User:Paytdaddy/Processing fluency

Processing fluency is the ease with which information is processed. It is a cognitive bias in which our thoughts or opinions of something is influenced by how easy our brain processes it and understands information. Tending to perfer simple ideas and things to utilize and understand, we even treasure simple information to be more believable than complex information. This article goes into depth on the cognitive and visual effects of processing fluency. It will then discuss the impacts processing fluency has on the illusions of blocking on category learning and will end on how it applies to real world situations.

Cognition

There are studies that focuses and points out just how processing fluency affects those who are higher in trait mindfulness. Researchers found that “despite consistent findings that processing fluency can affect judgments, relatively little research has examined whether processing fluency can affect behavior... no prior research has examined the interactive effects of personality traits and processing fluency behavior”. The manipulations of processing fluency forced for there to be different explanations in both studies.

A study done within cognition focused on three main points: processing fluency, the individuals’ need for cognition (NFC) and mood. In this experiment, they were able to find that processing fluency was successful. “The results suggested that participants in the high processing fluency condition exhibited a higher level of agreement to our manipulation check... the results revealed a significant interaction effect between processing fluency and NFC”.

To examine the effects of olfactory cues, or the sense of smell, has on processing fluency, researchers conducted a study. “Three lab studies and a well-controlled field study show that complexity of ambient scents, which were objectively manipulated based on an approach suggested by fluency research, can determine how a scent influences consumers”. Researchers were able to identify that it is obvious just how much processing fluency is on the olfactory sense.

In a study, there were three different experiments done on processing fluency and how fluently stimuli is processed. “In Experiment 1, we sought to provide initial evidence for the interactive effect of expected and experienced processing fluency on evaluative judgment... experiment 2 was designed to achieve two objectives:we aimed to replicate the findings of experiment 1 and more importantly, we wanted to address the question of when each of the two pathways would come into play... in experiment 3, we examined the underpinnings of the observed effect”. Researchers were able to conclude that a person’s processing fluency aligned with their expected fluency.

A study focuses on the manipulation of processing fluency. Researchers wanted to find out how amnesic patients would react to the manipulation of processing fluency. There have been previous studies on manipulation of processing fluency that have affected familiarity but not recollection. Researchers were able to conclude that “direct manipulations of processing fluency can disrupt familiarity-based discrimination in amnesia”.

Electrophysiology relates to processing fluency. Researchers used and ERP approach: event-related potential. They were able to conclude that “the analysis of ERP priming effects in the study phase, and the R/K paradigm was utilized to investigate which recognition memory process was affected by processing fluency”. Researchers were able to conclude that processing fluency had a huge impact on recognition memory and it provided a potential neural mechanism.

Visual

Researchers focused on looking at different visual antecedents in immediate aesthetic preferences. In this particular experiment, 3 studies were done. “We examine the link between the 4 measures and aesthetic liking using a large pool of digital abstract artworks in Study 1. In study 2, we experimentally replicate the findings of the first study to confirm their robustness. To generalize the results, study 3 examines preferences for landscape photographs using secondary data of an online photo community”. The four algorithmic measures were: an algorithmic measure of visual simplicity, an algorithmic measure of visual symmetry, an algorithmic measure of visual contrast, and an algorithmic measure of visual self-similarity. Researchers were able to conclude that these four algorithmic measures do have an impact on visual antecedents.

In this article, researchers focused on investigating processing depth, motivation, and the role of attention in processing fluency and relevant advertisement. The experiment consisted of two studies. “The first was a pretest of an ​ad hoc s​cale to measure subjective processing fluency... in the second study, we aimed to investigate the role of attention, processing motivation and processing depth in the relationship between subjective processing fluency and attitude toward an advertisement, attitude towards a brand and purchase intentions”. Researchers were able to conclude the importance in considering the processing fluency theory in advertising research.

Impacts

There is impacts processing fluency has on the illusions of blocking on category learning. researchers were able to find that “(a) learners’ performance benefitted from interleaving, but their metacognitive judgements were not conformity with it, (b) the perceived tendency of metacognitive illusion was reduced by inserting an unrelated cartoon image in the blocked presentation condition to decrease fluency, and  learners came to the experimental task with a pre-existing belief that the instruction of blocking by topic was superior to intermixing topics.” researchers were then able to come to the conclusion that processing fluency was a factor that had an impact on metacognitive illusion.

There are also impacts of perceived processing fluency. A study shows researchers were able to conclude that “regarding its causes, the experimental studies found that features of television reports can heighten perceptions of processing fluency. Regarding its consequences, it was found that heightened perceived fluency biases metacognitive judgments” . Just as in everything, there are pros and cons to processing fluency, and most times the pros outweigh the bads.

Researches focused on a study done to determine how processing fluency can impact a person’s behavior. There were two different studies done in this experiment in order to determine the impact. “Study 1 tested the proposed effect in the context of a pro-environmental campaign... study 2 replicated study 1 in the context of organ donation” . Within these two studies, researchers were able to determine that processing fluency does carry an impact on self-efficacy.

A study to see the impact, if any, on emojis and processing fluency was conducted. “Participants were asked how understandable or believable these messages were and how likely they would be to share the message on social media”. Researchers separated these into three categories, congruent, neutral, and incongruent. Researchers were able to conclude that emojis did indeed have an impact on processing fluency; many people felt they could understand messages better with emojis rather than without.

There is also an impact that processing fluency has on judgement. Researchers were able to conclude that “constant-condition words were judged as more likely to be learned than alternating condition words, but the difference varied in beliefs. Specifically, the difference was the biggest when participants believed the constant condition made words more likely to be learned, followed by believing there was no difference, and then believing the alternating condition made words more likely to be learned”. This meant that processing fluency did have a big impact on judgements.

Real World

Studies focus on the relationship of price promotional offers and how they are impacted by processing fluency. There were four different studies done in this experiment. The first study focused on “comparing processing fluency, liking, and purchase intentions across price and discount information.” Study 2 focuses on price discount situations. Study 3 focuses on data on Groupon. Finally, study 4 focuses on the results from study 2 and 3. Researchers were able to demonstrate that “when consumers are not highly motivated to process numerical information, they may prefer deals that offer less economic value but feature a more fluently processed combination of numbers”.

Researches had the objective to make health materials readable and favorable by processing fluency. To try and reach this objective, they went through about 40 articles on processing fluency and how it can be effective towards humans. They were able to come to the conclusion that “health-care professionals should consider the use of a perceptually fluent design, plain language, numeracy with an appropriate degree of precision, a limited number of key points, and concrete descriptions that make recipients imagine healthy behavior. Such fluently processed materials that are easy to read and understand have enhanced perspicuity and persuasiveness”.

In a study, researchers wanted to figure out how effective they are in influencing those with online purchases. In order to get the best results, they did two studies. “(1) identify cultural differences between the websites of Korean and U.S. travel agencies and (2) investigate the influence of culturally customized websites on WTP in these two markets”. Researchers were able to determine that Korea has cultural incongruence, but although the US has cultural congruence, it does not give them an upper hand.

There was a focus on how illusions can be persuasive in learning and remembering. Throughout the experiment, researchers were able to identify that beliefs can influence interpretation of processing fluency and beliefs on processing fluency itself can influence one's' evaluation of knowing. Researchers also came up with a few ways to overcome fluency biases. These ways consist of thinking about alternative outcomes, highlighting the correct cues, reframing the evaluation task, getting feedback, altering beliefs about fluency, and altering beliefs about intelligence. Researchers were able to conclude that “students’ metacognitive knowledge and monitoring of learning can lead to illusions of knowing such as overconfidence in their understanding of course material or overconfidence of their performance for an upcoming test... there are promising methods to reduce or even eliminate fluency biases”.

See also

• Familiarity heuristic
• Fluency heuristic
• Illusion-of-truth effect
• Mere-exposure effect