ABSTRACT
A recurring mistake is a tendency to repeat one’s mistake if the task includes repetitive actions with the same set of stimuli without feedback given. This phenomenon has been shown in a variety of cognitive tasks (Reber, 1989; Dienes and Scott, 2005; Allakhverdov, 1993). The possible mechanism of recurring errors should include not only a description of conditions when a single error may become recurring without being corrected but also a statement of differences between recurring and non-recurring mistakes. We suggest that recurring mistakes happen because we learn to make them. V. M. Allakhverdov, working in the former Soviet Union in 1974, developed a framework that described recurring errors as a consequence of a purported “negative choice” mechanism. In this chapter, we first describe this approach and the main findings obtained. We then compare studies carried out by V. M. Allakhverdov’s group on similar effects observed in a variety of studies conducted elsewhere.
