Errorful and errorless learning: The impact of cue–target constraint in learning from errors

The benefits of testing on learning are well described, and attention has recently turned to what happens when errors are elicited during learning: Is testing nonetheless beneficial, or can errors hinder learning? Whilst recent findings have indicated that tests boost learning even if errors are made on every trial, other reports, emphasizing the benefits of errorless learning, have indicated that errors lead to poorer later memory performance. The possibility that this discrepancy is a function of the materials that must be learned—in particular, the relationship between the cues and targets—was addressed here. Cued recall after either a study-only errorless condition or an errorful learning condition was contrasted across cue–target associations, for which the extent to which the target was constrained by the cue was either high or low. Experiment 1 showed that whereas errorful learning led to greater recall for low-constraint stimuli, it led to a significant decrease in recall for high-constraint stimuli. This interaction is thought to reflect the extent to which retrieval is constrained by the cue–target association, as well as by the presence of preexisting semantic associations. The advantage of errorful retrieval for low-constraint stimuli was replicated in Experiment 2, and the interaction with stimulus type was replicated in Experiment 3, even when guesses were randomly designated as being either correct or incorrect. This pattern provides support for inferences derived from reports in which participants made errors on all learning trials, whilst highlighting the impact of material characteristics on the benefits and disadvantages that accrue from errorful learning in episodic memory.     

Auditory spatial negative priming: What is remembered of irrelevant sounds and their locations?

The categorization and identification of previously ignored visual or auditory stimuli is typically slowed down—a phenomenon that has been called the negative priming effect and can be explained by the episodic retrieval of response-inadequate prime information and/or an inhibitory model. A similar after-effect has been found in visuospatial tasks: participants are slowed down in localizing a visual stimulus that appears at a previously ignored location. In the auditory modality, however, such an after-effect of ignoring a sound at a specific location has never been reported. Instead, participants are impaired in their localization performance when the sound at the previously ignored location changes identity, a finding which is compatible with the so-called feature-mismatch hypothesis. Here, we describe the properties of auditory spatial in contrast to visuospatial negative priming and report two experiments that specify the nature of this auditory after-effect. Experiment 1 shows that the detection of identity-location mismatches is a genuinely auditory phenomenon that can be replicated even when the sound sources are invisible. Experiment 2 reveals that the detection of sound-identity mismatches in the probe depends on the processing demands in the prime. This finding implies that the localization of irrelevant sound sources is not the inevitable consequence of processing the auditory prime scenario but depends on the difficulty of the target search process among distractor sounds.     

Paternal involvement elevates trajectories of life satisfaction during transition to parenthood

This study explored the role of fathers' involvement for life satisfaction changes among 598 cohabitating couples before and after childbirth using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP). We included longitudinal data and reports from both parents on their time spent on housework and childcare and their life satisfaction. Piecewise latent growth models showed that fathers' relative involvement trajectories for housework and childcare (amount of time men spent compared to their partners) were positively correlated. Fathers' relative involvement was perceived as supportive for mothers' childcare. In families where fathers were more involved, life satisfaction trajectories were much steeper; both parents had elevated levels around birth and returned to their baseline levels compared to families with less-involved fathers. Fathers who were less involved did not increase in life satisfaction at birth and decreased below their baseline levels within the third year post-birth.     

The effect of perceived control on self-reported cardiovascular disease incidence across adulthood and old age

Objective: To examine whether rates of change in perceived control are predictive of cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence across adulthood and old age.

Design: We used the PATH Through Life Project (n = 7103, M = 40, SD = 16; 52% women), a longitudinal panel survey that encompasses three cohorts at Time 1, ages 20–24, 40–44 and 60–64, who have been assessed three times at four-year intervals.

Method: We examined whether rates of change in perceived control were associated with CVD incidence over 8 years of time, over and above that of baseline levels of perceived control and known risk factors for CVD.

Main Outcome Measures: Self-reported CVD incidence.

Results: Increases in perceived control over time were associated with decreased likelihood of 8-year incidence of CVD and these effects were independent of socio-demographics, covariates and baseline levels of perceived control. The effects were consistent across young adulthood, midlife and old age and for men and women.

Conclusions: Findings demonstrate the importance of changes in perceived control as a predictor of CVD incidence across adulthood and old age. We suggest future research using mediation analysis to test reverse causality and mechanisms underlying the effects of perceived control on CVD incidence.     

Spatial orienting of attention in stereo depth

The aim of this study was to investigate the spatial orienting of visual attention in depth under purely stereoscopic viewing conditions. Random-dot stereograms were used to present disparity-defined target stimuli that were either validly or invalidly cued in depth. In separate tasks, participants responded either to the relative depth of the target (protruding vs. receding) or to its shape (square vs. diamond). Stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) between an uninformative exogenous cue and target were varied from 250 to 600?ms. For both tasks, mean response times (RTs) were shorter for validly than invalidly cued target depths and this RT advantage was essentially restricted to the shortest SOA of 250?ms. These results indicate that attention can be reflexively allocated to locations in stereo depth under conditions of low perceptual load, and independent of whether depth is relevant to the task or not.     

Electrophysiological evidence for late maturation of strategic episodic retrieval processes

Improvement in source memory performance throughout development is thought to be mediated by strategic processes that facilitate the retrieval of task-relevant information. Using event-related potentials (ERPs), we examined developmental changes in these processes during adolescence. Adolescents (13-14 years) and adults (19-29 years) completed a memory exclusion task which required the discrimination between words studied in one color ('targets') and words studied in the alternative color ('non-targets') under two conditions that put different demands on strategic control. Memory accuracy improved with age and also increased with decreasing control demands in both age groups. The parietal old/new effect, an ERP correlate of recollection, was reliable for targets across conditions in both age groups. By contrast, ERP correlates of non-target recollection were present in adolescents across conditions but not in adults. This suggests that adults implemented a strategy to prioritize recollection of target information with greater success than adolescents regardless of control demands, presumably reflecting maturational differences in cognitive control. In support of this view, the ERP amplitude difference between targets and non-targets was positively correlated with a measure of working memory capacity (WMC) in adults but not in adolescents. A further age-related difference was that ERP correlates of post-retrieval processing, including late right-frontal old/new effects and late posterior negativities, were observed in adults only. Together, our data suggest protracted maturation in the strategic processes that underlie selective recollection and post-retrieval control.     

A syndrome of errant sexuality – and the self

Abstract

Sexual activity can be viewed as a service for the self. Addictive, perverse and aversive devices mostly build an aggregate. I will present self-psychological and other views for understanding such an aggregation of errant sexuality. In the course of the development of culture, sexuality has developed a variety of functions. Self-psychology views sexual activity as a device for establishing and/or repairing coherence and vitality of the self. In the present paper, I will posit perverse action as being part of a conglomerate – consisting of addictive, perverse and aversive features as different but interdependent appearances of sexual life. Fundamental to developing and sustaining deviant sexuality, as perverse activity, is sexualisation. A vertical split is often described. The individual psychodynamic may be featured by addictive and aversive attributes. Addictive, perverse and aversive behaviours are viewed as part of narcissistic behaviour disorders. Self-psychologically informed features of treatment concentrate on the anxieties of being empty and destructive, and thus being unable to engage in an intimate relationship. The healing process consists of helping the client to establish a stronger self, able to build up and maintain relationships with sufficiently sustaining self-object qualities.

Triebel A.

Sexualität kann als Aktivität im Dienste des Selbst angesehen werden. Süchtige, perverse und aversive Verrichtungen bilden meistens ein Aggregat. Ich will selbstpschologische und andere Gesichtspunkte darstellen, um eine solche Ansammlung umherirrender Sexualität zu verstehen. Im Verlauf der Entwicklung der Kultur hat Sexualität eine Vielzahl von Funktionen entwickelt. Selbstpschologie sieht sexuelle Aktivität als eine Maßnahme, um die Kohärenz und Vitalität des Selbst zu etablieren und/oder wieder herzustellen. In der vorliegenden Arbeit will ich perverse Handlung als Teil eines Konglomerats darstellen – bestehend aus süchtigen, perversen und aversiven Zügen als verschiedenartige aber interdependente Erscheinungen sexuellen Lebens. Grundlegend für die Entwicklung und Aufrechterhaltung devianter Sexualität, wie perverser Aktivität, ist die Sexualisierung. Oft wird eine vertikale Spaltung beschrieben. Die individuelle Psychodynamik kann durch süchtige und aversive Attribute gekennzeichnet sein. Süchtige, perverse und aversive Verhaltensweisen werden als Teil von narzißtischen Verahltensstörungen angesehen. Selbstpsychologisch informierte Merkmale der Behandlung konzentrieren sich auf Ängste, leer und destruktiv zu sein und somit unfähig, sich in einer intimen Beziehung zu engagieren. Der Heilungsprozeß besteht in der Hilfe, ein stärkeres Selbst zu etablieren und die Fähigkeit, Beziehungen mit genügend tragenden Selbst-Objekt Qualitäten aufzubauen und zu erhalten.

Tribel A. Un síndrome de Sexualidad Errante-y del Self

La actividad sexual puede ser vista como al servicio del self. Adicciones, perversiones y mecanismos aversivos la mayoría de la veces conforman un agregado. Presentaré el punto de vista de la psicología del Self y otros para la comprensión de la incorporación de la sexualidad errante. En el curso de desarrollo de cultura sexual se han desarrollado una variedad de funciones. La psicología del Self contempla la actividad sexual como un mecanismo para el establecimiento de la coherencia y/ o la reparación y vitalidad del Self. En este trabajo propondré la acción perversa como una parte de un conglomerado, consistente en un futuro adictivo, perverso y aversivo, como partes diferentes pero interdependientes apariencias de la vida sexual. Fundamentalmente para el desarrollo y sostenimiento de la desviación sexual. A menudo se describe una escisión vertical. La psicodinamia individual puede ser representada por atributos adictivos y aversivos. Comportamientos adictivos, perversos y aversivos son vistos como parte de trastornos de comportamiento narcisista. La psicología del self informa sobre tratamientos concentrados en las ansiedades de sentirse vacíos y destructivos y por tanto incapaz de unirse en una relación intima. El proceso de cura consiste en ayudar a establecer un self más fuerte, capaz de construir y mantener relaciones con sostenimiento suficiente de las cualidades del Self-objeto.     

Adaptive memory: enhanced source memory for animate entities

ABSTRACT

The animacy effect refers to enhanced memory for animate over inanimate items. In two studies, we examined whether this memory advantage generalises to source memory. A multinomial processing tree model was used to disentangle item recognition, source memory, and guessing processes. In Study 1, animate and inanimate words were presented at different spatial locations on the screen. Animacy was associated with enhanced source memory for the spatial locations of the items. In Study 2, pseudowords were associated with animate and inanimate properties. Replicating previous results, the pseudowords were better remembered when they were associated with animate properties than when they were associated with inanimate properties. What is more, participants had enhanced source memory for the association between the pseudowords and the animate properties. The results strengthen the idea that animate items are associated with richer mnemonic representations than inanimate items.