pathological declines in dementia. The theory predicts that reconstruction is a major factor in such declines and that it is able to forecast future dementia.

Educating Intuition

Risky decision making, especially in adolescence, is a major public health problem. However, fuzzy-trace theory suggests that bad outcomes are preventable by changing thinking and, therefore, feelings about risks. The theory aligns with new findings and has been shown to be effective in experiments on decreasing sexual risk taking, increasing medication adherence, and tailoring genetic testing. Despite the vulnerabilities of the adolescent brain, decision processes can be modified by applying evidence-based theory.

How reasoning, judgment, and decision making are colored by gist-based intuition: A fuzzy-trace theory approach

Fuzzy-trace theory distinguishes verbatim (literal, exact) from gist (meaningful) representations, predicting that reliance on gist increases with experience and expertise. Thus, many judgment-and-decision-making biases increase with development, such that cognition is colored by context in ways that violate logical coherence and probability theories. Nevertheless, this increase in gist-based intuition is adaptive: Gist is stable, less sensitive to interference, and easier to manipulate. Moreover, gist captures the functionally significant essence of information, supporting healthier and more robust decision processes. We describe how fuzzy-trace theory accounts for judgment-and-decision making phenomena, predicting the paradoxical arc of these processes with the development of experience and expertise. We present data linking gist memory processes to gist processing in decision making and provide illustrations of gist reliance in medicine, public health, and intelligence analysis. We report the first evidence of a predicted link between false memory and framing biases in risky choice.

Mecanismos Explicativos das Falsas Memórias no Paradigma DRM

Neste artigo apresenta-se uma revisao da literatura sobre as principais teorias e mecanismos explicativos da ocorrencia de falsas memorias no paradigma Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM). Sao tambem apresentados dados de artigos empiricos que suportam cada uma das teorias, e discutidas as suas implicacoes para a compreensao deste fenomeno. Historicamente, as primeiras explicacoes teoricas centravam-se no conceito de associacao para explicar as intrusoes em tarefas de memoria. Mais tarde, o conceito de ativacao assumiu grande relevância para explicar a ocorrencia de memorias falsas no paradigma DRM. Contudo, o conceito de ativacao revelou-se insuficiente para explicar alguns resultados descritos por varios autores. Assim, junto com os mecanismos de ativacao, as duas grandes teorias explicativas (teoria de ativacao e monitoramento e teoria do traco difuso) consideram a existencia de mecanismos de monitoramento ou controle. Os mecanismos de monitoramento permitem explicar a diminuicao ou o desaparecimento das memorias falsas em algumas condicoes experimentais. Apesar de serem diferentes, as visoes de ambas as teorias nao sao inconciliaveis e talvez sejam necessarias para a integral compreensao das falsas memorias no paradigma DRM. Assim, propoe-se a adocao de uma abordagem teorica que integre contributos das duas teorias.

Categorical and associative relations increase false memory relative to purely associative relations.

The goal of the present study was to examine the contributions of associative strength and similarity in terms of shared features to the production of false memories in the Deese/Roediger-McDermott list-learning paradigm. Whereas the activation/monitoring account suggests that false memories are driven by automatic associative activation from list items to nonpresented lures, combined with errors in source monitoring, other accounts (e.g., fuzzy trace theory, global-matching models) emphasize the importance of semantic-level similarity, and thus predict that shared features between list and lure items will increase false memory. Participants studied lists of nine items related to a nonpresented lure. Half of the lists consisted of items that were associated but did not share features with the lure, and the other half included items that were equally associated but also shared features with the lure (in many cases, these were taxonomically related items). The two types of lists were carefully matched in terms of a variety of lexical and semantic factors, and the same lures were used across list types. In two experiments, false recognition of the critical lures was greater following the study of lists that shared features with the critical lure, suggesting that similarity at a categorical or taxonomic level contributes to false memory above and beyond associative strength. We refer to this phenomenon as a "feature boost" that reflects additive effects of shared meaning and association strength and is generally consistent with accounts of false memory that have emphasized thematic or feature-level similarity among studied and nonstudied representations.

Episodic Memory Does Not Add Up: Verbatim-Gist Superposition Predicts Violations of the Additive Law of Probability.

Fuzzy-trace theory's assumptions about memory representation are cognitive examples of the familiar superposition property of physical quantum systems. When those assumptions are implemented in a formal quantum model (QEMc), they predict that episodic memory will violate the additive law of probability: If memory is tested for a partition of an item's possible episodic states, the individual probabilities of remembering the item as belonging to each state must sum to more than 1. We detected this phenomenon using two standard designs, item false memory and source false memory. The quantum implementation of fuzzy-trace theory also predicts that violations of the additive law will vary in strength as a function of reliance on gist memory. That prediction, too, was confirmed via a series of manipulations (e.g., semantic relatedness, testing delay) that are thought to increase gist reliance. Surprisingly, an analysis of the underlying structure of violations of the additive law revealed that as a general rule, increases in remembering correct episodic states do not produce commensurate reductions in remembering incorrect states.

Gist Representations and Communication of Risks about HIV-AIDS: A Fuzzy-Trace Theory Approach.

As predicted by fuzzy-trace theory, people with a range of training—from untrained adolescents to expert physicians—are susceptible to biases and errors in judgment and perception of HIV-AIDS risk. To explain why this occurs, we introduce fuzzy-trace theory as a theoretical perspective that describes these errors to be a function of knowledge deficits, gist-based representation of risk categories, retrieval failure for risk knowledge, and processing interference (e.g., base-rate neglect) in combining risk estimates. These principles explain how people perceive HIV-AIDS risk and why they take risks with potentially lethal outcomes, often despite rote (verbatim) knowledge.For example, people inappropriately generalize the wrong gist about condoms' effectiveness against fluid-borne disease to diseases that are transferred skin-to-skin, such as HPV. We also describe how variation in processing in adolescence (e.g., more verbatim processing compared to adults) can be a route to risk-taking that explains key aspects of why many people are infected with HIV in youth, as well as how interventions that emphasize bottom-line gists communicate risks effectively.

List blocking and longer retention intervals reveal an influence of gist processing for lexically ambiguous critical lures.

In two experiments, we examined veridical and false memory for lists of associates from two meanings (e.g., stumble, trip, harvest, pumpkin, etc.) that converged upon a single, lexically ambiguous critical lure (e.g., fall), in order to compare the activation-monitoring and fuzzy-trace false memory accounts. In Experiment 1, we presented study lists that were blocked or alternated by meaning (within subjects), followed by a free recall test completed immediately or after a 2.5-min delay. Correct recall was greater for blocked than for alternated lists. Critical-lure false recall was greater for blocked lists on an immediate test, whereas both list types produced equivalent false recall on a delayed test. In Experiment 2, lists blocked and alternated by meaning were presented via a between-subjects design, in order to eliminate possible list-type carryover effects. Correct recall replicated the result from Experiment 1; however, blocking lists increased false recall on delayed, but not on immediate, tests. Across the experiments, clustering correct recall by meaning increased across the delay selectively for the alternated lists. Our results suggest that thematic (i.e., gist) processes are influential for false recall, especially following a delay, a pattern consistent with fuzzy-trace theory.

Tutorial dialogues and gist explanations of genetic breast cancer risk.

The intelligent tutoring system (ITS) BRCA Gist is a Web-based tutor developed using the Shareable Knowledge Objects (SKO) platform that uses latent semantic analysis to engage women in natural-language dialogues to teach about breast cancer risk. BRCA Gist appears to be the first ITS designed to assist patients' health decision making. Two studies provide fine-grained analyses of the verbal interactions between BRCA Gist and women responding to five questions pertaining to breast cancer and genetic risk. We examined how "gist explanations" generated by participants during natural-language dialogues related to outcomes. Using reliable rubrics, scripts of the participants' verbal interactions with BRCA Gist were rated for content and for the appropriateness of the tutor's responses. Human researchers' scores for the content covered by the participants were strongly correlated with the coverage scores generated by BRCA Gist, indicating that BRCA Gist accurately assesses the extent to which people respond appropriately. In Study 1, participants' performance during the dialogues was consistently associated with learning outcomes about breast cancer risk. Study 2 was a field study with a more diverse population. Participants with an undergraduate degree or less education who were randomly assigned to BRCA Gist scored higher on tests of knowledge than those assigned to the National Cancer Institute website or than a control group. We replicated findings that the more expected content that participants included in their gist explanations, the better they performed on outcome measures. As fuzzy-trace theory suggests, encouraging people to develop and elaborate upon gist explanations appears to improve learning, comprehension, and decision making.

Development of Risky Decision Making: Fuzzy-Trace Theory and Neurobiological Perspectives.

Developmental differences in mental representations of choices, reward sensitivity, and behavioral inhibition (self-control) explain greater susceptibility to risk taking. Ironically, relying on precise representations in reasoning promotes greater risk taking, but this reliance declines as adolescents mature. This phenomenon is known as a developmental reversal; it is called a reversal because it violates traditional developmental expectations of greater cognitive complexity with maturation. Fuzzy-trace theory (FTT) predicts reversals by proposing two types of mental representation (gist and verbatim), and that risk takers rely more on verbatim processing when making decisions. In this article, we describe the main tenets of FTT and explain how it can account for risky decision making. We also explore the neural underpinnings of development and decision making in the context of distinctions from FTT. FTT's predictions elucidate unanswered questions about risk taking, providing directions for research.

Adolescents' and Young Adults' Online Risk Taking: The Role of Gist and Verbatim Representations.

Young people are exposed to and engage in online risky activities, such as disclosing personal information and making unknown friends online. Little research has examined the psychological mechanisms underlying young people's online risk taking. Drawing on fuzzy trace theory, we examined developmental differences in adolescents' and young adults' online risk taking and assessed whether differential reliance on gist representations (based on vague, intuitive knowledge) or verbatim representations (based on specific, factual knowledge) could explain online risk taking. One hundred and twenty two adolescents (ages 13-17) and 172 young adults (ages 18-24) were asked about their past online risk-taking behavior, intentions to engage in future risky online behavior, and gist and verbatim representations. Adolescents had significantly higher intentions to take online risks than young adults. Past risky online behaviors were positively associated with future intentions to take online risks for adolescents and negatively for young adults. Gist representations about risk negatively correlated with intentions to take risks online in both age groups, while verbatim representations positively correlated with online risk intentions, particularly among adolescents. Our results provide novel insights about the underlying mechanisms involved in adolescent and young adults' online risk taking, suggesting the need to tailor the representation of online risk information to different age groups.

Multiple traces or Fuzzy Traces? Converging evidence for applications of modern cognitive theory to psychotherapy.

Neurobiologically informed integration of research on memory, emotion, and behavior change in psychotherapy is needed, which Lane at al. advance. Memory reconsolidation that incorporates new emotional experience plays an important role in therapeutic change, converging with evidence for Fuzzy Trace Theory. Applications of Fuzzy Trace Theory to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for youth at risk for psychosis, and to other aspects of behavior change, are discussed.

Age Alters the Effects of Emotional Valence on False Memory: Using the Simplified Conjoint Recognition Paradigm

Previous research has revealed robust differences between young and older adults' accurate emotional memory. Typically, negative emotion prompts memory performance in young adults, while positive emotion benefits memory performance in older adults. Relatively, much less efforts have been devoted to investigating how emotion divergently influences false memory in older adults compared to young adults. The main purpose of the present study is to explore, first, how age alters the effects of emotional valence on false memory; and second, what are the cognitive mechanisms for the interaction effect of age and emotional valence on false memory. The Fuzzy Trace Theory(FTT) uses verbatim memory trace and gist memory trace to interpret individuals' false memory, especially false memory under the framework of Deese-Roediger-Mc Dermott(DRM) paradigm. According to recent research, we proposed some flaws of traditional paradigms(such as the Remember-Know paradigm) in the area of false memory; and we also argued that it would be critical to include response bias in addition to verbatim and gist memory trace to investigate false memory. To fulfill this need, the simplified conjoint recognition(SCR) paradigm, combined with a statistical method of multinomial processing tree model, was used in the present study to investigate false memory and its associated cognitive mechanisms. A sample of 34 young adults(aged 23 ± 2 years) and 28 older adults(aged 68 ± 5 years) completed the SCR task. In the task, the Cornell/Cortland emotion word lists, along with neutral word lists adopted from previous research, were implemented as experimental materials. The results displayed a significant interaction effect of emotional valence and age on false memory(i.e. false alarm). Specifically, positive emotion decreased older adults' false memory, while negative emotion decreased young adults' false memory.The method of multinomial processing tree model was further employed to model, parameterize and inference the cognitive mechanisms related to the effect of emotional valence on false memory within young and older group. It was found that negative emotion contributed to a lower level of false memory in young adults by lowering their response bias toward negative words. As to older adults, positive emotion boosted retrieval of verbatim memory trace and hampered retrieval of gist memory trace, then led to less false memory for positive words. Our study uncovered interesting age-related differences in emotional false memory; it also confirmed the necessity of a simultaneous consideration of verbatim memory trace, gist memory trace and response bias when investigating false memory.

Decision making and cancer.

We review decision making along the cancer continuum in the contemporary context of informed and shared decision making in which patients are encouraged to take a more active role in their health care. We discuss challenges to achieving informed and shared decision making, including cognitive limitations and emotional factors, but argue that understanding the mechanisms of decision making offers hope for improving decision support. Theoretical approaches to decision making that explain cognition, emotion, and their interaction are described, including classical psychophysical approaches, dual-process approaches that focus on conflicts between emotion versus cognition (or reason), and modern integrative approaches such as fuzzy-trace theory. In contrast to the earlier emphasis on rote use of numerical detail, modern approaches emphasize understanding the bottom-line gist of options (which encompasses emotion and other influences on meaning) and retrieving relevant social and moral values to apply to those gist representations. Finally, research on interventions to support better decision making in clinical settings is reviewed, drawing out implications for future research on decision making and cancer.

Decision Making Processing and Individual Differences: The Perspective of Fuzzy-trace Theory

Decision Making Processing and Individual Differences: The Perspective of Fuzzy-trace Theory

Germs are germs, and why not take a risk? Patients' expectations for prescribing antibiotics in an inner-city emergency department.

. Extensive use of unnecessary antibiotics has driven the emergence of resistant bacterial strains, posing a threat to public health. Physicians are more likely to prescribe antibiotics when they believe that patients expect them. Current attempts to change these expectations highlight the distinction between viruses and bacteria ("germs are germs"). Fuzzy-trace theory further predicts that patients expect antibiotics because they make decisions based on categorical gist, producing strategies that encourage risk taking when the status quo is bad (i.e., "why not take a risk?"). We investigate both hypotheses. . We surveyed patients visiting the emergency department of a large urban hospital (72 [64%] were African American) using 17 Likert scale questions and 2 free-response questions regarding patient expectations for antibiotics. . After the clinical encounter, 113 patients completed the survey. Fifty-four (48%) patients agreed with items that assess the "germs are germs" hypothesis, whereas 86 (76%) agreed with items that assess the "why not take a risk?" hypothesis. "Why not take a risk?" captures significant unique variance in a factor analysis and is neither explained by "germs are germs" nor by patients' lack of knowledge regarding side effects. Of the 81 patients who rejected the "germs are germs" hypothesis, 61 (75%) still indicated agreement with the "why not take a risk?" hypothesis. Several other misconceptions were also investigated. . Our findings suggest that recent public health campaigns that have focused on educating patients about the differences between viruses and bacteria omit a key motivation for why patients expect antibiotics, supporting fuzzy-trace theory's predictions about categorical gist. The implications for public health and emergency medicine are discussed.

The effect of a supplementary ('Gist-based') information leaflet on colorectal cancer knowledge and screening intention: a randomized controlled trial.

Guided by Fuzzy Trace Theory, this study examined the impact of a ‘Gist-based’ leaflet on colorectal cancer screening knowledge and intentions; and tested the interaction with participants’ numerical ability. Adults aged 45–59 years from four UK general practices were randomly assigned to receive standard information (‘The Facts’, n = 2,216) versus standard information plus ‘The Gist’ leaflet (Gist + Facts, n = 2,236). Questionnaires were returned by 964/4,452 individuals (22 %). 82 % of respondents reported having read the information, but those with poor numeracy were less likely (74 vs. 88 %, p < .001). The ‘Gist + Facts’ group were more likely to reach the criterion for adequate knowledge (95 vs. 91 %; p < .01), but this was not moderated by numeracy. Most respondents (98 %) intended to participate in screening, with no group differences and no interaction with numeracy. The improved levels of knowledge and self-reported reading suggest ‘The Gist’ leaflet may increase engagement with colorectal cancer screening, but ceiling effects reduced the likelihood that screening intentions would be affected.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10865-014-9596-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.