Input restriction and immediate memory decay in normal and subnormal children

Twelve imbeciles and 12 normals, matched for their digit memory span, were presented with three digit numbers successively and simultaneously. Seven speeds of presentation were used. Each simultaneous speed of presentation had a corresponding successive speed. Subjects were required to recall digits on the conclusion of presentation of each number. Each performance was scored as the number of errors for each digit. With simultaneous presentations the difference between the groups was significant only at fast presentation speed, where the normals were significantly better than the imbeciles. Imbeciles improved at slow speeds and became as good as normals. In the case of successive presentations differences between groups occur only in relation to the second digit, which the normals remember better than the subnormals. Both groups remember the first digit worst as rates of presentation become progressively slower. Results are explained in terms of input restriction and of memory trace decay.     

TRANSFER OF STIMULUS CONTROL FROM MOTOR TO VERBAL STIMULI1

A transfer of stimulus control procedure was used to teach three profoundly retarded adolescents a series of specific responses to specific verbal instructions. After imitative control of a behavior was established, a verbal instruction was presented immediately before the behavior was modelled. Each correct response was followed on the next trial by inserting a delay between the verbal instruction and the modelling of the behavior. The delays increased from trial to trial. Transfer of stimulus control was indicated when a subject responded correctly on five consecutive trials before the behavior was modelled. All three subjects responded correctly to each verbal instruction after that item was trained in a multiple-baseline order. Generalization did not occur to items that had not been trained. Probe data revealed that some variations of the verbal instructions controlled responses after training was completed.     

Instruction-following behavior of a retarded child and its controlling stimuli

A combination of positive reinforcement and fading of physical guidance was used to teach a profoundly retarded boy specific responses to specific verbal instructions. The design consisted of a multiple baseline of probe data across different verbal instructions. The subject started responding correctly to each verbal instruction as that item was trained in a multiple-baseline order. Generalization did not occur to items that had not yet been trained, nor did it occur to items included to assess generalization. Probes of variations in the verbal instructions, conducted after training was completed, revealed that generalization was minimal except in those cases where the variation consisted of the verb only, the noun only, the noun plus preposition, or where the verb of the instruction was presented last. Training a profoundly retarded 11-yr-old subject to respond to specific verbal instructions did not adequately facilitate the development of a generative instruction-following capability, nor did all verbal elements of the instruction control a specific response.     

Conservation training in four-year-old children

In Experiment 1 two training procedures were used to teach four-year-olds to conserve. Verbal rule instruction consisted of providing verbal rules and demonstrations of the operations referred to by the rules. Feedback consisted of providing verbal feedback contingent upon the children's responses. One week after training on conservation of number and length the children were given a posttest which included tests of conservation of number, length, and mass. Children who were given verbal rule instruction conserved significantly more on the number and length posttest problems than children who were not. However, this learning did not transfer to the mass problems, possibly because mass is not naturally acquired until some time after conservation of number and length. The feedback training procedure had no effect on conservation performance. In Experiment 2, the verbal rule instruction procedure was used to train four-year-olds on conservation of length and mass. One week after training the children were tested on both conservation of number, which is typically acquired before length and mass, and conservation of weight, which is typically acquired after length and mass, as well as on conservation of length and mass. Children who were given training conserved more on all four types of problems than children in the control group.     

Pictorial and verbal encoding in a short-term memory task

The present research attempted to manipulate the encoding modality, pictorial or verbal, of schematic faces with well-learned names by manipulating S’s expectations of the way the material was to be used. On every trial, a single name or face was presented, followed by another one; the S was asked to respond “same” if the stimuli had the same name, and “different” otherwise. The majority of second stimuli of any session was either names or faces. It was hypothesized that if S had encoded the first stimulus in the modality of the second, his judgment would be faster than if he had not appropriately encoded the first stimulus. Significantly slower reaction times were obtained to stimulus pairs where the second stimulus modality was infrequent. Further evidence that encoding of the first stimulus was in the frequent second stimulus modality comes from the finding that “different” responses were shorter when the stimuli differed on more than one attribute in the encoding (second stimulus) modality, regardless of the modality of the stimuli. Thus, evidence is presented that not only can verbal material be pictorially encoded (and vice versa), but that whether either verbal or pictorial material is verbally or pictorially encoded depends on S’s anticipation of what he is to do with the material.     

言语编码和视空编码在时间—空间联结中的作用

时间和空间存在反应编码联合效应（spatial—temporal association of response codes effect, STEARC）,该效应的编码是视觉空间性还是言语性还存在争议。本研究借鉴Georges（2015）的研究方式,以2秒内的时距为刺激,实验1采用言语反应和空间反应,词语和空间与时距的关系分为一致和不一致。结果发现言语反应时,短时距用“左边”反应快,长时距用“右边”反应快,空间反应时,时距和空间的一致性效应消失,表明言语编码参与两种反应形式的STEARC效应。实验2将词语改为箭头朝向（视觉编码条件）,发现视觉编码和空间编码存在于相对应的反应形式中。研究表明时空关系的编码形式与具体任务要求有关。     

Modulating the masked congruence priming effect with the hands and the mouth

The authors report a series of experiments in which they use the masked congruence priming paradigm to investigate the processing of masked primes in the manual and verbal response modalities. In the manual response modality, they found that masked incongruent primes produced interference relative to both congruent and neutral primes. This finding, which replicates the standard finding in the masked congruence priming literature, is presumed to reflect the conflict that arises between two incompatible responses and, thus, to index the extent of processing of the masked prime. Somewhat surprisingly, when participants were asked to respond verbally in the same task, masked incongruent primes no longer produced interference, but masked congruent primes produced facilitation. These findings are surprising because they suggest that the processing of nonconsciously perceived primes extends to the response level in the manual, but not verbal, response modality. The authors propose that the modulation of the masked congruence priming effect by response modality is due to verbal, but not manual, responses being mediated by the lexical-phonological production system.     

Modality independence of order coding in working memory: Evidence from cross-modal order interference at recall

Working memory researchers do not agree on whether order in serial recall is encoded by dedicated modality-specific systems or by a more general modality-independent system. Although previous research supports the existence of autonomous modality-specific systems, it has been shown that serial recognition memory is prone to cross-modal order interference by concurrent tasks. The present study used a serial recall task, which was performed in a single-task condition and in a dual-task condition with an embedded memory task in the retention interval. The modality of the serial task was either verbal or visuospatial, and the embedded tasks were in the other modality and required either serial or item recall. Care was taken to avoid modality overlaps during presentation and recall. In Experiment 1, visuospatial but not verbal serial recall was more impaired when the embedded task was an order than when it was an item task. Using a more difficult verbal serial recall task, verbal serial recall was also more impaired by another order recall task in Experiment 2. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis of modality-independent order coding. The implications for views on short-term recall and the multicomponent view of working memory are discussed.     

Is conflict monitoring supramodal? Spatiotemporal dynamics of cognitive control processes in an auditory Stroop task

The electrophysiological correlates of conflict processing and cognitive control have been well characterized for the visual modality in paradigms such as the Stroop task. Much less is known about corresponding processes in the auditory modality. Here, electroencephalographic recordings of brain activity were measured during an auditory Stroop task, using three different forms of behavioral response (overt verbal, covert verbal, and manual), that closely paralleled our previous visual Stroop study. As was expected, behavioral responses were slower and less accurate for incongruent than for congruent trials. Neurally, incongruent trials showed an enhanced fronto-central negative polarity wave (N_inc), similar to the N450 in visual Stroop tasks, with similar variations as a function of behavioral response mode, but peaking ~150 ms earlier, followed by an enhanced positive posterior wave. In addition, sequential behavioral and neural effects were observed that supported the conflict-monitoring and cognitive adjustment hypothesis. Thus, while some aspects of the conflict detection processes, such as timing, may be modality dependent, the general mechanisms would appear to be supramodal.     

Boundless Creativity: Evidence for the Domain Generality of Individual Differences in Creativity

This study investigated correlates of domain‐general and domain‐specific components of creativity. 158 college students completed a questionnaire that assessed their motivational and personality traits (i.e., intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, creative personality, and originality in word association) as well as intellectual abilities (SAT verbal and quantitative scores). Under two different instruction conditions (standard instruction or explicit “be creative” instruction), students also took a battery of multi‐item, product‐based tests of creativity in three domains (artistic, verbal, and mathematical creativity). Factor analyses showed evidence of domain‐generality of creativity. Furthermore, results from structural equation models showed that motivational and personality traits and intellectual abilities were associated with the domain‐general component of creativity. Only one variable (SAT quantitative score) was found to be associated with the domain‐specific component of mathematical creativity under the explicit “be creative” instruction condition. These results affirm the domain‐generality of creativity and challenge researchers to identify correlates of domain‐specific components of creativity.     

Memory confusions and memory codes: A simulation of the acoustic similarity effect

It is hypothesized that items are coded for short-term storage in the language of the modality through which the customary responses to these items are normally monitored. This Response Monitoring Modality Hypothesis may account for the acoustic similarity effect in short-term memory for verbal items. The hypothesis was tested using non-verbal material. After paired-associate training subjects were found to confuse, in retention tests, items sharing similar previously trained responses to a greater extent than items that were directly similar to one another. The experiment simulates under controlled conditions the natural phenomenon of acoustical confusions in short-term memory, and provides strong support for the Response Monitoring Modality Hypothesis.     

Famous people knowledge and the right and left temporal lobes

It is generally accepted that the anterior temporal lobes support knowledge of famous people. The specific roles of the right and left temporal lobe remain a subject of debate, with some studies suggesting differential roles based on modality (visual versus verbal information) and others category (person knowledge versus general semantics). The present study re-examined performance of semantic dementia patients with predominantly right and predominantly left temporal lobe atrophy on famous face, famous name and general semantic tasks, with the specific aim of testing the hypothesis that the right temporal lobe has a privileged role for person knowledge and the left temporal lobe for general semantic knowledge. Comparisons of performance rankings across tasks showed no evidence to support this hypothesis. By contrast, there was robust evidence from naming, identification and familiarity measures for modality effects: right-sided atrophy being associated with relatively greater impairment for faces and visual tasks and left-sided atrophy for names and verbal tasks. A double dissociation in test scores in two patients reinforced these findings. The data present a challenge for the influential `semantic hub' model, which views the anterior temporal lobes as an area of convergence in which semantic information is represented in amodal form.     

Instruction Modes for Motor Control Skills Acquisition: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

The objective was to compare two different instruction modes used to teach patients with nonspecific chronic low back pain (CLBP) to perform a lumbar motor control task. The three intervention instruction modes used were: common verbal explanation of a motor task based on a motor control therapeutic exercise (MCTE-control group), MTCE instructed using motor imagery (MI) and MCTE instructed using tactile feedback (TF). The main outcome measure was lumbar motor control of the neutral position test. Forty-eight patients with CLBP were randomly allocated into three groups of 16 patients per group. The MI strategy was the most effective mode for developing the motor control task in an accurate and controlled manner, obtaining better outcomes than TF or verbal instruction.     

Teaching students to solve insight problems: Evidence for domain specificity in creativity training

The purpose of this research was to investigate whether insight problem solving depends on domain‐specific or domain‐general problem‐solving skills, that is, whether people think in terms of conceptually different types of insight problems. In Study 1, participants sorted insight problems into categories. A cluster analysis revealed 4 main categories of insight problems: verbal, mathematical, spatial, and a combination of verbal or spatial. In Studies 2 and 3, participants received training in how to solve verbal, spatial, or mathematical problems, or all 3 types. They were taught that solutions to verbal insight problems lie in defining and analyzing the terms in the problem, solutions to mathematical insight problems lie in a novel approach to numbers, or solutions to spatial insight problems lie in removing a self‐imposed constraint. In both studies, the spatial trained group performed better than the verbal trained group on spatial problems but not on other types of problems. These findings are consistent with the idea that people mentally separate insight problems into distinct types. Implications for instruction in insight problem solving are discussed.     

Short-term effects of using verbal instructions and demonstration at the beginning of learning a complex skill in figure skating

This study examined whether providing verbal instructions plus demonstration and task repetition facilitates the early acquisition of a sport skill for which learners had a prior knowledge of the individual motor components. After one demonstration of the task by an expert, 18 novice skaters practiced a figure skating jump during a 15-min. period. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of 3 groups: a group provided with a verbal instruction that specified the subgoals of the task (Subgoals group), a group provided with a verbal instruction that used a metaphor (Metaphoric group), and a group not receiving any specific instruction during training (Control group). Subjects were filmed prior to and immediately following the practice session. Analysis indicated that the modifications of performance were related to the demonstration and the subsequent task repetitions only. Providing additional verbal instructions generated no effect. Therefore, guiding the learner toward a solution to the task problem by means of verbal instruction seems to be ineffective if done too early in the course of learning.     

Verbal and visual instruction with mental retardation: The role of subject characteristics and task factors

Past research and theory presents an inconsistent picture concerning the relative value of verbal versus visual instructional programs for individuals with mental retardation. From an empirical perspective, there is evidence that this inconsistency may be due to the differences in the type of tasks and the specific abilities of the subjects employed across studies. In this research, the effects of three instructional procedures (verbal, visual, and verbal plus visual) were evaluated with mentally retarded persons who varied in verbal and visual ability. Performance was examined on a visual task which incorporated stimuli of varying degrees of familiarity to the subjects. The results indicated that the use of the combined verbal-visual instruction procedure was more effective than the other two training programs when task stimuli were familiar to the subjects. When task stimuli were unfamiliar, instructional procedures which had a visual component were found to be superior to a procedure which employed only the use of verbal component. The subjects' visual ability was most strongly associated with performance outcome when visual instruction was employed and unfamiliar task stimuli were sorted. In contrast, subjects' verbal ability appeared to be equally important across instructional and task conditions. The implications of the results for the design of instructional programs and for future research are discussed.     

Acquisition and transfer of conceptual learning by normals and retardates: the effects of modeling, verbal cues, and reinforcement

The present study compared the effects of modeling, verbal cues, and reinforcement on conceptual learning of normals and retardates. Performance on both original learning tasks and a transfer task was examined. The results indicated that, relative to a control group, modeling alone, modeling plus verbal cues, and exposure to the completed task plus verbal cues facilitated original conceptual learning. Furthermore, modeling plus verbal cues was more effective in reducing errors than modeling alone. Original learning was not affected by tangible reinforcement, social reinforcement, or IQ level. No significant effects were found for a transfer task.     

Encoding information for future action: Memory for to-be-performed tasks versus memory for to-be-recalled tasks

What is the nature of the representation underlying memory for future tasks such as calling the doctor or buying milk? If this representation consists of a verbal instruction that is translated into action at the time of retrieval, then memory should be better when tested via verbatim recall of the instruction than when tested via actual performance. Three experiments rejected this possibility, indicating better memory for a perform mode of report than for a recall mode of report. This was true in Experiment 1 in which subjects saw a series of verbal instructions (e.g., “move the eraser,” “lift the cup,” “touch the ashtray”), with advance information regarding the mode of report required during testing. In Experiment 2, the advance cue was valid only in 75% of the trials. Memory depended more heavily on the expected mode of report thanon the actual mode ofreport, suggesting that the perform superiority is due to processes that occur during encoding. In Experiment 3, subjects learned 20 phrases depicting minitasks were remembered by subjects tested via performance than by subjects tested via verbatim recall. A second part of Experiment 3 also indicated superior memory when a perform test was expected, regardless of which mode of report was actually required. The results were compared with the finding that subject-performed tasks are better remembered thanare their verbal instructions, which suggeststhat the representation underlying memory for future assignments-may-take advantage of the imaginal-enactive properties ofthe envisagedacts. Other possible differences between memory for to-be-recalled tasks and memory for to-be-performed tasks are discussed.     

An Experimental Study of Lexical Access in the Writing and Naming of Isolated Words

Unlike speech production, lexical access in written production has not systematically been investigated experimentally. Four experiments were run on literate adults to support the view that although the spoken and written language production systems may obviously share some processing levels, they also both have some specific processing components. The general findings provide evidence for such a view and are discussed in the framework of studies in verbal production conducted on normals and on brain-damaged patients.