Autobiographical memory: asking and answering questions about past behavior

Shirley Cheng & Hongyan ShiFebruary 7, 2006

Outline

Response alternatives effects

Effects of High/Low frequency

alternatives

Effects on Subsequent questions

Telescoping

Response Alternative Effects

Focus of discussion: Relating the materials this week to what we’ve learned previously.1. Effects of High/Low frequency

alternatives2. Effects of a question on subsequent

ones

Effects of High/Low frequency alternatives

Example: Responsiveness to change in the weatherResults: % of patients reported “more than twice a month”

21% 75%

Schwarz (1999) p.98

Effects of High/Low frequency alternatives

Why does it happen? What type of info. recalled? Moderators?

Menon et al. (1995)

It addresses the boundary conditions of response alternative effects. When the rate of behavior can be

recalled easily and seems sufficient to make estimation.

Regularity of behavior Similarity of others to oneself

Questions This model only holds when memory-based

information is accessible. When will the memory-based information not be accessible? Motivation as a moderator? Other variables?

If behaviors are less frequent (other than brushing teeth, p. 216 Table 1), will this affect the model or results?

Questions Self-report vs. Judgment for others

Will it be different if we do not rate oneself first? (p. 221 Figure 1)

Effects due to response alternatives

This week: Frequency alternative effect Mechanism Information recalled Moderators

Compare to Last week: Response alternatives

order effects (SBS Ch.6)

Response alternatives order effect

26.4% vs. 10.1%

6.5% vs. 16.4%

Krosnick & ALwin (1987)

Questions

Comparing the two types of context effects: Underlying mechanisms? Type of info. recalled? Moderators? Esp. how much we can

control?

Effects on subsequent questions

Scale FrequencyHigh Low

Headaches More frequent

Less frequent

1. Effects of scale frequency:

Health Satisfaction

8.3 7.2

Distress due to headaches

9.3 6.7

Question

“Hence, the same behavioral frequency scale may elicit subsequent reports of higher distress as well as of higher health satisfaction...” (Schwarz, 1999, p.102)

What is the moderator?

Effects on subsequent questions

Last week: Contrast and assimilation effects Asking “marriage satisfaction” then

“life satisfaction” Asking “attitude towards one

politician” then “attitude towards his/her political party”

Questions Comparing the two effects, do they share

similar underlying mechanism?

Effect of scale frequency is another manifestation of contrast/assimilation effect?

Both effects follow the prediction of accessibility-diagnostiscity model?

Telescoping Errors

What is telescoping?

During last week, how many times did you eat out in a restaurant?

During January, how many times did you work out?

Models of telescoping

Uncertainty model (SBS, p.188) Rounding model (SBS, p.190)

Effects of time unit on telescoping: In the past six months In the period from 01/2005 to

07/2005

Morwitz (1997) This paper has found

unanswered issues from previous models, but it does not address them.

Some observations

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Some observations

Proposition 1 and Proposition 5: seem contradictory to each other What is the potential assumption of

Proposition 5?

T h a n k s!

Question

Questionnaire-induced context effects at each stage of cognitive process On frequency reports On attitude (Chapter 4)

Conditions and variables?

Questions

What is the difference between cognitive process involved in formulating frequency judgments and that used for formulating attitudes?