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The preregistration is available under "Files" > "Archive of OSF Storage" in the "Preregistration" folder of "Experiment 1."

The research on perceived expectations for active aging (PEAA) has to date highlighted several of their positive outcomes, such as better psychological adjustment in the young-old adults who do not work or volunteer (Pavlova & Silbereisen, 2016), and more positive change in caregiving frequency over 1 year (see https://osf.io/b3k4c). In the present research, we aim to understand the implications of PEAA for well-being further by examining the change in general and domain-specific well-being indicators over time in adults of all ages. Furthermore, we will test whether age stereotypes and resources combined with motivation moderate this relationship, as those who are more motivated and resourceful and hold more positive views on aging may experience higher well-being if they perceive higher expectations for active aging. To this end, we will utilize longitudinal data from several waves of the Innovation Sample (N = 2,007, aged 16-94) of the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP-IS).

The aim of the project is the development, testing and application of a new instrument for the assessment of deviant sexual interest, which is to be used as a supportive in diagnostics and therapy, e.g. for persons who have committed sexual abuse against children. The Implicit Association Test (IAT) can be used to assess the strength of implicit associations in memory (Greenwald et al., 1998). In the context of experimental forensic research, the IAT was developed to assess implicit child-sex associations. In a meta-analysis involving 707 subjects, Babchishin et al., 2013 found a good discriminatory ability of the IAT for individuals who have committed sexually abusive acts against children and healthy nonoffending individuals. This certainly decreased significantly, however, when other comparison groups were used, such as individuals who have committed sexual offenses against adults (Babchishin et al., 2013). In the wanting-IAT developed by Rothermund and colleagues at FSU, the aim is to identify the associations for specific memory items through the induction of a "need/motivation" (wanting) to strengthen the desired effects to be measured. Initial studies by colleagues demonstrate the functionality of this approach (e.g., Grigutsch et al., 2019; Koranyi et al., 2017; Koranyi et al., 2020). Therefore, this approach will be modified and tested in a joint collaborative project for the assessment of deviant sexual. In a initial study, approximately 80 healthy heterosexual males with a sexual interest in adults will be examined. Based on the results of this study modifications to the experiment will be made, if necessary, and additional healthy subjects will be studied. In the long term, subjects with a sexual interest in children will be included in the study.

This experiment is a follow up on indirect response activation through prior associations. It studies the possible role of stimulus – stimulus association in transferring an existing stimulus-response association for a given stimulus to the other associated stimulus which was not previously linked with the response. The focus will be specifically on how responses can be transferred across stimuli of different modalities when complex, semantically meaningful stimuli are used. In this case, a response tied to a word from a native language in the visual format to a new pseudoword in the auditory format. This is established by initially pairing two stimuli – one German word (S2) and one auditory pseudoword (S1) stimulus together (step 1). Then, the S2 is paired with a response and the pattern between stimulus and response is learnt (step 2). Following this the matched associated stimulus which is in another modality, namely S1 is introduced and its ability to retrieve the response of the S2 is tested (step 3). Evidence for indirect response activation via a stimulus-stimulus association refers to sensory preconditioning.

The objective of our study is to investigate processes of stereotype acquisition and generalization depending on whether group or context is the relevant cue during learning.

Perceived expectations for active aging (PEAA) improve psychological adjustment in young-old adults who do not volunteer or work (Pavlova & Silbereisen, 2016), but their benefits may also manifest in different types of activities. In our previous study, we showed that PEAA and their positive appraisal predicted high (vs. no) frequency of caregiving one year later in young-old German adults (see https://osf.io/b3k4c). However, as age stereotypes and preparation for age-related changes are strongly implicated in one’s aging process (Kornadt et al., 2015, 2017), their role in the effects of PEAA on activities should be considered. In the present study, we aim to investigate whether the domain-specific relationship between PEAA and activities is mediated by age stereotypes and preparation for age-related changes in German adults of all ages. To this end, we will employ longitudinal data from the Innovation Sample (N = 2,007, aged 16-94) of the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP-IS).

Previously, perceived expectations for active aging (PEAA) were shown to predict better psychological adjustment among young-old German adults (56-75) who were not working or volunteering (Pavlova & Silbereisen, 2016). More recently, we showed that PEAA in the social engagement domain as well as the challenge appraisal of overall PEAA predicted high (vs. no) frequency of caregiving one year later in young-old German adults (see https://osf.io/b3k4c). However, resources and motivation relevant to active aging were more predictive of subjective perceptions of aging and productive activities than PEAA. Furthermore, age stereotypes may be an important factor in the relationship between PEAA and activities (i.e., benefits of PEAA may accrue to those who hold more positive attitudes towards older age). In the present study, we aim to investigate the domain-specific relationships between PEAA and activities and see whether these effects are moderated by age stereotypes as well as resources and motivation (combined into domain-specific indices). To this end, we will use longitudinal data from the Innovation Sample (N=2,007, aged 16-94) of the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP-IS).

The aim of the current experiment is to demonstrate probabilistic rule learning in a free-choice task through positive and negative feedback that is related to monetary incentives (instrumental learning). In the very same experiment, we will also test whether the same feedback also has an influence on stimulus-response binding and retrieval effects.

The aim of the current experiment is to demonstrate probabilistic rule learning in a free choice task through positive and negative feedback that is related to monetary incentives (instrumental learning). In the very same experiment, we will also test whether the same feedback also has an influence on stimulus-response binding and retrieval effects.

In this study we investigated processes of stimulus-response binding and retrieval for erroneous responses. Are mistakes stored and retrieved from memory, like correct responses, leading to a perpetuation of erroneous behavior? Or do people take into account that an error was made, storing and retrieving only correct or corrected responses? Two experiments were designed to assess SR binding and retrieval effects in a sequential prime/probe design using a colour classification task, with an orthogonal variation of response relation (colour repetition vs. change) and stimulus relation (word repetition vs. change). Experiment 1 (n=83) measured SR binding and retrieval for errors that occurred under time pressure (chance errors), while Experiment 2 (n=81) required participants to deliberately respond erroneously (instructed errors) in some of the trials. We found standard SR binding effects following accurate responses in the prime in both experiments. However, no significant SR binding effects were obtained in trials following erroneous prime responses, indicating either that errors are not bound and/or retrieved from memory, or that retrieval of both erroneous and corrected responses might have neutralized each other.

We aim to study the modulating role of performance-dependent affective consequences (positive, neutral, or negative consequences consisting of visual, auditory, and monetary events) on stimulus-response binding and retrieval (SRBR). In a colour categorisation task with a sequential prime/probe design, we will use an orthogonal variation of response relation (colour repetition vs. change) and stimulus relation (word repetition vs. change) to investigate SRBR effects. Previous studies have demonstrated that not only targets (colour), but distractors (word) too, can retrieve previously executed responses from event files in episodic memory, when faced with the same distractor again. Known as the Retrieval Effect, distractor repetition – in conditions where the response must be repeated – leads to facilitation, whereas with response change – leads to interference. Our goal is to investigate the influence of affective consequences on this Retrieval Effect in S-R binding. Based on the assumption that SRBR is the underlying mechanism of learning and operant conditioning (law of effect), we would expect that the Distractor Repetition (DR) * Response Repetition (RR) interaction should be strengthened (weakened) in cases of positive (negative) consequences after the prime episode. In our previous experiments, however, we did not find any evidence for an affective modulation of performance-based (error rates (ER) and reaction time (RT)) retrieval effects, indicating that these effects are fully automatic and independent of feedback, but instead might reflect simple effects of behaviour repetition and episodic memory retrieval (“law of exercise”, “law of recency”). Thus, we do not expect to see any moderating role of affective consequences on the retrieval effect in the data from this experiment. Furthermore, we expect to replicate the null effect of affective consequences on retrieval effects from our previous studies.

We aim to study the modulating role of performance-dependent affective consequences (positive or negative consequences consisting of visual, auditory, and monetary events) on stimulus-response binding and retrieval (SRBR). In a colour categorisation task with a sequential prime/probe design, we will use an orthogonal variation of response relation (colour repetition vs. change) and stimulus relation (word repetition vs. change) to investigate SRBR effects. Previous studies have demonstrated that not only targets (colour), but distractors (word) too, can retrieve previously executed responses from event files in episodic memory, when faced with the same distractor again. Known as the Retrieval Effect, distractor repetition – in conditions where the response must be repeated – leads to facilitation, whereas with response change – leads to interference. Our goal is to investigate the influence of affective consequences on this Retrieval Effect in S-R binding. Based on the assumption that SRBR is the underlying mechanism of learning and operant conditioning (law of effect), we would expect that the Distractor Repetition (DR) * Response Repetition (RR) interaction should be strengthened (weakened) in cases of positive (negative) consequences after the prime episode. In our previous experiments, however, we did not find any evidence for an affective modulation of RT-based retrieval effects, indicating that these effects are fully automatic and independent of feedback. Thus, we do not expect to see any moderating role of affective consequences on the retrieval effect in the accuracy data in the current study. Furthermore, we expect to replicate the null effect of affective consequences on retrieval effects from our previous studies, in the RT data.

A replication study to test category based age stereotype priming effects of attended age primes with a shorter SOA

We aim to study the modulating role of performance-independent affective consequences (positive, negative, or neutral consequences consisting of visual, auditory, and monetary events) on stimulus-response binding and retrieval (SRBR). In a colour categorisation task with a sequential prime/probe design, we will use an orthogonal variation of response relation (colour repetition vs. change) and stimulus relation (word repetition vs. change) to investigate SRBR effects. Previous studies have demonstrated that not only targets (colour), but distractors (word) too, can retrieve previously executed responses from event files in episodic memory, when faced with the same distractor again. Known as the Retrieval Effect, distractor repetition – in conditions where the response must be repeated – leads to facilitation, whereas with response change – leads to interference. Our goal is to investigate the influence of affective consequences on this Retrieval Effect in S-R binding. Based on the assumption that SRBR is the underlying mechanism of learning and operant conditioning (law of effect), we would expect that the Distractor Repetition (DR) * Response Repetition (RR) interaction should be strengthened (weakened) in cases of positive (negative) consequences after the prime episode. In a previous experiment, however, we did not find any evidence for an affective modulation of RT-based retrieval effects, indicating that these effects are fully automatic and independent of feedback. We did find, however, an indication that with regard to the accuracy of their responses, participants tended to benefit from the condition “response change” after having received negative feedback in the prime. We hypothesise that (at least some of the) participants interpreted negative feedback as indicating that their previous response was erroneous, which elicited a tendency to change their response after trials with a negative consequence, rather than reflecting an actual effect of negative feedback on retrieval. To eliminate strategic effects due to an interpretation of affective consequences in terms of performance feedback, we modified the experiment design and instructions (details in the methods section). We thus do not expect to see any moderating role of affective consequences on the retrieval effect in the accuracy data in the current study. Furthermore, we expect to replicate the null effect of affective consequences on retrieval effects in the RT data.

We aim to study the modulating role of performance-independent affective consequences (positive, negative, or neutral consequences consisting of visual, auditory, and monetary events) on stimulus-response binding and retrieval (SRBR). In a colour categorisation task with a sequential prime/probe design, we will use an orthogonal variation of response relation (colour repetition vs. change) and stimulus relation (word repetition vs. change) to investigate SRBR effects. Previous studies have demonstrated that not only targets (colour), but distractors (word) too, can retrieve previously executed responses from event files in episodic memory, when faced with the same distractor again. Known as the Retrieval Effect, distractor repetition – in conditions where the response must be repeated – leads to facilitation, whereas with response change – leads to interference. Our aim is to investigate the influence of affective consequences on this Retrieval Effect in S-R binding. Based on the assumption that SRBR is the underlying mechanism of learning and operant conditioning (law of effect), we assume that the Distractor Repetition (DR) * Response Repetition (RR) interaction should be strengthened (weakened) in cases of positive (negative) consequences after the prime episode.

Online Supplemental Material, Laboratory Log, ESM Log, raw and processed data

In this study, we investigate the temporal stability of implicit self-evaluative beliefs (ISEB) measured in the Propositional Evaluation Procedure and their incremental validity in predicting self-esteem correlates above and beyond explicit self-evaluative beliefs (ESEB) by modeling latent states and traits of two measurements of these constructs.

This is to preregister the second wave of data collection for the project "No elephant in the room: The incremental validity of implicit self-esteem measures"

While there is evidence that sociodemographic variables and socioeconomic resources play a (minor) role in perceived expectations for active aging (PEAA), no research has examined the role of psychological variables in PEAA. In this study, we want to investigate whether the psychological characteristics of individuals and the people in their immediate (i.e., household) environment predict PEAA in the domains of physical health, mental health, and social engagement. Psychological characteristics include motivational variables (life goals and health/dementia worries), selected personality traits (conscientiousness, openness to experience, extraversion, and optimism), and domain-specific age stereotypes (at the household level only). We will use cross-sectional data from the 2016 wave of the Innovation Sample of the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP-IS).

In this study, the principle of counter-regulation will be examined within a social context, since we express our motivational-affective states in interactions and these can therefore influence our interaction partner as well. Therefore, we want to investigate the question whether the emotions or motivational orientation of one' s counterpart also triggers a corresponding counter-reaction in one' s affective processing. For this purpose, participants will take turns to complete an evaluation task in which the performance feedback of both co-players will be clearly visible, so that the influence of the observed feedback on the processing of the valent target words and thus on the speed of categorization can be investigated.

In this study, we are continuing to investigate whether contingencies implemented in the self-esteem Propositional Evaluation Paradigm (SE-PEP) have an effect on the SE-PEP effect itself as well as on external criteria (affect, self-reported self-esteem). With small adaptations, we will here replicate Study 1 (https://osf.io/tgkzh) using a mixed design for the PEP-external dependent variables and three (instead of two) measurement and training occasions to increase the power to detect training effects.

The investigation of what enables societies and individuals to age well remains one of the greatest challenges of our time. Views on aging are a decisive factor in this process, and thus, improving their understanding through cross-cultural research is of utmost importance. In the current review, we address the role of socio-ecological variables and cultural values and beliefs when investigating country differences in what people think about older persons and getting old themselves. Several complexities are introduced in terms of a differentiated conceptualization of views on aging that takes life domains and normative prescriptions into account, and also in terms of a differentiated and extended view on the factors through which societal and cultural aspects and views on aging mutually influence each other. We propose that an encompassing, lifespan framework on views on aging enhances our understanding of aging well in different cultural and societal contexts.

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-qjp-10.1177_17470218221085822 for Feature-specific retrieval of the knowledge of having lied before: Persons and questions independently retrieve truth-related information by Franziska Schreckenbach and Klaus Rothermund in Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-qjp-10.1177_17470218221085822 for Feature-specific retrieval of the knowledge of having lied before: Persons and questions independently retrieve truth-related information by Franziska Schreckenbach and Klaus Rothermund in Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-ahd-10.1177_00914150221112294 for Age, Individual Resources, and Perceived Expectations for Active Aging: General and Domain-Specific Effects by Maria K. Pavlova, Sonja Radoš, Klaus Rothermund and Rainer K. Silbereisen in The International Journal of Aging and Human Development

In two pre-registered studies, we investigated whether processes of imitative action regulation are facilitated after experiencing an episode of social exclusion. We reasoned that imitative action regulation effects should be more pronounced for participants who were socially excluded, providing them with an “automatic means” to socially reconnect with others. Participants played a virtual ball-tossing game to experimentally induce social exclusion or inclusion experiences. Subsequently, pairs of two participants engaged in an observational stimulus–response (SR) binding paradigm modeled after Giesen et al. (2014): Participants observed color categorization responses in their interaction partner (trialn-1) and then executed (in)compatible responses in the subsequent trial (trialn), with observation and responding occurring in alternation. Stimulus relation (repetition vs. change) from trialn-1 to trialn was orthogonally manipulated. In both studies, stimulus-based retrieval effects of observationally acquired SR bindings were descriptively larger in socially excluded (compared with socially included) participants. However, none of the effects were statistically significant. Even a joint analysis of both experiments did not show the expected modulation. We discuss the implications of our findings for research on social exclusion effects on imitative action regulation processes.

Trust between couples is a prerequisite for stable and satisfactory romantic relationships. However, there has been no valid research tool to assess partner-specific trust behavior including costly investments in the trustworthiness of the romantic partner. We here present a comprehensive validation of the newly developed Trust Game for Couples (TGC) by means of various self-report and implicit relationship-related measures. The TGC operationalizes trust by measuring an individual’s willingness to invest his or her own financial resources in pro-relationship attitudes of their romantic partner (collected by dichotomous responses to relationship-relevant items, e.g., answering yes to “I am absolutely sure that I love my partner”). Thirty-five healthy couples between 20 and 34 years completed the TGC in an interactive (both partners present), but anonymous setting (no information on the partner’s responses revealed). Trust, as measured by the TGC, correlates positively with self-reported trust, satisfaction, and felt closeness in the relationship, but not with general interpersonal trust, confirming both its convergent and discriminant validity. In addition to explicit criteria for construct validity, implicit measures of partner valence and confidence explained variance in the TGC, demonstrating that it constitutes an economical measure of implicit and explicit ingredients of trust between couples. In sum, the TGC provides a novel, specific behavioral tool for a sensitive assessment of trust in dyadic relationships with potential for numerous research fields. published

Supplemental material, QJE-STD-19-228.R2-Supplementary_Material for Contingency learning as binding? Testing an exemplar view of the colour-word contingency learning effect by James R Schmidt, Carina G Giesen and Klaus Rothermund in Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology

Supplemental material, Appendix for Dissociation between wanting and liking for coffee in heavy drinkers by Nicolas Koranyi, Elisabeth Brückner, Andreas Jäckel, Laura Anne Grigutsch and Klaus Rothermund in Journal of Psychopharmacology

Supplemental material, QJE-STD-19-137.R2-Supplementary_Material for Quantity matters: The frequency of deception influences automatic memory retrieval effects by Franziska Schreckenbach, Klaus Rothermund and Nicolas Koranyi in Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology

Identification of propositions as the core of attitudes and beliefs (De Houwer, 2014) has resulted in the development of implicit measures targeting personal evaluations of complex sentences (e.g., the IRAP or the RRT). Whereas their utility is uncontested, these paradigms are subject to limitations inherent in their block-based design, such as allowing assessment of only a single belief at a time. We introduce the Propositional Evaluation Paradigm (PEP) for assessment of multiple propositional beliefs within a single experimental block. Two experiments provide first evidence for the PEP’s validity. In Experiment 1, endorsement of racist beliefs measured with the PEP was related to criterion variables such as explicit racism assessed via questionnaire and indicators of behavioral tendencies. Experiment 2 indicates that the PEP’s implicit racism scores may predict actual behavior over and above explicit, self-report measures. Finally, Experiment 3 tested the PEP’s applicability in the domain of hiring discrimination. Whereas general PEP-based gender stereotypes were not related to hiring bias, results suggest a possible role of female stereotypes in hiring discrimination. In the context of these findings, we discuss both the potential and possible challenges in adopting the PEP to different beliefs. In sum, these initial findings suggest that the PEP may offer researchers a reliable and easily administrable option for the indirect assessment of propositional evaluations.

Two decades ago, the introduction of the Implicit Association Test (IAT) sparked enthusiastic reactions. With implicit measures like the IAT, researchers hoped to finally be able to bridge the gap between self-reported attitudes on one hand and behavior on the other. Twenty years of research and several meta-analyses later, however, we have to conclude that neither the IAT nor its derivatives have fulfilled these expectations. Their predictive value for behavioral criteria is weak and their incremental validity over and above self-report measures is negligible. In our review, we present an overview of explanations for these unsatisfactory findings and delineate promising ways forward. Over the years, several reasons for the IAT's weak predictive validity have been proposed. They point to four potentially problematic features: First, the IAT is by no means a pure measure of individual differences in associations but suffers from extraneous influences like recoding. Hence, the predictive validity of IAT-scores should not be confused with the predictive validity of associations. Second, with the IAT, we usually aim to measure evaluation ("liking") instead of motivation ("wanting"). Yet, behavior might be determined much more often by the latter than the former. Third, the IAT focuses on measuring associations instead of propositional beliefs and thus taps into a construct that might be too unspecific to account for behavior. Finally, studies on predictive validity are often characterized by a mismatch between predictor and criterion (e.g., while behavior is highly context-specific, the IAT usually takes into account neither the situation nor the domain). Recent research, however, also revealed advances addressing each of these problems, namely (1) procedural and analytical advances to control for recoding in the IAT, (2) measurement procedures to assess implicit wanting, (3) measurement procedures to assess implicit beliefs, and (4) approaches to increase the fit between implicit measures and behavioral criteria (e.g., by incorporating contextual information). Implicit measures like the IAT hold an enormous potential. In order to allow them to fulfill this potential, however, we have to refine our understanding of these measures, and we should incorporate recent conceptual and methodological advancements. This review provides specific recommendations on how to do so.

Cognitive processes and mechanisms underlying different forms of priming were investigated using a diffusion model approach. In a series of 6 experiments, effects of prime-target associations and of a semantic and affective categorical match of prime and target were analyzed for different tasks. Significant associative and categorical priming effects were found in standard analyses of response times (RTs) and error frequencies. Results of diffusion model analyses revealed that priming effects of associated primes were mapped on the drift rate parameter (v), while priming effects of a categorical match on a task-relevant dimension were mapped on the extradecisional parameters (t(0) and d). These results support a spreading activation account of associative priming and an explanation of categorical priming in terms of response competition. Implications for the interpretation of priming effects and the use of priming paradigms in cognitive psychology and social cognition are discussed.

Mit der Übernahme eines Ziels oder einer Aufgabe wird die Aufmerksamkeit auf ziel- bzw. aufgabenbezogene Informationen fokussiert. Bei dieser Fokussierung können zwei Komponenten unterschieden werden: (1) eine erhöhte kognitive Resonanz für relevante Informationen und (2) eine Blockierung der Verarbeitung irrelevanter Informationen. Die zielbezogene kognitive Fokussierung wird typischerweise wieder aufgehoben, wenn das Ziel erreicht bzw. die Aufgabe erfolgreich bearbeitet ist. Aber was geschieht mit der zielbezogenen Aufmerksamkeitseinstellung nach einem definitiven Scheitern der Zielverfolgung? In einer ersten Experimentalserie wurde die kognitive Resonanz für zielbezogene Information nach induziertem Mißerfolg untersucht. In der ersten Phase der Experimente erhielten die Untersuchungsteilnehmer positive oder negative Leistungsrückmeldung bei der Bearbeitung einer komplexen Labyrinthaufgabe (Experiment 1) bzw. mehrerer Synonymaufgaben (Experiment 2). In der zweiten Phase der Experimente wurden automatische Aufmerksamkeitsbindungen für Stimuli gemessen, die einen inhaltlichen Bezug zu den vorher bearbeiteten Labyrinth- bzw. Synonymaufgaben besitzen. Hierzu wurden die Stimuli als Distraktoren in einer Wort-Lese-Aufgabe dargeboten. In beiden Experimenten waren die Interferenzeffekte für die Distraktoren in der Mißerfolgsbedingung erhöht. In einer zweiten Experimentalserie wurde die Inhibition aufgabenirrelevanter Information nach Mißerfolg analysiert. In einer ersten Studie mußten die Teilnehmer ein lösbares oder unlösbares Labyrinth bearbeiten. Währenddessen wurden akustisch Distraktorwörter dargeboten (Experiment 3). Während der Bearbeitung der Labyrinthaufgabe wurde die Inhibition der irrelevanten Stimuli kontinuierlich erfaßt, indem die Distraktorwörter als Stimuli in einer simultan zu bearbeitenden Farbbenennaufgabe präsentiert wurden. Bei der unlösbaren Labyrinthaufgabe nahmen die Interferenzeffekte der Distraktoren während der Bearbeitung zu, nicht aber bei der Bearbeitung der lösbaren Aufgabe. In zwei weiteren Experimenten wurde untersucht, ob vormals ausgeblendete irrelevante Information nach einem Scheitern der Zielverfolgung disinhibiert wird (Experimente 4 und 5). Hierbei mußten die Teilnehmer eine Reihe von Konzeptidentifikationsaufgaben bearbeiten. Während der Aufgabenbearbeitung wurde die kognitive Zugänglichkeit der verschiedenen Objektmerkmale über Interferenzeffekte in einer zusätzlich zu bearbeitenden Farbbenennaufgabe gemessen. Die Zurückweisung eines Merkmals in der Konzeptidentifikationsaufgabe führte zu einer Inhibition des korrespondierenden Merkmalsbegriffs. Durch Einstreuen invalider Rückmeldungen konnte eine Situation hergestellt werden, in der alle möglichen Merkmale der Konzeptidentifikationsaufgabe widerlegt wurden. In dieser Situation war die globale Suchstrategie als Ganze gescheitert und die vorher inhibierten Merkmale wurden wieder zugänglich. Zusammengenommen stützen die Experimente die Hypothese, daß Mechanismen einer bevorzugten Verarbeitung relevanter Information und einer Ausblendung irrelevanter Information durch Mißerfolg unterschiedlich beeinflußt werden. Eine erhöhte kognitive Resonanz für zielbezogene Information persistiert auch nach einem definitiven Scheitern der Zielverfolgung. Diese Perseveranz der Sensitivität für zielbezogene Information garantiert, daß mögliche zukünftige Gelegenheiten für eine erfolgreiche Zielverfolgung nicht übersehen werden. Eine Inhibition irrelevanter Informationen wird angesichts eines Scheiterns der Zielverfolgung allerdings nicht aufrechterhalten. Die Erfahrung wiederholter erfolgloser Bemühungen der Zielerreichung induziert einen offenen, defokalisierten Modus der Informationsverarbeitung, der für eine Neuorientierung nach Mißerfolg funktional ist.