Visual experience is not necessary for efficient survey spatial cognition: evidence from blindness

This study investigated whether the lack of visual experience affects the ability to create spatial inferential representations of the survey type. We compared the performance of persons with congenital blindness and that of blindfolded sighted persons on four survey representation-based tasks (Experiment 1). Results showed that persons with blindness performed better than blindfolded sighted controls. We repeated the same tests introducing a third group of persons with late blindness (Experiment 2). This last group performed better than blindfolded sighted participants, whereas differences between participants with late and congenital blindness were nonsignificant. The present findings are compatible with results of other studies, which found that when visual perception is lacking, skill in gathering environmental spatial information provided by nonvisual modalities may contribute to a proper spatial encoding. It is concluded that, although it cannot be asserted that total lack of visual experience incurs no cost, our findings are further evidence that visual experience is not a necessary condition for the development of spatial inferential complex representations.     

Do memorability ratings affect study-time allocation?

This research addresses the relation between predicting future memory performance (judgment of learning, or JOL) and subsequent self-paced study-time allocation. The results of three experiments support the main hypotheses: (1) recall increases with increasing JOL, (2) restudy increases JOL accuracy, and (3) study time is related to JOL. This last relation depends on the length of initial presentation time of the items. When the initial exposure trials were short, the most restudy time was allocated to the items judged hard to recall, but when the initial exposure times were long, the most restudy time was allocated to the uncertain items. Items studied longer were recalled equally well (Experiments 1 and 3) or to a lesser extent (Experiment 2) than items studied for a shorter time. It is hypothesized that during study time, subjects refine their JOLs for the items initially less well discriminated.     

Panic disorder: A cognitive-behavioural approach to treatment

The present study investigated the relationship between panic disorder and cognitive-behavioural therapy in a sample of 27 panic disorder patients who were randomly assigned to either a Treatment (six weeks of cognitive-behavioural therapy) or a Control group. Panic disorder was operationalized using three subjective and three physiologic indices. Results indicated that six weeks of cognitive-behavioural therapy were effective in decreasing panic disorder, as measured by three report measures: the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (catastrophic thoughts), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (trait anxiety), and number of panic attacks, for the Treatment group relative to the Control group. In contrast, cognitive—behavioural therapy was ineffective in decreasing physiologic arousal as defined by blood pressure, pulse rate, and finger temperature. Implications of these results are discussed.     

Memory for discourse: Loci mnemonics and the oral presentation effect

The help given by loci mnemonics in memorizing isolated items is widely known, whereas there is no doubt as to whether mnemonics are useful for learning meaningful passages. In the present research it is argued that past failures to find a loci effect with text may have been due to the limited range of conditions explored during analysis of the problem. In the present research the modality of presentation of the text was hypothesized to be particularly relevant. In two experiments groups of trained and non-trained students were asked to memorize two different passages, either using loci mnemonics or not. Loci mnemonics facilitated memory of passages, the increase being greater for oral presentation of text than after private study of a written text.     

A comparison of supervisor and incumbent estimates of SDy

This study attempted to determine if experienced job incumbents were capable of providing estimates of worth that were similar to those provided by supervisors. The job class investigated in this study was Eligibility Technician, primarily found in Social or Human Services Departments of public agencies. The participants were Eligibility Supervisors (n=120), and Eligibility Technicians (n=203). The Schmidt, Hunter, McKenzie, and Muldrow (1979) global estimation method was used to obtain estimates of worth at the 15th, 50th and 85th percentiles of job performance. The results indicated that job incumbents provided estimates of job worth that were not statistically different from supervisorial estimates.Portions of this paper were presented as part of a symposium entitled,A psychometric and fiscal assessment for selecting eligibility workers: Multiple agency results. Annual meeting of the International Personnel Management Association Assessment Council, Chicago, Illinois, June, 1991.     

Formative Evaluation of a Tabletop Display Meant to Orient Casual Conversation

In this paper, we introduce a novel type of persuasive system aimed at orienting a group conversation in a casual setting. The system is based on a tabletop display complemented by a limited speech recognition system (a word spotter). It affects group behavior indirectly by presenting on the shared interface contextually appropriate visual material in a way reminiscent of the tradition of advertising: attention-catching, evocative, and cognitively stimulating. The system is meant to be used in the context of a museum visit. The purpose is to influence a group of friends so that they discuss their museum experience, while sitting at the museum café after the visit. Results show the system in the current version has a moderate effect on group behavior and provide indications for promising improvements.     

Memory for an imagined pathway and strategy effects in sighted and in totally congenitally blind individuals

The literature reports mixed results on the imagery abilities of the blind, at times showing a difference between sighted and blind individuals and at other times similarities. However, the possibility that the results are due to different strategies spontaneously used in performing the imagery tasks has never been systematically studied. A large group of 30 totally congenitally blind (TCB) individuals and a group of 30 sighted individuals matched for gender age and schooling were presented with a mental pathway task on a complex two-dimensional (5 × 5) matrix. After administering the task, participants were interviewed in order to establish the strategy they used. Results showed that both sighted and TCB may use a spatial mental imagery, a verbal or a mixed strategy in carrying out the task. Differences between the groups emerged only when last location and then entire pathway had to be remembered rather than just the last position, and were clearly affected by the type of strategy. Specifically, TCB performed more poorly than the sighted individuals when they used a spatial mental imagery strategy, whereas the two groups had a similar performance with a verbal strategy.     

Time-based prospective memory difficulties in children with ADHD and the role of time perception and working memory

Time-based prospective memory (PM) is the ability to remember to perform an intended action at a given time in the future. It is a competence that is crucial for effective performance in everyday life and may be one of the main causes of problems for individuals who have difficulty in planning and organizing their life, such as children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This study systematically examines different aspects of time-based PM performance in a task that involves taking an action at a given future time in a group of 23 children with ADHD who were compared with a matched group of typically-developing (TD) children. The children were asked to watch a cartoon and then answer a questionnaire about its content (ongoing task). They were also asked to press a key every 2 minutes while watching the cartoon (PM task). The relationships of time perception and verbal working memory with PM performance were examined by administering appropriate tasks. The results showed that the children with ADHD were less accurate than the TD children in the PM task and exhibited less strategic time-monitoring behavior. Time perception was found to predict PM accuracy, whereas working memory was mainly involved in time-monitoring behavior, but this applied more to the TD group than to the ADHD group, suggesting that children with ADHD are less able to use their cognitive resources when meeting a PM request.     

The development of metamemory monitoring during retrieval: the case of memory strength and memory absence

This research examined the development of the ability to monitor memory strength and memory absence at retrieval. In two experiments, 7-year-olds, 10-year-olds, and adults enacted and imagined enacting a series of bizarre and common actions. Two weeks later, they completed a memory test in which they were asked to determine whether each action had been enacted, had been imagined, or was novel and to provide a confidence judgment for each response. Results showed that participants across age groups successfully monitored differences in strength between memories for enacted actions and memories for imagined actions. However, compared with 10-year-olds and adults, 7-year-olds exhibited deficits in monitoring of differences in memory strength among imagined actions as well as deficits in monitoring memory absence. Results underscore metamemory developments that have important implications for memory accuracy.     

Working memory failures in children with arithmetical difficulties.

A large body of literature has examined the relationship between working memory and arithmetic achievement, but results are still ambiguous. To examine this relationship, we compared the performance of third and fifth graders with arithmetic difficulties (AD) and controls of the same age, grade, and verbal intelligence on a battery of working memory tasks, differentiating between different aspects of working memory. Children with AD scored significantly lower on active working memory tasks requiring manipulation of the to-be-recalled information (Listening Completion task, Corsi Span Backwards, Digit Backwards), but not in passive working memory tasks, requiring the recall of information in the same format in which it had been presented (Digit, Word, and Corsi Forwards Span tasks), nor in tasks involving word processing (word articulation rate, forwards and backwards word spans). A regression analysis showed that the best predictors of differences between AD children and the control group were the Corsi Span Backwards, the Listening Completion task, and the rate of articulation of pseudowords. The analysis of strategies used by children in mental calculation revealed the greater tendency of children with AD to rely on more primitive strategies: finger use never appeared as the most frequent strategy in skilled children, whereas it was the most used strategy in children with AD. Verbal and visual strategies appeared associated with successful performance in third graders, but in fifth grade, the most successful strategy was verbalization.