Interference in letter identification: A test of feature-specific inhibition

The role of perceptual interference in letter identification was investigated in three experiments designed to test the feature-specific inhibition model proposed by Bjork and Murray (1977). According to their extension of Estes’ (1972, 1974) interactive channels model, input channels leading to the same feature detector inhibit one another more than do channels leading to different detectors. The model therefore predicts perceptual interference between two letters to be a function of the degree of their feature overlap. Experiment 1 confirmed the feature-specific inhibition model and Bjork and Murray’s finding that the accuracy of report is lower when a briefly presented target letter is flanked by an identical letter than when flanked by another target letter or by a nontarget letter. Results from Experiment 2 indicated that single-target performance is a function of the degree of feature similarity between the target letter and background characters in a stimulus display. Experiment 3 ruled out a spatial-uncertainty explanation of feature-specific inhibition in a new paradigm that does not require subjects to process a poststimulus cue. The results of these experiments are discussed in relation to recent studies exhibiting strong effects of noise letters at the response stage of processing. It is suggested that discrepancies between feature-specific interference and response-interference studies may be a function of the particular mode of stimulus presentation and of the dependent measures that are used.     

Environmental context and human memory

Five experiments examined the effects of environmental context on recall and recognition. In Experiment 1, variability of input environments produced higher free recall performance than unchanged input environments. Experiment 2 showed improvements in cued recall when storage and test contexts matched, using a paradigm that unconfounded the variables of context mismatching and context change. In Experiment 3, recall of categories and recall of words within a category were better for same-context than different-context recall. In Experiment 4, subjects given identical input conditions showed strong effects of environmental context when given a free recall test, yet showed no main effects of context on a recognition test. The absence of an environmental context effect on recognition was replicated in Experiment 5, using a cued recognition task to control the semantic encodings of test words. In the discussion of these experiments, environmental context is compared with other types of context, and an attempt is made to identify the memory processes influenced by environmental context.     

Associative storage and retrieval processes in person memory

In this article, a general associative storage and retrieval theory of person memory is proposed, and seven experiments that test various aspects of the theory are reported. Experiment 1 investigated memory for behavioral information that is congruent with, incongruent with, or irrelevant to a prior impression. The results indicated that incongruent events are best recalled and irrelevant events are most poorly recalled. Experiment 2 replicated this effect and demonstrated that there are systematic individual differences that are consistent with the general nomothetic model proposed. The results of Experiment 3 indicated that, relative to a baseline condition, adding incongruent items to the list increases the probability of recalling congruent items but has no effect on the recall of irrelevant items. Both effects are predicted by the model. Experiment 4 provided support for the retrieval assumptions of the theory by demonstrating that there is a systematic order in which various types of items are recalled, as well as consistent differences in interresponse times. Experiments 5 and 6 demonstrated that the model is relevant to situations in which data driven, as well as conceptually driven, processes are involved. Finally, Experiment 7 examined a special case in which the theory predicts greater recall of congruent than incongruent behavioral events. The results of all seven experiments provide converging evidence for a general theory of person memory, and they have implications for a number of issues related to the study of person memory and social judgment.     

Test-expectancy and semantic-organization effects in recall and recognition

Two experiments examined whether people expecting recall are, compared with people expecting recognition, more likely to form associations between semantically related words in a list of to-be-remembered words. People were induced to expect either a recall or a recognition test on a critical list that included three conditions of semantic organization. Words in the unrelated (U) condition were semantically unrelated to all other words on the list, whereas words in the two related conditions were semantically related to one other list word. In the related-spaced (R-S) condition, the two related words appeared in input positions separated by 5-11 other items, whereas in the related-massed (R-M) condition, they appeared in adjacent input positions. Different groups received either an expected or unexpected recall (Experiment 1) or recognition (Experiment 2) test on the critical list. In both recall and recognition, (l) people expecting recall did better than those expecting recognition, (2) memory was worst for U words, next best for R-S words, and best for R-M words, and (3) the test-expectancy and semantic-organization effects were additive. A standardizedz-score measure of category dependency in memory indicated that (1) people expecting recall were not more likely than those expecting recognition to form interitem associations between the related words and (2) recognition was category dependent, but less so than recall. Within the framework of Anderson and Bower’s (1972, 1974) theory, these data indicate that, compared with people expecting recognition, those expecting recall are not more likely to form interitem associations by tagging more pathways connecting semantically related nodes but, rather, are more likely to tag the nodes themselves. The implications that semantic-organization effects in recognition have for the Anderson-Bower theory were also discussed.     

Recognition,discrimination and categorization of smiling by 5-month-old infants

Perceiving emotions correctly is foundational to the development of interpersonal skills. Five-month-old infants’ abilities to recognize, discriminate and categorize facial expressions of smiling were tested in three coordinated experiments. Infants were habituated to four degrees of smiling modeled by the same or different people; following habituation, infants were presented with a new degree of smile worn by the same and by a new person (Experiment 1), a new degree of smile and a fearful expression worn by the same person (Experiment 2) or a new degree of smile and a fearful expression worn by new people (Experiment 3). Infants showed significant novelty preferences for the new person smiling and for the fearful expressions over the new degree of smiling. These findings indicate that infants at 5 months can categorize the facial expression of smiling in static faces, and yet recognize the same person despite changes in facial expression; this is the youngest age at which these abilities have been demonstrated. The findings are discussed in light of the significance of emotion expression face processing in social interaction and infants’ categorization of faces.     

Influence of the intensity of NaCl solutions on adaptation degree and recovery time course

The degree of adaptation and the time course of recovery after adaptation to NaCl solutions of various intensities were examined by magnitude estimation and simple sensory reaction time using a test stimulus of constant intensity. The results show that the degree of adaptation increased with the adapting concentration following a negatively accelerated function. Similarly, all recovery curves were negatively accelerated functions of the recovery time. The relation between the recovery constant (time necessary to attain two-thirds of normal responsivity) and adapting concentration approximates with both criteria more or less a linear function. Thus the recovery constant is a positively accelerated function of the degree of adaptation. The relationship between concentration and degree of adaptation can be approximated by Beidler’s equation of taste stimulation, while the time course of recovery can be expressed by an exponential equation that can also be related to Beidler’s theory. The two criteria used showed similar deteriorating effects of taste adaptation, indicating that reaction time can also be a useful criterion of the level of sensory responsivity.     

Eye movements enhance memory for individuals who are strongly right-handed and harm it for individuals who are not

Subjects who make repetitive saccadic eye movements before a memory test subsequently exhibit superior retrieval in comparison with subjects who do not move their eyes. It has been proposed that eye movements enhance retrieval by increasing interaction of the left and right cerebral hemispheres. To test this, we compared the effect of eye movements on subsequent recall (Experiment 1) and recognition (Experiment 2) in two groups thought to differ in baseline degree of hemispheric interaction—individuals who are strongly right-handed (SR) and individuals who are not (nSR). For SR subjects, who naturally may experience less hemispheric interaction than nSR subjects, eye movements enhanced retrieval. In contrast, depending on the measure, eye movements were either inconsequential or even detrimental for nSR subjects. These results partially support the hemispheric interaction account, but demand an amendment to explain the harmful effects of eye movements for nSR individuals.     

New evidence for infant colour categories

Bornstein, Kessen, and Weiskopf (1976) reported that pre‐linguistic infants perceive colour categorically for primary boundaries: Following habituation, dishabituation only occurred if the test stimulus was from a different adult category to the original. Here, we replicated this important study and extended it to include secondary boundaries, with a crucial modification: The separations between habituated and novel stimuli were equated in a perceptually uniform metric (Munsell), rather than in wavelength. Experiment 1 found Categorical Perception and no within‐category novelty preference for primary boundary blue‐green and secondary boundary blue‐purple. Experiment 2 replicated the categorical effect for blue‐purple and found no within‐category novelty preference with increased stimulus separation. Experiment 3 showed category effects for a lightness/saturation boundary, pink‐red. Novelty preference requires a categorical difference between the habituated and novel stimulus. The implications for the origin of linguistic colour categories are discussed.     

Desensitization to portrayals of real-life aggression as a function of exposure to television violence.

In two separate experiments, the hypothesis that exposure to violence in the context of television drama decreases subjects' emotional responsivity to portrayals of real-life aggression was tested. Subjects were shown either an excerpt from a violent police drama or a segment of an exciting but nonviolent volley-ball game before watching a videotaped scene of real aggression. Emotionality was measured by changes in skin resistance which was measured continuously throughout the session. In Experiment 1, subjects were 8- to 10-year-old children and the real aggression was a film of an argument and fight between two preschoolers. In Experiment 2, college students participated and reactions to real aggression were measured while subjects watched scenes from news films of the riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. With the exception of adult females, subjects who previously had viewed the aggression drama were less aroused by the scenes of real aggression than were subjects who had seen the control film. Further support for the hypothesis was provided by the finding that for most groups of subjects, the amount of television violence normally viewed was negatively related to responsivity while viewing aggression.     

Development of chromatic induction in infancy

The perception of colour in an embedded field is affected by the surround colour. This phenomenon is known as chromatic induction. In the present study we investigated whether the colour perception by infants aged 5–7 months could be affected by the surround colour. In Experiments 1 and 2 each stimulus was composed of an array of six squares in tandem. The colour appearance of the array in the familiarization stimulus was established by chromatic induction. In Experiment 1 we used familiarization stimuli that were perceived as two‐colour array with a two‐colour surround. In Experiment 2 we used a familiarization stimulus that was perceived as a uniform‐colour array with a two‐colour surround. In the test phase, the uniform‐colour array and the two‐colour array were presented on a white uniform‐colour surround in both experiments. The results showed that in Experiment 1 the 5‐ and 7‐month‐old infants had novelty preference for the uniform‐colour test array. This suggested that the infants' colour perception could be affected by surround colour. The results of Experiment 2 showed that the 7‐month‐olds showed a novelty preference for the two‐colour test array, but the 5‐month‐olds showed no novelty preference. This suggested that 7‐month‐olds' colour perception could be affected by surround colour, but that of 5‐month‐olds could not. We discuss the contradiction of the results between Experiments 1 and 2. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Typicality and familiarity of faces

We examined context-free familiarity information as a source of the effects of face typicality upon face recognition. Experiment 1 tested memory for typical and unusual faces by (1) subjects who received an input list followed immediately by a recognition test (standard condition), (2) subjects who viewed all test faces (targets and lures) prior to the input list (prefamiliarization condition), and (3) subjects who viewed all test faces after the input list but prior to recognition (postfamiliarization condition). Although false-alarm errors in the standard condition were lower for unusual than for typical faces, this effect was reduced by postfamiliarization and was eliminated entirely by prefamiliarization. The prefamiliarization and typicality effects were replicated in Experiment 2, which showed that patterns of old judgments were compatible with the hypothesis that, although familiarity of new faces is greater if these faces are typical, the increment in familiarity that results from presentation is greater if these faces are unusual.     

Schedule constraint on the average drink burst and the regulation of wheel running and drinking in rats

Two experiments compared predictions of a molar-pattern model and a general molar behavior regulation model by requiring rats to wheel run for access to water. In both experiments schedule parameters constrained the baseline average burst length of drinking without constraining total drinking. Five levels of schedule constraint were imposed on time spent per drinking burst (Experiment 1) or the number of drinks per burst (Experiment 2). The results of both experiments supported the general molar behavior regulation view but not the molar-pattern model by showing no increase in total wheel running and no decrease in total drinking under schedule constraint. However, both experiments also showed local effects of drink burst constraint, including a direct relation between the degree of constraint and the local rate of drinking, and an approximation of the temporal distribution of baseline drinking under all degrees of schedule constraint. Most local changes support the view that rats defend the baseline temporal distribution of responding under schedule constraint, though some changes appear related to disruption of local response pattern characteristics.     

Text repetition and text integration

Two experiments explored the levels of text representation that mediate text repetition effects, following the Raney (2003) model. The magnitude of the repetition benefit in Experiment 1 supported predictions of Raney's model, indicating that the ease of forming a situation model contributed to the magnitude of the reprocessing benefit. In addition, representations organized around a good situation model were more sensitive to changes than were representations formed from reading without a good situation model. The results of Experiment 2 did not support the suggestion that the surface form and textbase are bound to a well-developed situation model, thereby limiting repetition effects to similar linguistic contexts. Rather, the nature of the repetition benefits in the present series of experiments are better explained by the degree o foverlap between passages at eachof the three levels of text representation.     

The mnemonic advantage of processing fitness-relevant information

Nairne, Thompson, and Pandeirada (2007) proposed that our memory systems serve an adaptive function and that they have evolved to help us remember fitness-relevant information. In a series of experiments, they demonstrated that processing words according to their survival relevance resulted in better retention than did rating them for pleasantness, personal relevance, or relevance to moving to a new house. The aim of the present study was to examine whether the advantage of survival processing could be replicated, using a control condition that was designed to match the survival processing task in arousal, novelty, and media exposure--the relevance to planning a bank heist. We found that survival processing nonetheless yielded better retention on both a recall (Experiment 1) and a recognition (Experiment 2) test. This mnemonic advantage of survival processing was also obtained when words were rated for their relevance to a character depicted in a video clip (Experiment 3). Our findings provide additional evidence that the mnemonic benefit of survival processing is a robust phenomenon, and they also support the utility of adopting a functional perspective in investigating memory.     

Effects of novelty and familiarity on illness-induced aversions to food and place cues in coyotes (Canis latrans)

Two experiments investigated the effects of novelty and familiarity on illness-induced aversions to taste and place cues in coyotes (Canis latrans). Coyotes were made ill on familiar food laced with lithium chloride in a novel place and then received preference tests. In Experiment 1, coyotes avoided the previously poisoned familiar food in the novel treatment place but readily ate the same familiar food in a familiar safe place. In Experiment 2, the results of Experiment 1 were replicated, and it was found that coyotes would eat a different familiar food in the novel treatment place. On the basis of the results of this and other studies, a model for averting animals from places where they are not wanted is presented.     

外观新颖性对消费者购买意愿的影响：自我建构与产品类型的调节效应

外观创新在市场竞争中的地位越来越突出,然而因此而导致的成败案例都很普遍。如何进行外观创新更受消费者欢迎,其内在机制是什么,我们却知之甚少。基于独特性需求理论、风险感知理论及自我建构理论,本文探讨了自我建构与外观新颖性对消费者购买意愿的交互作用、影响机制以及边界条件。通过3个实验,发现对于独立型自我建构的消费者而言,高外观新颖性能引发独特性需求从而提高购买意愿,而对于相依型自我建构而言,低外观新颖性则通过降低社会风险感知从而提高购买意愿;同时,本文也确定了产品类型对该机制的调节作用,具体来讲,对于实用品,所有消费者都对低外观新颖性产品具有更强的购买意愿,而对于享乐品,所有消费者都对高外观新颖性产品具有更强的购买意愿。     

Evidence for role-neutral initial processing of metaphors

Two models of metaphor processing are contrasted. The structure-mapping model postulates an initially role-neutral alignment process, followed by directional projection of inferences. The attributive categorization model postulates role-specific processing throughout comprehension. To test between these models, the early stages of metaphor comprehension were probed using a technique based on S. Glucksberg, P. Gildea, and H. Bookin's (1982) finding that metaphorical meaning interferes with literal truthfulness judgments. In Experiment 1, interference effects did not differ between normal metaphors and metaphors with reversed terms, suggesting that initial processing is role-neutral. In Experiment 2, we again found no role dependence in interference effects, even for highly conventional metaphors. In Experiment 3, it was verified that (a) full comprehension is role-sensitive and (b) full comprehension reaction times (RTs) are far longer than interference RTs, buttressing the claim that interference is an early-stage effect. Overall, the results support the structure-mapping model of metaphor processing.     

Effects of neophobia and habituation on the poison-induced avoidance of exteroceptive stimuli in the rat.

Two experiments on the role of neophobia in poison-induced aversions to exteroceptive stimuli are reported. In Experiment 1, rats were given either 10 or 25 days of habituation to the test situation prior to conditioning. Those animals with the longer habituation period avoided a complex of novel exteroceptive stimuli while those with the shorter habituation period did not. In Experiment 2 rats initially avoided the more novel of two containers, but gradually came to eat equal amounts from both. A single pairing of toxicosis with consumption from either the novel or the familiar container reinstated the avoidance of the novel container in both cases. The results were discussed in terms of an interaction between habituation and conditioning procedures. It was suggested that previously reported differences between interoceptive and exteroceptive conditioning effects may have been influenced by the differential novelty of the two classes of stimuli in the test situation. It was further suggested that non-contingently poisoned control groups should routinely be included in poison avoidance conditioning studies.     

Assessment of the relative importance of S+ and S− in rats using differential training on intercurrent discriminations

The present studies assessed the degree of stimulus control exerted by S+ and S? without confoundings of stimulus novelty and stimulus ambiguity. In Experiment 1, rats were trained on two intercurrent simultaneous discrimination problems with nine times more training given on one than the other. Then the animals were given transfer tests with re-paired stimuli. The results showed that S? exerts greater stimulus control than S+ in a two-choice simultaneous discrimination. Experiment 2 provided a test of the possibility that the relative degree of control by S? varies with different amounts of training. Three groups were trained on two intercurrent simultaneous discrimination problems; each group was given 7, 11, or 15 times more training on one problem than the other. Then transfer tests were given with re-paired stimuli. Again the results showed that S? exerts greater stimulus control than S+ in a two-choice simultaneous discrimination.