The Influence of Memory for Prior Instances on Performance in a Conflict Detection Task.

In 3 experiments, the authors examined the role of memory for prior instances for making relative judgments in conflict detection. Participants saw pairs of aircraft either repeatedly conflict with each other or pass safely before being tested on new aircraft pairs, which varied in similarity to the training pairs. Performance was influenced by the similarity between aircraft pairs. Detection time was faster when a conflict pair resembled a pair that had repeatedly conflicted. Detection time was slower, and participants missed conflicts, when a conflict pair resembled a pair that had repeatedly passed safely. The findings identify aircraft features that are used as inputs into the memory decision process and provide an indication of the processes involved in the use of memory for prior instances to make relative judgments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Abstraction and the use of available information by schizophrenic and normal individuals.

Explored the ability of 288 schizophrenics and controls (aged 25–50 yrs) to perform 2 types of conceptual tasks, attribute identification and rule learning, that differ in the type and level of abstraction processes required. In addition, number of available aids to memory was varied. Schizophrenics were not impaired relative to controls in solving attribute-identification problems that required the application of a simple conceptual rule to concrete, physical attributes of the stimuli. However, they were impaired on more abstract, rule-learning problems. Further, schizophrenics were not able to use memory aids beyond 1 available prior instance to facilitate their performance in either task. Schizophrenics demonstrated positive transfer of training across 3 problems based on the same rule, but in amounts relatively smaller than demonstrated by controls. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Proactive interference and temporal context encoding after diazepam intake

Two experiments were designed to test whether the memory impairment induced by benzodiazepines (BZDs) is due to impaired memory for temporal context. In both experiments, subjects were administered either diazepam (15 mg oral) or placebo, and a standard BZD impairment on prose recall as well as a decreased subjective arousal was found. Key tasks to explore temporal context memory were an A-B A-C proactive interference paradigm and a list discrimination task. Initial learning of both groups on these tasks was broadly matched. In experiment 1, diazepam did not increase susceptibility to proactive interference using semantically related words. However, in experiment 2, using unrelated word pairs, diazepam markedly increased the number of prior list intrusions. Furthermore, after diazepam intake, subjects were clearly impaired in learning unrelated word pairs. Subjects after diazepam intake were not impaired in the list discrimination task. We conclude that (1) diazepam impairs the forming of new associations, whether this is the formation of links between two or more targets or between targets and context, (2) a temporal context encoding deficit cannot account for a broader diazepam-induced memory impairment.     

Practice schedules and the use of component skills in problem solving.

In motor and verbal learning, random practice schedules produce poorer acquisition performance but superior retention relative to blocked practice. We extend this contextual interference effect to the case of learning cognitive procedural skills to be used in problem solving. Subjects in three experiments practiced calculation with Boolean functions. After this acquisition phase, subjects solved problems requiring these procedures. Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated superior transfer to problem solving for skills acquired under random schedules. In Experiment 3, subjects practiced component skills in a blocked schedule, with one of four tasks—same–different judgment, mental arithmetic, short-term memory, or long-term memory—intervening between trials. For same–different judgments and mental arithmetic, transfer performance was comparable to that found for random schedules in Experiments 1 and 2. This result suggests that the differences depend on processing rather than storage demands of intertrial activity. Implications for theories of problem solving and part–whole transfer are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Source memory in the absence of successful cued recall.

Five experiments were conducted to address the question of whether source information could be accessed in the absence of being able to recall an item. The authors used a paired-associate learning paradigm in which cue-target word pairs were studied, and target recall was requested in the presence of the cue. When target recall failed, participants were asked to make a source judgment of whether a man or woman spoke the unrecalled item. In 3 of the 5 experiments, source accuracy was at or very close to chance. By contrast, if cue-target pairs were studied multiple times or participants knew in advance of learning that a predictive judgment would be required, then predictive source accuracy was well above chance. These data are suggestive that context information may not play a very large role in metacognitive judgments such as feeling-of-knowing ratings or putting one into a tip-of-the-tongue state without strong and specific encoding procedures. These same results also highlight the important role that item memory plays in retrieving information about the context in which an item was experienced. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Classification of color dimensions in multiple contexts.

Hue, saturation, and brightness were tested in pairs, with one dimension creating a classification context and the other serving as the basis of a set of speeded classification tasks. In Experiment 1, performance suffered when the context-setting dimension varied within a response category (intraclass context) and benefited when this variation occurred between response categories (redundant context). In Experiment 2, participants showed no interference from irrelevant variation in tasks that combined intraclass context with redundant context. Experiment 3 opened the interpretative window by varying 5 levels of intraclass context factorially with 5 levels of redundant context. The dimensions were found to differ in hardness—the degree of resistance to intraclass context across levels—with hue showing the greatest resistance and brightness the least. Hardness may reflect the efficacy of a dimension for distinguishing real-world categories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Phonological short-term memory and new word learning in children.

Sixty-five 5-year old children participated in 4 experimental tasks of word learning that varied systematically in the amounts of phonological and nonphonological learning required. Measures of the children's performances on 2 measures of phonological memory (digit span and nonword repetition), vocabulary knowledge, and nonverbal ability were also obtained. Learning of the sound structures of new words was significantly, and to some degree independently, associated with aspects of both phonological memory skill and vocabulary knowledge. Learning of pairs of familiar words was linked with current vocabulary knowledge, although not with phonological memory scores. The findings suggest that both existing lexical knowledge and phonological short-term memory play significant roles in the long-term learning of the sounds of new words. The study also provides evidence of both shared and distinct processes contributing to nonword repetition and digit span tasks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory of visual and topographical features suggests spatial learning in nautilus (Nautilus pompilius L.).

Previous studies demonstrate that soft-bodied (coleoid) cephalopods are adept at learning and remembering features of their environment, but little is known about their primitive relative, nautilus. Nautilus makes nightly migrations from deep to shallow water along coral reef slopes, covering large areas of varied substrate. Memory of its surroundings may be advantageous, but the nautilus brain is the simplest among extant cephalopods, lacking dedicated neural regions that support learning and memory in other cephalopods. The authors hypothesize that the absence of these regions in nautilus may affect memory storage. Here the authors report the first evidence for spatial memory in 2- and 3-dimensional arenas. In a small open-field maze, nautiluses learned the location of a goal within 3 trials, and memory was stable for at least 2 weeks. In 3-dimensional environments, animals habituated within and across trials when their surroundings were unchanged, but activity increased when the environment changed topographically, although not when the change was visual only. These results are comparable to performances of coleoids in similar tasks and are surprising given the far simpler neuroanatomy of nautilus. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A "change-of-standard" perspective on the relations among context, judgment, and memory.

Conducted 3 studies that tested a "change-of-standard" perspective on the relations among context, judgment, and recall. Each study consisted of 2 or 3 sessions held a few days apart. All Ss read about the sentencing decisions of 1 or 2 target trial judges and of 6 nontarget trial judges who consistently gave either higher or lower sentences than the target judge(s). Each study varied both the standard that was available when Ss initially judged the sentencing decisions of a target judge and the standard available when subjects subsequently recalled those decisions. To accomplish this, we varied the context of judgment, the timing of judgment, and the overall category norm for trial judges' sentencing decisions that was available at recall. We found that although Ss had been exposed to the same target information and had initially judged it in the same way, their recall of the information was different depending on whether and how a change-of-standard had occurred between judgment and recall. Unique predictions of the change-of-standard perspective were confirmed that could not be accounted for in terms of other types of context effects on judgment and memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exemplar-based model of social judgment.

As an alternative to algebraic and schematic models of social judgment, a new exemplar-based model holds that representations of specific individuals influence judgments about persons and groups. (1) As the perceiver encounters or thinks about an individual, a representation of that exemplar as interpreted by the perceiver is stored in memory. (2) When a target person is encountered later, known attributes of similar exemplars from memory influence judgments about the target. Similarity is modulated by the perceiver's attention to stimulus dimensions. (3) Social and motivational factors, including perceiver self-schemata, social context, and in-group/out-group dynamics, influence social judgment by affecting perceivers' attention to dimensions. Computer simulations show how the model accounts for social influences on exemplar access and use, and therefore, on the content of social judgments. (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)     

Memory for activities: Adult age differences and intentionality.

24 17–24 yr olds and 24 56–76 yr olds were tested for memory of activities on a series of tasks (e.g., letter cancellation and anagrams) that varied along the rote–cognitive dimension. Half the Ss in each age group were forewarned of the subsequent memory test (intentional learning); the remaining Ss were not forewarned (incidental learning). An overall age difference, favoring young Ss, was found. However, the magnitude of the age difference varied across activities, being slight for cognitively demanding tasks and pronounced for less-demanding activities. Memory was unaffected by the forewarning variable for both age groups. Results are interpreted in terms of an age deficit in the retrieval of memory traces established by activities, with cognitively demanding activities yielding more distinctive and therefore more retrievable traces than less-demanding activities for older adults. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Categorization as a preferred memory strategy: Developmental changes during elementary school.

20 2nd, 20 4th, and 20 6th graders (a) judged the relative effectiveness of 4 memory strategies (looking, naming, rehearsing, and categorizing) and (b) studied and recalled sets of stimuli. The order of tasks was counterbalanced within grade. Ss in all grades chose rehearsal and categorization over looking or naming. Second graders in both conditions and 4th graders who did the memory tasks first judged rehearsal and categorization as equally effective. Fourth graders who made strategy judgments first and 6th graders in both conditions significantly preferred categorization over rehearsal. On the memory task, 4th graders who judged strategy effectiveness prior to doing the memory tasks recalled more than those doing the memory task first. There was no difference due to condition for the other 2 grades. Degree of strategic awareness was related to recall only for children who made the strategy judgment prior to doing the memory tasks. Findings illustrate developmental changes in awareness of the relative benefits of categorization over rehearsal during elementary school and suggest that performance on a memory task may be affected by the degree to which appropriate metamemorial awareness is "activated." (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of NMDA-induced retrohippocampal lesions on performance of four spatial memory tasks known to be sensitive to hippocampal damage in the rat

Four separate cohorts of rats were employed to examine the effects of cytotoxic retrohippocampal lesions in four spatial memory tasks which are known to be sensitive to direct hippocampal damage and/or fornix-fimbria lesions in the rat. Selective retrohippocampal lesions were made by means of multiple intracerebral infusions of NMDA centred on the entorhinal cortex bilaterally. Cell damage typically extended from the lateral entorhinal area to the distal ventral subiculum. Experiment 1 demonstrated that retrohippocampal lesions spared the acquisition of a reference memory task in the Morris water maze, in which the animals learned to escape from the water by swimming to a submerged platform in a fixed location. In the subsequent transfer test, when the escape platform was removed, rats with retrohippocampal lesions tended to spend less time searching in the appropriate quadrant compared to controls. Experiment 2 demonstrated that the lesions also spared the acquisition of a working memory version of the water maze task in which the location of the escape platform was varied between days. In experiment 3, both reference and working memory were assessed using an eight-arm radial maze in which the same four arms were constantly baited between trials. In the initial acquisition, reference memory but not working memory was affected by the lesions. During subsequent reversal learning in which previously baited arms were now no longer baited and vice versa, lesioned animals made significantly more reference memory errors as well as working memory errors. In experiment 4, spatial working memory was assessed in a delayed matching-to-position task conducted in a two-lever operant chamber. There was no evidence for any impairment in rats with retrohippocampal lesions in this task. The present study demonstrated that unlike direct hippocampal damage, retrohippocampal cell loss did not lead to a general impairment in spatial learning, implying that the integrity of the retrohippocampus and/or its interconnection with the hippocampal formation is not critical for normal hippocampal-dependent spatial learning and memory. This outcome is surprising for a number of current hippocampal theories, and suggests that other cortical as well as subcortical inputs to the hippocampus might be of more importance, and further raises the question regarding the functional significance of the retrohippocampal region.     

Effect of mediated learning intervention on cognitive task performance with a deaf population.

Feuerstein's (1979) mediated learning theory was applied to a deaf population for investigating the cognitive modifiability of this population. The Learning Potential Assessment Device (LPAD) was employed in a pretest-posttest design for determining transfer of learning along cognitive and behavioral dimensions. Severely to profoundly deaf children (N?=?45) with hearing parents and between the ages of 9 and 13 years were randomly assigned to three groups—an experimental and two comparison groups. The subjects in the experimental group received examiner mediation as designed by Feuerstein. In one control condition (elaborated), the examiner provided limited feedback to the subjects, and in the other control condition (standard), the subjects performed the tasks following traditional psychometric procedures. The experimental group performed significantly better than the comparison groups on five of the six LPAD tasks, supporting the applicability of Feuerstein's theory of mediated learning. The experimental group also demonstrated significant transfer of learning on other cognitive and behavioral measures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Understanding performance and learning in consistent memory search: An age-related perspective.

This study was conducted to investigate learning in memory search tasks. Young and old participants were trained for 5,640 trials of consistent mapping (CM) and varied mapping (VM) memory search. After training, participants were transferred into New CM and CM Reversal conditions. During training, both young and old adults improved reaction time performance, with more rapid improvement for the young adults. In CM training, both age groups achieved zero comparison slopes, indicating automaticity in CM memory search. VM training maintained a large age-related difference in search times. Age did not moderate the transfer effects, suggesting similar learning mechanisms were responsible for the original CM training gains in both age groups; however, transfer effects were different for CM Reversal and New CM. The pattern of transfer data argues against several possible mechanisms for automaticity in memory search. The data are most compatible with a hypothesis of memory-set unitization as the locus of automaticity in memory search. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationships among cognitive components in Logo learning and transfer.

A model of relationships among 4 cognitive components (working memory, representation, metacognition, and performance) implicated in the acquisition and transfer of Logo was developed and tested. Two implementations of mediated instruction, one of which involved a macrocontext (Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt, 1990), also were compared with respect to these 4 components and to measures of transfer. Few reliable differences were found between instructional conditions, indicating that the systematic mediation of Logo learning was equally effective whether presented with or without the larger framework of a macrocontext. Path analysis of correlations among the 4 cognitive components and a series of transfer tasks indicated that transfer was regulated by a system of relationships among the cognitive components. The respective contribution of each cognitive component varied with the type of transfer task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between memory and judgment depends on whether the judgment task is memory-based or on-line.

Five alternative information processing models that relate memory for evidence to judgments based on the evidence are identified in the current social cognition literature: independent processing, availability, biased retrieval, biased encoding, and incongruity-biased encoding. A distinction between 2 types of judgment tasks, memory-based vs online, is introduced and is related to the 5 process models. In 3 experiments, using memory-based tasks where the availability model described Ss' thinking, direct correlations between memory and judgment measures were obtained. In a 4th experiment, using online tasks where any of the remaining 4 process models may apply, prediction of the memory–judgment relationship was equivocal but usually followed the independence model prediction of zero correlation. It is concluded that memory and judgment will be directly related when the judgment was based directly on the retrieval of evidence information in memory-based judgment tasks. (61 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Regional differences in the effects of task difficulty and motor output on blood flow response in the human anterior cingulate cortex: a review of 107 PET activation studies

We reviewed 107 blood flow activation studies carried out with positron emission tomography and published between January 1993 and November 1996. These studies had reported their findings as peaks of significant difference in cerebral blood-flow (CBF) between two scans/tasks and had located the peaks in standardized stereotaxic space. We coded each task along several dimensions, including the type and rate of input and output, the types of cognitive processes, and the relative difficulty of tasks within a study. Based on this coding, a difference score (A-B) was calculated for each subtraction. Subsequently, the frequency distributions of the difference scores for subtractions yielding a peak in the anterior cingulate region (cingulate peak) were compared with those distributions obtained from subtractions without a cingulate peak (no cingulate-peak). The cingulate peak subtractions (n = 158) differed from the no cingulate peak subtractions (n = 229) in terms of difficulty level (p = 0.001) and the presence of a remote memory component (p = 0.01). Regional differences in the frequency distribution of certain task parameters, such as difficulty level, recent memory and the use of the hand for responding, were also observed when peaks found in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) were further classified as located in the rostral vs caudal ACC, supracallosal vs subcallosal ACC, and limbic vs paralimbic parts of the supracallosal ACC. We conclude that task difficulty plays a major role in modulating blood-flow response in the ACC, possibly interacting with other parameters such as the nature of the response and memory demands.     

Prospective memory in an air traffic control simulation: External aids that signal when to act.

At work and in our personal life we often need to remember to perform intended actions at some point in the future, referred to as Prospective Memory. Individuals sometimes forget to perform intentions in safety-critical work contexts. Holding intentions can also interfere with ongoing tasks. We applied theories and methods from the experimental literature to test the effectiveness of external aids in reducing prospective memory error and costs to ongoing tasks in an air traffic control simulation. Participants were trained to accept and hand-off aircraft and to detect aircraft conflicts. For the prospective memory task, participants were required to substitute alternative actions for routine actions when accepting target aircraft. Across two experiments, external display aids were provided that presented the details of target aircraft and associated intended actions. We predicted that aids would only be effective if they provided information that was diagnostic of target occurrence, and in this study, we examined the utility of aids that directly cued participants when to allocate attention to the prospective memory task. When aids were set to flash when the prospective memory target aircraft needed to be accepted, prospective memory error and costs to ongoing tasks of aircraft acceptance and conflict detection were reduced. In contrast, aids that did not alert participants specifically when the target aircraft were present provided no advantage compared to when no aids were used. These findings have practical implications for the potential relative utility of automated external aids for occupations where individuals monitor multi-item dynamic displays. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)