“These two alibis seem equally as weak compared to those” contrast and condensation effects in inferential judgments

Abstract

Do contrast and condensation effects exist in the cognitive, inferential realm? This study examined the possibility using an existing experimental model designed to assess these effects in the sensory and hedonic fields, replacing hedonic stimuli (juice tasting) with inferential judgment stimuli (alibi strength ratings). In the first experiment, testing for contrast, both test alibis were rated weaker after the participants had read strong context alibis, although only one was significantly affected. In the second experiment, testing for condensation, the inferred difference in strength between the two test alibis did not change after participants read the strong context alibis from when they only rated the test alibis. However, when examining the data from the first experiment, the absolute difference between the two test alibis diminished significantly when the strong alibis were first considered. This provides plausibility that contrast and condensation effects both occur for inferential judgments.