EDUCATED GUESSES - THE PROCESS OF ANSWERING FACTUAL KNOWLEDGE QUESTIONS IN SURVEYS

Responses to autobiographical questions are known to represent more th an simply retrieval of information from memory; inference, cuing, and ''availability'' all play a role. Using responses to items in four dif ferent surveys, we find that respondent motivation and ability, togeth er with contextual cues, help determine how survey respondents answer knowledge questions about the world around us. Thus, we extend the dom ain of factual items for which the role of inferential processes is re cognized, and we specify more precisely the kinds of factors that resp ondents use in answering such questions. We also find suggestive evide nce that attitudes influence answers to information questions, thus ex tending as well the kinds of factors seen as likely to affect reports about facts.