Cognitive foundations of message encoding: An investigation of message production as coalition formation

Abstract

In this study participants (N=36) generated simple narratives employing a SITUATION ‐ ACTION ‐ BECAUSE structure. On some trials, all three elements of such triads were provided, and in other cases, participants were required to generate ideational links for SITUATION ‐ ACTION pairs. Consistent with the prediction generated from second generation action assembly theory (AAT2), participants were shown to be significantly faster in producing their messages when all three elements of their narratives were provided. The propensity to experience cognitive failures was shown to speed production of messages, particularly when participants were required to generate ideational links. Thus, although propensity to experience cognitive failures is typically seen to involve mental lapses and forgetfulness, this study produced evidence that people high on this trait actually enjoyed a performance advantage. Speed of information processing was not shown to have any impact on the rapidity with which messages were generated. Implications for future research on message production employing the experimental paradigm developed here are discussed

Key concepts:

• action assembly theory
• message production
• message encoding
• cognitive failures
• speed of information processing