AbstractsPsychology

Perfectionism, Decision-Making, and Post-error Slowing

by Kevin Whitman Potter




Institution: The Ohio State University
Department: Psychology
Degree: PhD
Year: 2015
Keywords: Quantitative Psychology; perfectionism; mathematical modeling; Simon task; post-error slowing; response times
Record ID: 2062552
Full text PDF: http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1418307845


Abstract

The construct of perfectionism is an important topic of research due to its influence on a large number of psychopathologies. Recently researchers have sought to better understand the cognitive mechanisms associated with perfectionism using forced-choice two-alternative tasks. In particular, perfectionist characteristics were expected to predict the behavioral measure of post-error slowing. However, research has found little association between inventory scores of perfectionism and post-error slowing. I developed a quantitative model for the Simon task, and tested several hypotheses regarding the mechanisms underlying post-error slowing and their association with perfectionism. I controlled for several confounding effects such as fatigue, motivation, learning, and multiple types of post-error adjustments. Critically, a core assumption past researchers have made regarding the interpretation of post-error slowing was found not to hold, leading to important implications regarding the study of the cognitive mechanisms underlying perfectionism.