Echoic memory processes in good and poor readers.

Conducted 4 experiments to determine whether echoic memory plays a role in differences between good and poor readers. In Exp I, with 9 poor (mean age 11.05 yrs) and 9 good (mean age 10.9 yrs) readers, and Exp II, with 12 poor (mean age 10.85 yrs) and 12 good (mean age 10.7 yrs) readers, a suffix procedure was used in which the S was read a list of digits with either a tone control or the word go appended to the list. For lists that exceeded the length of the Ss' memory span by 1 digit (i.e., that avoided ceiling effects), poor readers showed a larger decrement in the suffix condition than did good readers. In Exp III, with 14 poor (mean age 10.64 yrs) and 14 good (mean age 10.83 yrs) readers, Ss shadowed words presented to 1 ear at a rate determined to give 75–85% shadowing accuracy. The item presented to the nonattended ear were words and an occasional digit. At various intervals after the presentation of the digit, a light signaled that the S was to cease shadowing and attempt to recall any digit that had occurred in the nonattended ear recently. Whereas good and poor readers recalled the digit equally if tested immediately after presentation, poor readers showed a faster decline in recall of the digit as retention interval increased. In Exp IV, using Ss from Exp II, bursts of white noise were separated by 9–400 msec of silence, and the S was to say whether there were 1 or 2 sounds presented. There were no differences in detectability functions for good and poor readers. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of digit grouping on memory for telephone numbers.

4distinct patterns of 60 7-digit numbers were compared for accuracy of dialing by 96 college students. The patterns consisted of the following number of digits separated by hyphens: 3-4, 1-3-3, 2-2-3, and 1-2-2-2. A memory drum was used for presentation of the digits and a telephone for dialing. The tapes for the memory drums contained 4 lists of the same digits, the lists differing in the pattern for each set of digits and in the sequence of the patterns. Data analyzed in a 4 X 4 X 4 design for repeated measurement showed the 3-4 pattern, the pattern in current usage, to be superior to the others (p     

Effects of grouping of printed digits on forced-paced manual entry performance.

In 2 experiments with a total of 42 engineers, clerical and shop workers, and housewives, numbers were presented to be keyed at a forced-paced rate, chosen separately for each S from his self-paced rate so as to provide moderate speed stress. Under this condition, the error rate was doubled by using a 1-5-1 grouping of 7-digit numbers as opposed to a 3-4 grouping. For 5-digit numbers, which cannot be grouped by 3s and 4s, no significant difference in performance was found between 3-2 grouping and ungrouped presentation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Short-term longitudinal change in cognitive performance in later life.

Changes in mean performance on memory, information processing, and intellectual ability tasks over a 3-yr period were examined. The sample consisted of 328 community-dwelling men and women (from an original sample of 484 individuals) aged 55–86 yrs. Ss completed tasks yielding measures of verbal processing time, working memory, implicit memory, vocabulary, verbal fluency, world knowledge, reading comprehension, word recall, and text recall. The results showed significant average decline on working memory, verbal fluency, and world knowledge. There were also interactions for 2 processing time measures and working memory, showing greater decline in the earlier-born cohort group than in the later-born cohort group. A step-down analysis revealed that covarying declines in other variables, including processing time, did not eliminate significant declines in working memory, verbal fluency, and world knowledge. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Speed of information processing as a mediator between age and free-recall performance.

A combined experimental and individual differences approach was used to investigate the mediating role of task-specific and task-independent speed of information processing measures in the relationship between age and free-recall performance. 36 younger adults (mean age 21 yrs) and 36 older adults (mean age 73 yrs) participated. Participants were required to encode 3 lists of words for immediate recall, by rehearsing the words aloud, once, twice, and 3 times. Participants' speed of information processing was assessed by 3 measures: rehearsal time, articulation speed, and scores on the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST). Working memory was also assessed by a backward word-span measure. As predicted, younger adults recalled more words after rehearsing words 3 times rather than once, whereas older adults' recall did not increase with increasing numbers of rehearsals. Younger adults were faster on all speed-of-processing measures and had higher backward word span than did older adults. Task-independent speed of processing, measured by DSST scores and articulation speed, mediated the relationship between age and free recall. Scores on the DSST appear to reflect a fundamental difference between younger and older adults that influences recall performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of strategies for recall and recognition.

40 kindergartners, 42 3rd graders, and 40 5th graders (CA's 5 yrs, 5 mo; 8 yrs, 3 mo; and 12 yrs, 4 mo, respectively) viewed 30 pictures of familiar objects, and then their free recall of the object names and their recognition of the original pictures were tested. The recognition test included pairing each picture with another similar picture of the same object. Half the Ss in each age group were prepared for recall with a strategy known to improve it in adults, and half were prepared for recognition with a strategy known to improve recognition in adults. Children encoded the stimuli differentially in accordance with the expected memory task and retrieved different stored information for each task. Both free recall and picture recognition memory improved with age. The recall strategy improved free recall performance at all ages, but the recognition strategy improved recognition performance only at the oldest age tested. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the Development of the Mental Number Line: More, Less, or Never Holistic With Increasing Age?

Magnitude is assumed to be represented along a holistic mental number line in adults. However, the authors recently observed a unit-decade compatibility effect for 2-digit numbers that is inconsistent with this "holisticness" assumption (H.-C. Nuerk, U. Weger, & K. Willmes, 2001). This study used the compatibility effect to examine whether the mental number line representation of magnitude changes toward greater or less holisticness in children from Grades 2-5. The results indicate that decades and units of 2-digit numbers are processed separately rather than holistically from Grade 2 on. However, this separate processing seems to develop from a more sequential (left-to-right) to a more parallel processing mode. Moreover, children may use different strategies depending on task demands. The results are interpreted in the framework of Siegler's overlapping waves model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Childhood amnesia and the beginnings of memory for four early life events.

Childhood amnesia was examined in a between-groups study of adults' memories of 4 datable target events: the birth of a younger sibling, a hospitalization, the death of a family member, and making a family move. 222 college students answered questions about events that had occurred when they were 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 yrs old and also about external information sources, such as family stories. Results show that the offset of childhood amnesia (earliest age of recall) is age 2 yrs for hospitalization and sibling birth and 3 yrs for death and move. Thus, some memories are available from earlier in childhood than previous research has suggested. Ss' mothers judged most of their children's memories as accurate. External information sources were negatively related to recall from the earlier ages (2–3 yrs) but positively to recall from later ages (4–5 yrs). These results are compatible with a multiple-determinants account of childhood amnesia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Recall of pleasant and unpleasant words in depressed subjects.

In Exp I, 20 clinically depressed inpatients (mean age 39.9 yrs), 20 nondepressed inpatients (mean age 42.65 yrs), and 20 nonpatients (mean age 44 yrs) were shown a word list containing pleasant and unpleasant words. One-half of Ss in each group were given free-recall instructions, the other half were asked to rate each word on a pleasantness scale prior to recall. Results show that only depressed Ss given free-recall instructions recalled more unpleasant words than pleasant words. In Exp II, 30 clinically depressed inpatients (mean age 39.33 yrs) were shown a word list consisting of either (1) pleasant and unpleasant words, (2) unpleasant words, or (3) pleasant words. Results show that only Ss receiving the mixed list recalled more unpleasant than pleasant words. Findings support the hypothesis that depressed Ss selectively process unpleasant words and that this processing is at the expense of attention to pleasant words. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adult age differences in cued recall.

Examined the relative effectiveness of semantic and structural retrieval cues in 72 male college graduates of 3 age groups: Group 1 (aged 20–39 yrs), Group 2 (aged 40–59 yrs), and Group 3 (aged 60–80 yrs). The Ss had been administered 2 subtests of the WAIS to insure the compatibility of the Ss. Results of the recall tests show that there was significantly poorer recall by the older Ss in the noncued conditions (free recall) and in the cued condition when structural cues were used. When category labels were used as semantic cues, however, the age deficit in recall was eliminated. Results are discussed in terms of both a retrieval hypothesis and a processing-deficit hypothesis. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-recognition in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): Distribution, ontogeny, and patterns of emergence.

Investigations of mirror self-recognition (SR) in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) have had small samples and divergent methods. In Exp 1, 105 chimpanzees (aged 10 mo to 40 yrs) were observed for signs of SR across 5 days of continuous mirror exposure. In Exps 2 and 3, negative SR adult and adolescent Ss were saturated with mirror exposure in efforts to facilitate SR, and a longitudinal study was conducted with a number of young Ss. In Exp 4, mark tests were administered to groups of positive SR, negative SR, and ambiguous SR Ss. Exp 5 explored whether previous positive SR reports in young chimpanzees were artifacts of increased arousal during mirror exposure. Results suggest that SR typically emerges at 4.5–8 yrs of age, at the population level the capacity declines in adulthood, and in group settings SR typically occurs within minutes of an S's exposure to a mirror. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of extraneous verbal information on memory for telephone numbers.

Simulated interaction between a directory assistance operator and 60 undergraduates to assess the effect of telephone company policy requests that operators say "Have a nice day" at the end of each transaction. In the suffix condition, each of 20 requested numbers was followed by the phrase "Have a nice day." Two control conditions were employed, one involving a series of tones at the end of each number, the other involving no additional stimuli. Reliable decrements in performance were obtained in the suffix condition relative to both control conditions when unfamiliar 3-digit prefixes were used but not when numbers with familiar prefixes were used. In addition to practical implications, results confirm expectations derived from theoretical accounts of short-term memory. (7 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of cognitive effort and word distinctiveness on learning disabled and nondisabled readers' recall.

Explored the notion that differences in word recall between skilled and learning disabled (LD) readers are related to cognitive effort in 3 experiments. Ss were 12 skilled readers (mean age 13.6 yrs) and 12 LD readers (mean age 13.5 yrs) in Exp I, 12 skilled readers (mean age 12.20 yrs) and 12 LD readers (mean age 11.63 yrs) in Exp II, and 24 skilled readers (mean age 8.75 yrs) and 24 LD readers (mean age 8.55 yrs) in Exp III. Cognitive effort represents the mental input to which a limited-capacity attentional system expands to produce a response. Manipulation of primary task difficulty (anagram solutions) and subsequent performance on a secondary task (word recall of correctly solved anagrams) was used to infer cognitive effort. The primary task included manipulations of word list organization and task orientation instructions. In general, after a difficult primary task, secondary task performance was higher for skilled readers than it was for LD readers. Ability group interactions occurred for word list organization and task orientation instructions. It is suggested that the amount of cognitive effort that can be effectively expended to produce a distinctive memory trace is related to individual differences in attentional capacity. Specifically, skilled readers' encoded memory traces under high-effort conditions contained more distinct semantic information than did the traces of LD readers. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Retrieval failure in the presence of retrieval cues: A comparison of three age groups.

Cued recall of preteens, young adults, and senior adults (480 Ss) was compared under 7 conditions of practice. (Preteens were 11–12 yrs old; young adults were college students; senior adults had a mean age of 47.5 yrs.) The independent variable was the number of items in the list which began with the same letter of the alphabet; the number of items per alphabetic cue was 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, or 12. The interaction between age and the number of items per cue was not significant, thus permitting the inference that retrieval failure due to the number of items per cue was invariant with age. This result is discussed in terms of cue overload, and the suggestion is offered that cue overload may result from information lost when memory traces carrying the same retrieval information interact and are recoded. Further analyses pursued the nature and locus of the items not recalled by preteens and senior adults, and the judgment is made that the retrieval failure in these 2 age groups, although comparable in quantity, is probably different in quality. Also reported is the finding that, under free-recall conditions, senior adults were able to recall as well as young adults, and this result was related to the greater opportunity for meaningful organization in free recall than in cued-alphabetic recall. (French summary) (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mature and young adult women's recall of textbook material.

Under cued and noncued conditions in 3 sessions held 1 wk apart, 2 age groups, each composed of 28 female students (18–25 and 35–55 yrs), were presented with immediate and delayed free-recall tasks. Two historical prose passages were used as test materials to determine whether there were age-related differences in recall and whether living through an era facilitated the learning and recall of events of that era. There were no overall significant age differences in recall; living through an era slightly helped recall. A significant Age Group by Time interaction indicated higher immediate recall for the younger group, particularly of the more difficult prose material but no between-groups differences in recall after 1 wk on any of the prose material. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Encoding orientation and the remembering of schizophrenic young adults.

Schizophrenic memory following an experimenter-imposed encoding task was examined in a levels-of-processing framework. In Session 1, 17 schizophrenics (mean age 23.5 yrs), 17 nonschizophrenic psychiatric patients (mean age 24.3 yrs), and 17 normal college students (mean age 20.0 yrs) were required to make yes–no judgments about whether a probe word contained 2 letters, rhymed with a word, belonged to a conceptual category, or fitted into a sentence. In Session 2, they were required to produce an appropriate word for each question. The 3 groups recalled semantically processed words better than nonsemantically processed words and "yes" words better than "no" words and revealed similar recall and recognition patterns over the different levels of encodings. However, the schizophrenics' recall for "yes" words (Session 1) and for the self-generated words (Session 2) was inferior to that of normals. Theoretical implications are discussed. (31 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adult age differences in the inhibition of recall as a function of retrieval cues.

Asked 64 Ss from 3 age ranges (18–37, 50–64, and 65–88 yrs) to look at word lists in which the words were either categorized under headings or additionally subcategorized. Ss were then asked to recall the words when (a) the category name was given, or (b) the category name and half of the list words were given. Words recalled decreased with increasing age in all conditions. The youngest age group recalled more words when the category name only was used as a recall cue. There were no significant differences between the 2 recall conditions for the other age groups, suggesting that they were not as susceptible to recall inhibition as the younger adults. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aging and the total presentation time hypothesis.

The "total time" hypothesis predicts that word lists equal in total exposure time will have the same recall time regardless of the time of presentation or length of list. To test this hypothesis with older Ss, 36 Ss of similar backgrounds and 3 age groups (20–40, 41–60, 61–80 yrs) were shown 4 word lists in which rate of presentation and length of list were varied but total presentation time was the same. Recall performance was significantly related to age, list length, and presentation rate, but there were no interactions. It is concluded that the total time hypothesis holds regardless of age. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sparing of semantic memory in Alzheimer's disease.

A number of investigators have suggested that unlike the normal elderly population, patients with Alzheimer's disease have a severe semantic-memory deficit. However, the semantic-memory tasks used in previous studies have been confounded by the heavy demands they placed on effortful processing. In the present study, 20 demented (mean age 71 yrs) and 20 normal (mean age 69.8 yrs) elderly Ss were given a battery of episodic-memory tasks and 3 tasks that examined how intact and accessible their semantic memory was under conditions that did not require effortful processing. Although the demented Ss were greatly inferior to the normal Ss on the episodic-memory tests, they performed equally well on the semantic-memory test: The naming latency of both groups was equally facilitated by a semantic prime, the recall accuracy of both normal and demented elderly for a string of letters was similarly affected by the degree to which the string approximated English orthography, and recall accuracy for a string of words was affected equally in the 2 groups by the degree to which the word string obeyed syntactic and semantic rules. (42 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)