Published in

SAGE Publications, Journal of Experimental Psychopathology, 4(3), p. 594-611, 2012

DOI: 10.5127/jep.017111

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Introducing a Social Beads Task

Journal article published in 2012 by Stefan Westermann ORCID, Stefan Salzmann, Xaver Fuchs, Tania M. Lincoln
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

‘Jumping to conclusions’ is a cognitive bias relevant to delusional ideation that has been reliably replicated with the Beads Task decision-making paradigm. Due to the artificial nature of this classical task, little is known about the generalization of hasty decision-making to more naturalistic, real-life situations. In this study the construction and psychometrical evaluation of an experimental Social Beads Task paradigm are reported. The task involves eighteen neutral, self-relevant and delusion-relevant scenarios in which participants have to decide between alternative explanations by obtaining complex, naturalistic pieces of information. Besides satisfying psychometric properties in the present non-clinical sample (N = 92), the proposed enhancing impact of self-relevant and delusion-relevant scenarios on hasty decision-making was corroborated, F(2, 160) = 25.26, p, < 0.01, partial η2 = 0.24. The Social Beads Task could therefore be a useful tool in delusion research that allows the investigation of cognitive biases in social scenarios.