Poletiek, Ms dr. F.H. (Fenna)


Telephone number: +31 (0)71 527 3641
E-Mail: poletiek@fsw.leidenuniv.nl
Faculty / Department: Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen, Instituut Psychologie, Sectie Cognitieve Psychologie
Office Address: Pieter de la Court gebouw
Wassenaarseweg 52
2333 AK Leiden
Room number 2B24
 
Dr. F. Poletiek was KNAW (Netherlands Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences)-fellow until january 2004. She has conferred a doctor's degree on research in reasoning and deciding; especially hypothesis testing behaviour. In the past, she has studied applications of this research to juridical decisions. Presently, she studies cognitive grammar induction:Implicit learning of grammatical rules.
Research Interests
1. Cognitive grammar induction
In 1997 a research project on cognitive grammar induction was started. Grammar induction is the phenomenon that people abstract grammar knowledge from stimuli being generated by that grammar. The most fascinating natural case  obviously is natural grammar induction. We study the phenomenon experimentally by using artificial languages and grammars. Mostly, behavioural measures are observed, and currently EEG studies are in preparation. We propose formal statistical models to generate predictions and account for our observations.

As a distinctive feature of our approach, we explain successful grammar induction as a result of a narrow fit between general cognitive learning mechanisms and features of the environmental input. Moreover, dr Esther van den Bos studied unconscious goal directed grammar learning. E.g., learners unconsciously select only the most simple interpretation of the structures in the stimuli, they need to use them for their task. 

Collaboration
  • Students:
    Dr Esther van den Bos. Post doc (Amsterdam University; Leiden University) 
    Jun Lai. (PhD student): Sampling characteristics of stimuli in artificial grammar learning.
    Several master and bachelor students
  • Faculty members:
    Prof. dr Niels Schiller (Leiden University)
    Dr Meinou de Vries (Max Planck Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen)
    Dr A. Verhagen (Leiden University; Department of Linguistics) )
    Prof dr Nick Chater (Department of Psychology, UCL, UK)
    Prof. dr. Padraic Monaghan (University of Lancaster, UK, Department of Psychology)
    Prof dr Morten Christiansen (Cornell University, USA)

2. Hypothesis testing behaviour
In this project (a follow up of Fenna Poletiek’s own PhD thesis) we take a close look at the implications of Popper’s falsificationism for psychological theories of hypothesis testing behaviour. The theoretical part led to the conclusion that falsificationism is undistinguishable from confirmationism. That is, no model of falsificationistic behaviour can be developed that isn’t also a confirmationistic model. Behaving as a good falsificationist is necessarily behaving as a good confirmationist. This is true under a number of reasonable assumptions. We found some experimental evidence (with Wason’s rule discovery task paradigm) that people indeed feel unable to think of a ‘falsifying’ way of testing their hypotheses, and that their attempts to falsify intuitively coincides with trying to get the most convincing confirmation.

3. (Illusory) Memory
Recently, an experimental  project on illusory memory was started, motivated      partly by the advice work done for the National Police Services Agency on accusations of sexual abuse. The accusations of sexual abuse analyzed for the Police, are sometimes based on memory reports from (occasionally very small) children or adults reporting recovered memories. We investigate the influences on these memories, using the experimental DRM paradigm in which participants study lists of words about a theme. When asked to retrieve the words they studied, participants name new words related to the theme but not studied.
Selected Papers
  • Poletiek, F.H.,  & Van Schijndel, T.J.P. (2009) Stimulus Set Size and Grammar Coverage in Artificial Grammar Learning. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review 16(6), 1058-1064. [pdf]
  • Van den Bos, E. J., & Poletiek, F.H. (in press). Structural Selection in Implicit Learning of Artificial Grammars. Psychological Research, DOI 10.1007/s00426-009-0227-1. [pdf]
  • Poletiek, F.H. (2009). Popper’s Severity of Test as an Intuitive Probabilistic Model of Hypothesis Testing. The Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 32, 99-100. [pdf]
  • Poletiek, F. H., & Wolters, G. (2009). What is learned about fragments in Artificial Grammar Learning. A transitional probabilities approach. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 62(5), 868-876 . [pdf]
  • Van den Bos, E. J., & Poletiek, F.H. (2008). Effects of grammar complexity on Artificial Grammar Learning. Memory & Cognition,  36(6), 1122-1131. [pdf]
  • Van den Bos E.J., & Poletiek, F.H.. (2008). Intentional artificial grammar learning: When does it work? 793-806. [pdf]
  • Poletiek, F. H., & Chater, N. (2006). Grammar induction benefits from representative sampling. Proceedings of the 28th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, pp.1968-1973. [pdf]
  • Poletiek, F. H. & Stolker, C. J. J. (2004). Who decides the worth of an arm or leg? Assessing the monetary value of nonmonetary damage. In E. Kurz-Milcke & G. Gigerenzer (Eds.), Experts in science and society (pp. 201-213). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum.
  • Poletiek, F. H. (2002) Learning recursion in an artificial grammar. Acta Psychologica, 111, 323-335. [pdf]
  • Poletiek, F.H.  (2002). How psychiatrists and judges assess the dangerousness of mentally ill. An ‘expertise bias’.  Behavioural Sciences and the Law, 20, 19-29. [pdf]
  • Poletiek, F. H. (2001). Hypothesis-Testing Behaviour.  Essays in Cognitive Psychology, Hove, UK: Psychology Press
  • Poletiek, F. H. & Berndsen, M. (2000). Hypothesis testing as risk behaviour with regard to beliefs. Journal of Behavioural Decision Making, 13, 107-123. [pdf]
  • Poletiek, F. H. (1996). Paradoxes of falsification. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 49A, 447-462. [pdf]
Teaching & Supervision
Bachelor courses and research (in Dutch only)In het nieuws 
HRBP 10 jaar! in het nieuws     

Bachelorprojecten begeleid door F_Poletiek.doc  

Master courses
Decision Making in Practice

Master thesis  
Social involvement
Fenna Poletiek has been appointed as a member of the National Experts Group on Special Legal Cases of Sexual Abuse (LEBZ). This group is part of the National Police Services Agency (KLPD). The expert group  (consisting of four cognitive psychologists among whom dr W. A. Wagenaar) have been appointed by the Minister of Justice to advice in cases of reports on sexual abuse, especially cases that are hard to judge on veracity. Examples are accusations based on experiences reported by very young children or accusations based on ‘recovered memories’. Read more on Fenna Poletiek and Bernet Elzinga in LEBZ (in Dutch only)

From 1994 to 1997 Fenna Poletiek worked at the National Research Institute for Mental Health (Trimbos Institute). She conducted an effect study of the new law on coercive hospitalization of mentally ill, ordered by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Health.
Web editor Psychology – 29/01/2010