Detection measures in real-life criminal guilty knowledge tests.

The present study provides a first attempt to compare the validity of the respiration line length (RLL) and skin resistance response (SRR) amplitude in real-life criminal guilty knowledge tests (GKTs). GKT records of 40 innocent and 40 guilty Ss, for whom actual truth was established by confession, were assessed for their accuracy. When a predefined decision rule was used and inconclusive decisions were excluded, 97.4% of the innocent Ss and 53.3% of the guilty Ss were correctly classified with the SRR measure. For the RLL measure, the respective results were 97.2% and 53.1%. The combination of both measures improved detection of guilty Ss to 75.8% and decreased detection of innocent Ss to 94.1%. The combined measure seems to be a more useful means of identifying guilty suspects than each physiological measure alone. The results elaborate and extend those obtained in a previous field study conducted by Elaad (1990).     

Perceptual integration of motion and form information: evidence of parallel-continuous processing

In three visual search experiments, the processes involved in the efficient detection of motion-form conjunction targets were investigated. Experiment 1 was designed to estimate the relative contributions of stationary and moving nontargets to the search rate. Search rates were primarily determined by the number of moving nontargets; stationary nontargets sharing the target form also exerted a significant effect, but this was only about half as strong as that of moving nontargets; stationary nontargets not sharing the target form had little influence. In Experiments 2 and 3, the effects of display factors influencing the visual (form) quality of moving items (movement speed and item size) were examined. Increasing the speed of the moving items (> 1.5 degrees/sec) facilitated target detection when the task required segregation of the moving from the stationary items. When no segregation was necessary, increasing the movement speed impaired performance: With large display items, motion speed had little effect on target detection, but with small items, search efficiency declined when items moved faster than 1.5 degrees/sec. This pattern indicates that moving nontargets exert a strong effect on the search rate (Experiment 1) because of the loss of visual quality for moving items above a certain movement speed. A parallel-continuous processing account of motion-form conjunction search is proposed, which combines aspects of Guided Search (Wolfe, 1994) and attentional engagement theory (Duncan & Humphreys, 1989).     

Depression: avoidance learning and physiological correlates in clinical and analog populations

The behavioral and physiological components of depression were investigated in two experiments comparing eight student and seven non-student depressed females with an equal number of students and non-student controls on avoidance tasks and electrodermal responsivity to an aversive audiotape. Avoidance behavior was assessed in both active and passive paradigms where the correct response or response suppression, respectively, function to avoid a noxious buzzer. Physiological activity and reactivity were compared using measurements of skin resistance level and SRR fluctuations during resting and aversive tape periods. It was found that the depressed groups showed inferior active and superior passive avoidance learning as compared to controls. Depressed subjects were also more emotionally responsive (showed a greater number of SRR) during presentation of the audiotape. A passive avoidance model for depression is suggested for the explanation of the phenomena observed. A distinct difference was also found between student and non-student populations. The utility of college student analogs for depression is questioned.     

Alternatives to switch-cost scoring in the task-switching paradigm: Their reliability and increased validity

In the task-switching paradigm, the latency switch-cost score—the difference in mean reaction time between switch and nonswitch trials—is the traditional measure of task-switching ability. However, this score does not reflect accuracy, where switch costs may also emerge. In two experiments that varied in response deadlines (unlimited vs. limited time), we evaluated the measurement properties of two traditional switch-cost scoring methods (the latency switch-cost score and the accuracy switch-cost score) and three alternatives (a rate residual score, a bin score, and an inverse efficiency score). Scores from the rate residual, bin score, and inverse efficiency methods had comparable reliability for latency switch-cost scores without response deadlines but were more reliable than latency switch-cost scores when higher error rates were induced with a response deadline. All three alternative scoring methods appropriately accounted for differences in accuracy switch costs when higher error rates were induced, whereas pure latency switch-cost scores did not. Critically, only the rate residual and bin score methods were more valid indicators of task-switching ability; they demonstrated stronger relationships with performance on an independent measure of executive functioning (the antisaccade analogue task), and they allowed the detection of larger effect sizes when examining within-task congruency effects. All of the three alternative scoring methods provide researchers with a better measure of task-switching ability than do traditional scoring methods, because they each simultaneously account for latency and accuracy costs. Overall, the three alternative scoring methods were all superior to the traditional latency switch-cost scoring method, but the strongest methods were the rate residual and bin score methods.     

Improvement in Detection of Differential Item Functioning Using a Mixture Item Response Theory Model

Usually, methods for detection of differential item functioning (DIF) compare the functioning of items across manifest groups. However, the manifest groups with respect to which the items function differentially may not necessarily coincide with the true source of the bias. It is expected that DIF detection under a model that includes a latent DIF variable is more sensitive to this source of bias. In a simulation study, it is shown that a mixture item response theory model, which includes a latent grouping variable, performs better in identifying DIF items than DIF detection methods using manifest variables only. The difference between manifest and latent DIF detection increases as the correlation between the manifest variable and the true source of the DIF becomes smaller. Different sample sizes, relative group sizes, and significance levels are studied. Finally, an empirical example demonstrates the detection of heterogeneity in a minority sample using a latent grouping variable. Manifest and latent DIF detection methods are applied to a Vocabulary test of the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB).     

The aftermath of memory retrieval for recycling visual working memory representations

We examined the aftermath of accessing and retrieving a subset of information stored in visual working memory (VWM)—namely, whether detection of a mismatch between memory and perception can impair the original memory of an item while triggering recognition-induced forgetting for the remaining, untested items. For this purpose, we devised a consecutive-change detection task wherein two successive testing probes were displayed after a single set of memory items. Across two experiments utilizing different memory-testing methods (whole vs. single probe), we observed a reliable pattern of poor performance in change detection for the second test when the first test had exhibited a color change. The impairment after a color change was evident even when the same memory item was repeatedly probed; this suggests that an attention-driven, salient visual change made it difficult to reinstate the previously remembered item. The second change detection, for memory items untested during the first change detection, was also found to be inaccurate, indicating that recognition-induced forgetting had occurred for the unprobed items in VWM. In a third experiment, we conducted a task that involved change detection plus continuous recall, wherein a memory recall task was presented after the change detection task. The analyses of the distributions of recall errors with a probabilistic mixture model revealed that the memory impairments from both visual changes and recognition-induced forgetting are explained better by the stochastic loss of memory items than by their degraded resolution. These results indicate that attention-driven visual change and recognition-induced forgetting jointly influence the “recycling” of VWM representations.     

Remindings influence the interpretation of ambiguous stimuli

Remindings—stimulus-guided retrievals of prior events—may help us interpret ambiguous events by linking the current situation to relevant prior experiences. Evidence suggests that remindings play an important role in interpreting complex ambiguous stimuli (Ross & Bradshaw Memory & Cognition, 22, 591–605, 1994); here, we evaluate whether remindings will influence word interpretation and memory in a new paradigm. Learners studied words on distinct visual backgrounds and generated a sentence for each word. Homographs were preceded by a biasing cue on the same background three items earlier, preceded by a biasing cue on a different background three items earlier, or followed by a biasing cue on the same background three items later. When biasing cues preceded the homographs on the same backgrounds as the homographs, the meanings of the homographs in learner-generated sentences were consistent with the biasing cues more often than in the other two conditions. These results show that remindings can influence word interpretation. In addition, later memory for the homographs and cues was greater when the meaning of the homograph in the sentence was consistent with the earlier biasing cue, suggesting that remindings enhanced mnemonic performance. Remindings play an important role in how we interpret ambiguous stimuli and enhance memory for the involved material.     

The effects of number of sample stimuli and number of choices in a detection task on measures of discriminability

Six pigeons were trained on a conditional discrimination task involving the discrimination of various intensities of yellow light. The research asked whether stimulus—response discriminability measures between any pair of stimuli would remain constant when a third or fourth sample and reinforced response were added. The numbers of different sample stimuli presented and different responses reinforced were two (Part 1), three (Parts 2 and 4), and four (Part 3). Across conditions within parts, the ratios of reinforcers obtainable for correct responses were varied over at least five levels. In Part 5, the numbers of sample stimuli and reinforced responses were varied among two, three, and four, and the reinforcer ratio between consecutive remaining samples was constant at 2:1. It was found that once a particular response had been reinforced, subjects continued to emit that response when the conditional stimulus for that response was no longer presented. Data analysis using a generalization-based detection model indicated that this model was able to describe the data effectively. Four findings were in accord with the theory. First, estimates of stimulus—response discriminability usually decreased as the arranged physical disparity between the sample stimuli decreased. Second, stimulus—response discriminability measures were independent of response—reinforcer discriminability measures, preserving parameter invariance between these measures. Third, stimulus—response discriminability measures for constant pairs of conditional stimuli did not change systematically as conditional stimulus—response alternatives were added. Fourth, log stimulus—response discriminability values between physically adjacent conditional stimuli summed to values that were not significantly different from estimates of the discriminability values for conditional stimuli that were spaced further apart.     

Understanding spatial diagram structure: An analysis of hierarchies,matrices, and networks

Abstract diagrams are powerful tools for comprehension and problem solving in diverse contexts. Two studies examined the structural properties of (i.e., applicability conditions for) three interrelated spatial diagrams—hierarchies, matrices, and networks. College students from two groups with distinct educational backgrounds and learning histories—advanced computer science students and representative undergraduates—rated the diagnosticity of the hypothesized applicability conditions for each of the 3 diagrams. The results validated 24–26 of the 30 hypothesized applicability conditions and provided evidence regarding the relative importance, or diagnosticity, of the validated properties for each type of diagram. A different set of properties was identified as most highly diagnostic for each type of diagram, indicating that the three spatial diagrams are optimized to serve different representational functions: The matrix stores static information about the kind of relation that exists between pairs of items in different sets, the network conveys dynamic information by showing the local connections and global routes connecting the items being represented, and the hierarchy depicts a rigid structure of power or precedence relations among items. The quantitative and qualitative differences in representational knowledge due to educational background are discussed.     

结合选择题与主观题信息的两阶段作弊甄别方法

为提高对高分作弊者和低抄袭比例作弊者的检验力,模拟600名考生的作答,设置3种抄袭比例（60%,80%和100%）和3种抄袭源能力（能力百分等级为60%,80%和100%）,设计两阶段作弊甄别法,第一阶段使用lz指数筛选个人拟合差的异常考生,第二阶段针对这些异常考生使用ω指数进行精确甄别。结果表明该法对高分作弊者和低抄袭比例作弊者的检验力优于仅使用答案抄袭检测法。     

An analysis of the time course of attention in preview search

We used a probe dot procedure to examine the time course of attention in preview search (Watson & Humphreys, 1997). Participants searched for an outline red vertical bar among other new red horizontal bars and old green vertical bars, superimposed on a blue background grid. Following the reaction time response for search, the participants had to decide whether a probe dot had briefly been presented. Previews appeared for 1,000 msec and were immediately followed by search displays. In Experiment 1, we demonstrated a standard preview benefit relative to a conjunction search baseline. In Experiment 2, search was combined with the probe task. Probes were more difficult to detect when they were presented 1,200 msec, relative to 800 msec, after the preview, but at both intervals detection of probes at the locations of old distractors was harder than detection on new distractors or at neutral locations. Experiment 3A demonstrated that there was no difference in the detection of probes at old, neutral, and new locations when probe detection was the primary task and there was also no difference when all of the shapes appeared simultaneously in conjunction search (Experiment 3B). In a final experiment (Experiment 4), we demonstrated that detection on old items was facilitated (relative to neutral locations and probes at the locations of new distractors) when the probes appeared 200 msec after previews, whereas there was worse detection on old items when the probes followed 800 msec after previews. We discuss the results in terms of visual marking and attention capture processes in visual search.     

A feature-weighting account of priming in conjunction search

Previous research on the priming effect in conjunction search has shown that repeating the target and distractor features across displays speeds mean response times but does not improve search efficiency: Repetitions do not reduce the set size effect—that is, the effect of the number of distractor items—but only modulate the intercept of the search function. In the present study, we investigated whether priming modulates search efficiency when a conjunctively defined target randomly changes between red and green. The results from an eyetracking experiment show that repeating the target across trials reduced the set size effect and, thus, did enhance search efficiency. Moreover, the probability of selecting the target as the first item in the display was higher when the target—distractor displays were repeated across trials than when they changed. Finally, red distractors were selected more frequently than green distractors when the previous target had been red (and vice versa). Taken together, these results indicate that priming in conjunction search modulates processes concerned with guiding attention to the target, by assigning more attentional weight to features sharing the previous target’s color.     

Do Mothers and Fathers Assess their Children's Behavioral Problems in the Same Way as do their Children? An IRT Investigation on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire

This study investigated the equivalence of different types of informants, such as children (or early adolescents) and parents, in evaluating child externalizing and internalizing problems. We applied a polytomous item response theory (IRT) model for the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). We obtained responses to three subscales—Conduct Problems, Hyperactivity/Inattention, and Emotional Symptoms—from 541 elementary school students aged 10–12 years, fathers for 233 students, mothers for 275 students, and the homeroom teachers for 524 students. Expected values on the individual item calculated by the discrimination and threshold parameters were compared among students, fathers, and mothers as an investigation of differential item functioning (DIF) or differential informant functioning. Assessing either externalizing or internalizing problems were mostly equivalent between fathers and mothers, and most items for externalizing problems functioned equally between students and parents, whereas items for internalizing problems showed DIF between them. IRT also yielded that the intervals of response categories varied across items, particularly for the conduct problems items “fight” and “steal,” and positively worded items showed an extremely low threshold.     

Change detection and occlusion modes in road-traffic scenarios

Change blindness phenomena are widely known in cognitive science, but their relation to driving is not quite clear. We report a study where subjects viewed colour video stills of natural traffic while eye movements were recorded. A change could occur randomly in three different occlusion modes—blinks, blanks and saccades—or during a fixation (as control condition). These changes could be either relevant or irrelevant with respect to the traffic safety. We used deletions as well as insertions of objects. All occlusion modes were equivalent concerning detection rate and reaction time, deviating from the control condition only. The detection of relevant changes was both more likely and faster than that of irrelevant ones, particularly for relevant insertions, which approached the base line level. Even in this case, it took about 180 ms longer to react to changes when they occurred during a saccade, blink or blank. In a second study, relevant insertions and the blank occlusion were used in a driving simulator environment. We found a surprising effect in the dynamic setting: an advantage in change detection rate and time with blanks compared to the control condition. Change detection was also good during blinks, but not in saccades. Possible explanation of these effects and their practical implications are discussed.     

Reconsidering Life Domains that Contribute to Subjective Well-Being Among Adolescents with Data from Three Countries

Several theoretical models and testing procedures are presented with the aim of identifying the most relevant items and domains to include in a model for evaluating adolescents’ subjective well-being, above and beyond those usually included in adults’ scales. Data were collected in three countries based on a list of 30 items regarding adolescents’ satisfaction with different domains or facets of life. Responses to these 30 items (including Personal Well-Being Index and Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale items) have been analysed by means of Confirmatory Factor Analysis using different Structural Equation Models (SEM) on a pooled sample comprising 5,316 twelve to sixteen-year-olds from Spain, Brazil and Chile. Several models have shown good enough fit statistics. A model using 14 items shows excellent fit statistics and is conceptually coherent. However, the inclusion or non-inclusion of items related to satisfaction with religion or spirituality results in both advantages and disadvantages when comparing the alternative models analysed. The relevance of including these items may therefore depend on the socio-cultural context where data are collected and their inclusion makes cross-country comparison more statistically challenging. The 14-item model has also been tested using multigroup SEM in order to check comparability of data among the three countries. All things considered, multigroup models have shown good fit with constrained loadings, but not with constrained loadings and intercepts, suggesting we can compare correlations and regressions among countries, but not means. Additional multigroup SEM with the five age groups available from the pooled sample have demonstrated that responses—and means—are comparable across different age groups during early adolescence.     

Probability judgment accuracy for general knowledge. Cross-national differences and assessment methods

In this study we compare the probability judgment accuracy of subjects from the United States and Turkey. Three different response modes were employed — numerical probabilities, pie diagrams, and odds. The questions employed in the study were restricted to two-alternative, general-knowledge items. The observed pattern of differences in the components of probability judgment accuracy paralleled those of studies that have compared Western and Asian subjects. In particular, Turkish subjects exhibited better discrimination but worse calibration than their US counterparts. This result persisted across all three response modes. These findings lend support to previous assertions that observed cross-national differences arise from socioeconomic rather than Asian versus Western cultural differences. However, the consistency of the observed differences across response modes refutes a previous assertion that observed cultural differences are merely the result of response bias.     

Varying response effort in the treatment of pica maintained by automatic reinforcement

Pica is a life-threatening behavior displayed by many individuals with developmental disabilities. In the current study, automatic reinforcement maintained the pica of 3 participants. Following functional analyses of pica, response-effort manipulations were conducted in which the effort to obtain pica or alternative items was varied systematically. Several general relations emerged as a result of the study. First, levels of pica were reduced relative to baseline when alternative items were available independent of the effort required to obtain alternative items or pica. Second, increasing the effort for alternative items resulted in increases in pica relative to when effort for alternative items was low. Third, increasing response effort for pica produced reductions in pica relative to baseline when alternative items were unavailable. Fourth, the highest levels of pica occurred when the effort to engage in pica was low or medium and no alternative items were available. These findings are discussed in terms of the relative effects of quality of reinforcement and response effort on behavior.     

Your words are my words: Effects of acting together on encoding

Social influences on action and memory are well established. However, it is unknown how acting together affects the incidental encoding of information. The present study asked whether coactors encode information that is relevant to a partner's task, but irrelevant to their own task. In Experiment 1, participants performed a categorization task alone and together, followed by a surprise free recall test where they were asked to recall items from the categorization task. Recall was better not only for items that participants had responded to themselves, but also for items that their coactor had responded to, than for items that had not required a response. The same results were found in Experiment 2, even though financial incentives motivated participants to only encode words they had responded to themselves. Together, the findings suggest that performing tasks together can modulate how information relevant to coactors is processed. Shared task representations may act as a vehicle for establishing shared memories.     

Aging and the Ranschburg effect: no evidence of reduced response suppression in old age

Two experiments tested 1 aspect of L. Hasher and R. T. Zacks's (1988) reduced inhibition hypothesis, namely, that old age impairs the ability to suppress information in working memory that is no longer relevant. In Experiment 1, young and older adults were asked to recall lists of letters in the correct order. Half of the lists contained repeated items while half were control lists. Recall of nonadjacent repeated items was worse than that of control items. This Ramschburg effect was larger (i.e., greater response suppression) in older than in young adults. In Experiment 2, young and older adults were required either to recall the list or to report if there was a repeated item. Repetition detection was high and similar in the 2 age groups. When age differences in overall performance were taken into account, there was evidence of increased repetition inhibition with age in both experiments. Thus, contrary to the general reduced inhibition hypothesis, the specific process of response suppression during serial recall is not reduced by aging.     

Three more semantic serial position functions and a SIMPLE explanation

There are innumerable demonstrations of serial position functions—with characteristic primacy and recency effects—in episodic tasks, but there are only a handful of such demonstrations in semantic memory tasks, and those demonstrations have used only two types of stimuli. Here, we provide three more examples of serial position functions when recalling from semantic memory. Participants were asked to reconstruct the order of (1) two cartoon theme song lyrics, (2) the seven Harry Potter books, and (3) two sets of movies, and all three demonstrations yielded conventional-looking serial position functions with primacy and recency effects. The data were well-fit by SIMPLE, a local distinctiveness model of memory that was originally designed to account for serial position effects in short- and long-term episodic memory. According to SIMPLE, serial position functions in both episodic and semantic memory tasks arise from the same type of processing: Items that are more separated from their close neighbors in psychological space at the time of recall will be better remembered. We argue that currently available evidence suggests that serial position functions observed when recalling items that are presumably in semantic memory arise because of the same processes as those observed when recalling items that are presumably in episodic memory.