Proactive interference and cuing effects in short-term cued recall: Does foil context matter?

Tehan and Humphreys's (1995, 1996) short-term cued recall paradigm showed that recall in short-term memory is cue driven. In critical trials, the participants studied two blocks of four words each and were required to forget the first block while remembering the second block. A foil in the first block (e.g., orange) was related to a target (e.g., carrot) in the second block. Proactive interference (PI) was evident when a retrieval cue was used that subsumed the foil and the target (e.g., type of juice), but not when a cue was used that subsumed only the target (e.g., type of vegetable). Four experiments were performed to examine the extent to which contextual organization in the foil block would enhance or diminish the foil's efficacy in creating PI. A novel condition was included in which the words in the foil block were studied in a phonologically related context but the target was cued semantically, and vice versa with a semantic context and phonological cue. There were no differences in recall accuracy between conditions with and without contextual organization, but reliable increases in foil intrusions were observed when contextual organization was present. Contextual organization enhanced the foil, rather than diminished it, but the strengthened foil generated PI only when the cue subsumed the foil and the target and had no effect when the cue subsumed only the target. The results are consistent with a cue-driven retrieval interpretation of short-term recall.     

Does word training increase or decrease interference in a stroop task?

First and second graders (6- and 7-year-olds) practiced reading 20 words. Before and after word training, they named pictures printed with and without these words as distractors. Of interest was whether training would enhance or diminish the interference created by these words in the picture-naming task. Results indicated that children who learned to recognize unfamiliar distractor words more accurately suffered more interference after training. In contrast, children who were already familiar with the words and learned to recognize them faster experienced less interference following training. Results are interpreted as supporting LaBerge and Samuels' model of automatic word processing. Effects of accuracy training are attributed to the elimination of attention as a requirement for processing distractor words. Effects of speed training are attributed to a reduction in the time consumed by distractor words in the central processor.     

Free recall measures of short-term store: Are rehearsal and order of recall data necessary?

Several investigators have claimed that immediate free recall is a composite of output from two different storage systems—a short-term store (STS) and a long-term store (LTS). Free recall data and measures of STS were evaluated by having subjects report their rehearsals while lists of words were presented at a rate of one word every 1.25, 2.50, or 5.00 sec. The results support the conclusions that (a) arranging recall as a function of where an item was presented, rather than where it was rehearsed, is inappropriate to discussions of STS and LTS, and (b) computing measures of STS without both rehearsal and order of recall data yields a biased estimate of STS.

     

Semantic interference in the picture-word interference task: Is there a pre-lexical,conceptual contribution to the effect?

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review - Picture naming takes longer in the presence of a semantic-categorically related distractor word compared to an unrelated distractor word. This semantic...     

Does familiarity affect transfer from an iconic to a short-term memory?

Six Ss discriminated seven-letter nonsense words from comparison words. Target and comparison words differed on randomly selected trials by one randomly chosen letter. Target words were displayed for 50, 55, 60, 70, 90, or 200 msec, and were preceded and followed by a masking field. In one condition the Ss were familiarized with the comparison words, and in another they were not. Discrimination was better for familiar words at all display durations. There was an interaction between familiarity and the letter position effect. For unfamiliar words the typical bow-shaped position effect occurred. For familiar words no marked position effect occurred. An identification condition using unfamiliar words found no interaction between letter position and display duration. The results are interpreted as evidence that familiarity removes a letter position effect that depends upon serial transfer from a nonmaskable mediating visual representation that is constructed from a maskable representation by nonserial processes.     

Does background music in a store enhance salespersons' persuasiveness?

Background music has been studied as a key element of the store atmosphere in terms of its emotional effects; however, previous studies have shown also that music may have cognitive influence on consumers. How does music affect the salespersons' persuasive efforts within the store? To answer this question an experimental study was designed to assess the effects of four levels of arousing music conditions (no-low-moderate high arousing music). The level of pleasure of the musical pieces was controlled for. Music does not moderate significantly the effects of the salespersons on the intent to buy, but low and moderately arousing music (similarly low and moderately interesting musical pieces) does influence significantly the effects on the acceptance of the salesperson's arguments and the "desire to affiliate," i.e., to enter into communication.     

Are Arabic numerals processed as pictures in a Stroop interference task?

In a picture-word interference task, picture naming is interfered by an incongruent word, but word naming is hardly hindered by the presence of an incongruent picture. In this study, we investigated whether Arabic digits are processed more like pictures or like words. We report two experiments in which Arabic digits and verbal numerals were confronted in a Stroop task. Arabic digit naming is interfered by the presence of an incongruent verbal numeral, while naming the verbal numeral is not influenced by the presence of an incongruent Arabic digit. In a second experiment, we excluded the hypothesis that the results are due to ignoring the Arabic digits: interferences from an incongruent distracter were similar for both notations in a semantic classification task. It seems that an asemantic conversion for Arabic digits is too slow to influence naming times, and that Arabic digit naming, like picture naming, is semantically mediated.     

“Sensory” interference in a word-color matching task

Attention, Perception, &; Psychophysics - Two experiments measured RTs for matching sequentially displayed color names to color patches. Experiment I demonstrated that printing the name in an...     

Does stimulus context affect loudness or only loudness judgments?

Marks (1988) reported that when equal-loudness matches were inferred from magnitude estimates of loudness for tones of two different frequencies, the matches were affected by changes in the stimulus intensity range at both frequencies. Marks interpreted these results as reflecting the operation of response biases in the subjects' estimates; that is, the effect of range was to alter subjects' judgments but not necessarily the perception of loudness itself. We investigated this effect by having subjects choose which of two tone pairs defined the larger loudness interval. By using tones of two frequencies, and varying their respective intensity ranges, we reproduced Marks' result in a procedure devoid of numerical responses. When the tones at one frequency are all soft, but the tones at the other frequency are not all soft, cross-frequency loudness matches are different from those obtained with other intensity range combinations. This suggests that stimulus range affects the perception of loudness in addition to whatever effects it may have on numerical judgments of loudness.     

Does handedness determine which hand leads in a bimanual task?

Right- and left-handers (n = 16 in each group) were tested on a bimanual circle task that required drawing either in the same direction (parallel) or in a mirror symmetrical coordination mode with the two hands. The authors' primary purposes were to examine the effect of circle direction on within-hand and between-hands variables and to determine whether the relation between hand lead and coordination mode (parallel or mirror symmetrical) differs for left- and right-handers. A strong relation was found between lead hand and movement condition, which depended on the direction of the movements and whether the task was parallel or mirror symmetrical. The pattern of results was similar for left- and right-handers on parallel tasks, but group differences were found with respect to mirror symmetrical tasks. At odds with the general claim that the dominant hand leads, the present results indicated that hand dominance does not generally determine which hand leads.     

Does memory affect judgment? Self-generated versus recall memory measures.

Most evidence regarding the independence of memory and judgment comes from studies that used memory measures consisting of Ss' recall of raw input data (recall measures). Such evidence provides the primary support for on-line judgment formation. The results of 2 experiments suggest that self-generated memory measures capture the contents of memory at the time of judgement more effectively than recall measures and, accordingly, are more likely to provide evidence that memory and judgment are related. When directly compared, a self-generated measure provided evidence of a memory-judgment relationship and a recall measure did not. Thus, memory-based judgment formation may be more prevalent than the on-line processing literature suggests.     

Does sunshine prime loyal? Affective priming in the naming task

Recent work has found an affective priming effect using the naming task: In pronouncing target words, pronunciation latencies were consistently shorter when the target (e.g., loyal) was preceded by an evaluatively congruent (e.g., sunshine) rather than incongruent prime word (e.g, rain). Using the naming task, no affective priming was found in the present studies irrespective of prime-set size and target-set size (Experiment 1), irrespective of stimulus-onset asynchrony (Experiment 2), and even when a nearly exact replication of previous work that demonstrated the effect was conducted (Experiment 3). Finally, bilingual German/English speakers exhibited strong associative priming, but no affective priming, in both the English as well as the German language (Experiment 4). The results show that priming for evaluatively related words is not a general finding.     

Does a smartphone on the desk drain our brain? No evidence of cognitive costs due to smartphone presence in a short-term and prospective memory task

It has recently been shown that the mere presence of one’s own smartphone on the desk impairs working memory performance. The aim of this study was to follow up on this important finding by assessing the effect of smartphone presence (present on the desk vs. absent from the desk) on different memory functions (short-term memory and prospective memory), and by further examining the moderating role of individual differences in smartphone dependency and impulsiveness. We found no overall effect of smartphone presence on short-term and prospective memory performance. There was a moderating effect for prospective memory: Performance was better when the smartphone was absent versus present for participants with low smartphone dependency. In light of the absence of an overall effect of smartphone presence on memory functions, our results show that previous findings of impairments in working memory due to smartphone presence do not generalize to other domains of memory capacity.     

Does a structured free recall intervention reduce the effect of stereotypes on performance ratings and by what cognitive mechanism?

The purpose of this article was to extend previous work on the effect of racial biases on performance ratings. The 1st of 2 studies examined whether a structured free recall intervention decreased the influence of negative racial biases on the performance ratings of Black men. Results indicated that without the intervention, raters who endorsed a negative stereotype of Black men as managers evaluated Black men more negatively. However, the structured free recall intervention successfully reduced these effects. The second study examined in more detail the cognitive mechanisms underlying the success of the intervention. Results are consistent with the assumption that the reduction of the influence of racial biases under structured free recall conditions is a consequence of a modified strength threshold for retrieval of behaviors from memory.     

Does forgiving in a collectivistic culture affect only decisions to forgive and not emotions? REACH forgiveness collectivistic in Indonesia

According to some theorising, in collectivistic societies, forgiveness is mainly enacted to maintain relationships, not engender emotional transformation. This present study was designed to explore whether forgiveness affects decisional and emotional forgiveness in Indonesia, a country categorised as collectivistic. The evidence-based REACH Forgiveness psychoeducational group intervention was adapted to collectivistic culture (REACH forgiveness collectivistic; REACH-FC), and its efficacy was assessed in a randomised controlled trial. Undergraduates in Indonesia (N = 97; 24 male; 73 female; ages 16–21) were randomly assigned within a 2 × 3(S) quasi-experimental repeated-measures design comparing immediate treatment (IT) and waiting list (WL) conditions [Condition (IT, WL) × Time ([S] 3 time points). Harmonious value, a personality variable assessing the strength of participants' desire for group harmony, was the covariate. The condition × time (S) interactions for both decisional and emotional forgiveness were significant, challenging some previous literature. Clearly, not all forms of collectivism have similar effects when individuals and communities deal with transgressions.     

Exploring the time course of semantic interference and associative priming in the picture–word interference task

The picture–word interference (PWI) task is a widely used technique for exploring effects of semantic context on lexical access. In this task, printed words are superimposed over pictures to be named, with the timing of the interfering word relative to the picture systematically manipulated. Two experiments (N = 24 adults in each) explored the time course of effects of associates (e.g., CARROT superimposed on a picture of a rabbit) versus coordinates (e.g., CHIPMUNK superimposed on a picture of a rabbit) on naming latencies. Associates led to faster picture naming than did unrelated words, with facilitative effects occurring at stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs, in ms) ranging from –450 to 0. Coordinates led to slower naming latencies, with the interference effect restricted to SOAs of –150 and 0. The overlapping time course of associative priming and coordinate interference provides important constraints on models of lexical access in speech production.     

Does switching between strategies within the same task involve a cost?

In two experiments, participants had to switch regularly between two cognitive strategies of a different complexity in the context of a numerosity judgement task. Expt 1 comprised bivalent stimuli (i.e. allowing the application of the two strategies), whereas Expt 2 involved univalent stimuli (i.e. allowing the application of only one strategy). Both experiments revealed that switching between strategies entailed a cognitive cost that was reflected in longer response times on switch compared to non‐switch trials but not in reduced accuracy. The size of this switch cost did not differ as a function of strategy complexity but tended to diminish as a strategy became more appropriate for solving a particular problem. We discuss the extent to which current theories of task switching can account for these findings.     

Does temporal contiguity moderate contingency learning in a speeded performance task?

In four experiments, we varied the time between the onset of distracting nonwords and target colour words in a word-word version of the colour-word contingency learning paradigm. Contingencies were created by pairing a distractor nonword more often with one target colour word than with other colour words. A contingency effect corresponds to faster responses to the target colour word on high-contingency trials (i.e., distractor nonword followed by the target colour word with which it appears most often) than on low-contingency trials (i.e., distractor nonword followed by a target colour word with which it appears only occasionally). Roughly equivalent-sized contingency effects were found at stimulus-onset asynchronies (SOAs) of 50, 250, and 450?ms in Experiment 1, and 50, 500, and 1,000?ms in Experiment 2. In Experiment 3, a contingency effect was observed at SOAs of -50, -200, and -350?ms. In Experiment 4, interstimulus interval (ISI) was varied along with SOA, and learning was equivalent for 200-, 700-, and 1,200-ms SOAs. Together, these experiments suggest that the distracting stimulus does not need to be presented in close temporal contiguity with the response to induce learning. Relations to past research on causal judgement and implications for further contingency learning research are discussed.     

Does temporal contiguity moderate contingency learning in a speeded performance task?

In four experiments, we varied the time between the onset of distracting nonwords and target colour words in a word–word version of the colour–word contingency learning paradigm. Contingencies were created by pairing a distractor nonword more often with one target colour word than with other colour words. A contingency effect corresponds to faster responses to the target colour word on high-contingency trials (i.e., distractor nonword followed by the target colour word with which it appears most often) than on low-contingency trials (i.e., distractor nonword followed by a target colour word with which it appears only occasionally). Roughly equivalent-sized contingency effects were found at stimulus-onset asynchronies (SOAs) of 50, 250, and 450 ms in Experiment 1, and 50, 500, and 1,000 ms in Experiment 2. In Experiment 3, a contingency effect was observed at SOAs of –50, –200, and –350 ms. In Experiment 4, interstimulus interval (ISI) was varied along with SOA, and learning was equivalent for 200-, 700-, and 1,200-ms SOAs. Together, these experiments suggest that the distracting stimulus does not need to be presented in close temporal contiguity with the response to induce learning. Relations to past research on causal judgement and implications for further contingency learning research are discussed.     

Does task sustainability provide a unified measure of subjective task difficulty?

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review - What accounts for the subjective difficulty of a task? It is easy to suggest ad hoc measures, such as how many individuals can do the task, how long it takes...