Solving problems by analogy: The benefits and detriments of hints and depressed moods

In Experiment 1, mildly depressed (dysphoric) and nondysphoric subjects tried to solve logic problems that were analogous to subsequent target problems; then they attempted target solutions with or without hints in the form of the anologues’ themes. Target solutions were impaired by the hints in the nondysphoric group alone. Experiment 2A was a no-training control to verify that transfer did indeed occur. In Experiment 2B, all subjects received hints in the transfer phase; the training phase was either problem oriented (as in Experiment 1) or memory oriented. Again, nondysphoric subjects solved fewer problems following problem-oriented training than did both dysphoric subjects in that condition and nondysphoric subjects with memory-oriented training. Experiment 3 replicated the previous results in the nondysphoric samples. We interpret these findings within the transferappropriate processing framework.     

工作记忆训练及对数学能力的迁移作用

工作记忆缺陷会影响个体数学能力发展。通过记忆策略、广度、刷新、转换等功能的工作记忆训练,可以改善个体认知功能。然而,工作记忆训练对个体的阅读、数学、流体智力等方面的远迁移效果并不一致。研究表明,工作记忆训练可以改善数感、视觉空间能力、推理能力等数学一般技能;也会通过改善语音工作记忆以及空间能力促进数学计算能力,或者通过改善中央执行系统,提升数学问题表征、模式识别、解题迁移、策略选择等复杂的过程,从而促进数学问题解决能力。因此,区分不同数学任务的认知过程,可以获得工作记忆训练对数学能力迁移效果的进一步证据。今后,神经影像学的证据或许也是未来工作记忆训练对数学能力提高的又一佐证。     

Analogical problem solving

The use of an analogy from a semantically distant domain to guide the problemsolving process was investigated. The representation of analogy in memory and processes involved in the use of analogies were discussed theoretically and explored in five experiments. In Experiment I oral protocols were used to examine the processes involved in solving a problem by analogy. In all experiments subjects who first read a story about a military problem and its solution tended to generate analogous solutions to a medical problem (Duncker's “radiation problem”), provided they were given a hint to use the story to help solve the problem. Transfer frequency was reduced when the problem presented in the military story was substantially disanalogous to the radiation problem, even though the solution illustrated in the story corresponded to an effective radiation solution (Experiment II). Subjects in Experiment III tended to generate analogous solutions to the radiation problem after providing their own solutions to the military problem. Subjects were able to retrieve the story from memory and use it to generate an analogous solution, even when the critical story had been memorized in the context of two distractor stories (Experiment IV). However, when no hint to consider the story was given, frequency of analogous solutions decreased markedly. This decrease in transfer occurred when the story analogy was presented in a recall task along with distractor stories (Experiment IV), when it was presented alone, and when it was presented in between two attempts to solve the problem (Experiment V). Component processes and strategic variations in analogical problem solving were discussed. Issues related to noticing analogies and accessing them in memory were also examined, as was the relationship of analogical reasoning to other cognitive tasks.     

Teaching awareness of strategic behavior in combination with strategy training: Effects on children's memory performance

The present study examined the effectiveness of two components (rehearsal training and strategy awareness) of an instructional package designed to train the developmentally young in the use of mature information processing techniques. Two groups of children of equivalent developmental age (MA = 8), one mildly retarded and the other of average intelligence, participated. Rehearsal training was effective in improving recall scores on the training task; however, neither rehearsal training, memory awareness, nor their combination significantly altered memory performance on the generalization tasks. There was evidence, however, that the combination of rehearsal training and strategy awareness did increase the likelihood of strategy transfer on the generalization task (recognition) which most closely resembled the training task. Post-task questioning revealed that instructions concerning memory awareness did improve subjects ability to verbalize appropriate strategic behavior; however, these improvements were not consistently translated into either actual use of a rehearsal strategy or improved performance. Discussion centered on the implications of these results and on the need for increased research on the metamnemonic skills involved in strategy generalization.     

Transfer of training: A field investigation of youth training

This study investigated, in the field, differences in the transfer and retention of training in using micrometers, of two groups of young trainees. The experimental group were motor-vehicle servicing trainees and the control group were information technology trainees. The results showed that (i) there was no difference between trainees of the two groups in end-of-training tests when they were trained from scratch, though the information technology trainees retained the skill better; (ii) experimental subjects, who had learned the micrometer skill one year previously, were more effectively trained to use it in a new trade than were control subjects, who lacked previous experience; (iii) experimental subjects, who had learned the micrometer skill one year previously, were not more effectively trained to use a vernier height-gauge. Results are discussed in terms of the level of skill at which a possible transfer mechanism may be supposed to operate. Evidence is presented of effective transfer of training between two skills very closely related at the motor level. Failure of transfer of training between two skills related at a somewhat higher level of abstraction is shown. The question of transfer of training between two skills not closely related at these lower levels, but related at a yet higher level of abstraction, is discussed.     

工作记忆训练及对数学能力的迁移作用

工作记忆缺陷会影响个体数学能力发展。通过记忆策略、广度、刷新、转换等功能的工作记忆训练,可以改善个体认知功能。然而,工作记忆训练对个体的阅读、数学、流体智力等方面的远迁移效果并不一致。研究表明,工作记忆训练可以改善数感、视觉空间能力、推理能力等数学一般技能;也会通过改善语音工作记忆以及空间能力促进数学计算能力,或者通过改善中央执行系统,提升数学问题表征、模式识别、解题迁移、策略选择等复杂的过程,从而促进数学问题解决能力。因此,区分不同数学任务的认知过程,可以获得工作记忆训练对数学能力迁移效果的进一步证据。今后,神经影像学的证据或许也是未来工作记忆训练对数学能力提高的又一佐证。     

Immediate and delayed transfer of training effects in statistical reasoning

Ss were trained on the law of large numbers in a given domain through the use of example problems. They were then tested either on that domain or on another domain either immediately or after a 2-week delay. Strong domain independence was found when testing was immediate. This transfer of training was not due simply to Ss' ability to draw direct analogies between problems in the trained domain and in the untrained domain. After the 2-week delay, it was found that (a) there was no decline in performance in the trained domain and (b) although there was a significant decline in performance in the untrained domain, performance was still better than for control Ss. Memory measures suggest that the retention of training effects is due to memory for the rule system rather than to memory for the specific details of the example problems, contrary to what would be expected if Ss were using direct analogies to solve the test problems.     

Feedback specificity,information processing,and transfer of training

This study examines the effects of feedback specificity on transfer of training and the mechanisms through which feedback can enhance or inhibit transfer. We used concurrent verbal protocol methodology to elicit and operationalize the explicit information processing activities used by 48 trainees performing the Furniture Factory computer simulation. We hypothesized and found support for a moderated mediation model. Increasing feedback specificity influenced the exposure trainees had to different task conditions and negatively affected their levels of explicit information processing. In turn, explicit information processes and levels of exposure to different task conditions interacted to impact transfer of training. Those who received less specific feedback relied more heavily on explicit information processing and had more exposure to the challenging aspects of the task than those who received more specific feedback, which differentially affected what they learned about the task. We discuss how feedback specificity and exposure to different task conditions may prime different learning processes.     

Interpretation training influences memory for prior interpretations

Anxiety is associated with memory biases when the initial interpretation of the event is taken into account. This experiment examined whether modification of interpretive bias retroactively affects memory for prior events and their initial interpretation. Before training, participants imagined themselves in emotionally ambiguous scenarios to which they provided endings that often revealed their interpretations. Then they were trained to resolve the ambiguity in other situations in a consistently positive (n = 37) or negative way (n = 38) before they tried to recall the initial scenarios and endings. Results indicated that memory for the endings was imbued with the emotional tone of the training, whereas memory for the scenarios was unaffected.     

Executive process training in young and old adults

There is a growing body of research on the modifiability of executive functions in different stages of life. Previous studies demonstrate robust training effects but limited transfer in younger and particularly in older adults. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether a theoretically derived intervention for executive functioning, addressing several basic processes (updating, shifting, and inhibition), can induce transfer effects in early and late adulthood. Fifty-nine healthy adults, 29 young and 30 older adults, were randomly assigned to either training or no-contact control groups. The training groups received 15 sessions of executive process training for about 45 min/session during 5 weeks. A test battery including a criterion task and near, intermediate, and far transfer tasks was administered before and after training. Results showed pronounced age-equivalent gains on the criterion task. Near transfer was seen to non-trained updating and inhibition tasks for the young and older trained participants. However, only the young adults showed intermediate transfer to two complex working memory tasks. No far transfer effects were seen for either age group. These findings provide additional evidence for age-related constraints in the ability to generalize acquired executive skills, and specifically show that training of multiple executive processes is not sufficient to foster transfer beyond the very near in older adults.     

Intention and outcome: key components of causal structure facilitating mapping in children's analogical transfer.

The consequences of two key features of causal structure in source stories, intention and positive outcome, for analogical transfer were examined in kindergarten and second graders. In Experiment 1, children received either structure-complete, structure-incomplete, or irrelevant source stories. Structure-incomplete stories lacked either the intention to solve a problem (a goal-directed component), evidence of a successful consequence (an outcome-related component), or both as part of the solution activity described in source stories. Evidence for transfer was obtained for second graders when a goal-directed component, and to a lesser extent, an outcome-related component were connected to the solution action in source stories. Differences among conditions for kindergartners were less evident, although they revealed a pattern of performance similar to the second graders. A second experiment was conducted to determine whether memory and an orientation to use the source story information might account for these findings. Efforts to ensure memory for and hints to use information in the source stories, however, did not benefit solution transfer when intention and positive outcome were absent. These results suggest that a complete causal structure, including goal and outcome, in source stories augments transfer in young children by promoting mapping of the analogical relationship between source stories and the target problem.     

任务结构相似性对工作记忆训练迁移效应的影响

研究发现,个体的工作记忆能力通过训练可以提高。但是,目前对于工作记忆训练的迁移效应,尚未有统一的结论。本文通过梳理相关研究,发现训练任务与评估迁移效应任务之间的结构相似性会对迁移效应产生影响。结构相似性即训练任务和未训练任务之间共享加工和加工程序,而这个共享加工和加工程序能通过发展相似的策略实现工作记忆训练的迁移。今后研究应该更加注意以往研究设计中的不足,针对不同群体的工作记忆训练效果的机制分别进行研究。     

Training and transfer effects of long-term memory retrieval training

ABSTRACT

Long-term memory retrieval ability and working memory can share attention control ability. Based on cognitive plasticity, a hypothesis that cognitive training could improve long-term memory retrieval efficiency and that this could transfer to retrieval involving working memory was proposed. 60 undergraduates were randomly assigned to a group of training and an active control group; all the participants completed the same tasks in the same order before and after the training, the tasks included a long-term memory retrieval access task, a intelligence test, a switching task, a working memory updating task, a response inhibition task and an interference control task. The statistics results indicate that cognitive training can improve long-term memory retrieval efficiency and has a transfer effect on working memory updating, interference control and switching ability, but not on response inhibition or intelligence. This reveal the plasticity of long-term memory retrieval and its influence on working memory.     

基于手机APP的双维n-back训练的认知与情绪效益

工作记忆训练的训练获益能够迁移至与工作记忆相关的各项基础认知活动中去。基于情绪认知控制与工作记忆之间的密切关联, 本研究设计了一种新型情绪性双维n-back训练, 并且验证利用手机APP搭载训练任务的适用性。结果表明：基于APP的短期双维n-back训练能够使个体在视空间工作记忆任务、活动记忆任务、数字转换任务、Stroop任务上的成绩产生相较控制组更大的进步, 表明训练可以提高个体工作记忆的容量和中央执行功能。然而, 基于不同情绪材料的训练(中性、负性、正性)在各类迁移上差异不大。短期训练无法迁移到情绪Stroop任务中, 即无法产生特异的情绪控制上的效益。双维n-back任务通道单一, 且搭载于手机APP, 拥有较为广阔的应用前景。但将情绪材料单纯地糅合进工作记忆任务中的价值与意义须被进一步考察。     

Can survival processing enhance story memory? Testing the generalizability of the adaptive memory framework

Research from the adaptive memory framework shows that thinking about words in terms of their survival value in an incidental learning task enhances their free recall relative to other semantic encoding strategies and intentional learning (Nairne, Pandeirada, & Thompson, 2008). We found similar results. When participants used incidental survival encoding for a list of words (e.g., "Will this object enhance my survival if I were stranded in the grasslands of a foreign land?"), they produced better free recall on a surprise test than did participants who intentionally tried to remember those words (Experiment 1). We also found this survival processing advantage when the words were presented within the context of a survival or neutral story (Experiment 2). However, this advantage did not extent to memory for a story's factual content, regardless of whether the participants were tested by cued recall (Experiment 3) or free recall (Experiments 4-5). Listening to a story for understanding under intentional or incidental learning conditions was just as good as survival processing for remembering story content. The functionalist approach to thinking about memory as an evolutionary adaptation designed to solve reproductive fitness problems provides a different theoretical framework for research, but it is not yet clear if survival processing has general applicability or is effective only for processing discrete stimuli in terms of fitness-relevant scenarios from our past.     

The generality of transfer: Effects of age and similarity of training and transfer tasks

Two experiments were conducted investigating the extent to which transfer of training would take place. The Ss were trained to attend to a particular dimension (color or form) of a set of stimuli and were then presented with a transfer problem. For half the Ss the transfer problem was an intradimensional (ID) shift, and for the remaining half an extradimensional (ED) shift, with the ID-ED difference then being used as an index of the magnitude of transfer. Previous data had indicated that preschool and kindergarten children did not effectively transfer learned attention responses from one task to another if the formats of the two problems were different. Experiment I investigated the hypothesis that older children would show broader patterns of transfer. However, the patterns obtained with second and fifth graders were extremely similar to those obtained with younger children. In Exp. II, it was found that transfer did take place across different task formats if the stimuli remained the same from training to transfer. The data were discussed in terms of the role of contextual cues, or context markers, in the origical acquisition of information and the subsequent transfer (use) of that information.     

Effects of working memory training in young and old adults

Many cognitive abilities, including working memory and reasoning ability, decline with progressing age. In this study, we investigated whether four weeks of intensive working memory training would enhance working memory and reasoning performance in an age-comparative setting. Groups of 34 young (19–36 years) and 27 older (62–77 years) adults practiced tasks representing the three functional categories in the facet model of working memory capacity: storage and processing, relational integration, and supervision. The data were compared to those of a young and an old active control group who practiced tasks with low working memory demands. A cognitive test battery measuring near and far transfer was administered before and after training. Both age groups showed increased working memory performance in the trained tasks and in one structurally similar, but nontrained, task. Young adults also improved in a task measuring word-position binding in working memory. However, we found no far transfer to reasoning in either age group. The results provide evidence that working memory performance can be improved throughout the life span. However, in contrast to a previous study in which each facet of working memory capacity was trained separately, the present study showed that training multiple functional categories simultaneously induces less transfer.     

Autobiographical recall training in elderly adults with subjective memory complaint: a pilot study

Subjective memory complaint is a self-reported memory impairment which affects elderly people. This problem does not interfere with daily living activities but could decrease quality of life. This study's purpose was to verify whether a specific, newly developed, autobiographical recall training could modify self-perception of memory of subjects with subjective memory complaint. Seven elderly subjects (4 women and 3 men; mean age 65.5 yr., SD=11) with such complaint, evidenced through a specific questionnaire, attended the training course and were prospectively assessed on standard neuropsychological tests, depressive symptomatology, and self-perception of memory. Self-perception of memory, as assessed by scores on a formalized questionnaire, improved significantly after the training, while depressive symptoms did not change. Neuropsychological performances were normal before and after the training, but a statistically significant improvement was observed only on the phonological fluency test. Thus the present pilot study suggested that the training may be effective in improving self-perception of memory and metamnestic capacity in elderly people with subjective memory complaints but not in changing subjects' depressive symptoms. This requires replication of this work with a much larger sample so statistical power is adequate.     

Mathematical problem solving by analogy.

We report the results of 2 experiments and a verbal protocol study examining the component processes of solving mathematical word problems by analogy. College students first studied a problem and its solution, which provided a potential source for analogical transfer. Then they attempted to solve several analogous problems. For some problems, subjects received one of a variety of hints designed to reduce or eliminate the difficulty of some of the major processes hypothesized to be involved in analogical transfer. Our studies yielded 4 major findings. First, the process of mapping the features of the source and target problems and the process of adapting the source solution procedure for use in solving the target problem were clearly distinguished: (a) Successful mapping was found to be insufficient for successful transfer and (b) adaptation was found to be a major source of transfer difficulty. Second, we obtained direct evidence that schema induction is a natural consequence of analogical transfer. The schema was found to co-exist with the problems from which it was induced, and both the schema and the individual problems facilitated later transfer. Third, for our multiple-solution problems, the relation between analogical transfer and solution accuracy was mediated by the degree of time pressure exerted for the test problems. Finally, mathematical expertise was a significant predictor of analogical transfer, but general analogical reasoning ability was not. The implications of the results for models of analogical transfer and for instruction were considered.     

Implicit memory in spelling from word images

Summary A series of experiments is reported concerning implicit memory in imaginal processing. In the standard condition, subjects had to encode word images before spelling a word. The spelling task was repeated in the test phase with the same words and with additional control words. Spelling times were registered after the image encoding. Implicit memory has been detected if repeated words can be spelled faster than control words. Experiment 1 showed that levels of processing manipulations (such as the additional generation of meaning images at encoding or variations in word concreteness) favor explicit memory, but do not show up in implicit memory. Experiment 2 demonstrated that implicit memory disappears if spelling at encoding took place on visually present words. Experiment 3 investigated whether the focusing of specific letter positions within the image may contribute to the effect, but this was not found. According to a processing view that underlies our task analysis, implicit memory depends on transfer-appropriate processing and is attributed to processes of image encoding or generation and image reconstruction or regeneration.