Learning correct responses and errors in the Hebb repetition effect: Two faces of the same coin.

In a serial recall task, the Hebb repetition effect occurs when recall performance improves for a sequence repeated throughout the experimental session. This phenomenon has been replicated many times. Nevertheless, such cumulative learning seldom leads to perfect recall of the whole sequence, and errors persist. Here the authors report evidence that there is another side to the Hebb repetition effect that involves learning errors produced in a repeated sequence. A learning measure based on past recalls (correct or incorrect) shows that the probability of a given response increases with the number of prior occurrences of that response. The pattern of results reveals another manifestation of the Hebb repetition effect and speaks to the nature of implicit learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of procedural fairness and leader support on interpersonal relationships among group members.

In this article, the authors examine the impact of fair treatment by a group leader on people's relationships with and feelings toward other individual group members. Previous studies neglected procedural fairness effects on interpersonal relationships between group members. The authors hypothesized that fairness affects interpersonal relationships and feelings toward another group member only when the leader is regarded as representative and supported by the other group members. In three studies, the authors manipulated procedural fairness (no voice vs. voice) and other group member's support for the leader (full vs. mixed support for the leader). Two vignette studies supported the hypothesis. In addition, an experimental laboratory study showed that this interaction effect between procedural fairness and leader support was most pronounced among those with high belongingness needs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contextual cues aid recovery from interruption: The role of associative activation.

A series of experiments introduced interruptions to the execution phase of simple Tower of London problems and found that the opportunity for preparation before the break in task reduced the time cost at resumption. Retrieval of the suspended goal was facilitated when participants were given the opportunity to encode retrieval cues during an "interruption lag" (the brief time before engaging in the interrupting task) but was impeded when these visual cues were subsequently altered following interruption. The results provide useful support for the goal-activation model (E. M. Altmann & G. J. Trafton, 2002), which assumes that context--at the points of both goal suspension and goal retrieval--is critical to efficient interruption recovery. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Response-based strengthening in task shifting: Evidence from shift effects produced by errors.

The hypothesis is introduced that 1 source of shift costs is the strengthening of task-related associations occurring whenever an overt response is produced. The authors tested this account by examining shift effects following errors and error compensation processes. The authors predicted that following a specific type of error, called task confusion, shift benefits instead of shift costs should result. A series of 3 experiments confirmed this prediction showing that task confusions produce shift benefits in subsequent trials (Experiment 1), even when the error is detected (Experiment 2). Moreover, only posterror processes that imply an error correction response produce shift costs (Experiment 3). These results additionally suggest that error detection cannot prevent errors from affecting subsequent performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Improving memory after interruption: Exploiting soft constraints and manipulating information access cost.

Forgetting what one was doing prior to interruption is an everyday problem. The recent soft constraints hypothesis (Gray, Sims, Fu, & Schoelles, 2006) emphasizes the strategic adaptation of information processing strategy to the task environment. It predicts that increasing information access cost (IAC: the time, and physical and mental effort involved in accessing information) encourages a more memory-intensive strategy. Like interruptions, access costs are also intrinsic to most work environments, such as when opening documents and e-mails. Three experiments investigated whether increasing IAC during a simple copying task can be an effective method for reducing forgetting following interruption. IAC was designated Low (all information permanently visible), Medium (a mouse movement to uncover target information), or High (an additional few seconds to uncover such information). Experiment 1 found that recall improved across all three levels of IAC. Subsequent experiments found that High IAC facilitated resumption after interruption, particularly when interruption occurred on half of all trials (Experiment 2), and improved prospective memory following two different interrupting tasks, even when one involved the disruptive effect of using the same type of resource as the primary task (Experiment 3). The improvement of memory after interruption with increased IAC supports the prediction of the soft constraints hypothesis. The main disadvantage of a high access cost was a reduction in speed of task completion. The practicality of manipulating IAC as a design method for inducing a memory-intensive strategy to protect against forgetting is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Goal Activation, Expectations, and the Placebo Effect.

Motivational factors receive little attention in current theories of the placebo effect. Reasons for this position are reviewed, and an argument is made for reconsidering the influence of motivation on the placebo effect. The authors hypothesize that nonconscious goals alter reactions to a placebo expectation. Specifically, the authors predict that the placebo effect is most likely to occur when individuals have a goal that can be fulfilled by confirmation of the placebo expectation. The authors tested this notion in 5 experiments. The results demonstrate the role of motivation in the placebo effect across a variety of symptom domains and via 4 different goal activation techniques. Moreover, this moderating effect occurred for both positive and negative placebo expectations, across different placebo effect measures, and in brief laboratory experiments as well as in lengthier studies. It is argued that theories regarding the placebo effect should incorporate motivational factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Under what conditions do young children have difficulty inhibiting manual actions?

Understanding how responses become prepotent is essential for understanding when inhibitory control is needed in everyday behavior. The authors investigated the conditions under which manual actions became prepotent in a go/no-go task. Children had to open boxes that contained stickers on go trials and leave shut boxes that were empty on no-go trials. In Experiment 1 (n = 40, mean age = 3.6 years), the authors obtained evidence consistent with this task requiring inhibitory control. Results of Experiment 2 (n = 40, mean age = 3.7 years) suggested that box opening was prepotent because (a) opening is the habitual action associated with boxes and (b) children planned to open boxes on go trials of the task. Experiment 3 (n = 96, mean age = 3.5 years) showed that even empty boxes elicited the same errors and that delaying responding reduced errors even though the delay occurred before the cue that indicated the correct response (contrary to a rule reflection account). Because the delay occurred after box presentation, performance was consistent with a transient activation account. Delay training might benefit children with weak inhibition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some training factors related to procedural performance.

Used 4 experimental tasks to test the effects on procedural performance of providing special instructions on logical-tree construction and use and of limiting vs not limiting the time available for studying the task instructions. Ss were 20 male undergraduates. Results indicate that performance accuracy was statistically better when either one or both logical-tree instruction and practice was provided and the task instruction study time was limited, than when Ss were permitted to study the task instruction for as long as they chose and in whatever way they chose. It is concluded that quite simple procedures for familiarizing Ss with logical-tree operations can improve performance on procedural tasks. It also appears that placing a limit on the time available for study of instructions can be better than permitting unlimited time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Balancing cognitive demands: Control adjustments in the stop-signal paradigm.

Cognitive control enables flexible interaction with a dynamic environment. In 2 experiments, the authors investigated control adjustments in the stop-signal paradigm, a procedure that requires balancing speed (going) and caution (stopping) in a dual-task environment. Focusing on the slowing of go reaction times after stop signals, the authors tested 5 competing hypotheses for post-stop-signal adjustments: goal priority, error detection, conflict monitoring, surprise, and memory. Reaction times increased after both successful and failed inhibition, consistent with the goal priority hypothesis and inconsistent with the error detection and conflict hypotheses. Post-stop-signal slowing was greater if the go task stimulus repeated on consecutive trials, suggesting a contribution of memory. We also found evidence for slowing based on more than the immediately preceding stop signal. Post-stop-signal slowing was greater when stop signals occurred more frequently (Experiment 1), inconsistent with the surprise hypothesis, and when inhibition failed more frequently (Experiment 2). This suggests that more global manipulations encompassing many trials affect post-stop-signal adjustments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The neural basis of human error processing: Reinforcement learning, dopamine, and the error-related negativity.

The authors present a unified account of 2 neural systems concerned with the development and expression of adaptive behaviors: a mesencephalic dopamine system for reinforcement learning and a "generic" error-processing system associated with the anterior cingulate cortex. The existence of the error-processing system has been inferred from the error-related negativity (ERN), a component of the event-related brain potential elicited when human participants commit errors in reaction-time tasks. The authors propose that the ERN is generated when a negative reinforcement learning signal is conveyed to the anterior cingulate cortex via the mesencephalic dopamine system and that this signal is used by the anterior cingulate cortex to modify performance on the task at hand. They provide support for this proposal using both computational modeling and psychophysiological experimentation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Deficits in complex motor functions, despite no evidence of procedural learning deficits, among HIV+ individuals with history of substance dependence.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and drugs of abuse affect common neural systems underlying procedural memory, including the striatum. The authors compared performance of 48 HIV seropositive (HIV+) and 48 HIV seronegative (HIV-) participants with history of cocaine and/or heroin dependence across multiple Trial Blocks of three procedural learning (PL) tasks: Rotary Pursuit (RP), Mirror Star Tracing (MST), and Weather Prediction (WP). Groups were well matched on demographic, psychiatric, and substance use parameters, and all participants were verified abstinent from drugs. Mixed model analyses of variance revealed that the individuals in the HIV+ group performed more poorly across all tasks, with a significant main effect of HIV serostatus observed on the Mirror Star Tracing and a trend toward significance obtained for the Rotary Pursuit task. No significant differences were observed on the Weather Prediction task. Both groups demonstrated significant improvements in performance across all three procedural learning tasks. It is important to note that no significant Serostatus × Trial Block interactions were observed on any task. Thus, the individuals in the HIV+ group tended to perform worse than those in the HIV- group across all trial blocks of procedural learning tasks with motor demands, but showed no differences in their rate of improvement across all tasks. These findings are consistent with HIV--associated deficits in complex motor skills, but not in procedural learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mitigating disruptive effects of interruptions through training: What needs to be practiced?

It is generally accepted that, with practice, people improve on most tasks. However, when tasks have multiple parts, it is not always clear what aspects of the tasks practice or training should focus on. This research explores the features that allow training to improve the ability to resume a task after an interruption, specifically focusing on task-specific versus general interruption/resumption-process mechanisms that could account for improved performance. Three experiments using multiple combinations of primary tasks and interruptions were conducted with undergraduate psychology students. The first experiment showed that for one primary and interruption task-pair, people were able to resume the primary task faster when they had previous practice with the interruption. The second experiment replicated this finding for two other sets of primary and interruption task-pairs. Finally, the third experiment showed that people were able to resume a primary task faster only when they had previous practice with that specific primary and interruption task-pair. Experience with other primary and interruption task-pairs, or practice on the primary task alone, did not facilitate resumption. This suggests that a critical component in resuming after an interruption is the relationship between two tasks. These findings are in line with a task-specific mechanism of resumption and incompatible with a general-process mechanism. These findings have practical implications for developing training programs and mitigation strategies to lessen the disruptive effects of interruptions which plague both our personal and professional environments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do the hemispheres watch each other? Evidence for a between-hemispheres performance monitoring.

This study tested the hypothesis that when tasks are complex, response selection and performance monitoring are divided across the hemispheres, and when tasks are simple, response selection and error monitoring are done in the same hemisphere. Using a divided visual field paradigm, the authors presented a target and an interference stimulus, either to the same visual field or to different visual fields, and encouraged error correction. The interference stimulus was timed to interfere with posited error processing. Four tasks were used: bar graph identification, lexical decision, and complex and simple versions of the flankers task. The first three tasks revealed a pattern of contralateral interference, suggesting that error processing occurred in the hemisphere that did not process the initial target. The fourth task showed ipsilateral interference, suggesting that the same hemisphere processed the target and monitored itself. The authors conclude that the pattern of hemispheric cooperation in error processing is affected by task complexity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Active masks and active inhibition: A comment on Lleras and Enns (2004) and on Verleger, Ja?kowski, Aydemir, van der Lubbe, and Groen (2004).

Verleger, Ja?kowski, Aydemir, van der Lubbe, and Groen (see record 2004-21166-002) and Lleras and Enns (see record 2004-21166-001) have argued that negative compatibility effects (NCEs) obtained with masked primes do not reflect self-inhibition processes in motor control. Instead, NCEs are assumed to reflect activation of the response opposite to the prime, triggered by the presence of prime/targetlike features in the mask. Thus, no NCEs should be elicited when masks do not contain such task-relevant features. In Experiments 1 and 3, the authors demonstrate that NCEs can be obtained when masks contain only irrelevant features. Experiment 2 demonstrates that positive compatibility effects (PCEs) will occur with such masks when masked primes are presented peripherally. These results are inconsistent with the mask-induced activation accounts but are in line with the self-inhibition hypothesis of the NCE. Although perceptual interactions and mask-induced motor activations may contribute to NCEs under certain conditions, they cannot provide a full explanation for these effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The impact of error training and individual differences on training outcomes: An attribute-treatment interaction perspective.

The authors examined the effectiveness of error training for trainees with different levels of cognitive ability, openness to experience, or conscientiousness. Participants (N=181) were randomly assigned to control, error-encouragement, or error-avoidance conditions and trained to perform a decision-making simulation. Declarative knowledge, task performance, and self-efficacy were measured posttraining. Findings suggest the effectiveness of error training is dependent on the cognitive ability or dispositional traits of trainees. High cognitive ability or more open individuals benefit more from error-encouragernent training than low cognitive ability or less open individuals. Conscientiousness has a negative effect on self-efficacy when trainees are encouraged to make errors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of goal setting and procedural facilitation on the revising behavior and writing performance of students with writing and learning problems.

This study examined the effects of a revising goal to "add information" on the revising behavior and writing performance of 5th- and 6th-grade students with writing and learning problems. The authors also examined whether procedural assistance in meeting the goal to add information would enhance students' performance. In comparison to students assigned a general revising goal to make their paper better, students assigned a goal to add information made more meaning-based changes, particularly additions, when revising their papers. Most importantly, the goal to add information resulted in greater improvement in text quality than the general revising goal. Use of the procedural facilitator to accomplish the goal to add information, however, did not appreciably enhance students' revising behavior or the quality of their text. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Slope-driven goal location behavior in pigeons.

A basic tenet of principles of associative learning applicable to models of spatial learning is that a cue should be assigned greater weight if it is a better predictor of the goal location. Pigeons were trained to locate a goal in an acute corner of an isosceles trapezoid arena, presented on a slanted floor with 3 (Experiment 1) or 2 (Experiment 2) orientations. The goal could be consistently determined by the geometric shape of the arena; however, its position with respect to the slope gradient varied, such that slope position was not a good predictor of the goal. Pigeons learned to solve the task, and testing on a flat surface revealed successful encoding of the goal relative to the geometric shape of the arena. However, when tested in the arena placed in a novel orientation on the slope, pigeons surprisingly made systematic errors to the other acute—but geometrically incorrect—mirror image corner. The results indicate that, for each arena orientation, pigeons encoded the goal location with respect to the slope. Then, in the novel orientation, they chose the corner that matched the goal's position on the slope plus local cue (corner angle). Although geometry was 2 times (Experiment 2) or even 3 times (Experiment 1) as predictive as slope, it failed to control behavior during novel test trials. Instead, searching was driven by the less predictive slope cues. The reliance on slope and the unresponsiveness to geometry are explained by the greater salience of slope despite its lower predictive value. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) and Orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) Encode Relevant Problem Features in a Tool-Using Task.

Two important elements in problem solving are the abilities to encode relevant task features and to combine multiple actions to achieve the goal. The authors investigated these 2 elements in a task in which gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) and orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) had to use a tool to retrieve an out-of-reach reward. Subjects were able to select tools of an appropriate length to reach the reward even when the position of the reward and tools were not simultaneously visible. When presented with tools that were too short to retrieve the reward, subjects were more likely to refuse to use them than when tools were the appropriate length. Subjects were proficient at using tools in sequence to retrieve the reward. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive motion extrapolation and cognitive clocking in prediction motion tasks.

An interruption paradigm was used to measure judgments that rely on cognitive extrapolation of approach and lateral motion. In some conditions the pattern of errors was consistent with that obtained with time-to-contact (TTC) judgments measured with a prediction motion (PM) task. Also, the slope of the relationship between estimated and actual TTC in judgments of approaching objects decreased when visual information about the environment between the observer and the display was minimized. Moreover, the accuracy of relative duration judgments of visual (but not auditory) stimuli decreased when a PM task was performed concurrently. Results are consistent with the notion that PM tasks involve cognitive motion extrapolation rather than solely a clocking process that counts down TTC. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of interruption duration and demand on resuming suspended goals.

The time to resume task goals after an interruption varied depending on the duration and cognitive demand of interruptions, as predicted by the memory for goals model (Altmann & Trafton, 2002). Three experiments using an interleaved tasks interruption paradigm showed that longer and more demanding interruptions led to longer resumption times in a hierarchical, interactive task. The resumption time profile for durations up to 1 min supported the role of decay in defining resumption costs, and the interaction between duration and demand supported the importance of goal rehearsal in mitigating decay. These findings supported the memory for goals model, and had practical implications for context where tasks are frequently interleaved such as office settings, driving, emergency rooms, and aircraft cockpits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)