Learning to generate subjective uncertainty: Effects of training, verbal ability, and stimulus structure

Examined some processes thought to underlie differences in predecision information seeking. 117 teacher education students were given training to a difficult criterion on hypothesis generation or cue attendance vs. instruction without overt responding vs. no training with predictable vs. unpredictable training stimuli. All groups trained to a criterion on cue attendance or hypothesis generation subsequently demonstrated greater hypothesis generation, cue attendance ability, and information seeking than limited- or no-training groups which did not differ from one another. Ss receiving hypothesis generation training with unpredictable stimuli or cue attendance training with predictable stimuli sought a wider range of information than hypothesis generation-predictable- or cue attendance-unpredictable-trained Ss. Ss with high verbal ability benefited more from hypothesis generation training while low verbal ability Ss benefited more from cue attendance training. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).