Abstract
In a study of reasoning with four-term verbal analogy problems, we explored the relationship between the effects of an acute,
mild stressor and the complexity of the reasoning process. Participants judged whether analogy problems in the form A:B ::
C:D were valid or invalid, on the basis of whether the relation in the A:B term matched that in the C:D term. Half of the
problems contained a C:D pair semantically near the A:B pair (e.g., NOSE:SCENT :: TONGUE:TASTE), and the other half contained
ones semantically far from A:B (e.g., NOSE:SCENT :: ANTENNA:SIGNAL). After an initial block without stress, participants were
randomly assigned to count backward by 13 s from 1,000 while being told to go faster, or to count forward by 1 s from 0. The
stress-induced participants reported a significant increase in state anxiety as compared to controls immediately after the
mental arithmetic task. Stressed participants performed less accurately (as measured by d’) on both near and far analogy problems, mainly due to an increase in false alarms. We were able to model the influence of
semantic distance using the “learning and inference with schemas and analogies” (LISA) model. Our findings indicated that
even mild increases in stress impair analogical reasoning. However, the decrement does not seem to directly involve the integration
of relations, but rather is due to a shift in decision strategy: Under stress, people show an increased tendency to endorse
analogies as valid when the terms in the individual pairs are semantically related to each other, even if the overall analogical
relationship is not valid.
mild stressor and the complexity of the reasoning process. Participants judged whether analogy problems in the form A:B ::
C:D were valid or invalid, on the basis of whether the relation in the A:B term matched that in the C:D term. Half of the
problems contained a C:D pair semantically near the A:B pair (e.g., NOSE:SCENT :: TONGUE:TASTE), and the other half contained
ones semantically far from A:B (e.g., NOSE:SCENT :: ANTENNA:SIGNAL). After an initial block without stress, participants were
randomly assigned to count backward by 13 s from 1,000 while being told to go faster, or to count forward by 1 s from 0. The
stress-induced participants reported a significant increase in state anxiety as compared to controls immediately after the
mental arithmetic task. Stressed participants performed less accurately (as measured by d’) on both near and far analogy problems, mainly due to an increase in false alarms. We were able to model the influence of
semantic distance using the “learning and inference with schemas and analogies” (LISA) model. Our findings indicated that
even mild increases in stress impair analogical reasoning. However, the decrement does not seem to directly involve the integration
of relations, but rather is due to a shift in decision strategy: Under stress, people show an increased tendency to endorse
analogies as valid when the terms in the individual pairs are semantically related to each other, even if the overall analogical
relationship is not valid.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Pages 1-9
- DOI 10.3758/s13415-012-0103-0
- Authors
- Michael Vendetti, Department of Psychology, University of California, 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, USA
- Barbara J. Knowlton, Department of Psychology, University of California, 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, USA
- Keith J. Holyoak, Department of Psychology, University of California, 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563, USA
- Journal Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience
- Online ISSN 1531-135X
- Print ISSN 1530-7026