Fluency or congruence? The role of metacognitive monitoring on attribute ratings

Abstract

Processing fluency is a metacognitive cue which can influence both cognitive processes and various judgments, and which can be heightened through directed forgetting (Alter & Oppenheimer, 2009; Lanska, Olds, & Westerman, 2014). Similarly, the incongruence of novel information with an activated schema can cause a cognitive processing slowdown (Dickinson, 2011; Duffy & Keir, 2004). Information is easier to process (therefore, has higher fluency) when it is consistent with previously encountered schemas. In this study, processing fluency was manipulated by presenting participants with information which was consistent or inconsistent with a prior schema. Eye-movements were then measured to evaluate participants’ reading speeds in passages which were schema congruent or incongruent. Results demonstrated an interaction between priming condition and schema congruence as well as an interaction between schema congruence and character gender for first-pass dwell times. Results also showed total dwell time differences between conditions of congruence and character genders, respectively. Furthermore, likeability ratings demonstrated that when counter-stereotypical gender information had been primed, schema incongruent female characters were rated as being less likeable than their male counterparts. These results are discussed in terms of their social implications.