Examining the relationship between free recall and immediate serial recall: Similar patterns of rehearsal and similar effects of word length,presentation rate,and articulatory suppression

In five experiments, rehearsal and recall phenomena were examined using the free recall and immediate serial recall (ISR) tasks. In Experiment 1, participants were presented with lists of eight words, were precued or postcued to respond using free recall or ISR, and rehearsed out loud during presentation. The patterns of rehearsal were similar in all the conditions, and there was little difference between recall in the precued and postcued conditions. In Experiment 2, both free recall and ISR were sensitive to word length and presentation rate and showed similar patterns of rehearsal. In Experiment 3, both tasks were sensitive to word length and articulatory suppression. The word length effects generalized to 6-item (Experiment 4) and 12-item (Experiment 5) lists. These findings suggest that the two tasks are underpinned by highly similar rehearsal and recall processes.     

Reduction of appeasement‐related affect as a concomitant of diazepam‐induced aggression: evidence for a link between aggression and the expression of self‐conscious emotions

Aggressive responding following benzodiazepine ingestion has been recorded in both experimental and client populations, however, the mechanism responsible for this outcome is unclear. The goal of this study was to identify an affective concomitant linked to diazepam‐induced aggression that might be responsible for this relationship. Thirty males (15 diazepam and 15 placebo) participated in the Taylor Aggression Paradigm while covertly being videotaped. The videotapes were analyzed using the Facial Action Coding System with the goal of identifying facial expression differences between the two groups. Relative to placebo participants, diazepam participants selected significantly higher shock settings for their opponents, consistent with past findings using this paradigm. Diazepam participants also engaged in significantly fewer appeasement expressions (associated with the self‐conscious emotions) during the task, although there were no group differences for other emotion expressions or for movements in general. Aggr. Behav. 35:203–212, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Mapping Gray’s BIS and BAS constructs onto Factor 1 and Factor 2 of Hare’s Psychopathy Checklist – Revised

Reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST; Gray, 1987; Gray & McNaughton, 2000) has proven to be a valuable tool for understanding psychopathy (e.g., Fowles, 1980, 1988; Newman & Malterer, 2009; Poythress et al., 2008). Recent research has linked two RST constructs, the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) and the Behavioral Activation System (BAS), to individuals with primary psychopathy and secondary psychopathy (Lykken, 1995; Newman, MacCoon, Vaughn, & Sadeh, 2005): Primary psychopaths manifest low BIS reactivity and secondary psychopaths manifest high BAS reactivity. In the present study, we examine the relationships between the BIS/BAS constructs and Factors 1 and 2 of the Psychopathy Checklist – Revised (PCL-R) in a sample of 472 incarcerated male offenders. Paralleling their relationships with primary and secondary psychopathy, the BIS/BAS constructs were differentially related to the two PCL-R factors. Specifically, the influence of the BIS was found to be more prominent than the influence of the BAS for Factor 1, and the influence of the BAS was more prominent than that of the BIS for Factor 2.     

Output order in immediate serial recall

In two experiments, we examined the effect of output order in immediate serial recall (ISR). In Experiment 1, three groups of participants saw lists of eight words and wrote down the words in the rows corresponding to their serial positions in an eight-row response grid. One group was precued to respond in forward order, a second group was precued to respond in any order, and a third group was postcued for response order. There were significant effects of output order, but not of cue type. Relative to the forward output order, the free output order led to enhanced recency and diminished primacy, with superior performance for words output early in recall. These results were replicated in Experiment 2 using six-item lists, which further suggests that output order plays an important role in the primacy effect in ISR and that the recency items are most highly accessible at recall.     

Nurturing Spirituality: A rationale for holistic education

In this article I examine the nature of ecological spirituality as it is discovered within the growing field of holistic education. I introduce holistic education and attempt to describe its chief characteristics by reference to the thought of Dewey and Hegel. Dewey was the ultimate progressive, yet his attachment to scientific progress and disregard for inherited wisdom mean that his work is not suitable for holistic education without adaptation. Hegel was the metaphysical philosopher of wholeness, yet his systematic, totalizing view of democracy which so alarmed Karl Popper similarly means that adaptation is again required. I argue that holistic education takes up a position between the two philosophers, experiential yet enculturated, metaphysical yet fluid and processual. I examine the ideas of both writers in relation to four key elements of holistic education and conclude by showing how they could combine to provide a rationale for the future.