The effect of single versus repeated previous strategy use on individuals' subsequent strategy choice

Abstract

Previous research has shown that participants' strategy choices can be influenced by the previously-used strategy. This perseveration effect has been demonstrated both after a repeated use of the previous strategy (e.g., Schillemans, Luwel, Bulte, Onghena, & Verschaffel, 2009), but also after a single use of the previous strategy (Lemaire & Lecacheur, 2010). In the present study, we tested whether this perseveration effect would be stronger after a repeated than after a single previous strategy application. We were able to replicate the perseveration effect but we did not find evidence for an influence of the number of previous strategy applications on the strength of this effect. An additional cluster analysis revealed that only about one third of the participants was susceptible for the perseveration effect. The theoretical, methodological, and educational implications of these results are discussed.