Bottled memories: On how alcohol affects eyewitness recall

This study investigated how different doses of alcohol affected eyewitness recall. Participants (N = 126) were randomly assigned to three groups with different blood alcohol concentration (BAC), either a control group (mean BAC 0.00%, N = 42), a lower alcohol dose group (mean BAC 0.04%, N = 40), or a higher alcohol dose group (mean BAC 0.06%, N = 44). After consumption, participants witnessed a movie of a mock crime and were interviewed one week later. The main results showed that witnesses with the higher intoxication level recalled fewer details compared to witnesses with the lower intoxication level. The amount of alcohol consumed did not have an impact on the accuracy rate. No sex differences were found. The results are discussed in the light of past research. We conclude that more studies are needed before recommendations can be made to an applied setting.     

Retelling Is Not the Same as Recalling: Implications for Memory

ABSTRACT— In contrast to laboratory free recall (which emphasizes detailed and accurate remembering), conversational retellings depend upon the speaker's goals, the audience, and the social context more generally. Because memories are frequently retrieved in social contexts, retellings of events are often incomplete or distorted, with consequences for later memory. Selective rehearsal contributes to the memory effects, as does the schema activated during retelling. Retellings can be linked to memory errors observed in domains such as eyewitness testimony and flashbulb memories; in all of these situations, people retell events rather than engage in verbatim remembering.     

Long–Term Recall Memory: Behavioral and Neuro–Developmental Changes in the First 2 Years of Life

Until not long ago, psychologists conceptually and methodologically linked the capacity for recall of the past to developments in language. With the advent of a nonverbal measure of recall, this association has been challenged. It now is apparent that the capacity for long–term recall emerges well before the verbal ability to describe past experiences. Long–term recall is newly (or recently) emergent late in the 1st year of life; over the 2nd year, it consolidates and becomes reliable. The course of age–related changes in mnemonic behavior is consistent with current understanding of developments in the neural substrate implicated in recall memory.     

A study of retrieval processes in action memory for school-aged children: the impact of recall period and difficulty on action memory

ABSTRACT

Research in action memory for adults has shown that enacted encoding is not only retrieved more frequently but is also faster in comparison to verbal encoding. The aim of this study was to investigate retrieval processes in terms of recall period and recall difficulty for different encoding conditions in school-aged children (8-, 10-, 12-, 14-years old). The participants studied verbal tasks, subject-performed tasks and experimenter-performed tasks, and received immediate and final free-recall tests. The results revealed that older children not only outperformed younger children in terms of accuracy but also outpaced them in all recall periods. Moreover, recalls of subject-performed tasks and experimenter-performed tasks were better and faster compared with verbal encoding on both types of recall test, by increasing throughout the recall periods. These results are discussed in terms of memory strategies and information processing methods. Pedagogic implications for the use of action memory in children's learning are also considered.     

Controlling anger in self-reported sober and alcohol intoxicated states: moderating effects of trait anger and alcohol consumption

Controlling anger in self-reported sober and alcohol intoxicated states: Moderating effects of trait anger and alcohol consumption. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 52, 382-388. Retrospective self-reports about prior sober and alcohol intoxicated states were explored to reveal moderating effects of trait anger and alcohol consumption on anger control. The analyses were based on self-reports of trait anger and alcohol consumption as well as self-reports of the participants' typical levels of anger control in sober and alcohol intoxicated states in a population based sample of Finnish twins and their siblings (N = 4,852). The reported levels of anger control were lower regarding prior alcohol intoxicated states than sober states. A three-way interaction between alcohol consumption, trait anger and anger control was found. Whereas no interaction between alcohol consumption and trait anger was found in the self-reported sober state, there was an interactive effect of trait anger and alcohol consumption on anger control in the intoxicated state, indicating that the difference in anger control between those with high levels of alcohol consumption and those with low levels, was greater at higher levels of trait anger. Women had lower levels of anger control than men, but the relationship between trait anger, alcohol consumption and anger control was similar for both genders. In conclusion, the results showed that those with high levels of trait anger and alcohol consumption showed the lowest levels of anger control in self-reported alcohol intoxicated states, and indicate the importance of separating between anger control when sober and intoxicated since anger control seems to be differently related to at least trait anger and alcohol consumption in these states.     

Part-set cueing impairment & facilitation in semantic memory

The present study explored the influence of part-set cues in semantic memory using tests of “free” recall, reconstruction of order, and serial recall. Nine distinct categories of information were used (e.g., Zodiac signs, Harry Potter books, Star Wars films, planets). The results showed part-set cueing impairment for all three “free” recall sets, whereas part-set cueing facilitation was evident for five of the six ordered sets. Generally, the present results parallel those often observed across episodic tasks, which could indicate that similar mechanisms contribute to part-set cueing effects in both episodic and semantic memory. A novel anchoring explanation of part-set cueing facilitation in order and spatial tasks is provided.     

Memory and Affect: Autobiographical Memory Distribution and Availability in Normal Adults and Recently Detoxifed Alcoholics

An autobiographical memory task was administered to a group of 15 male alcoholics (duration of abuse x = 16 years) and to a control group comprised of 15 nonabusers. The alcoholics were inpatients in a chemical dependence treatment program who had their last drink 8 days prior to testing. Two aspects of autobiographical memory were compared. First, the distribution of memories for life events over the lifespan clearly differed for the two groups. The alcoholic group recalled far fewer memories from the most recent 5 years and showed an exaggerated tendency to recall memories from their early adulthood when compared to the control group. This result is consistent with a model of the onset of a temporally graded retrograde amnesia subsequent to a protracted period of alcohol abuse. In such cases the context for self-evaluation may remain heavily rooted in late adolescence. Second, in contrast to results of the control group, the data from men in the alcohol group revealed no relationship between latency to report autobiographical memories associated with a particular affect and self-rated frequency of such affects. This dissociation indicates the possible impact of atypical memory performance on views of the self.     

Memory in pregnancy and post‐partum: Item specific and relational encoding processes in recall and recognition

It has been recently proposed that pregnant women would perform memory tasks by focusing more on item‐specific processes and less on relational processing, compared to post‐partum women (Mickes, Wixted, Shapiro & Scarff, 2009 ). The present cross‐sectional study tested this hypothesis by directly manipulating the type of encoding employed in the study phase. Pregnant, post‐partum and control women either rated the pleasantness of word meaning (which induced item‐specific elaboration) or named the semantic category to which they belonged (which induced relational elaboration). Memory for the encoded words was later tested in free recall (which emphasizes relational processing) and in recognition (which emphasizes item‐specific processing). In line with Mickes et al.'s ( 2009 ) conclusions, pregnant women in the item‐specific condition performed worse than post‐partum women in the relational condition in free recall, but not in recognition. However, compared to the other two groups, pregnant women also exhibited lower recognition accuracy in the item‐specific condition. Overall, these results confirm that pregnant women rely on relational encoding less than post‐partum women, but additionally suggest that the former group might use item‐specific processes less efficiently than post‐partum and control women.     

Repetition and Reconfiguration: Demand‐Based Confabulation in Initial Eyewitness Memory

Repeated recall, as a result of repeated questioning, is typical of situations involving eyewitness evidence. The present study addressed questions of eyewitness performance with reference to repeated questioning in an initial interview, in a format based on actual police procedures. This experiment focused on eyewitness accuracy, eyewitness confidence, and the addition of false details to eyewitness accounts. Ninety‐two adult respondents were asked to recall all the information they could from a single viewing of a scene depicting an assailant aiming a handgun at a victim. This initial question was followed by three additional questions, in which respondents were asked to report any additional details they could recall. On average, respondents provided several times as many correct as false details to the initial question. However, performance deteriorated significantly to the three subsequent questions; on average, across the three subsequent questions, witnesses recalled nearly as much false as accurate information. Witness confidence was positively related to amount of accurate information recalled. However, confidence was also positively related to the number of instances of erroneous recall. These results indicate that reconfigurative dynamics begin to operate, producing confabulated responses in response to questioning demands, as early as the initial interview. This work may also help to clarify the critical relationship between accuracy and confidence in eyewitness reportage, at least within the framework reflected by the present research. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mood Induction in Children: Effect of the Affective Valence of a Text on Phonological Working Memory

The influence of mood on working memory capacity has been investigated in adults, albeit with conflicting results, but remains relatively unexplored in children. The present study examined the effect of a mood induction procedure on phonological working memory capacity in fourth and fifth graders. An initial working memory span test was followed first by a collective mood induction procedure, then by a second working memory span test. Results showed an effect of mood induction procedure on phonological working memory performances, with decreasing scores in the case of negative mood. These results suggest that, in certain contexts and situations, negative emotion has an impact on children’s cognitive abilities.     

Working Memory in Nonsymbolic Approximate Arithmetic Processing: A Dual‐Task Study With Preschoolers

Preschool children have been proven to possess nonsymbolic approximate arithmetic skills before learning how to manipulate symbolic math and thus before any formal math instruction. It has been assumed that nonsymbolic approximate math tasks necessitate the allocation of Working Memory (WM) resources. WM has been consistently shown to be an important predictor of children's math development and achievement. The aim of our study was to uncover the specific role of WM in nonsymbolic approximate math. For this purpose, we conducted a dual‐task study with preschoolers with active phonological, visual, spatial, and central executive interference during the completion of a nonsymbolic approximate addition dot task. With regard to the role of WM, we found a clear performance breakdown in the central executive interference condition. Our findings provide insight into the underlying cognitive processes involved in storing and manipulating nonsymbolic approximate numerosities during early arithmetic.     

Stereotype internalization and women’s math performance: The role of interference in working memory

It has long been argued that stigmatized individuals can ultimately internalize the stereotype alleging their inferiority. The present article investigated whether the internalization of the reputation of math inferiority that targets women can affect their math performance and whether this influence is caused by a disruption of working memory. A first study showed that stereotype endorsement had a significant impact on women’s statistic performance by lowering their self-evaluation of math ability even when controlling for prior achievement. A second study was designed to assess the possibility that the lower math performance displayed by women with low self-evaluation of math ability was due to interference in working memory. Using a dual task paradigm, this study showed that indeed women with low math self-evaluation displayed more errors and spent more time solving additions than women with high math self-evaluation, but mainly on difficult items of the dual task. The findings, which are congruent with an explanation in terms of a temporary disruption of working memory, are discussed.     

Exploring the processes involved in long‐term recovery from chronic alcohol addiction within an abstinence‐based model: Implications for practice

Background: There is little consensus at policy or treatment level as to what defines ‘recovery’ in the alcohol addiction field. Aim: From interviewing a cohort of eight severely alcohol‐dependent people who fulfilled all categories of DSM‐IV and ICD 10 diagnostic criteria and had achieved long‐term recovery (LTR) of between 8 and 48 years, and who are long‐term AA members, a definition of recovery that is inclusive, and achievable, was sought from their lived experiences. Methodology: Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used. Findings: This research uncovers the processes involved in long‐term recovery, and identifies them as: sober; maintaining sobriety; and recovery. It suggests a move away from the acute model of cure by brief, time‐limited therapy, towards a model of sustained, on‐going and life‐long recovery management, combined with pro‐social aid resources. Individuals need to observe, and hear, the success narratives of others, and the therapeutic conditions of empathy, unconditional positive regard and congruence need to be strongly experienced by the individual.     

“To‐be‐forgotten” statements become less true: Memory processes involved in selection and forgetting lead to truthfulness changes of ambiguous sentences

What happens when people try to forget something? What are the consequences of instructing people to intentionally forget a sentence? Recent studies employing the item‐method directed forgetting paradigm have shown that to‐be‐forgotten (TBF) items are, in a subsequent task, emotionally devaluated relative to to‐be‐remembered (TBR) items, an aftereffect of memory selection (Vivas, Marful, Panagiotidou & Bajo, 2016). As such, distractor devaluation by attentional selection generalizes to memory selection. In this study, we use the item‐method directed forgetting paradigm to test the effects of memory selection and inhibition on truth judgments of ambiguous sentences. We expected the relative standing of an item in the task (i.e., whether it was instructed to be remembered or forgotten) to affect the truthfulness value of that item, making TBF items less valid/truthful than TBR items. As predicted, ambiguous sentences associated with a “Forget” cue were subsequently judged as less true than sentences associated with a “Remember” cue, suggesting that instructions to intentionally forget a statement can produce changes in the validity/truthfulness of that statement. To our knowledge, this is the first study to show an influence of memory processes involved in selection and forgetting on the perceived truthfulness of sentences.     

Keeping the Result in Sight and Mind: General Cognitive Principles and Language‐Specific Influences in the Perception and Memory of Resultative Events

We study how people attend to and memorize endings of events that differ in the degree to which objects in them are affected by an action: Resultative events show objects that undergo a visually salient change in state during the course of the event (peeling a potato), and non‐resultative events involve objects that undergo no, or only partial state change (stirring in a pan). We investigate general cognitive principles, and potential language‐specific influences, in verbal and nonverbal event encoding and memory, across two experiments with Dutch and Estonian participants. Estonian marks a viewer's perspective on an event's result obligatorily via grammatical case on direct object nouns: Objects undergoing a partial/full change in state in an event are marked with partitive/accusative case, respectively. Therefore, we hypothesized increased saliency of object states and event results in Estonian speakers, as compared to speakers of Dutch. Findings show (a) a general cognitive principle of attending carefully to endings of resultative events, implying cognitive saliency of object states in event processing; (b) a language‐specific boost on attention and memory of event results under verbal task demands in Estonian speakers. Results are discussed in relation to theories of event cognition, linguistic relativity, and thinking for speaking.