A computer-controlled system for training and testing primates

The hardware and software for a computer-controlled training and testing system for primates are described. The computer (DDP-116 in the Computer-Controlled Psychology Laboratory at Carnegie-Mellon University) controls all stimulus presentation, reinforcement, and records data in a form ready for analysis on a larger computer.     

Effects of retrieval practice and presentation modality on verbal learning: testing the limits of the testing effect

ABSTRACT

The testing effect refers to improved memory after retrieval practice and has been researched primarily with visual stimuli. In two experiments, we investigated whether the testing effect can be replicated when the to-be-learned information is presented auditorily, or visually?+?auditorily. Participants learned Swahili-English word pairs in one of three presentation modalities – visual, auditory, or visual?+?auditory. This was manipulated between-participants in Experiment 1 and within-participants in Experiment2. All participants studied the word pairs during three study trials. Half of participants practiced recalling the English translations in response to the Swahili cue word twice before the final test whereas the other half simply studied the word pairs twice more. Results indicated an improvement in final test performance in the repeated test condition, but only in the visual presentation modality (Experiments 1 and 2) and in the visual?+?auditory presentation modality (Experiment 2). This suggests that the benefits of practiced retrieval may be limited to information presented in a visual modality.     

CEDATS: A cognitive experimental design and testing system

CEDATS (cognitive experimental design and testing system) is a set of programs that allows students and instructors to easily create unique experiments even though they may have no experience with computers or knowledge of any programming language. Designs including up to six independent variables may be created, and from 24 to 31 stimulus presentation parameters may be manipulated or controlled. Responses and response times are recorded and printed and/or stored on disk.     

Speaking of fairness in testing

In an article based on her presentation to the 114th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Janet Helms described a concept of test fairness. Helms's approach to fairness appears to be based on the premise that socialization consists of experiences received from one's environment, which are simply internalized as personal attributes. From an ecological perspective, this is incorrect, misleading, and oddly evocative of social-cognitive and psychodynamic notions. Individuals are not passive recipients of culture, and they do not necessarily simply reflect their experiences. Although Helms intended her model to apply to racial and cultural groups, it seems that she has overlooked the potential of applying her concept of fairness to another important level of social organization: the family. R. J. Griffore suggests that it is unfair to avoid using valid tests that are said to be unfair because of racially or culturally based construct-irrelevant variance if those tests can help individuals make decisions that lead to success outcomes. The use of race or culture as a variable that in any way jeopardizes the prediction of success for individuals or groups is unfair for all groups for whom the test is used.     

SuperLab: General-purpose Macintosh software for human experimental psychology and psychological testing

SuperLab is a general-purpose psychology testing package for the Macintosh. SuperLab presents static visual and auditory stimuli in blocks of trials, each trial consisting of a user-specified sequence of stimuli. Responses can be recorded from the keyboard or from switches connected to an I/O board. Stimuli can be contingent on subjects’ responses, allowing feedback based on response accuracy. Timing uses Time Manager routines from the Macintosh Toolbox. Data are recorded in a text format with tabs delimiting fields, allowing analysis and presentation by other Macintosh spreadsheet, statistics, and graph-making applications. SuperLab has a Macintosh user interface for developing experiments. Psychological tasks can also be designed and modified with any application that generates a text format file.     

The stochastic model of mental testing theory and an application

An axiomatization of mental test theory is presented. The presentation deals explicitly with the following concepts: true score, parallel forms, reliability, validity, and combined test score.This project was supported by the Office of Naval Research under Contract N6onr 270-(20) and by the National Science Foundation, Grant NSF G-642. Work now continued under Nonr 1858-(150) and NSF G-22889.     

Inducing lucid dreams by olfactory-cued reactivation of reality testing during early-morning sleep: A proof of concept

The reliable induction of lucid dreams is a challenge in lucid dream research. In a previous study by our research group we were able to induce in about 50% of the participants a lucid dream in a single sleep laboratory night by combining a wake-up-back-to-bed sleep protocol and a mnemonic technique. In the present study, we extended our previous procedure by additional presentation of an odor during sleep to reactivate memory traces about reality testing. In total 16 male participants spent a single night in the sleep lab whereas the procedure induced in two participants a lucid dream (12.5%). The induction rate stays below the success rate of our previous study and therefore odor-cueing seems not a promising technique for inducing lucid dreams. Beside the odor presentation, several other methodological changes have been made, which will be discussed and hopefully help further dream engineering to improve induction techniques.     

Attitudes toward genetic testing for cystic fibrosis among college students

The knowledge and attitudes of 25 college students toward clinical and genetic aspects of cystic fibrosis (CF) were assessed before and after an 80-minute presentation about the disease. The students were asked about their plans regarding genetic testing for cystic fibrosis prior to, and during future conceptions. While their knowledge about the disease increased significantly following the lecture, there were no significant changes in their attitudes.     

Hemispheric asymmetry effects in children studied by dichotic listening and visual half-field testing

Dichotic listening (DL) and visual half-field (VHF) testing were used to study hemisphere asymmetry in a developmental perspective. Five-, 8-, and 11-year-old children were presented lists of fused words using a DL technique in Experiment 1, and 8- and 11-year-old children were presented pictures of common objects using a VHF technique in Experiment 2. In both experiments, measures of identification, free recall, and recognition of the words/pictures were employed. The results revealed effects of ear input (right-ear advantage) and half-field presentation (right visual half-field advantage) for all age groups, although the magnitude of this lateralization effect differed between the three memory measures. The results are discussed in relation to developmental aspects of language laterality, and in relation to the clinical utility of non-invasive lateralization techniques.     

Misinformation and warnings in eyewitness testimony: A new testing procedure to differentiate explanations

Abstract

Although psychologists agree that the presentation of misleading post-event information often results in errant recollections, there is disagreement about the explanation as to why this occurs. Some (cf. Loftus, Donders, Hoffman, & Schooler, 1989) believe this misinformation alters the memory trace created by the original information, whereas others (cf. McCloskey & Zaragoza, 1985) have argued that the data do not necessitate this explanation. An experiment, designed to differentiate the various explanations, was conducted. Its critical elements were: (1) a condition with a specific warning presented immediately after the misleading information; and (2) a ranking procedure used at testing. The results suggest multiple traces may exist for a limited period, but not indefinitely.     

Insensitivity and oversensitivity to answer diagnosticity in hypothesis testing

Two experiments examined how people perceive the diagnosticity of different answers (“yes” and “no”) to the same question. We manipulated whether the “yes” and the “no” answers conveyed the same amount of information or not, as well as the presentation format of the probabilities of the features inquired about. In Experiment 1, participants were presented with only the percentages of occurrence of the features, which most straightforwardly apply to the diagnosticity of “yes” answers. In Experiment 2, participants received in addition the percentages of the absence of features, which serve to assess the diagnosticity of “no” answers. Consistent with previous studies, we found that participants underestimated the difference in the diagnosticity conveyed by different answers to the same question. However, participants' insensitivity was greater when the normative (Bayesian) diagnosticity of the “no” answer was higher than that of the “yes” answer. We also found oversensitivity to answer diagnosticity, whereby participants valued as differentially diagnostic two answers that were normatively equal in terms of their diagnosticity. Presenting to participants the percentages of occurrence of the features inquired about together with their complements increased their sensitivity to the diagnosticity of answers. We discuss the implications of these findings for confirmation bias in hypothesis testing.     

Impact of genetic testing on causal models of heart disease and arthritis: An analogue study

Abstract An analogue study investigated the impact of genetic testing on perceptions of disease. Using a 2 × 2 design, participants (n = 212) imagined receiving the information that they were at increased risk for either heart disease or arthritis. The type of risk information was either genetic or unspecified. Presentation of genetic risk information resulted in the condition being perceived as less preventable. Causal models of disease where investigated using principal components analysis. When hem disease was the stimulus condition, attributions to genes and chance were positively associated following unspecified risk information, and negatively associated following genetic risk information. When arthritis was the stimulus condition, presentation of genetic risk information was associated with attributions to genes becoming separated from the other attributions. One explanation for this is that providing genetic risk information may decrease perceptions of a sense of randomness or uncertainty in disease causation. The extent to which these effects occur in clinical populations. and their behavioural consequences. needs to be established.     

Automaticity in reading and the Stroop task: testing the limits of involuntary word processing

We investigated the parameters of involuntary word reading in the Stroop task in 7 experiments. Experiments 1-4 varied response modality and the presence of congruent word trials in a test of the claim that presenting a Stroop color word with only one letter in the target color eliminates the Stroop effect. Experiments 5 and 6 addressed the roles of spatial attention and orthographic processing as possible mechanisms behind the reduction of Stroop effects with the single-letter format. Experiment 7 investigated the limits of involuntary reading under optimal conditions for selective processing of rectangular color patch targets. We found that the single-letter format reduced but never eliminated Stroop effects, spatial attention but not orthographic processing plays a role in the effect of the single-letter format, and word reading is not completely prevented even with austere presentation conditions. We conclude with a defense of the involuntariness criterion for automaticity in the Stroop task, particularly when word reading is viewed in the context of a skilled performance.     

Using interactive computing to expand intelligence testing: A critique and prospectus

Microcomputers can serve as automated testing stations for use in psychometric assessment. There are economic advantages in conducting aptitude and intelligence testing with such stations. It is possible to improve the quality of cognitive assessment by extending the range of cognitive abilities to be assessed? Two types of extension are considered; modifying and expanding testing procedures for psychological functions that are components of conventional tests, and the extension oof testing to psychological functions not generally assessed by conventional intelligence or aptitude tests. Computerized presentations will make relatively little difference in our ways of testing verbal comprehension. Computer controlled testing could well extend the ways in which we evaluate spatial-visual reasoning and memory. The impact of testing on the evaluation of reasoning is unclear. Computer-controlled item presentation makes it possible to conceive of tests of learning and attention, neither of which are evaluated in most psychometric programs today. The psychological nature of the abilities being assessed raises problems in assessment that are not addressed by the fact oof computer-control. Some research questions are identified that ought to be explored before testing is extended into these fields. Computer-controlled evaluation could be extended to the assessment of criterion performance, either in the normal working situation or in a simulation of the workplace. While evaluation of this sort does raise social questions, it clearly presents an opportunity to obtain validation data for psychological assessment studies.     

Impact of genetic testing on causal models of heart disease and arthritis: An analogue study

Abstract

An analogue study investigated the impact of genetic testing on perceptions of disease. Using a 2 × 2 design, participants (n = 212) imagined receiving the information that they were at increased risk for either heart disease or arthritis. The type of risk information was either genetic or unspecified. Presentation of genetic risk information resulted in the condition being perceived as less preventable. Causal models of disease where investigated using principal components analysis. When hem disease was the stimulus condition, attributions to genes and chance were positively associated following unspecified risk information, and negatively associated following genetic risk information. When arthritis was the stimulus condition, presentation of genetic risk information was associated with attributions to genes becoming separated from the other attributions. One explanation for this is that providing genetic risk information may decrease perceptions of a sense of randomness or uncertainty in disease causation. The extent to which these effects occur in clinical populations. and their behavioural consequences. needs to be established.     

Behavioral conditioned responses across multiple conditioning/testing trials elicited by lithium- and amphetamine-paired flavors

The present experiment measured the pattern of conditioned responses across 10 conditioning/testing trials which were elicited by an intraoral presentation of either a lithium- or an amphetamine-paired flavor. A nonspecific conditioned response pattern of suppressed limb flicking after five conditioning trials and of suppressed scratching after six conditioning trials was supported by both drugs. Lithium-specific increased activity level after one conditioning trial and chin rubbing after two conditioning trials were observed across conditioning/testing days. The lithium-specific conditioned responses were not the result of a stronger flavor aversion, because both lithium and amphetamine produced equivalent flavor avoidance responses across the 10 conditioning/testing trials. The results support previous research which suggests that flavor aversions produced by lithium and amphetamine are produced by different unconditioned response mechanisms.     

Feedback-related brain activity predicts learning from feedback in multiple-choice testing

Different event-related potentials (ERPs) have been shown to correlate with learning from feedback in decision-making tasks and with learning in explicit memory tasks. In the present study, we investigated which ERPs predict learning from corrective feedback in a multiple-choice test, which combines elements from both paradigms. Participants worked through sets of multiple-choice items of a Swahili–German vocabulary task. Whereas the initial presentation of an item required the participants to guess the answer, corrective feedback could be used to learn the correct response. Initial analyses revealed that corrective feedback elicited components related to reinforcement learning (FRN), as well as to explicit memory processing (P300) and attention (early frontal positivity). However, only the P300 and early frontal positivity were positively correlated with successful learning from corrective feedback, whereas the FRN was even larger when learning failed. These results suggest that learning from corrective feedback crucially relies on explicit memory processing and attentional orienting to corrective feedback, rather than on reinforcement learning.     

Effect size, power, and sample size determination for structured means modeling and mimic approaches to between-groups hypothesis testing of means on a single latent construct

While effect size estimates, post hoc power estimates, and a priori sample size determination are becoming a routine part of univariate analyses involving measured variables (e.g., ANOVA), such measures and methods have not been articulated for analyses involving latent means. The current article presents standardized effect size measures for latent mean differences inferred from both structured means modeling and MIMIC approaches to hypothesis testing about differences among means on a single latent construct. These measures are then related to post hoc power analysis, a priori sample size determination, and a relevant measure of construct reliability.I wish to convey my appreciation to the reviewers and Associate Editor, whose suggestions extended and strengthened the article's content immensely, and to Ralph Mueller of The George Washington University for enhancing the clarity of its presentation.     

Paradoxical effects of testing: Repeated retrieval attempts enhance the likelihood of later accurate and false recall

The testing effect is the finding that taking an initial test enhances the likelihood of later recall. The present report examines the extent to which this benefit of testing comes with a cost: an enhanced likelihood of erroneously recalling incorrect information. Subjects were given short lists of semantic associates (e.g., hill, valley, climb); each list converged upon a related nonpresented word (e.g., mountain). After presentation of some lists, the subjects received no initial test; after others, one initial free recall test; and after others, three successive free recall tests. The probabilities of final free recall (and the probability of reporting vivid recollection of the moment of encoding) of both studied and related, nonstudied words (e.g., mountain) were highest when three initial tests had been taken, intermediate following one initial test, and lowest when no initial test had occurred. The beneficial effects of testing carry the cost of increases in erroneous memory for related information.     

More is still not better: testing the perturbation model of temporal reference memory across different modalities and tasks

The ability of the perturbation model (Jones & Wearden, 2003) to account for reference memory function in a visual temporal generalization task and auditory and visual reproduction tasks was examined. In all tasks the number of presentations of the standard was manipulated (1, 3, or 5), and its effect on performance was compared. In visual temporal generalization the number of presentations of the standard did not affect the number of times the standard was correctly identified, nor did it affect the overall temporal generalization gradient. In auditory reproduction there was no effect of the number of times the standard was presented on mean reproductions. In visual reproduction mean reproductions were shorter when the standard was only presented once; however, this effect was reduced when a visual cue was provided before the first presentation of the standard. Whilst the results of all experiments are best accounted for by the perturbation model there appears to be some attentional benefit to multiple presentations of the standard in visual reproduction.