A case of syntactical learning and judgment: How conscious and how abstract?

Examined 2 possible bases for grammatical judgments following syntactical learning: unconscious representations of a formal grammar, as in A. S. Reber's (see record 1976-21811-001) hypothesis of implicit learning, and conscious rules within information grammars. 50 undergraduates inspected strings generated by a finite-state grammar, viewed either one at a time or all at a time, with implicit or explicit learning instructions. 15 undergraduates served as controls. In a transfer test, Ss and controls judged the grammaticality of grammatical and nongrammatical strings and reported the bases for their judgments. Concurrent with previous results, Ss correctly classified a significant number of novel strings, indicating the operation of grammatical abstraction. However, reported rules predicted those grammatical judgments without significant residual. Ss acquired correlated grammars—personal sets of conscious rules, each of limited scope and many of imperfect validity. The rules embodied abstractions, consciously represented novelty that could account for abstraction embodied in judgments. It is argued that a better explanation of these results credits grammatical judgments to conscious rules within informal grammars rather than to unconscious representations of a formal grammar. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implicit learning and generalization of the "mere exposure" effect.

Reports 2 experiments that examined the generalization of the "mere exposure" effect. Both experiments demonstrated that positive affect, produced by repeated viewing of a set of stimuli, generalizes to previously unseen stimuli that are similar to the exposed stimuli along certain abstract dimensions. Exp I, with 82 Ss, used letter strings constructed according to a complex rule system. Positive affect attributable to exposure generalized to novel letter strings that obeyed the rule system. Affective generalization was related to Ss' judgments of whether the novel strings obeyed the rule system. Exp II (40 Ss), in which the stimuli were complex visual patterns created by distorting standard forms, yielded an orderly gradient of affective generalization to novel patterns at varying levels of distortion. Results indicate that the exposure effect behaves in a manner similar to "implicit" concept learning and rule induction. The generalization techniques developed here provide a novel method for studying the affective processing of stimuli. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social judgeability: The impact of meta-informational cues on the use of stereotypes.

According to a social judgeability analysis, a crucial determinant of impression formation is the extent to which people feel entitled to judge a target person. Two experiments, with a total of 113 undergraduates, tested the impact of the subjective availability of individuating information on a social judgment independent of its actual presence. In Exp 1, Ss made a stereotypical judgment when they believed individuating information was present even if no information was in fact given. In Exp 2, Ss who thought they received individuating information made more extreme and confident judgments than Ss who thought they received category information. This indicates that Ss' judgments were not simply a function of implicit demand: The illusion of receiving individuating information led Ss to believe they possessed the necessary evidence for legitimate decision making. This result supports the existence of rules in the social inference process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of elaborative and perceptual integrative processes in perceptual-motor performance.

Three experiments address the dependence of both explicit and implicit memory performance on elaborative processes for a perceptual-motor task, pursuit rotor. Explicit memory performance was reflected by recognition of previously encountered pursuit rotor stimuli. Implicit memory performance (priming) was identified in Exp 1 as an advantage in pursuit rotor performance for old stimuli that Ss failed to explicitly recognize. In Exps 2 and 3, the types of strategies that Ss engaged in during training and test phases were manipulated. Results indicated that explicit memory performance depended on elaborative processes that emphasized which specific stimuli were encountered, whereas reliable implicit memory performance appeared only under a control no-instruction condition. Discussion focuses on attention to perceptual-integrative processes for priming. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aging and memory for frequency of occurrence of novel, visual stimuli: Direct and indirect measures.

Memory for frequency of occurrence typically is investigated using familiar stimuli (e.g., words) and with "direct" tests of memory; that is, the S is required to state explicitly how often an item occurred or which item occurred more often. Exps 1 and 2 examined the effects of age on the ability to make judgments (i.e., direct tests) regarding the frequency of occurrence of words and of novel, visual stimuli (Japanese ideograms). In Exp 3, young and old Ss were compared on "indirect" measures of memory for frequency of occurrence of these ideograms, as indexed by the mere exposure effect. On the direct test of memory, elderly and young Ss did not differ when shown words, but elderly were impaired compared with young Ss when ideograms were presented. When tested indirectly, both groups were sensitive to the frequency of occurrence of ideograms. The pattern of results replicates and extends previous findings regarding performance dissociations between direct and indirect measures of memory in aging. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Differential effects of aging and Alzheimer's disease on conceptual implicit and explicit memory.

The effects of aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD) on conceptual explicit and implicit memory were examined. Three groups of participants patients with AD; age-matched, older control participants; and younger control participants made deep (semantic) or shallow (nonsemantic) judgments about low-dominant category exemplars. Explicit memory was measured by category cued recall and implicit memory was measured by priming on a category-exemplar generation task. Younger participants had enhanced cued recall and priming following deep, relative to shallow, encoding; this indicated that both memory measures were conceptually driven. Aging reduced explicit, but not implicit, test performance, and it did not reduce conceptually driven processes for either test. In contrast, AD reduced explicit and implicit test performance, and it impaired conceptually driven memory processes for both tests. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Clinical depression and implicit memory.

Investigated performance on implicit and explicit memory tasks in Ss diagnosed with major depression and matched controls. Depressed Ss showed impaired performance on both the explicit and implicit tasks in comparison with controls. These findings are in contrast to groups such as amnesic patients and older adults, who show preserved abilities on implicit tasks and deficits on explicit tasks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Face recall: An examination of some factors limiting composite production accuracy.

Contemporary face composite systems require scrutiny of many alternative features during the construction phase and judgments of similarity based on viewing features divorced from a facial context. The present study assessed the role of these factors in limiting composite production accuracy. In Exp I, 60 students observed a target face and made similarity judgments on sample eyes or mouths drawn from a Photo-fit Kit before attempting to identify the same features of the target. Exp II with 60 Ss was a replication, except that the interpolated judgments were made on the features in the context of a complete Photo-fit face resembling the target. In neither experiment did the Photo-fit components significantly interfere with recognition of the corresponding features of the target. In Exp III, the similarity ratings from memory provided by Ss in the previous experiments were compared with parallel sets of ratings furnished by 30 Ss in the presence of the target. Mean judgments of similarity made from memory on isolated features were discrepant from all other ratings. Results are interpreted as suggesting that whereas interference is not a major problem, judging resemblance from features seen in isolation may be a serious source of distortion in composite production. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of context manipulation on memory and reversal learning in rats with hippocampal lesions.

Conducted 3 experiments with 83 male Long-Evans rats to investigate (a) the memory of hippocampus-damaged Ss, and (b) their ability to modify response strategies in relation to the influence of familiar contextual cues. In Exp I, groups of hippocampal and control Ss learned a simultaneous discrimination habit and were subsequently tested for its retention under variable contextual conditions. All groups recalled the discrimination response to an equally high level when testing conditions were constant throughout, but the hippocampal group showed impaired memory when contextual stimuli at recall testing did not conform to those of original learning. Results of Exp II indicate that the hippocampal impairment was not simply the result of introducing novel stimuli. In Exp III, Ss were administered a reversal learning task with contextual stimuli varied between the 2 tests. The typically observed impairment of hippocampal Ss on this task was reduced by contrasting contextual conditions. Results are seen to support a context-retrieval interpretation of hippocampal function. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Immediate spatial order memory and item memory in sixth-grade children as a function of reader ability.

16 good and 16 poor 6th-grade readers served as Ss. Exp I tested immediate order memory for strings of 4 and 6 consonants that were either redundant (R) or nonredundant (NR) based on positional frequencies of letters in printed English. Both reader groups were better in retrieving order for R strings; poor readers were inferior to good readers on both R and NR 6-letter strings. Exp II tested for immediate order memory and immediate item memory for strings of 8 digits and strings of 8 consonants. Good readers were better than poor readers on all tasks. However, order memory appeared to be more strongly related to reading ability than was item memory. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Moral reasoning and moral concerns: An alternative to Gilligan's gender based hypothesis.

Studied the differences in moral orientation in terms of gender specific modes of reasoning, in 2 experiments. In Exp 1, 32 Ss (aged 24–55 yrs) were read the "Heinz dilemma," and asked 3 questions regarding it. Deliberative and justificatory strategies were identified on the basis of the presence or absence of the higher level knowledge structures. In Exp 2, 40 undergraduates were presented with "Michael and Kohlberg Heinz dilemma," followed by a set of relevant questions. Male Ss preferred to apply a norm or rule in their solutions, while females rejected the application of a norm and sought alternative solutions. This was replicated in Exp 2, but the pattern was reversed with female Ss preferring to apply a norm. Males were divided in their use of either strategy indicating that although, genders differed in their judgments as to which norms or rules to apply; once adopted, norms and rules were used in similar ways. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual differences in syllogistic reasoning: Deduction rules or mental models?

Conducted 2 experiments to examine the correlates of reasoning ability on a syllogistic reasoning task in Ss who lacked formal background in logic, focusing on the extent to which reasoning proficiency arises from the consideration of multiple possible set relations (mental models) as opposed to explicit or implicit reliance on deduction rules. Exp I investigated whether differences between good and poor reasoners occurred early or late in the process of reasoning. 24 undergraduates, designated as good or poor readers, were presented with 16 syllogisms to solve. In Exp II, 16 good and 15 poor undergraduate reasoners and 7 graduate students who had studied logic were asked to state their initial impression of the correct conclusion to a syllogism. Overall findings reveal evidence for the use of both models and rules. Although good and poor reasoners differed even when time constraints were imposed, consistent with the supposition of a better set of rules among good reasoners, good reasoners showed more improvement and chose to take longer amounts of time when time constraints were removed, suggesting that they considered more alternatives than did the poor reasoners. A comparison between these 2 groups and Ss with experience in logic revealed striking differences in both accuracy and speed. (34 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exact and conceptual repetition dissociate conceptual memory tests: Problems for transfer appropriate processing theory.

Tested whether a conceptual implicit memory test exhibited repetition effects similar to those found in free recall. 555 Ss participated in 3 experiments. In Exp 1, Ss rated a series of target words and their associates according to their degree of pleasantness in the implicit word-fragment completion and cued recall, and category cued and free recall tests. In Exp 2, Air Force recruits were tested on the category instance generation (CIG) and 4 additional tests in Exp 1. Exp 3 tested the Ss for CIG or category cued recall using instructions for relational process. Both CIG and category cued recall exhibited conceptual repetition effects. Category cued recall showed important differences between CIG and free recall. Theoretical implications are discussed. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Judging creativity: A method for assessing how and by what criteria it is done.

In 2 experiments with a total of 90 undergraduates, Ss evaluated fictitious protocols that varied in the number and uniqueness of the answers. In Exp I, Ss were instructed to use criteria for creativity; in Exp II, judgments were made according to creativity, intelligence, or gender. Productivity influenced the ratings under all 3 criteria with the largest effect being on intelligence, followed by creativity. Uniqueness had an independent influence on judgments of creativity, a borderline effect on intelligence, and no significant effect on gender. Protocols which had more answers were judged more "masculine." Results indicate that laymen share the same definition of creativity used by psychometricians and that intelligence is semantically different from creativity. It is concluded that the method offers an unobtrusive but objective way of assessing factors that enter into conceptual judgments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Lexical access for concrete and abstract words.

Three experiments with 48 undergraduates compared the speed and accuracy of lexical decisions for concrete and abstract nouns. Results of Exp I, in which separate groups of Ss judged each word type, and of Exp II, in which all Ss judged mixed blocks of both word types, indicate that there was a small speed advantage for concrete nouns in lexical decision. To observe transfer effects from one word type to the other, all Ss in Exp III made judgments within blocked presentations of each word type. Findings show that when blocks of abstract words followed blocks of concrete words, judgments for the abstract words were significantly longer than those for concrete words. When concrete blocks followed abstract blocks, however, there was no difference in response time for the 2 word types. It is concluded that the effect of concreteness in lexical decision appears to be critically sensitive to order of presentation. Implications for models of common vs dual representation in lexical memory are discussed. (56 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

You can't not believe everything you read.

Can people comprehend assertions without believing them? Descartes (1644/1984) suggested that people can and should, whereas Spinoza (1677/1982) suggested that people should but cannot. Three experiments support the hypothesis that comprehension includes an initial belief in the information comprehended. Ss were exposed to false information about a criminal defendant (Exps 1 and 2) or a college student (Exp 3). Some Ss were exposed to this information while under load (Exps 1 and 2) or time pressure (Exp 3). Ss made judgments about the target (sentencing decisions or liking judgments). Both load and time pressure caused Ss to believe the false information and to use it in making consequential decisions about the target. In Spinozan terms, both manipulations prevented Ss from "unbelieving" the false information they automatically believed during comprehension. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of environmental support on implicit and explicit memory in younger and older adults.

Addressed (1) whether there are age differences on an implicit word-stem-completion task and (2) whether age differences on both implicit and explicit memory would decrease with increased environmental support. A total of 287 Ss were presented with words in an incidental learning task with structural or semantic processing. Following 2 filler tasks, Ss received an implicit or an explicit word-stem-completion task. The number of letters in the stem varied from 2 to 4. Results yielded an Age?×?Memory Task dissociation such that there were large age differences on the explicit task and no age difference on the implicit task, regardless of whether Ss aware of the memory test were included or excluded. There was no evidence that environmental support improved older adults' performance more than that of younger adults on either memory task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Pessimistic noise effects": The perception of reaction times in noise.

Used a between-group design to examine the effect of loud noise on a 2-choice discrete reaction task and the judgments Ss made about self-produced RTs under these conditions. In Exp I, 70 Ss (aged 26–39 yrs) completed a 2-choice RT task and a concurrent RT rating task of speed. White noise was presented to Ss in the experimental groups. RTs were unexpectedly faster in noise, but Ss used more "slow" categories in describing them. The effect was not apparent when the same RTs were rerated a 2nd time under instructions that indicated that they were random time intervals. Also, the effect was not apparent when a new group of 14 undergraduates in Exp II rated the original RT data, again in noise. Exp III showed that when asked to predict average RTs produced by a hypothetical S in noise, 30 uniformed Ss (aged 26–39 yrs) predicted slow RTs. Results are considered in the light of the hypothesis that pessimistic expectancies about likely effects of noise may be a factor influencing performance. (French abstract) (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does implicit memory extend to legal and illegal nonwords?

In 4 experiments, implicit and explicit memory for words and nonwords were compared. In Exps 1–2 memory for words and legal nonwords (e.g., kers) was assessed with an identification (implicit) and a recognition (explicit) memory task: Robust priming was obtained for both words and nonwords, and the priming effects dissociated from explicit memory following a levels-of-processing manipulation (Exp 1) and following a study-test modality shift (Exp 2). In Exp 3, priming for legal and illegal nonwords (e.g., xyks) was observed on an identification task, and the effects dissociated from explicit memory following a levels-of-processing manipulation. Finally, in Exp 4, significant inhibitory priming for legal nonwords was observed when a lexical-decision task was used. Results suggest that implicit memory can extend to legal and illegal nonwords. Implications for theories of implicit memory are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)