ERIC Number: EJ1491206
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Dec
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: EISSN-2365-7464
Available Date: 2025-10-09
Intrinsic Motivation and False Feedback Reduce the Low Prevalence Effect
Melina A. Kunar1; Olugbemi Moronfolu1; Rupam Jagota1
Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, v10 Article 69 2025
Previous research has found that people miss a large proportion of targets that appear rarely. This Low Prevalence (LP) Effect has implications for applied tasks such as mammography. The current study investigated whether the LP effect can be reduced by feedback and internal incentives, which affect motivation. Experiment 1 found that miss errors were reduced when participants were given false feedback about missed cancers; however, this also led to increased false alarm rates. Experiment 2 found no reduction in miss errors and an increase in false alarms when participants were given false feedback about both miss error and false alarm rates. Experiments 3 and 4 investigated the effect of signing a pledge on LP search. In Experiment 3, participants searched through a meaningless letter visual search task, whereas in Experiment 4 participants searched for a cancer in a mammogram. The results found that signing a pledge reduced the LP effect in the letter search task but not in the mammogram task. Experiment 5 found that the LP effect was reduced in the mammogram search task when the medical importance was emphasised to participants. Overall, the results demonstrate the importance of motivational factors in LP search.
Descriptors: Feedback (Response), Incentives, Accuracy, Motivation, Error Patterns, Arousal Patterns, Screening Tests, Cancer
Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link-springer-com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Data File: URL: https://osf.io/2qwka/
Author Affiliations: 1The University of Warwick, Department of Psychology, Coventry, UK

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