Psychomotor reminiscence as a function of sex and length of rest period

Sex differences in psychomotor reminiscence were examined as a function of the length of the rest period. Five groups of Caucasian subjects, each group consisting of 12 males and 12 females, practiced continuously for 3 min on a mirror-tracking task, then rested for 0,1, 2, 4, or 8 min before resuming continuous practice. Reminiscence in both sexes increased as negatively accelerated functions of the amount of rest. The asymptotic level of reminiscence was higher for females than for males, but the quadratic slopes of the two functions were essentially alike. Analyses of prerest trial gains supported a conclusion that females reminisced more because they accumulated more reactive inhibition prior to rest.     

Framing effects in judgment tasks with varying amounts of information

Subjects were asked to make evaluations in each of three tasks—a gambling task, a consumer judgment task, and a student evaluation task. Each task involved two important attributes, but information about one attribute was missing on some trials. Half of the subjects received a version of the task in which a key attribute was presented in positive terms (e.g., probability of winning a gamble) and half received a version in which that same attribute was presented in negative terms (e.g., probability of losing a gamble). Even though the information was objectively equivalent in the two versions of each task, there were two significant framing effects. (1) In all tasks, responses to two-attribute stimuli were more favorable in the positive condition than in the negative condition. (2) When the key attribute was missing, evaluations of one-attribute stimuli relative to evaluations of two-attribute stimuli were lower in the positive condition than in the negative condition. Results were discussed in terms of the constructs of prospect theory and information integration theory.     

The direction of bilateral transfer depends on the performance parameter

To acquire a more comprehensive understanding of the learning benefits associated with bilateral transfer and to gain knowledge of possible mechanisms behind bilateral transfer, we investigated the transfer direction of several parameters which are assumed to represent important features of movement control in a visuo-motor task. During the study, participants learned a multidirectional point-to-point drawing task in which the visual feedback was rotated 45° and the gain was increased. Performance changes of the untrained hand in movement time, trajectory length, normalized jerk, initial direction error, ratio of the primary sub-movement time to the total movement time, and the accuracy of the aiming movement after the primary sub-movement were investigated as indices of learning from bilateral transfer. The results showed that performance parameters related to the initial production of the movement, such as the initial direction, ratio of primary sub-movement to the total movement time, and movement accuracy after the primary sub-movement, only transferred to the non-dominant, while hand performance variables related to the overall outcome, such as movement duration, movement smoothness, and trajectory length, transferred in both directions. The findings of the current study support the basic principle of the “dynamic dominance model” because it is suggested that overall improvements in the non-dominant system are controlled by trajectory parameters in visuo-motor tasks, which resulted in transference of the afore mentioned production parameters to rather occur to the non-dominant hand as opposed to transference to the dominant hand.     

Timing and force components in bilateral transfer of learning

Bilateral transfer of perceptual and motor components in movement control was investigated through two experiments. In Experiment 1 a simple anticipatory timing task was practiced with either the preferred or the nonpreferred hand. After a short resting interval an additional set of trials was performed with the contralateral hand. In Experiment 2, the same experimental design was used to investigate bilateral transfer of fine force control in a wrist-flexion movement. Analysis of the results showed that bilateral transfer of learning took place for both anticipatory timing and force control, with more noticeable transfer of training for the former. Asymmetry in transfer was found for force control, with significant transfer only in the preferred-to-nonpreferred direction. Transfer of anticipatory timing occurred similarly in both directions. These results indicated anticipatory timing as a powerful component for bilateral transfer, while force control showed to be more dependent on practice with the specific muscular system.     

The overshadowing of background stimuli: Some effects of varying amounts of training and ucs intensity

Two experiments investigated the capacity of a nominal CS to overshadow background stimuli. Rats received CS-shock pairings in one compartment of a double compartment apparatus. After training the shock compartment was represented, but in the absence of both the CS and shock. Overshadowing was then assessed by measuring rats' latency to enter this compartment. If rats readily entered the shock compartment this indicated that the background cues in that compartment had acquired little or no associative strength during training, and overshadowing was therefore inferred. If however rats avoided the shock compartment, then this indicated that the background stimuli must have become aversive during training, and overshadowing could not then be inferred. In both experiments it was found that the capacity of a CS to overshadow background stimuli was directly related to the amount of training given. The experiments also showed that this capacity is inversely related to shock intensity. The results are discussed in terms of Rescorla and Wagner's (1972) model of conditioning.     

Lateralization of bilateral transfer of visuomotor information in right-handers and left-handers

The author examined the lateralization of transfer of visuomotor information between the right and left hands during unimanual finger-tapping sequences with visual feedback. The finger-tapping task consisted of a target peak force of 2 N and a target intertap interval of 500 ms. Twenty right-handed and 10 left-handed participants performed the motor task, with 3 transfer trials following 3 practice trials. The author observed positive transfers from the left to the right hand for right-handers but the opposite direction of positive transfers for left-handers. However, left-handers showed a less variable peak force than right-handers did. The author discusses left-handers' interhemispheric information processing.     

Skill transfer specificity shapes perception and action under varying environmental constraints

Using an ecological dynamics framework, this study investigated the generality and specificity of skill transfer processes in organisation of perception and action using climbing as a task vehicle. Fluency of hip trajectory and orientation was assessed using normalized jerk coefficients exhibited by participants as they adapted perception and action under varying environmental constraints. Twelve recreational climbers were divided into two groups: one completing a 10-m high route on an indoor climbing wall; a second undertaking a 10-m high route on an icefall in a top-rope condition. We maintained the same level of difficulty between these two performance environments. An inertial measurement unit was attached each climber’s hips to collect 3D acceleration and 3D orientation data to compute jerk coefficient values. Video footage was used to record the ratio of exploratory/performatory movements. Results showed higher jerk coefficient values and number of exploratory movements for performance on the icefall route, perhaps due to greater functional complexity in perception and action required when climbing icefalls, which involves use of specific tools for anchorage. Findings demonstrated how individuals solve different motor problems, exploiting positive general transfer processes enabling participants to explore the pick-up of information for the perception of affordances specific to icefall climbing.     

Effect of varying the duration of grain presentation on automaintenance

In a series of three experiments the effects of variation in grain duration on automaintenance were evaluated. In the first experiment, key illumination was followed by grain only when pigeons did not peck the key. Each subject was exposed to 2-, 4-, and 8-second feeder durations in blocks of 10 sessions. Subjects pecked on a high percentage of trials at all feeder durations. The mean peck latency was shorter in the 8-second condition than in the two other conditions in five of six subjects. The conditional probability of pecking given successive keylight-grain pairings did not increase as the number of pairings increased. The second experiment was identical to the first, except that key pecking had no scheduled consequence. Under these conditions, all three subjects showed substantial responding. The recorded measures showed no systematic relationship to feeder duration in this study. In the third experiment, two different stimuli were followed by feeder presentations of either identical (2- or 8-second) or different (2- and 8-second) durations within each session. Subjects tended to respond sooner and with a higher overall rate in the presence of the stimulus associated with the longer feeder duration only when different feeder durations were presented within the same session. This result was confirmed by direct observation of the pigeons. The results of these experiments suggest that the effects of varying grain duration may be small, compared to the effects of varying other variables. The results also suggest that the location as well as the frequency of pecking may be an important measure in the analysis of factors controlling the pigeon's key peck.     

Effect of varying picture-sentence congruence on children's free recall.

70 fourth-grade children were shown objects arbitrarily arranged in an integrated scene. Subjects were randomly assigned to conditions which either presented a sentence that correctly labeled and correctly described the physical arrangement of the objects, presented a sentence containing the correct labels of the objects but not the correct physical arrangement, or presented a sentence which did not contain the correct labels and incorrectly described the physical arrangement. Control conditions either provided subjects with correct labels or omitted presentation of verbal prompts. Congruence between the object display and the sentence produced significantly higher recall and clustering than the incongruence or control conditions. The incongruence conditions did not produce significantly higher recall than the control conditions, suggesting that incongruence interferes with formation of stable grouping of items which appears to be an important factor in facilitating free recall.     

Preliminary study of reminiscence therapy on depression and self-esteem in cancer patients

The present study investigated use of life review, a form of reminiscence, on the depression and self-esteem in cancer patients. 15 cancer patients in the experimental group participated in individual reminiscence therapy. 21 patients in the comparison group received no therapy. All patients were measured on both depression and self-esteem scales during two testing periods. Analysis showed mean depression scores of the cancer patients decreased and mean self-esteem increased significandy after the life-review therapy sessions, while the scores of the comparison group did not change. Furthermore, patients' psychological states were improved, and they thought their problems had been addressed. These results suggest reminiscence therapy can be useful for cancer patients.     

Effect of integrative reminiscence therapy on depression,well-being,integrity, self-esteem,and life satisfaction in older adults

Reminiscence therapy is a psychological intervention for older adults to remembering and interpreting life events that were experienced at some time in the past. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the extent of integrative reminiscence intervention effects, with the aim to produce statistically significant reduction in depression symptoms, and significant improvement in psychological well-being, life satisfaction, self esteem, and integrity were examined. Thirty-four healthy elderly participated in the intervention that was implemented in eight sessions. To evaluate the effects of the program, a quasi-experimental design was applied with pretest and posttest evaluations comparing the intervention group with a control group on a waiting list. In comparison to control group, individuals in treatment sample of older adults in an integrative reminiscence group demonstrated statistically significant reduction in depression symptoms and a significant improvement in self-esteem, integrity, life satisfaction, and psychological well-being.