The Role of Relational Processing in Memory for Actions: A Negative Enactment Effect in Free Recall

The enactment effect occurs if people remember items that they enacted or enacted symbolically during study better than items that they were simply asked to remember. Enactment is generally believed to lead to thorough processing of individual items. There has been some controversy as to whether the superior processing of information concerning the relations between action phrases (i.e. whole-list relational information) may additionally contribute to the enactment effect. The extant empirical data on this issue seem contradictory. In the account brough forward here, it is hypothesized that whole-list relational information is processed better during enactment than during verbal learning only if it taps the same aspect of a concept as the verb-object relational information within each action phrase. It is processed worse if these two types of information tap different aspects of a concept. This explanation represents an extension of the three-factor account of positive and negative generation effects to the field of memory for actions. To provide evidence for this account, positive and, notably, negative enactment effects in object recall and in organization scores are demonstrated in three experiments with a total of 246 participants.     

Adult Age and Gender Differences in Eyewitness Recall in Field Settings1

Six-hundred-fifty-one citizens were stopped in public places and tested for prompted recall of physical characteristics of a young woman to whom they had spoken for approximately 15 s, 2 min earlier. Recall differed as a function of the two targets used on five of eight characteristics, but no significant differences were found for either target as a function of the gender or age group of the witnesses. Young adults (18-29 years of age) in general were superior to middle-aged adults (30-44), who in turn were superior to older adults (45-65). Women were significantly more accurate than men in accuracy of recall for weight, and for characteristics judged to be more important than less important for person memory. Male and female witnesses were equally confident in their recall performance. Young and middle-aged groups were significantly more confident in recall than the oldest group. Significant correlations were found between confidence and accuracy of recall for men and for women, and for each age group. Women made significantly longer duration estimates of the encounters with the targets than did men. Men overestimated the duration by a 2:1 ratio, and women overestimated by a 3:1 ratio. No significant correlations were found between accuracy of duration estimates and confidence in reports. The results were interpreted in terms of their forensic importance.     

Eyewitness Testimony: The Effects of Discussion on Recall Accuracy and Agreement

While some previous research has suggested that group discussion may facilitate eyewitness accuracy, other research has drawn attention to the potential dangers of such discussion. The present studies examine this controversy and the interaction between accuracy and agreement following group discussion. It was found that individuals tend to agree in their testimony following group discussion, and are liable to change their original replies to bring themselves into agreement with group leaders' recall. A second experiment focused upon the actual items which witnesses agreed on following discussion. Changing the mode of questioning from interrogative to narrative eliminated differences in magnitude of agreement between discussion and no-discussion groups. As narrative recall leads to reporting of "easy" items, it was suggested that only certain "difficult" items are susceptible to discussion effects. The need for caution regarding the reliance on testimony following witness discussion was stressed.     

Irrelevant Sound Disrupts Order Information in Free Recall as in Serial Recall

The claim that the sensitivity of free recall to disruption by irrelevant sound is a function of the extent to which rote rehearsal is employed as a mnemonic strategy was investigated in two experiments. The degree of disruption by irrelevant sound in terms of both item and order information was contrasted under serial and free recall instructions. Irrelevant sound was found to disrupt order and item information equally in serial and free recall tasks (Experiment 1). Contrary to previous reports, an effect of irrelevant sound was also demonstrated on free recall of particularly long lists, and the interaction between list length and retention interval in the irrelevant sound effect was examined (Experiment 2). Generally, the results support the view that irrelevant sound disrupts the use of order cues.     

聋生汉字加工的自由回忆与词序位置记忆实验研究

本研究采用韵母相同、声母相同、音异形似和音同形似四类汉字字组,对使用手语聋生、使用口语聋生和听力正常大学生进行了自由回忆和词序位置记忆两个实验。结果表明,聋生不论在汉字字组的自由回忆中还是在汉字次序信息的记忆中,对汉字的记忆效果不仅都与字组类型有关,而且都受到了语音干扰,存在语音混淆现象。这就证明,聋生在汉字加工过程中使用了语音编码,语音编码在聋生汉字加工过程中确实起到了非常重要的作用。     

Determ inants of Positive and Negative Generation Effects in Free Recall

Better retention of self-produced as opposed to experimenter-presented material is called generation effect ; the reverse phenomenon is the negative generation effect. Both are found in intentional-learning experiments in which generating versus reading is manipulated between subjects. The present article presents an overview of those findings and aims at clarifying the conditions under which these effects emerge. Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrate that if cuetarget relations are manipulated within one list, a negative generation effect in free recall can be obtained for all items, no matter which cue-target relation they bear. In Experiment 3, cue-target relations were manipulated between lists. Here, a negative generation effect in free recall was found only in lists in which items were cued with words that mismatched the intertarget relations, whereas a positive generation effect was observed in those lists in which the generation cues matched the inter-target relations. A subsequent cued-recall test demonstrated that in cases of mismatch of relations, participants in the generate condition process cue-target relations at the expense of inter-target relations. The three-factor theory can be integrated with the task-demand account in a transfer-appropriate processing framework to accommodate these findings.     

Free Will as the Implied Negation of Our Conscious Physical Actions

In this paper, I have explained free will (classical libertarian version) as the implied negation of our conscious physical actions (routine actions). What we come across is liberty, which is purposive. The existence of free will, if possible, can only be traced in those states where our consciousness is in least connection with external world (eg. dreams or above). The spontaneity and absurdity of free will ensures that it will never accompany any purposive action. I have pointed out that it is important to proceed in the inverted direction (from determining free will in mind, to non-moral and then to moral conditions), rather than taking it for granted in morality. I have also tried to give an explanation for the illusion of free will during moral conditions. The major principles which I have used during this conversation are Anomalous Monism (Donald Davidson), Benjamin Libet’s ‘Half-second short delay’, Decision-making theories of Antonio Damasio and Daniel Dennett, Patricia Churchland’s notion of ‘Self-control’, Frankfurt’s ‘Theory of the Hierarchy of desires’ and occasional references to Freud’s and Jung’s psychoanalytic concepts, and Advaita Vedanta’s ‘states of consciousness’, etc.

     

不同英语水平学习者英语派生词和屈折词记忆加工差异

中等水平和高级水平英语学习者对以视觉、听觉和视听觉混合方式呈现的派生词和规则变化屈折词的自由回忆成绩表明,他们对这两种多词素词的识别加工存在词素自动分解过程,但比较而言对屈折词的分解加工倾向更大一些。和中等水平学习者相比,高级水平学习者发展有更强的屈折词或派生词构词意识。     

Eyewitness performance in different psychological types

A study of 112 subjects examined the performance on a complex memory task by various Jungian psychological types. Although differences did not emerge in terms of overall accuracy, they did emerge in terms of susceptibility to postevent information. Introverts and intuitives, alone and in combination, were found to be more prone to accept both misleading and consistent postevent information, rendering them more likely to be inaccurate in the first case and more likely to be accurate in the second case. A variety of explanations are considered.     

Testing the Structured Free Recall Intervention for Reducing the Impact of Bodyweight-Based Stereotypes on Performance Ratings in Immediate and Delayed Contexts

Purpose

This article investigates the efficacy of the Structured Free Recall Intervention (SFRI; J Bus Psychol 15:229?C246, 2000a; Organ Behav Hum Decis Process 82:237?C267, 2000b ) for reducing the impact of bodyweight-based stereotype endorsement on performance ratings, both immediately and when a time delay occurs between the observation and rating of performance.

Design/Methodology/Approach

512 undergraduates participated in a 2?×?2?×?2 between-subjects factorial experiment. A measure of bodyweight-based stereotype endorsement was pre-screened, and participants were randomly assigned to (a) either a no-delay or two-day time delay condition, (b) view either an average bodyweight or overweight ratee, and (c) undergo the SFRI or not.

Findings

Results suggest that (a) bodyweight-based stereotype endorsement predicts performance ratings for overweight ratees, (b) the SFRI is effective at reducing the impact of such stereotypes on performance ratings when conducted immediately after the observation of performance, and (c) the SFRI maintains this efficacy after a two-day delay between the observation and rating of performance.

Implications

These findings suggest that the best real-world application of the SFRI paradigm may be to situations with minimal delays between the observation and rating of performance, such as selection assessment centers or pre-employment interviews.

Originality/Value

Drawing on theories from the cognitive information processing literature, this paper extends previous research regarding the efficacy of the SFRI by demonstrating that short time delays between performance observation and rating??a common organizational phenomena??have minimal observed effects on the efficacy of the SFRI as a performance rating intervention.     

The Discrediting Effect in Eyewitness Testimony1

Loftus (1974) had subjects read summaries of criminal trials that contained the testimony of either credible or discredited prosecution eyewitnesses, and found no effect of discrediting an eyewitness. Instead, almost as many subjects voted guilty with a discredited eyewitness as with a credible eyewitness; this led Loftus to the conclusion that jurors tend to overbelieve eyewitness testimony. Loftus's conclusion was subsequently challenged by others who reported a strong discrediting effect. A series of three experiments using college students was conducted to explore the characteristics of trial summaries that might account for the discrepancy in results, such as inclusion of judicial instructions concerning proof beyond a reasonable doubt, or an eyewitness's reaffirmation of his testimony following discrediting. In all cases, a strong discrediting effect was found. Apparently the discrediting effect appears regardless of wide variation in content of trial summaries. The present data do not support the overbelief claim.     

Eyewitness Performance in Cognitive and Structured Interviews

This paper addresses two methodological and theoretical questions relating to the Cognitive Interview (CI), which previous research has found to increase witness recall in interviews. (1) W hat are the effects of the CI mnemonic techniques when communication techniques are held constant? (2) How do trained interviewers compare with untrained interviewers? In this study, witnesses (college students) viewed a short film clip of a shooting and were questioned by interviewers (research assistants) trained in conducting the CI or a Structured Interview (SI)—similar to the CI except for the “cognitive” components—or by untrained interviewers (UI). The CI and SI groups recalled significantly more correct information compared to the UI group. However they also reported more errors and confabulated details. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed in terms of precisely identifying the CI facilitatory effects and consequent good practice in the forensic setting.     

目击证人暗示感受性的研究及进展

暗示感受性指一个人对误导信息的易感性或抵抗力.在目击证人记忆研究领域,有两种暗示感受性:延迟的提取错误和立即的误导信息接受.研究者用不同方法对这两种类型的暗示感受性及影响因素进行研究,并进行整合.这对司法实践中证人证词真实性鉴别有重要理论和实践意义.     

Recall in preschool children

Free recall, cued recall, color recall, organization in recall, and sorting of 3- and 4-year-olds was assessed on 9-item lists of objects that were orthogonally varied on color and category dimensions. Half of the children in each age group were presented items successively, and the other half simultaneously. Older children recalled more items than younger children in both free and cued recall, and also organized their recall more. Moreover, simultaneous presentation benefited the older, but not younger children. Clustering and sorting data suggested a decreasing reliance on perceptual information, and increasing utilization of conceptual information, over the preschool years. The results were discussed in terms of the importance of concrete, external stimulus support at both time of encoding and retrieval.     

心理学关于目击证人证言可靠性实证研究

目击证人的证词在刑事诉讼中有着极为重要的作用,但是由于证人对案件的记忆往往会受到其自身和外界各种因素的干扰,因此,对于目击证人证词可靠性的研究引起了心理学界的关注,西方心理学界自上个世纪七十年代以来,从证人的年龄性别、心理状态、对证人的询问方式以及辨认的情景等方面进行了大量的实证研究,为司法实践提供了重要的启示。本文从以上四个方面全面总结了西方心理学界关于证人证词可靠性的实证研究,并作了分析与展望。