Categorical-relational and order-relational information in memory for subject-performed and experimenter-performed actions.

Memory for self-performed tasks (SPTs) is better than memory for experimenter-performed tasks (EPTs). In short unrelated lists of actions this effect occurs if the encoding condition is manipulated within subjects. In a between-subjects design, the enactment effect disappears (J. Engelkamp & D. Dehn, 2000; J. Engelkamp & H. D. Zimmer, 1997). These findings were explained by the item-order hypothesis, which claims that encoding order information depends on the type of encoding and design. The authors demonstrate that this differential encoding of order information in EPTs and SPTs is not effective in free recall if categorized lists are used. The use of categorized lists makes the interaction of type of encoding and design in free recall of short lists disappear, and the enactment effect reappears independent of the type of design. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Item and order information in spatial memory.

14 male Holtzman albino rats were taught to perform order and item discriminations in an 8-arm radial maze. In Exp I, 2 groups of Ss learned different order discriminations with reward contingent on repeating or avoiding the most recently visited of 2 locations. Each trial began with a random order of 8 forced choices and ended with a choice between the 1st and 7th arms. Rate of learning depended on the compatibility of reward contingencies and preexperimental response biases. In Exp II, each trial began with a list of 7 forced choices and ended in a choice between either the 1st or 6th arm and the arm not presented; accuracy of performing these item discriminations depended on both serial position and the response tendencies acquired in Exp I. In Exp III, a 1-hr postlist delay impaired the order discrimination more than the item discrimination, and the effects of intertrial interval depended on previously acquired response biases. Results are discussed in terms of a 2-stage model that segregates a single memory process from decision/response processes. Item and order discriminations do not appear to be based on separate sources of information and do not appear to require fundamentally different memory processes. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pop-out into memory: A retrieval mechanism that is enhanced with the recall of subject-performed tasks.

Subject-performed tasks (SPTs; i.e., carrying out the actions during study) improve free recall of action phrases without enhancing relational information. By this mechanism, items pop into a person's mind without active search, and this process especially extends the recency effect. The authors demonstrated the existence of the extended recency effect and its importance for the SPT recall advantage (Experiments 1 and 2). Carrying out the action and not semantic processing caused the effect (Experiment 3). The extended recency effect was also not a consequence of a deliberate last-in, first-out strategy (Experiment 4), and performing a difficult secondary task (an arithmetic task) during recall reduced memory performances but did not influence the extended recency effect (Experiment 5). These data support the theory that performing actions during study enhances the efficiency of an automatic pop-out mechanism in free recall. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Position and order information in recognition memory.

In three experiments we examined short-term recognition memory for order information. In each, a target string of letters was followed by a test string to which the subject responded "same" or "different." The test string either was identical to the target, or it included a transposition of a single pair of letters. Results were consistent in showing that the closer two transposed letters were to another in the target string, the poorer was the recognition of transposition. A probed recall procedure introduced in Experiment 3 required subjects to identify the serial position in the target string held by the probe letter. This procedure showed that memory for a letter's serial position was distributed over a number of serial positions and that the overlap of such positional uncertainty functions for individual pairs of adjacent items predicted recognition memory for transposition. Uncertainty about position of occurrence appears to determine order information, at least in part, and constitutes a neglected aspect of current theories of serial-position phenomena. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Item difficulty and content bias on the WAIS-R information subtest.

252 15–77 yr old patients referred for psychological or neuropsychological assessment were administered the WAIS-R. Of the 4 new items in the Information subtest, 2 were found to be disproportionately difficult in terms of proportions of Ss who passed the item. In addition, 3 of the 4 items that are routinely "Canadianized" were also found to be disproportionately difficult. It is suggested that a normative study to establish the hierarchy of difficulty for a Canadian population is needed. (French abstract) (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An information processing model of some seriation tasks.

Children were video-tape recorded while trying to solve one of Piaget's weight seriation tasks. Detailed protocol analyses and computer simulations of the behavior of three children at different stages of intellectual development are presented. The programs, organized as systems of production rules, simulate the Ss' behavior in detail. They show how intellectual development is related to the Ss' (a) progressive sophistication in structuring their environment, (b) better use of memory, (c) span for drawing inferences, and (d) initial conception of what a seriation is, as reflected in such parameters as the adequacy of their stop rules and single vs. multiple block comparisons. Two additional experiments (N=35) compare length with weight seriation; access to information is controlled in one of the length seriation conditions. Results indicate that the typically observed décalage in performance on the two tasks largely disappears when a systematic effort is made to render the information-processing requirements of the two tasks isomorphic. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Retention of order information for sounds and words.

In 4 experiments with a total of 160 undergraduates and 2 university staff members, short segments of naturalistic sounds were compared with their verbal labels in several tasks requiring retention of order information. Results of Exp I show that ordered recall of 7-item sequences of sounds was poorer than words with interstimulus intervals of 500 msec or shorter, while the difference disappeared with an interstimulus interval of 1 sec. Results of Exp II–IV, which extended the comparison to running memory span, serial probe, and probe recognition tasks, show a superiority of words over sounds in the recency component of the serial position curves in each case. Taken together, findings support the idea that verbal coding facilitates retention of order information, and discount interpretations of the sound–word difference based on higher-order processing strategies or retrieval problems. (French summary) (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Item versus associative information: Further comparisons of forgetting rates.

Four experiments are reported that extend previous research and firmly demonstrate that item information is more susceptible to decay or interference than is associative information. The forgetting rate for single words is shown to be greater than the forgetting rate for associations between random pairs of words in a continuous recognition paradigm using both yes–no (Exp 1) and forced-choice (Exps 2 and 3) test procedures. Item recognition is also shown to decline more than associative discrimination between an immediate and an end-of-session delayed test in the study–test paradigm. The findings provide further empirical support for a process-oriented distinction between item and associative information and pose a challenge for global matching models of recognition memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Linking structures and sensitivity to judgment-relevant information in statistical and logical reasoning tasks.

It is proposed that in solving statistical and logical reasoning tasks, reasoners form a bilateral linking structure connecting the 2 problem focal categories with each other. This structure includes 2 links. Each link may be conceived as full or partial. A full vs partial link, relevant to the inference, was predicted to promote unqualified and confident conclusions and to decrease sensitivity to incoming judgment-relevant information. Similar, though weaker, effects were predicted for the converse (irrelevant) link. Undergraduates (N?=?248) were exposed to 1 of the 4 possible linking structures and then performed a series of judgments related to pseudodiagnosticity, insensitivity to sample size, judgmental overconfidence, and so on. Strong evidence for the relevant link hypothesis and some evidence for the irrelevant link hypothesis were found. [An erratum for this article will appear in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1990 (Dec), Vol 59(6), 1118. The erratum corrects the labeling in Figure 1 (page 922) in the original article.] (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Serial retrieval processes in the recovery of order information.

The retrieval of temporal order and item information from short-term memory (STM) are examined with the cued-response speed–accuracy trade-off (CR-SAT) procedure and a complementary reaction time (RT) task. The retrieval of order information was examined with a 2-alternative forced-choice (2AFC), relative judgment of recency (JOR) task. Analyses of the pattern of mean RT, RT accuracy, and the overall shape of the RT distribution for correct JORs suggest that order information is retrieved by a serial retrieval mechanism. Analyses of SAT retrieval functions confirm that order information is retrieved by a recency-based, serial retrieval process. These results contrast with previous SAT analyses of STM item recognition (B. McElree and B. A. Dosher, see record 1990-09049-001), which indicate that item information is retrieved by a parallel or direct-access mechanism. The dissociation between item and order information retrieval was further documented in a 2AFC item recognition SAT study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of tasks on integrating information from multiple documents.

The authors examine 2 issues: (a) how students integrate information from multiple scientific documents to describe and explain a physical phenomenon that represents a subset of the information in the documents; and (b) the role of 2 sorts of tasks to achieve this type of integration, either writing an essay on a question requiring integration across texts or answering shorter intratext questions that require students to integrate information within a single text, while superficial and deep comprehension measurements are obtained. Undergraduate students answered 1 of the 2 types of questions, and their reading times were recorded. Half of the sample thought aloud. Results showed that the integration question increased integration and decreased the processing of isolated units of information, which enhanced deep learning, whereas no differences between the 2 sorts of tasks on memory recall were apparent. This research also provides evidence for the discrepancy between training and posttraining effects (R. A. Schmidt & R. A. Bjork, 1992). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mirror effect in order and associative information: Role of response strategies.

Classes of stimuli that are relatively easy to classify in recognition as old when old also appear to be relatively easy to classify as new when new. Five experiments are reported that extend this mirror effect to tests requiring retention of order and associative information. These experiments tested memory for words and nonwords; across experiments, the mirror effect was found on both yes–no and forced-choice tests. In addition, a new account of the mirror effect is proposed, one which suggests that this pattern results from participants' attempts to distribute responses equally across stimulus classes on tests. Support from this account came from additional experiments in which the mirror effect was eliminated when participants were asked to refrain from using positive responses as guesses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Item gains and losses during hypermnesic recall: Implications for the item-specific-relational information distinction.

S. B. Klein et al (see record 1990-03546-001) suggested that the literature on hypermnesia (improved recall across repeated tests) could be explained by reference to the item-specific–relational information distinction. Klein et al showed that conditions designed to promote individual-item processing produced more item gains across repeated tests, whereas conditions that induced relational processing resulted in fewer item losses across tests. Five experiments generally replicate the Klein et al results and provide evidence that item gains and losses can be used to index amount of individual-item and relational processing in a variety of experimental contexts. It is suggested that the item gain and loss measures of individual-item and relational processing may be more appropriate than the currently used measures in some experimental situations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contributions of surface and conceptual information to performance on implicit and explicit memory tasks.

Four experiments examined the effects of perceptual and conceptual processing operations on 2 implicit and 2 explicit memory tasks. Results show an advantage of visual over auditory presentation for word-fragment completion, word-stem completion, and word-stem cued recall; there was no such advantage in recognition memory. Conceptual processing had no effect on the implicit tasks, a small effect on word-stem cued recall, and a large effect on recognition. It is concluded that there is no necessary trade-off between the 2 types of information. Speculatively, the use of perceptual information may be all or none and relatively automatic, whereas the use of conceptual information appears to be graded and more under conscious control. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of cuing on short-term retention of order information.

In two experiments, subjects recalled one of two letter sequences following a digit-filled retention interval. Recall performance was increased by precues informing subjects which letter sequence would be tested, and the cuing advantage remained throughout 60-digit retention intervals. No improvement was found, however, for cues occurring after the letters but before the digits. The cuing effects were attributed to encoding, not rehearsal, processes and were explained by a version of the Estes perturbation model, which included a long-term storage component and a fixed perturbation probability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aging and the use of perceptual and temporal information in source memory tasks

A number of studies have reported age differences in memory for the source of information. S.A. Ferguson, S. Hashtroudi, and M.K. Johnson (1992) suggested that older adults do not efficiently use multiple distinctive characteristics of sources to distinguish between sources in source memory tasks. In the study reported here, participants heard information from 2 sources and later decided whether test items had been presented by Source A, by Source B, or were new. The distinctiveness of both perceptual and temporal characteristics of sources were independently manipulated. Older adults benefited more than young adults from multiple distinctive characteristics of sources. These results question the generality of S.A. Ferguson et al.'s hypothesis.     

Preferences for emotional information in older and younger adults: A meta-analysis of memory and attention tasks.

The authors conducted a meta-analysis to determine the magnitude of older and younger adults' preferences for emotional stimuli in studies of attention and memory. Analyses involved 1,085 older adults from 37 independent samples and 3,150 younger adults from 86 independent samples. Both age groups exhibited small to medium emotion salience effects (i.e., preference for emotionally valenced stimuli over neutral stimuli) as well as positivity preferences (i.e., preference for positively valenced stimuli over neutral stimuli) and negativity preferences (i.e., preference for negatively valenced stimuli to neutral stimuli). There were few age differences overall. Type of measurement appeared to influence the magnitude of effects; recognition studies indicated significant age effects, where older adults showed smaller effects for emotion salience and negativity preferences than younger adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Optimal integration of auditory and vibrotactile information for judgments of temporal order.

Recent research that assessed spatial judgments about multisensory stimuli suggests that humans integrate multisensory inputs in a statistically optimal manner by weighting each input by its normalized reciprocal variance. Is integration similarly optimal when humans judge the temporal properties of bimodal stimuli? Twenty-four participants performed temporal order judgments (TOJs) about 2 spatially separated stimuli. Stimuli were auditory, vibrotactile, or both. The temporal profiles of vibrotactile stimuli were manipulated to produce 3 levels of precision for TOJs. In bimodal conditions, the asynchrony between the 2 unimodal stimuli that comprised a bimodal stimulus was manipulated to determine the weight given to touch. Bimodal performance on 2 measures—judgment uncertainty and tactile weight—was predicted with unimodal data. A model relying exclusively on audition was rejected on the basis of both measures. A second model that selected the best input on each trial did not predict the reduced judgment uncertainty observed in bimodal trials. Only the optimal maximum-likelihood-estimation model predicted both judgment uncertainties and weights; the model’s validity is extended to TOJs. Alternatives for modeling the process of event sequencing based on integrated multisensory inputs are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of applicant stereotypes, order, and information on interview impressions.

Replicated R. E. Carlson's (see record 1971-21928-001) study of the effects of favorability, order, and type of information on interviewers' decisions. Raters were 80 psychology students in introductory and upper-level courses. Results showed that unfavorable information was more important to interviewers' ratings than favorable information. However, this effect was moderated by the expected typical applicant-an applicant of high caliber leading to a more favorable 1st impression of unfavorable information. Unfavorable information showed contrast effects moderated by the type of information. Interviewers' confidence in evaluations was greater for favorable than for unfavorable information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Observer bias in the attitude attribution paradigm: Effect of time and information order.

Exposed 79 undergraduates to an essay taking either a pro or anti stand on the use of minority quotas. They were informed either before or after reading the essay that the writer had or had not been permitted to choose which side of the issue to support. Ss returned for a 2nd session 1 wk after the 1st, and their attributions of true attitude to the essayist were again measured. Results replicate previous attitude attribution findings, but the tendency to attribute an essay-consistent attitude when the essay was written under high constraint was much greater when the constraint information appeared after exposure to the essay. There was no hint of a sleeper effect and, therefore, no evidence that constraint cues were discounted over time. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)