Thinking aloud performance: Individual consistencies over tasks

Previous research (Gilhooly, 1987) indicated considerable individual consistency in quantity and quality of thinking aloud performance over three 8-puzzle tasks. The present study investigated the consistency of individual thinking aloud performance over two types of tasks. One type was largely spatial (the 8-puzzle) and the other largely verbal (the Poisoned Foods task). Considerable individual consistency in thinking aloud performance was found within each task type and, more importantly, between types of task. Thus, subjects who produced lengthy and complete protocols on the 8-puzzle problems also did so in the Poisoned Foods task. These results are discussed in the context of Ericsson and Simon’s (1984) model of thinking aloud.     

Individual consistencies in behavior: achievement persistence interactions as personality styles

Two experiments were carried out to find within-subject consistencies as well as individual differences in a choice situation involving achievement persistence. Four volunteers, two men (21 and 23 years old) and two women (21 and 22 years old) were exposed twice, with a 1-mo. interval, to a filling-patterns task, to evaluate their choices for two options. For one option, task-time and outcomes for every response were constant. For the other option, task-time decreased in correlation with an increase in earnings for every response. Analyses showed reliable profiles for three of the four subjects when percent of responding to each option was compared in independent experiments. Results are discussed in terms of interactive styles.     

Individual differences in college students' performance on formal operations tasks

Piaget has suggested that the stage of formal operations may be present in all normal adults, albeit in different areas according to aptitudes and professional specialization. Three formal operations tasks (pendulum, political socialization concepts, and literary styles analysis) were chosen to represent the content of problems encountered in three fields of academic specialization (physics, political science, and English). Ten male junior and senior college students in each of the three academic majors were tested on the three tasks. A significant academic major by task interaction was obtained. Results supported the hypothesis that young adults evidence formal level reasoning in accordance with their college majors. Explanations of task-specific formal level performance were considered. Individual differences in formal operations attainment have implications for assessment of adult intelligence.     

Thinking aloud during reading: A descriptive model and its application

The problem-solving aspect of reading was studied by a thinking-aloud procedure. A model was developed, describing the information attended to, the thought operation used, and the result derived. Four main operations were identified: Reading, Evoking, Interpreting , and Comparing. A coding system, based upon this model, was developed. Its interrater reliability was between 0.86 and 0.92. This system was used to study the effect of reading purpose. An experimental group was instructed to apply a text concerning creativity to the problem of inducing constructive learning at the university. A control group was assigned reading with no particular purpose in mind. The experimental group used the Interpreting operation more often. Also, the Comparing operation, applied to a comparison between the text and the subjects' own knowledge, less often resulted in disagreement. Thus, the coding system is detailed enough to reflect differences in thought processes.     

Intention and performance when reading aloud: Context is everything

A widely held account asserts that single words are automatically identified in the absence of an intent to process them in the form of identifying a task set, and implementing it. We provide novel evidence that there is no fixed relation between intention and visual word identification. Subjects were randomly cued on a trial-by-trial basis as to whether to read aloud a single target word (Go) or not (No-go). When the Go-No Go probability was 50% (Experiment 1) the effect of stimulus quality (bright vs. dim targets) was the same size as in a separate block of 100% Go trials. In Experiment 2, where the Go-No Go probability was 80% in the cued condition, the stimulus quality effect was smaller than in the block of all Go trials. These results can be understood in terms of Go trial probability moderating whether subjects (i) hold off beginning to process the target until an intention in the form of a Task Set has been implemented, or (ii) begin to identify the target during the time taken to implement a Task Set. The additivity of stimulus quality and cueing conditions in Experiment 1 support the view that target processing only begins when a Task Set is in place, whereas the under-additivity of stimulus quality and cueing condition in Experiment 2 supports the interpretation that target identification can start during the time that a Task Set is being implemented. Taken together with other results, we conclude that there is no fixed relation between an intention and word identification; context is everything.     

Individual differences in reading aloud: A mega-study,item effects,and some models

Normal individual differences are rarely considered in the modelling of visual word recognition – with item response time effects and neuropsychological disorders being given more emphasis – but such individual differences can inform and test accounts of the processes of reading. We thus had 100 participants read aloud words selected to assess theoretically important item response time effects on an individual basis. Using two major models of reading aloud – DRC and CDP+ – we estimated numerical parameters to best model each individual’s response times to see if this would allow the models to capture the effects, individual differences in them and the correlations among these individual differences. It did not. We therefore created an alternative model, the DRC-FC, which successfully captured more of the correlations among individual differences, by modifying the locus of the frequency effect. Overall, our analyses indicate that (i) even after accounting for individual differences in general speed, several other individual difference in reading remain significant; and (ii) these individual differences provide critical tests of models of reading aloud. The database thus offers a set of important constraints for future modelling of visual word recognition, and is a step towards integrating such models with other knowledge about individual differences in reading.     

Individual differences in performance on elementary cognitive tasks (ECTs): lawful vs. problematic parameters.

Over the past 2 decades, the cognitive-correlates approach has dominated investigations into the nature of intelligence. This research program relies on a number of processing speed parameters (apart from "average performance"). These measures include the slope, intercept, and intraindividual variability of both decision time and movement time. By correlating these measures with established markers of intelligence, researchers postulate theoretical models underlying these information-processing constructs. However, there is a lack of substantive evidence that these phenomena are as robust within the individual as has been proposed. The authors tested the properties of intraindividual parameters by asking participants (N = 179) to perform 10 elementary cognitive tasks (ECTs). Detailed analyses revealed that average performance parameters, extracted from these ECTs, behaved lawfully. However, up to 40% of participants failed to provide acceptable indices of intraindividual model fit. Similarly, intraindividual variability measures appeared less valid than previously suggested. The implications of these findings for cognitive and biological models of intelligence are discussed.     

Musculoskeletal pain complaints and performance on cognitive tasks over the adult life span

The present study aimed at comparing participants with and without self reported musculoskeletal pain in a normal population with regard to performance on a range of tests for episodic memory, semantic memory, and other cognitive functions and to see if expected differences interacted with age. The results showed that participants with pain performed worse on a range of tasks as compared to participants without pain, and that these differences occurred regardless of age. The most robust effects of pain were displayed on tests for vocabulary and construction ability as these were the only effects that remained significant after controlling for years of education and reported depression in separate analyses. When depression and education were controlled for in the same analysis, even these effects were eliminated, suggesting interplay between pain, depressive status, and educational level in the negative effects on cognitive functioning.     

Exploratory ideas on the role of the psychotherapist in a heart-transplant team: Thinking aloud

Summary

This paper describes and comments on aspects of psychodynamically-oriented work developed by a psychotherapist in a heart-transplant team. It focuses on the interactions with the team and on the complexity of the task for all professionals involved. The particular role of the psychotherapist is explored.     

Thinking one thing,saying another: The behavioral correlates of mind-wandering while reading aloud

Although mind-wandering during silent reading is well documented, to date no research has investigated whether similar processes occur during reading aloud. In the present study, participants read a passage either silently or aloud while periodically being probed about mind-wandering. Although their comprehension accuracies were similar for both reading conditions, participants reported more mind-wandering while they were reading aloud. These episodes of mindless reading were associated with nearly normal prosody, but were nevertheless distinguished by subtle fluctuations in volume that were predictive of both overall comprehension accuracy and individual sentence comprehension. Together, these findings reveal that previously hidden within the common activity of reading aloud lies: (1) a demonstration of the remarkable automaticity of speech, (2) a situation that is surprisingly conducive to mind-wandering, (3) subtle vocal signatures of mind-wandering and comprehension accuracy, and (4) the promise of developing useful interventions to improve reading.     

Reading aloud: New evidence for contextual control over the breadth of lexical activation

Computational accounts of reading aloud largely ignore context when stipulating how processing unfolds. One exception to this state of affairs proposes adjusting the breadth of lexical knowledge in such models in response to differing contexts. Three experiments and corresponding simulations, using Coltheart, Rastle, Perry, Langdon, and Ziegler’s (2001) dual-route cascaded model, are reported. This work investigates a determinant of when a pseudohomophone such as brane is affected by the frequency of the word from which it is derived (e.g., the base word frequency of brain) by examining performance under conditions where it is read aloud faster than a nonword control such as frane. Reynolds and Besner’s (2005a) lexical breadth account makes the novel prediction that when a pseudohomophone advantage is seen, there will also be a base word frequency effect, provided exception words are also present. This prediction was confirmed. Five other accounts of this pattern of results are considered and found wanting. It is concluded that the lexical breadth account provides the most parsimonious account to date of these and related findings.     

Contextual control over lexical and sublexical routines when reading English aloud

Are the processes responsible for reading aloud single well-formed letter strings under contextual control? Despite the widespread contention that the answer to this question is “yes,” it has been remarkably difficult to provide a compelling demonstration to that effect. In a speeded naming experiment, skilled readers read aloud exception words (such asPint) that are atypical in terms of their spelling sound correspondences and nonwords (such asFlad) that appeared in a predictable sequence. Subjects took longer to name both words and nonwords when the item on the preceding trial was from the other lexical category, relative to when the preceding item was from the same lexical category. This finding is consistent with the relative contributions of lexical and sublexical knowledge being controlled. We note a number of different ways that this control could arise and suggest some directions for future research.     

Individual differences within and across attentional blink tasks revisited

When the second of two targets (T2) is presented in close temporal proximity (within 200–500 ms) to the first (T1), the accuracy for reporting T2 is reduced relative to when the targets are separated by longer durations; this effect is known as the attentional blink (AB). Two recent studies have shown that individual differences in the magnitudes of the AB are stable both within a single testing session and over time. While one study found a large positive correlation between AB magnitudes when there was an attentional-set/task switch between T1 and T2 and when there was not, the other study found no relationship between the switch and no-switch paradigms. The present study was conducted to clarify this discrepancy by examining the reliability of, and relationships among, individual differences in AB performance on five different versions of the standard dual-target RSVP paradigm, three of which involved an attentional-set/task switch between T1 and T2, and two of which did not. Participants completed all five paradigms, and then returned 7–10 days later to again complete the same paradigms. The performance on all five versions was reliable both within and across testing sessions, demonstrating again that individual differences in AB performance are stable over time. In addition, all five AB versions were significantly intercorrelated, although the strengths of the relationships differed depending on the extent to which the T1 and T2 attentional sets/tasks overlapped. These findings provide evidence that multiple distinct dual-target RSVP tasks do share underlying variability, providing support for the use of different versions of the paradigm in the literature.     

There goes the neighbourhood: contextual control over the breadth of lexical activation when reading aloud

There are currently two computational accounts of how the time to read pseudohomophones (like BRANE) and their nonword controls (like FRANE) varies with changes in context. In Reynolds and Besner's (2005) account, readers vary the breadth of lexical activation in response to changes in context. A competing account proposed by Kwantes and Marmurek (2007) and independently by Perry, Ziegler, and Zorzi (2007) has readers varying their response criterion in response to changes in context. The present work adjudicates between these two accounts by examining how the effect of neighbourhood density changes as a function of list context when reading pseudohomophones aloud. The results of an experiment and simulations from a leading computational model support the lexical breadth account, but are inconsistent with the response criterion account.