Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T22:53:32.376Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Task demand not so damning: Improved techniques that mitigate demand in studies that support top-down effects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 January 2017

Emily Balcetis
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY 10003. [email protected]://www.psych.nyu.edu/balcetis/
Shana Cole
Affiliation:
Psychology Department, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854. [email protected]://psych.rutgers.edu/faculty-list-and-links/faculty-profiles-a-contacts/489-shana-cole

Abstract

Firestone & Scholl's (F&S's) techniques to combat task demand by manipulating expectations and offering alternative cover stories are fundamentally flawed because they introduce new forms of demand. We review five superior techniques to mitigate demand used in confirmatory studies of top-down effects. We encourage researchers to apply the same standards when evaluating evidence on both sides of the debate.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Balcetis, E. & Dunning, D. (2010) Wishful seeing: More desired objects are seen as closer. Psychological Science 21:147–52.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Balcetis, E., Dunning, D. & Granot, Y. (2012) Subjective value determines initial dominance in binocular rivalry. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 48:122–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cole, S. & Balcetis, E. (2013) Sources of resources: Bioenergetic and psychoenergetic resources influence distance perception. Social Cognition 31:721–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Durgin, F. H., DeWald, D., Lechich, S., Li, Z. & Ontiveros, Z. (2011a) Action and motivation: Measuring perception or strategies? Psychonomic Bulletin and Review 18(6):1077–82.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stern, C., Cole, S., Gollwitzer, P., Oettingen, G. & Balcetis, E. (2013) Effects of implementation intentions on anxiety, perceived proximity, and motor performance. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 39:623–35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed