The Awareness Issue and Memorial Influences upon Accuracy of Verbal Report: A Re-Examination of Some Data
- 1 August 1985
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Psychological Reports
- Vol. 57 (1) , 312-314
- https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1985.57.1.312
Abstract
Nisbett and Wilson hypothesized that conscious awareness is limited to the products of mental processes. They claimed that this hypothesis is consistent with data obtained by Maier in 1931 showing that reports of usefulness of a hint are not correlated with a measure of the actual usefulness of the hint. Analysis of Maier's data shows a significant negative relationship between report of usefulness and apparent actual usefulness of the hint. This is not explained by lack of awareness hypothesized by Nisbett and Wilson but may be due to retroactive interference. It is concluded that the possibility of memorial influences upon accuracy of verbal report must be ruled out before inferences about conscious awareness can be drawn.This publication has 14 references indexed in Scilit:
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