Cipher versus cue reading: An experiment in decoding acquisition.

Phonetic-cue reading involves reading words by storing and retrieving associations between some of the letters in spellings and sounds in pronunciations. Cipher reading involves processing all of the letter–sound relations in spellings. These two types of reading were compared experimentally. Novice beginning readers in kindergarten were assigned either to a group that was taught to decode—the cipher readers—or to a group that practiced isolated letter–sound relations—–the phonetic-cue readers. On posttests, cipher readers learned to read 15 similarly spelled words almost perfectly, whereas cue readers learned less than half of the words. Cipher readers also spelled better than cue readers. Errors indicated that cue readers were processing partial letter-sound cues in words. Results indicated that phonetic-cue reading is another way besides visual memory and decoding to read words. Results documented the importance of beginning readers' advancing beyond cue reading to cipher reading. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conceptual behavior in pigeons: Categories, subcategories, and pseudocategories.

In 3 experiments with a total of 16 Ss, we explored how pigeons learn to classify diverse pictures of cats, flowers, cars, and chairs and later how they accurately categorize brand-new pictures from these classes. Using a 4-key forced-choice procedure, Ss in Exp 1 discriminated individual examples within each of the categories from one another (subcategory training); nevertheless, errors were disproportionately conceptual in nature, with Ss more likely to confuse examples within a given category than between different categories. Ss in Exp 2 trained to classify pictures into human language categories (category training) learned far faster and more completely than Ss trained to sort the same pictures into totally arbitrary groupings (pseudocategory training). Finally, in Exp 3, category-trained and subcategory-trained Ss were tested on normally oriented pictures, on left–right reversals, and on top–bottom reversals. Subcategory-trained Ss responded less accurately on both kinds of reversed pictures and less accurately on top–bottom than on left–right reversals; category-trained Ss were less affected by both types of picture reversals, only top–bottom reversals decrementing their performance. Results suggest that many words in our language denote clusters of related visual stimuli, which pigeons also see as highly similar. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do alphabet letters help prereaders acquire phonemic segmentation skill?

Tested the assumptions that phonemic segmentation skill is learned best in the oral mode and that teaching segmentation with alphabet letters confuses learners. Three treatment groups of 8 prereaders (mean age 67.8 mo) were formed. The letter group was taught to segment nonword blends using letter tokens. The nonletter group was taught to segment blends with tokens lacking letters. A control group received no training. Experimental groups took about the same time and number of trials to reach criterion during training, indicating that neither method was more difficult or time consuming. Errors indicated that letters helped Ss learn to distinguish phoneme-size units and to remember the correct sounds during the task. On a segmentation posttest, letter and nonletter Ss segmented unpracticed blends better than controls, indicating that both groups acquired general segmentation skill. Letter Ss were superior to nonletter Ss in segmenting practiced sounds, with both groups surpassing controls. It is suggested that letters provide learners with a mental symbol system for representing and thinking about specific phonemes. (53 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pigeon visual memory capacity.

Four experiments examined visual memory capacity in 13 White Carneaux pigeons. In Exp I, Ss learned to discriminate between 80 pairs of random shapes. Memory for 40 of those pairs was only slightly poorer following 490 days without exposure. In Exp II, 80 pairs of photographic slides were learned; 629 days without exposure did not significantly disrupt memory. In Exp III, 160 pairs of slides were learned; 731 days without exposure did not significantly disrupt memory. In the final experiment, Ss learned to respond appropriately to 40 pairs of slides in the normal orientation and to respond in the opposite way when the slides were left–right reversed. After an interval of 751 days, there was a transient disruption in discrimination. These experiments demonstrate that pigeons have a heretofore unsuspected capacity with regard to both breadth and stability of memory for abstract stimuli and pictures. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of mnemonic instructions on paired-associate recognition memory for faces or names.

96 undergraduates (4 experimental and 2 control groups) learned 2 lists of 10 pairs of number-faces or number-names. Experimental Ss learned the 2nd list under a mnemonic rhyme condition. 1/2 of the experimental Ss used imagery as a mediator while the remainder were given verbal mediation sets. Ss took longer to learn faces than names and longer to learn under mnemonic than control conditions. On recognition tests, faces evoked slower latency responses than names, whereas mnemonic sets, in particular imagery as opposed to verbal, reduced response time. Names were recognized better than faces, mnemonics improved recognition scores, and recognition of faces but not of names was facilitated by the mnemonics. Control-group data show that results are not attributable to practice effects. Questionnaire reports of learning strategies are also examined. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Processing of information in iconic memory: Differences between nonretarded and retarded subjects.

Compared iconic memory processes of 17 undergraduates and 18 retarded Ss (primarily aged 18–28 yrs; IQ 56–77) in 4 experiments. In Exp I, a partial report paradigm was used in which 6 retarded and 6 undergraduate Ss were presented 6 pictures under 4 intervals (0–500 msec). In Exp II, using 5 Ss in each group the same procedure as in Exp I was used but letters as well as pictures were included. Results show that although overall performance for retarded Ss was poor, they did better with letters than with pictures—a reverse of the finding with undergraduate Ss. In Exp III, 2 retarded Ss were given extended practice and incentive to perform well. Asymptote was reached in 10 days but never equaled performance of unpracticed undergraduates. In Exp IV, using 5 Ss in each group, information load was varied from 1 to 4 items, and a masking stimulus was used to interrupt processing following 6 intervals that lasted up to 250 msec. Results show that (1) there are quantitative differences between intelligence groups in iconic capacity; (2) retarded Ss process information more slowly, a difference that increases with increasing information load; and (3) there are substantive structural differences in iconic memory of retarded and nonretarded Ss. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implicit learning of color-word associations using a Stroop paradigm.

Asked whether implicit learning occurs for novel nonverbal associations by presenting Ss with color names printed in incongruent colors; Ss were asked to name the color in which the word was printed. In Exp 1, each of 7 color words were associated with the same incongruent color across 6 blocks of trials, and then the color–word associations were abruptly changed. Both control Ss and patients with amnesia reduced their color-naming times across the 1st 6 trial blocks, and naming times increased when the color–word associations were changed. In Exp 2, similar results were obtained when neutral words were associated with colors. In Exp 3, it was found that naming times were not disrupted when an irrelevant dimension (typecase) was changed. Finally, in Exp 4, it was found that the effect persisted across a 5-min delay. These studies provide evidence that implicit learning occurs for nonverbal associations and is independent of the brain structures damaged in amnesia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Face–name interference.

Investigated interference effects between the processing of simultaneously presented photographs of faces of familiar people and printed names of familiar people in 5 experiments each with 12 adult Ss. Results show that printed names interfered with identifying faces, whereas faces did not interfere with saying printed names. In contrast, faces interfered more with name categorization than names interfered with face categorization. It is suggested that despite a priori reasons as to why faces might be thought to possess functional properties different from those of other visual objects, the observed effects are comparable to those found in object–word interference studies, with photographs of faces behaving like pictures of objects and printed people's names behaving like printed names of objects. In face naming tasks, the presence of related names produced more interference than did the presence of unrelated names. This effect was examined in greater detail in Exp III, where it was found that the effect arose when the face and the name belonged to people of similar appearance. An effect of common category membership was not found in Exp III. Exp V, however, showed that names of people highly associated with the person whose face was presented also produced more interference than did names of unrelated people. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of the temporal structure of spoken words on paired-associate learning.

In a series of experiments, participants learned to associate black-and-white shapes with nonsense spoken labels (e.g., “joop”). When tested on their recognition memory, participants falsely recognized as correct a shape paired with a label that began with the same sounds as the shape’s original label (onset-overlapping lure; e.g., joob) more often than a shape paired with a label that overlapped with the original label at offset (offset-overlapping lure; e.g., choop). Furthermore, the false-alarm rate was modulated by the phonetic distance between the sounds that distinguished the original label and the lures. Greater false-alarm rates to onset-overlapping labels were not predicted by explicit similarity ratings or by consonant identification and were not dependent upon label familiarity. The asymmetry at erroneously recognizing onset- versus offset-overlapping lures remained unchanged as the presentation of the shape at test was delayed in time, suggesting that response anticipation based on the first sounds of the spoken label did not contribute much to the false recognition of onset-overlapping lures. Thus, learning 2 words whose names differ in their last sounds appears to pose greater difficulty than learning 2 words whose names differ in their first sounds because, we argue, people are biased to give more importance to the early sounds of a name than to its last sounds when learning a novel label–referent association. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory for pictures and sounds: Independence of auditory and visual codes.

Examined the mnemonic independence of auditory and visual nonverbal stimuli (pictures, corresponding environmental sounds, or picture-sound pairs) in free recall. In Exp 1 with 169 undergraduates, free recall was tested under 3 learning conditions (standard intentional, intentional with a rehearsal-inhibiting distracter task, or incidental with the distracter task). In all groups, recall was best for the picture-sound items, and appeared to be additive relative to pictures or sounds alone when the distracter task was used. Exp 2 with 76 undergraduates included a group that saw 2 copies of the same picture simultaneously, and a group that saw 2 different pictures of the same concept. Recall in the picture-sound condition was greater than in either single-modality condition. Exp 3 with 24 undergraduates doubled exposure time, resulting in additively higher recall for repeated pictures with different exemplars. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The contributions of phonological awareness and letter-name knowledge to letter-sound acquisition—a cross-classified multilevel model approach.

In the present study, we investigated critical factors in letter-sound acquisition (i.e., letter-name knowledge and phonological awareness) with data from 653 English-speaking kindergartners in the beginning of the year. We examined (a) the contribution of phonological awareness to facilitating letter-sound acquisition from letter names and (b) the probabilities of letter-sound acquisition as a function of letter characteristics (i.e., consonant–vowel letters, vowel–consonant letters, letters with no sound cues, and vowel letters). The results show that letter-name knowledge had a large impact on letter-sound acquisition. Phonological awareness had a larger effect on letter-sound knowledge when letter names were known than when letter names were unknown. Furthermore, students were more likely to know the sounds of consonant–vowel letters (e.g., b and d) than vowel–consonant letters (e.g., l and m) and letters with no sound cues (e.g., h and y) when the letter name was known and phonological awareness was accounted for. Sounds were least likely to be known for letters with no sound cues, but reliable differences from other groups of letters depended on students' levels of phonological awareness and letter-name knowledge. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory for picture fragments in monkeys and humans.

Utilized a delayed matching-to-sample procedure to study recognition memory for picture fragments in 33 undergraduates and 3 squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus). Three types of masks varied in the part of the picture they covered, either the center, the periphery, or randomly selected small portions of the picture (noise mask). In Exp I, Ss saw whole sample pictures and had to respond to fragments as comparison pictures. In Exp II, fragments were presented as samples and whole pictures as comparison stimuli. In Exp III, both the samples and comparisons were picture fragments. Recognition accuracy improved in both monkeys and humans as the percentage of the picture exposed increased, and accuracy was lowest with a central mask, intermediate with a noise mask, and highest with a peripheral mask. Data may be used to argue for similar content of visual memories in monkeys and humans. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Vowel generalization in normal and learning disabled readers.

Studied vowel–sound associations in 20 learning disabled (LD) children, 20 normal readers matched with the LD children for reading vocabulary (the VM group), and 20 normal readers matched with the LD sample on age (the AM group). All Ss were drawn from a population of LD and normal children in Grades 2–6 in a middle-class school district. The 3 groups were given the Vowel Generalization Test, which includes 25 regularly spelled words, 25 irregularly spelled words, and 25 nonsense words. Responses to each of the 3 item sets were scored according to vowel pronunciation (regular, irregular, and ungeneralized—vowel responses that are never signaled by the orthographic construction of a particular word), consonant pronunciation (correct or incorrect), and overall correctness. Results of ANOVA with post hoc comparisons showed that the LD and AM groups differed on all measures. However, comparisons of the LD and VM groups primarily revealed a tendency of the LD Ss to apply regular vowel associations less frequently and to apply ungeneralized vowel associations more frequently than the VM group. It is concluded that LD children are less likely than normal readers to apply major pattern associations in decoding unknown words and tend instead to produce vowel sounds that are never signaled by the particular orthographic construction. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of children's understanding of the metalinguistic term word..

Designed 3 experiments to assess 24 preschool (mean age 64.63 mo), 24 1st-grade (mean age 76.25 mo), and 24 2nd grade (mean age 88.61 mo) children's understanding of the term word. A modified aural discrimination task was used in which Ss were required to discriminate word from nonword stimuli along only 1 dimension at a time. Exp I tested Ss' discrimination of words and sounds. Exp II examined word–phrase differentiation. Both of these experiments followed previous research in examining children's comprehension of the term word in relation to nouns. Exp III examined Ss' understanding of word with stimuli from a variety of form classes. Results indicate that Ss' word concepts have been underestimated in past research suggesting that young children lack an adequate word concept: although preschool Ss did not understand the term properly, by 1st grade word was understood. These experiments also show that Ss benefited from brief training in which they were taught to attach the metalinguistic label word to their developing concept of the word as a unit of spoken language. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory for pictures: Does an age-related decline exist?

Examined the effects of varying detail on memory. In Exp I, pictorial embellishment was varied by presenting 27 Ss aged 60+ yrs and 30 undergraduates with normal photographs, high-contrast photographs, or line drawings, and testing their memory immediately and 4 wks later. All of the Ss did best with the most elaborate pictures (normal photographs), and old Ss remembered as well as young at the immediate but not at the delayed interval. In Exp II, with 21 old Ss and 21 18–36 yr olds, detail was varied by adding background to line drawings of a central object. Ss of both ages profited from enhanced background detail, and there were no differences in memory as a function of age. Exp III replicated Exp II, except that Ss (10 elderly and 17 college students) studied the pictures under divided attention conditions. Again, Ss of both ages recognized elaborate pictures best, and no significant age differences emerged. Results suggest that old and young adults profit from visual embellishment and that memory for meaningful pictures remains relatively intact with age. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Changes in internal tempo and effects on the learning and remembering of event durations.

How changes in internal tempo may influence the learning and remembering of event durations were investigated in 4 experiments with 264 university students. In the 1st 2 experiments, stress or relaxation was induced in Ss after they had learned a set of environmental sounds. When unexpectedly asked to recognize (Exp 1) or reproduce (Exp 2) the sounds' durations, results indicated that relative to a control group, Ss in the stress condition misremembered the time spans as shorter than their actual duration, whereas the opposite pattern of results tended to occur in the relaxation group. Exps 3 and 4 further revealed that changes in internal tempo also influence those event rates to which one is most attuned. Findings are discussed in terms of an approach that emphasizes the reciprocal relationship between individuals and their temporal environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Imagery and paired-associate learning.

In Exp. I with 20 undergraduates, the rate of paired-associate learning varied with the type of stimulus, from fastest to slowest: pictures (P), object names (ON), and category names (CN). The stimulus materials did not differ in meaningfulness, and ON had shorter imaginal latencies than CN. The ON-CN difference was replicated in Exp. II with 15 Ss, but presentation of the appropriate P together with an ON or CN on the 1st study trial did not facilitate acquisition of either list. Exp. III with 20 Ss involved the short-term retention of pairs. Using a measure of conditional recall (of responses, given stimulus recall), forgetting occurred over 18 sec., primarily in the 1st 3 sec., but was unaffected by the type of stimulus. The data led to a reevaluation of the conceptual peg hypothesis. (French summary) (17 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Directional responses to sounds in young gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus).

Conducted 3 experiments to determine the ability of infant gerbils to approach an auditory stimulus. In Exp I, 48 16–23 day old Ss were tested in a circular apparatus with a central start area and a movable sound source located at 1 of 8 positions around the perimeter. Stimuli included high- and low-intensity presentations of a tape-recorded gerbil social call, a broad-band white noise stimulus, and a no-stimulus control condition. Ss showed a strong tendency to approach the low-intensity social call and a less pronounced tendency to approach the white noise. In Exp II, 24 16–23 day old Ss were tested in the same apparatus with or without ear blocks to determine the role of binaural cues in directional approach responding. The tendency to approach a low-intensity vocalization was disrupted by obstruction of one ear but not by blocking both ears. Thus, binaural balance was shown to be important for early sound localization. In Exp III, using 6 12–27 day old Ss, the tendency to approach a social call was compared at 12–25, 16–29, 20–23, and 24–27 days after birth. Approach responses were first seen at 16–29 days of age. The responses continued at 20–23 days of age but began to wane at 24–27 days of age. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of directional responses to sounds in the rat (Rattus norvegicus).

Exp I examined the tendency of 48 Sprague-Dawley rat pups to approach auditory stimulation. Tests were conducted in a circular maze with a central start area and 8 response areas at the periphery. Stimuli were played back over a loudspeaker behind 1 of 8 response areas. Signals included species calls at high and low intensities. Ss showed a tendency to approach the low-intensity playback of a species "social" vocalization but did not approach the other stimuli. Exp II investigated the importance of binaural cues for localization. 24 pups were tested with 1 or both ears blocked or neither ear blocked. Only the binaurally blocked and normal controls approached the sound source at above chance levels. The failure of Ss in the monaural group to approach the sound probably resulted from a disruption of binaural cues. The ability of Ss to localize sounds and process binaural cues is discussed in relation to the onset of hearing and in terms of physiological responses that are present early in ontogeny. (76 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Associative learning of abstract and concrete nouns and their subject-drawn pictorial representations.

Conducted 2 experiments to examine undergraduates' associative learning and pictorial representations of 48 concrete and 48 abstract noun pairs. In Exp. I, 24 Ss drew their own pictures of each noun. In Exp. II, another 24 Ss chose S-drawings that best represented their subjective meaning of the word referents. These Ss also received pretraining in labelling the S-drawings. Results from both experiments show that recall of noun pairs was superior to recall of S-drawn picture pairs. These findings conflict with the literature on picture and word paired-associate learning. In addition, concreteness of items facilitated recall. In Exp. I, concrete S-drawings were significantly better retrieval cues than abstract S-drawings. Results are discussed in terms of Pavio's theory of verbal and imagery processes of memory. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)