Evaluation of Antecedent Ambiguity on Identification and Categorization of Behavior in Lunar-Effects Research

Author

Brenda M. Gabbert, University of Alaska AnchorageFollow
Mychal A. Machado, University of Alaska AnchorageFollow

Periodical Title

Modern Psychological Studies

Volume

25

Number

1

Department

Dept. of Psychology

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

We created an online survey to determine the degree to which 114 participants could correctly identify and categorize scripted visual examples of typical and atypical behavior when the antecedent preceding those behaviors was not present. We also asked participants to determine whether our visual examples of behavior occurred in the presence of a full moon, and subsequently evaluated these data in the context of participant’s self-reported belief in lunar-effects. Our results show the absence of an antecedent event influenced some participants’ identification and categorization accuracy scores, and that participants with a prior belief in lunar effects were more likely to attribute atypical behavior to the presence of a full moon. Future areas for improving measurement in lunar-effects research are discussed.

Subject

Psychology

Keyword

observation; antecedents; ambiguity; atypical behavior; lunar effects; moon

Discipline

Psychology

Document Type

article

DCMI Type

Text

Language

English

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Recommended Citation

Gabbert, Brenda M. and Machado, Mychal A. (2020) "Evaluation of Antecedent Ambiguity on Identification and Categorization of Behavior in Lunar-Effects Research," Modern Psychological Studies: Vol. 25: No. 1, Article 8.
Available at: https://scholar.utc.edu/mps/vol25/iss1/8