Some problems in the study of differences in cognitive processes
Some problems in the study of differences in cognitive processes
复制标题
认知过程差异研究中的几个问题
作者：
J. Baron;R. Treiman
为了测试群体在特定能力上是否存在差异，研究人员经常比较他们在两个任务上的表现：一个是对兴趣能力敏感的实验任务，另一个是测量实验任务上其他影响的控制任务。组间差异将反映在差异性缺陷中，即组间实验任务表现的差异大于对照任务表现的差异。在从这样一个结果得出各群体兴趣能力不同的结论之前，必须面对三个方法论问题。首先，差异性缺陷可能是辨别能力的任务差异的假象。也就是说，实验任务可能比控制任务更敏感的组之间的差异，而不是一个感兴趣的能力。第二，差异性缺陷可能是对刺激或任务熟悉程度的群体差异造成的。第三，一种能力的群体差异可能是由于另一种能力的差异，这种差异比第一种能力更普遍，或更不普遍。这些问题影响了许多领域的研究，包括认知发展、精神病理学、学习障碍和智力理论。我们讨论了这些问题的一些可能的解决方案。
To test whether groups differ in a particular ability, researchers often compare their performance on two tasks: an experimental task that is sensitive to the ability of interest and a control task that measures other influences on the experimental task. A group difference will be reflected in a differential deficit, a greater difference between groups in experimental task performance than in control task performance. Before concluding from such a result that the groups differ in the ability of interest, three methodological problems must be faced. First, a differential deficit may be an artifact of task differences in discriminating power. That is, the experimental task may be more sensitive than the control task to group differences in abilities other than the one of interest. Second, a differential deficit may be an artifact of group differences in familiarity with the stimuli or the task. Third, a group difference in one ability may be due to a difference in some other ability that is more, or less, general than the first. These problems affect research in a number of areas, including cognitive development, psychopathology, learning disabilities, and the theory of intelligence. We discuss some possible solutions to these problems.