Universität zu Köln

Topolinski, Sascha ORCID: 0000-0001-9295-3463, Bakhtiari, Giti and Erle, Thorsten M. (2016). Can I cut the Gordian tnok? The impact of pronounceability, actual solvability, and length on intuitive problem assessments of anagrams. Cognition, 146. S. 439 - 453. AMSTERDAM: ELSEVIER. ISSN 1873-7838

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Abstract

When assessing a problem, many cues can be used to predict solvability and solving effort. Some of these cues, however, can be misleading. The present approach shows that a feature of a problem that is actually related to solving difficulty is used as a cue for solving ease when assessing the problem in the first place. For anagrams, it is an established effect that easy-to-pronounce anagrams (e.g., NOGAL) take more time to being solved than hard-to-pronounce anagrams (e.g., HNWEI). However, when assessing an anagram in the first place, individuals use the feature of pronounceability to predict solving ease, because pronounceability is an instantiation of the general mechanism of processing fluency. Participants (total N=536) received short and long anagrams and nonanagrams and judged solvability and solving ease intuitively without actually solving the items. Easy-to-pronounce letter strings were more frequently judged as being solvable than hard-to-pronounce letters strings (Experiment 1), and were estimated to require less effort (Experiments 2, 4-7) and time to be solved (Experiment 3). This effect was robust for short and long items, anagrams and nonanagrams, and presentation timings from 4 down to 0.5 s, and affected novices and experts alike. Spontaneous solutions did not mediate this effect. Participants were sensitive to actual solvability even for long anagrams (6-11 letters long) presented only for 500 ms. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Topolinski, Sascha UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0001-9295-3463 UNSPECIFIED Bakhtiari, Giti UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Erle, Thorsten M. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-292049
DOI:	10.1016/j.cognition.2015.10.019
Journal or Publication Title:	Cognition
Volume:	146
Page Range:	S. 439 - 453
Date:	2016
Publisher:	ELSEVIER
Place of Publication:	AMSTERDAM
ISSN:	1873-7838
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Human Sciences Faculty of Management, Economy and Social Sciences
Divisions:	Faculty of Human Sciences > Department Psychologie Center of Excellence C-SEB
Subjects:	Psychology
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language PHASIC AFFECTIVE MODULATION; PROCESSING FLUENCY; AFFECTIVE CONSEQUENCES; LEARNED HELPLESSNESS; SEMANTIC COHERENCE; POOR PERFORMANCE; JUDGMENTS; INSIGHT; MEMORY; WORD Multiple languages Psychology, Experimental Multiple languages
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/29204