The hippocampus and delayed recall: bigger is not necessarily better?

Healthy young female participants were tested on a measure of delayed verbal recall and then received volumetric Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans. The analysis of the MRI scans focused on the volume of the hippocampus. Left hippocampal volume was negatively associated with the level of delayed verbal recall performance. This relationship was confirmed in further testing. This finding is consistent with a previous report of a similar relationship in healthy elderly individuals, but not in patients with Alzheimer's disease, in whom the opposite relationship was observed. An explanation of these findings in terms of impaired neural pruning of the hippocampus is advanced, whereby insufficient pruning of the hippocampus during childhood and adolescence (following adequate growth) may lead to reduced mnemonic efficiency.     

Is more choice always worse? Age differences in the overchoice effect

Current research on the overchoice effect has been mainly conducted from an adult point of view and with adult subjects. This study investigates whether children, adolescents, and seniors suffer the same negative consequences as adults when facing an overabundance of choice. Findings showed that the overchoice effect did not equally extend to all age groups. While adolescents were affected by the phenomenon in a very similar way as adults, children and seniors suffered fewer negative consequences of an overabundance of choice. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

The congruency effect: just what is being learned?

G. H. Bower, S. Thompson-Schill, and E. Tulving (1994) found that when stimulus-response sets in A-B, A-C learning belong to unique categories (congruent-triads), learning appropriate responses appear rapid and memory performance on a modified modified free recall (MMFR) test is enhanced. Bower et al. assumed that category cues protect associations from interpair interference, allowing more rapid learning. However, unlike arbitrary pairs, congruent pairs also allow a reliance on preexperimental associations. As a result, MMFR test performance may not be an unbiased test of what was learned. In the present experiment, free recall (FR) demonstrated that responses were learned approximately equally in all conditions and that the pattern of clustering was compatible with the hypothesis that preexperimental associations continue to play a major role in FR test performance.     

The irrelevant sound effect under articulatory suppression: is it a suffix effect?

An experiment is reported that investigates the relation between the suffix effect and the effect of irrelevant sound on the serial recall of short sequences of spoken material. The main issue was whether there is an effect of irrelevant sound under articulatory suppression in the presence of a spoken suffix. As in Hanley and Bakopoulou (2003), the irrelevant sound comprised speech that was presented during the retention interval. When a spoken suffix appeared at the end of the list, a significant effect of irrelevant sound remained when participants were able to rehearse list items. However, it disappeared under articulatory suppression. The effects of irrelevant sound remained significant under suppression when the suffix was an auditory tone but was confined to the final position of the serial position curve. These results parallel those reported by Jones, Macken, and Nicholls (2004) and Jones, Hughes, and Macken (2006) when they examined the effect of articulatory suppression on the phonological similarity effect. The results are consistent with Jones et al.'s (2006, 2004) view that an acoustic-perceptual representation of the terminal list items is the source of the effects of irrelevant sound and phonological similarity when they occur in the presence of articulatory suppression.     

The Mona Lisa effect: is 'our' Lisa fame or fake?

This demonstration uses one of the most famous human faces, the portrait of Mona Lisa, La Gioconda, by Leonardo da Vinci. Usually, we have a very accurate and stable representation of the exact configuration of such a familiar face. Typically, we are able to rapidly recognise even subtle configural changes. However, here we show that an exposure to specific alterations performed on a familiar face substantially reduces this ability even over a time period as long as 80 min. This demonstration illustrates the flexibility of the perceptual system and adaptation to new information.     

The effect of eye size on discriminating faces: Can infants recognize facial uncanniness?

Infants' ability to recognize uncanny human faces increases during the first year of life. In turn, their ability to recognize faces of other species declines at almost the same period (perceptual narrowing). In the current study, we aimed to clarify the relationship between the perception of uncanniness of faces and perceptual narrowing in infants and adults. We used the “uncanny valley task,” in which the participants were required to discriminate the faces of humans and monkeys by different eye size. Results showed that 3‐ to 5‐month‐old infants could not discriminate either monkey or human faces by eye size, whereas 6‐ to 8‐month olds could. Adults showed higher discrimination performance for human than monkey faces and perceived the human faces with extremely large or small eyes as exceedingly eerie. Our results suggest that perception of uncanniness of faces is formed after perceptual narrowing.     

Buy three but get only two: The smallest effect in a 2 × 2 ANOVA is always uninterpretable

Loftus (Memory & Cognition 6:312–319, 1978) distinguished between interpretable and uninterpretable interactions. Uninterpretable interactions are ambiguous, because they may be due to two additive main effects (no interaction) and a nonlinear relationship between the (latent) outcome variable and its indicator. Interpretable interactions can only be due to the presence of a true interactive effect in the outcome variable, regardless of the relationship that it establishes with its indicator. In the present article, we first show that same problem can arise when an unmeasured mediator has a nonlinear effect on the measured outcome variable. Then we integrate Loftus’s arguments with a seemingly contradictory approach to interactions suggested by Rosnow and Rosenthal (Psychological Bulletin 105:143–146, 1989). We show that entire data patterns, not just interaction effects alone, produce interpretable or noninterpretable interactions. Next, we show that the same problem of interpretability can apply to main effects. Lastly, we give concrete advice on what researchers can do to generate data patterns that provide unambiguous evidence for hypothesized interactions.     

Standardized or simple effect size: What should be reported?

It is regarded as best practice for psychologists to report effect size when disseminating quantitative research findings. Reporting of effect size in the psychological literature is patchy – though this may be changing – and when reported it is far from clear that appropriate effect size statistics are employed. This paper considers the practice of reporting point estimates of standardized effect size and explores factors such as reliability, range restriction and differences in design that distort standardized effect size unless suitable corrections are employed. For most purposes simple (unstandardized) effect size is more robust and versatile than standardized effect size. Guidelines for deciding what effect size metric to use and how to report it are outlined. Foremost among these are: (i) a preference for simple effect size over standardized effect size, and (ii) the use of confidence intervals to indicate a plausible range of values the effect might take. Deciding on the appropriate effect size statistic to report always requires careful thought and should be influenced by the goals of the researcher, the context of the research and the potential needs of readers.     

Is timely information always better? The effect of feedback frequency on decision making

Recent advances in information technology make it possible for decision makers to track information in real-time and obtain frequent feedback on their decisions. From a normative sense, an increase in the frequency of feedback and the ability to make changes should lead to enhanced performance as decision makers are able to respond more quickly to changes in the environment and see the consequences of their actions. At the same time, there is reason to believe that more frequent feedback can sometimes lead to declines in performance. Across four inventory management experiments, we find that in environments characterized by random noise more frequent feedback on previous decisions leads to declines in performance. Receiving more frequent feedback leads to excessive focus on and more systematic processing of more recent data as well as a failure to adequately compare information across multiple time periods. These results suggest that caution be used in the design and implementation of real-time information systems.     

The SNARC effect: an instance of the Simon effect?

Our aim was to investigate the relations between the Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Codes (SNARC) effect and the Simon effect. In Experiment 1 participants were required to make a parity judgment to numbers from 1 to 9 (without 5), by pressing a left or a right key. The numbers were presented to either the left or right side of fixation. Results showed the Simon effect (left-side stimuli were responded to faster with the left hand than with the right hand whereas right-side stimuli were responded to faster with the right hand), and the SNARC effect (smaller numbers were responded to faster with the left hand than with the right hand, whereas larger numbers were responded to faster with the right hand). No interaction was found between the Simon and SNARC effects, suggesting that they combine additively. In Experiment 2 the temporal distance between formation of the task-relevant non-spatial stimulus code and the task-irrelevant stimulus spatial code was increased. As in Experiment 1, results showed the presence of the Simon and SNARC effects but no interaction between them. Moreover, we found a regular Simon effect for faster RTs, and a reversed Simon effect for longer RTs. In contrast, the SNARC effect did not vary as a function of RT. Taken together, the results of the two experiments show that the SNARC effect does not simply constitute a variant of the Simon effect. This is considered to be evidence that number representation and space representation rest on different neural (likely parietal) circuits.     

The laterality effect: myth or truth?

Tzelgov and colleagues [Tzelgov, J., Meyer, J., and Henik, A. (1992). Automatic and intentional processing of numerical information. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 18, 166-179.], offered the existence of the laterality effect as a post-hoc explanation for their results. According to this effect, numbers are classified automatically as small/large versus a standard point under autonomous processing of numerical information. However, the genuinity of the laterality effect was never examined, or was confounded with the numerical distance effect. In the current study, I controlled the numerical distance effect and observed that the laterality effect does exist, and affects the processing of automatic numerical information. The current results suggest that the laterality effect should be taken into account when using paradigms that require automatic numerical processing such as Stroop-like or priming tasks.     

Single-digit multiplication: is there an age-of-acquisition effect?

Evidence for 37 12-yr-old students is presented which suggests that an age-of-acquisition effect may be present in the performance of single-digit multiplication facts.     

Reappraising fear: is up-regulation more efficient than down-regulation?

Motivation and Emotion - Catastrophizing thoughts may contribute to the development of anxiety, but functional emotion regulation may help to improve treatment. No study so far directly compared...     

What is education? The inhibiting effect of three agendas in schooling

The article seeks to further debate on what we mean by education and how it is to be distinguished from incipient indoctrination. Starting from the politicisation of education, it draws attention to three powerful agendas impacting on the education systems of the West: positivism, utilitarianism, and inclusivism. Intertwined in various ways, these agendas have had the effect of silently restricting understanding of education, moving it closer to a form of control and policing. Some discussion of their impact on music education is given to help clarify what is at stake. A substantial critique of these agendas is then offered before concluding with a brief indication of a way forward.     

Infants’ sensitivity to familiar size: The effect of memory on spatial perception

Two experiments investigated infants’ sensitivity to familiar size as information for the distances of objects with which they had had only brief experience. Each experiment had two phases: a familiarization phase and a test phase. During the familiarization phase, the infant played with a pair of different-sized objects for 10 min. During the test phase, a pair of objects, identical to those seen in the familiarization phase but now equal in size, were presented to the infant at a fixed distance under monocular or binocular viewing conditions. In the test phase of Experiment 1, 7-month-old infants viewing the objects monocularly showed a significant preference to reach for the object that resembled the smaller object in the familiarization phase. Seven-month-old infants in the binocular viewing condition reached equally to the two test phase objects. These results indicate that, in the monocular condition, the 7-month-olds used knowledge about the objects’ sizes, acquired during the familiarization phase, to perceive distance from the test objects’ visual angles, and that they reached preferentially for the apparently nearer object. The lack of a reaching preference in the binocular condition rules out interpretations of the results not based on the objects’ perceived distances. The results, therefore, indicate that 7-month-old infants can use memory to mediate spatial perception. The implications of this finding for the debate between direct and indirect theories of visual perception are discussed. In the test phase of Experiment 2,5-month-old infants viewing the objects monocularly showed no reaching preference. These infants, therefore, showed no evidence of sensitivity to familiar size as distance information.     

For whom is parting with possessions more painful? Cultural differences in the endowment effect

The endowment effect--the tendency for owners (potential sellers) to value objects more than potential buyers do--is among the most widely studied judgment and decision-making phenomena. However, the current research is the first to explore whether the effect varies across cultures. Given previously demonstrated cultural differences in self-construals and self-enhancement, we predicted a smaller endowment effect for East Asians compared with Westerners. Two studies involving buyers and sellers of a coffee mug (Study 1a) and a box of chocolates (Study 1b) supported this prediction. Study 2 conceptually replicated this cultural difference by experimentally manipulating independent and interdependent self-construals. Finally, Study 3 provided evidence for an underlying self-enhancement mechanism: Cultural differences emerged when self-object associations were made salient, but disappeared when self-object associations were minimized. Thus, the endowment effect may be influenced by the degree to which independence and self-enhancement (vs. interdependence and self-criticism) are culturally valued or normative.     

Personality characteristics that are valued in teams: Not always “more is better”?

This study investigates the relationships between personality traits and contributions to teamwork that are often assumed to be linear. We use a theory‐driven approach to propose that extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness have inverted U‐shaped relationships with contributions to teamwork. In a sample of 220 participants asked to perform a creative task in teams, we found that extraversion, agreeableness and conscientiousness were curvilinearly associated with peer‐rated contributions to teamwork in such a way that the associations were positive, with a decreasing slope, up to a peak, and then they became negative as personality scores further increased. We replicated the results concerning the non‐linear association between extraversion, conscientiousness and peer‐rated contributions to teamwork in a sample of 314 participants engaged in a collaborative learning exercise. Our results support recent claims and empirical evidence that explorations of personality–work‐related behaviours relationships should move beyond the linearity assumptions. We conclude by discussing the implications of our research for personnel selection.