Micah B Goldwater
Biographic Data
| ID | 1661514 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Micah B Goldwater |
| GIVEN NAMES | Micah B |
| FAMILY NAME | Goldwater |
| SIGNATURE | GOLDWATER M B |
| AFFILIATIONS | The University of Sydney |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8052-9497 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 10 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 12 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Rating our certainty
Although metacognitive reflection (e.g., thinking about our confidence or certainty in a decision) is often assumed to improve decision-making, recent research suggests that eliciting confidence ratings can sometimes produce counterintuitive results, including the amplification of subjective beliefs. We report three experiments investigating how trial-by-trial confidence judgments affect the extremity of beliefs. In Experiments 1 and 2, participa…
The relational self-theory and role-governed categories
Andersen’s work on self-concepts advanced our understanding by engaging more complex representational forms to better understand how people perceive themselves in relation to significant others in their lives. In the years since, there have been significant advances in our understanding of relational concepts. This paper explores how work on role-governed categories may deepen our understanding of the relational self. Role-governed categories are…
Investigating Feasibility in a Pilot Intergenerational Program Bringing Preschool Children and Older Adults Together in the Community (Interaction)
This pilot study explores the feasibility of a novel intergenerational program bringing preschool children and community-dwelling older adults together. This paper reports the acceptability of this program and the feasibility of collecting empirically robust assessment measures. Using a non-randomized wait-listed controlled trial design, 20 children were recruited across two preschools, with one preschool assigned to the intervention group (n = 1…
Community health workers’ counseling is based on a deficit model of behavior change
In 2005, India launched the Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) program, which has augmented access to medical services and health education in marginalized rural communities. Despite notable progress in health delivery, uptake of medical services remains below target levels. The current research asked ASHAs and their clients why people reject medical advice and what the ASHAs could do to convince them otherwise. Our results identify a consi…
Children’s recognition of causal system categories across superficially distinct events
A deep understanding of any phenomenon requires knowing how its causal elements are related to one another. Here, we examine whether children treat causal structure as a metric for assessing similarity across superficially distinct events. In two experiments, we presented 156 4-7-year-olds (approximately 55% of participants identified as White, 29% as multiracial, and 12% as Asian) with three-variable narratives in which story events unfold accor…
Structural Alignment and Linguistic Contrast Help Children Learn a Key Principle of Spatial Construction
Spatial representation and reasoning are important in cognition, yet they are challenging for children. Research has shown that comparison can support learning about common spatial structure and that using common labels can facilitate this process. Here, we show that a comparable pattern holds for learning about differences. That is, contrastive labels can promote comparison‐based learning of key spatial differences . In two experiments, 5‐ to 7‐…
Instruction on the Scientific Method Provides (Some) Protection Against Illusions of Causality
People tend to overestimate the efficacy of an ineffective treatment when they experience the treatment and its supposed outcome co-occurring frequently. This is referred to as the outcome density effect. Here, we attempted to improve the accuracy of participants’ assessments of an ineffective treatment by instructing them about the scientific practice of comparing treatment effects against a relevant base-rate, i.e., when no treatment is deliver…
Linguistic syncopation
Pseudoscientific Health Beliefs and the Perceived Frequency of Causal Relationships
Beliefs about cause and effect, including health beliefs, are thought to be related to the frequency of the target outcome (e.g., health recovery) occurring when the putative cause is present and when it is absent (treatment administered vs. no treatment); this is known as contingency learning . However, it is unclear whether unvalidated health beliefs, where there is no evidence of cause-effect contingency, are also influenced by the subjective …
Intergenerational Practice in the Community-What Does the Community Think
The many changes that occur in the lives of older people put them at an increased risk of being socially isolated and lonely. Intergenerational programs for older adults and young children can potentially address this shortfall, because of the perceived benefit from generations interacting. This study explores whether there is an appetite in the community for intergenerational programs for community dwelling older adults. An online survey was dis…
Relational categories as a bridge between cognitive and educational research
Both cognitive and educational psychology literature strive to investigate human category and concept learning. However, both literatures focus on different phenomena and often use different methodologies. We identify and discuss commonalities and differences between the literatures. This literature comparison reveals that research on relational category learning offers a promising avenue to integration. We suggest that this integration would be …
Constructional sources of implicit agents in sentence comprehension
Much of the literature studying on-line sentence comprehension focuses on the contributions of individual lexical items, with specific interest in verbs.One aspect of sentence meaning that has been claimed to be rooted in verb representation is event structure.There is a growing body of evidence supporting the claim that the verb is not the sole contributor of event structure, but the syntactic construction also contributes to event structure.One…
Intergenerational Practice in the Community-What Does the Community Think
The many changes that occur in the lives of older people put them at an increased risk of being socially isolated and lonely. Intergenerational programs for older adults and young children can potentially address this shortfall, because of the perceived benefit from generations interacting. This study explores whether there is an appetite in the community for intergenerational programs for community dwelling older adults. An online survey was dis…
Relational categories as a bridge between cognitive and educational research
Both cognitive and educational psychology literature strive to investigate human category and concept learning. However, both literatures focus on different phenomena and often use different methodologies. We identify and discuss commonalities and differences between the literatures. This literature comparison reveals that research on relational category learning offers a promising avenue to integration. We suggest that this integration would be …
Constructional sources of implicit agents in sentence comprehension
Much of the literature studying on-line sentence comprehension focuses on the contributions of individual lexical items, with specific interest in verbs.One aspect of sentence meaning that has been claimed to be rooted in verb representation is event structure.There is a growing body of evidence supporting the claim that the verb is not the sole contributor of event structure, but the syntactic construction also contributes to event structure.One…
Constructional sources of implicit agents in sentence comprehension
Much of the literature studying on-line sentence comprehension focuses on the contributions of individual lexical items, with specific interest in verbs.One aspect of sentence meaning that has been claimed to be rooted in verb representation is event structure.There is a growing body of evidence supporting the claim that the verb is not the sole contributor of event structure, but the syntactic construction also contributes to event structure.One…
Relational categories as a bridge between cognitive and educational research
Both cognitive and educational psychology literature strive to investigate human category and concept learning. However, both literatures focus on different phenomena and often use different methodologies. We identify and discuss commonalities and differences between the literatures. This literature comparison reveals that research on relational category learning offers a promising avenue to integration. We suggest that this integration would be …
Linguistic syncopation
Pseudoscientific Health Beliefs and the Perceived Frequency of Causal Relationships
Beliefs about cause and effect, including health beliefs, are thought to be related to the frequency of the target outcome (e.g., health recovery) occurring when the putative cause is present and when it is absent (treatment administered vs. no treatment); this is known as contingency learning . However, it is unclear whether unvalidated health beliefs, where there is no evidence of cause-effect contingency, are also influenced by the subjective …
Intergenerational Practice in the Community-What Does the Community Think
The many changes that occur in the lives of older people put them at an increased risk of being socially isolated and lonely. Intergenerational programs for older adults and young children can potentially address this shortfall, because of the perceived benefit from generations interacting. This study explores whether there is an appetite in the community for intergenerational programs for community dwelling older adults. An online survey was dis…
Instruction on the Scientific Method Provides (Some) Protection Against Illusions of Causality
People tend to overestimate the efficacy of an ineffective treatment when they experience the treatment and its supposed outcome co-occurring frequently. This is referred to as the outcome density effect. Here, we attempted to improve the accuracy of participants’ assessments of an ineffective treatment by instructing them about the scientific practice of comparing treatment effects against a relevant base-rate, i.e., when no treatment is deliver…
Community health workers’ counseling is based on a deficit model of behavior change
In 2005, India launched the Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) program, which has augmented access to medical services and health education in marginalized rural communities. Despite notable progress in health delivery, uptake of medical services remains below target levels. The current research asked ASHAs and their clients why people reject medical advice and what the ASHAs could do to convince them otherwise. Our results identify a consi…
Children’s recognition of causal system categories across superficially distinct events
A deep understanding of any phenomenon requires knowing how its causal elements are related to one another. Here, we examine whether children treat causal structure as a metric for assessing similarity across superficially distinct events. In two experiments, we presented 156 4-7-year-olds (approximately 55% of participants identified as White, 29% as multiracial, and 12% as Asian) with three-variable narratives in which story events unfold accor…
Structural Alignment and Linguistic Contrast Help Children Learn a Key Principle of Spatial Construction
Spatial representation and reasoning are important in cognition, yet they are challenging for children. Research has shown that comparison can support learning about common spatial structure and that using common labels can facilitate this process. Here, we show that a comparable pattern holds for learning about differences. That is, contrastive labels can promote comparison‐based learning of key spatial differences . In two experiments, 5‐ to 7‐…
Rating our certainty
Although metacognitive reflection (e.g., thinking about our confidence or certainty in a decision) is often assumed to improve decision-making, recent research suggests that eliciting confidence ratings can sometimes produce counterintuitive results, including the amplification of subjective beliefs. We report three experiments investigating how trial-by-trial confidence judgments affect the extremity of beliefs. In Experiments 1 and 2, participa…
The relational self-theory and role-governed categories
Andersen’s work on self-concepts advanced our understanding by engaging more complex representational forms to better understand how people perceive themselves in relation to significant others in their lives. In the years since, there have been significant advances in our understanding of relational concepts. This paper explores how work on role-governed categories may deepen our understanding of the relational self. Role-governed categories are…
Investigating Feasibility in a Pilot Intergenerational Program Bringing Preschool Children and Older Adults Together in the Community (Interaction)
This pilot study explores the feasibility of a novel intergenerational program bringing preschool children and community-dwelling older adults together. This paper reports the acceptability of this program and the feasibility of collecting empirically robust assessment measures. Using a non-randomized wait-listed controlled trial design, 20 children were recruited across two preschools, with one preschool assigned to the intervention group (n = 1…
Psychology (8 works) · Cognitive psychology (4 works) · Medicine (4 works) · Social Psychology (4 works) · Child and Animal Learning Development (3 works) · Cognition (3 works) · Perception (3 works) · Comprehension (2 works) · Computer Science (2 works) · Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics (2 works)