Mental representation of equivalence and order

von Hecker, Ulrich ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8873-0515, Muller, Elisabeth, Dill, Stefan Kirian and Klauer, Karl Christoph 2023. Mental representation of equivalence and order. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 76 (12) , pp. 2779-2793. 10.1177/17470218231153974

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Abstract

With mental models based on relational information, the present research shows that the semantics expressed by the relation can determine structural properties of the constructed model. In particular, we demonstrate a reversal of the classical, well-replicated Symbolic Distance Effect (SDE), as a function of relational semantics. The classical SDE shows that responses are more accurate, and faster, the wider the distance between queried elements on a mentally constructed rank order. We replicate this effect in a study using a relation that expresses a rank hierarchy (“older than”, Experiment 4). In contrast, we obtain a clear reversal of the same effect for accuracy data when the relation expresses a number of equivalence classes (“is from the same city”, Experiments 1 - 3). In Experiment 3 we find clear evidence of a reversed SDE for accuracy and latency in the above standard condition, and flat curves of means, across pair distances, for accuracy and latency in a condition that makes equivalence classes salient from the beginning. We discuss these findings in the context of a process model of equivalence class formation based on learned piecemeal information.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Psychology
Publisher:	SAGE
ISSN:	1747-0218
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	20 January 2023
Date of Acceptance:	13 January 2023
Last Modified:	23 Nov 2023 13:42
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/156140

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