Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Chemnitz, Chemnitz, Germany.
Psychon Bull Rev. 2017 Oct;24(5):1398-1412. doi: 10.3758/s13423-017-1294-8.
Finding a probable explanation for observed symptoms is a highly complex task that draws on information retrieval from memory. Recent research suggests that observed symptoms are interpreted in a way that maximizes coherence for a single likely explanation. This becomes particularly clear if symptom sequences support more than one explanation. However, there are no existing process data available that allow coherence maximization to be traced in ambiguous diagnostic situations, where critical information has to be retrieved from memory. In this experiment, we applied memory indexing, an eye-tracking method that affords rich time-course information concerning memory-based cognitive processing during higher order thinking, to reveal symptom processing and the preferred interpretation of symptom sequences. Participants first learned information about causes and symptoms presented in spatial frames. Gaze allocation to emptied spatial frames during symptom processing and during the diagnostic response reflected the subjective status of hypotheses held in memory and the preferred interpretation of ambiguous symptoms. Memory indexing traced how the diagnostic decision developed and revealed instances of hypothesis change and biases in symptom processing. Memory indexing thus provided direct online evidence for coherence maximization in processing ambiguous information.
找到观察到的症状的可能解释是一项高度复杂的任务，需要从记忆中检索信息。最近的研究表明，观察到的症状是按照最大化单一可能解释的连贯性来解释的。如果症状序列支持不止一种解释，这一点就变得尤为明显。然而，在需要从记忆中检索关键信息的模糊诊断情况下，没有现有的过程数据可以追踪连贯性最大化。在这项实验中，我们应用了记忆索引，这是一种眼动追踪方法，它提供了有关在更高阶思维过程中基于记忆的认知处理的丰富时间进程信息，以揭示症状处理和症状序列的首选解释。参与者首先学习了在空间框架中呈现的原因和症状的信息。在症状处理过程中和在诊断反应期间，注视分配到空的空间框架，反映了记忆中假设的主观状态和对模糊症状的首选解释。记忆索引追踪了诊断决策的发展，并揭示了假设变化和症状处理中的偏差实例。因此，记忆索引为处理模糊信息时的连贯性最大化提供了直接的在线证据。
