Concreteness and item-to-list context associations in the free recall of items differing in context variability

Context variability can be defined as the number of preexperimental contexts in which a given concept appears. Following M. Steyvers and K. J. Malmberg's (2003) work, the authors have shown that concepts that are experienced in fewer preexperimental contexts generally are better remembered in episodic memory tasks than concepts that are experienced in a greater number of preexperimental contexts. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that low context variability confers its memorial advantage because of stronger item-to-list context associations as compared with high context variability. Three experiments that use environmental context changes from study to test demonstrate that the low context variability advantage is eliminated when item-to-list context associations are not available because of environmental changes at test. In addition, the low context variability advantage is eliminated when inward processing at study prevents the formation of item-to-list context associations.     

A note on pretense and co-reference

Anna Pautz has recently argued that the pretense theory of thought about fiction cannot explain how two people can count as thinking about the same fictional character. This is based on conflating pretending and the serious thought that can be based on pretend. With this distinction in place, her objections are groundless.     

Naturalism in Action∗

Can a naturalist earn the right to talk of a shared empirical world? Hume famously thought not, and contemporary stipulative naturalists infer from this inability that the demand is somehow unnatural. The critical naturalist, by contrast, claims to earn that right. In this paper, I motivate critical naturalism, arguing first that stipulative naturalism is question begging, and second, that the pessimism it inherits from Hume about whether the problem can be solved is misplaced. Hume's mistake was to mis-identify exemplary contexts of thought: thought is a kind of action, better exemplified at the backgammon table or the dinner party than in the study. By earning the right to this environment-involving conception of thought, the critical naturalist can address, rather than avoid, the explanatory problem Hume uncovered.     

An investigation of everyday prospective memory

Prospective memory, remembering to carry out one’s planned activities, was investigated using a naturalistic paradigm. Three experiments, with a total of 405 participants, were conducted. The goal was to demonstrate that the cognitive processing underlying successful everyday prospective remembering involves components other than mere “memory.” Those components are probably best represented as individual differences in various cognitive capacities. More specifically, metamemory, attentional capacities, and planning processes that reprioritize intentions according to the demands of everyday life may determine how people actually accomplish the plans they establish for themselves. The results of these experiments suggest that researchers interested in the topic will have to contend with a multidimensional set of factors before any comprehensive understanding of prospective remembering can be realized.     

Student gender and the probability of referral for counselling in a college of further education

A small pilot study was carried out to investigate whether college tutors' perceptions of students' counselling needs were dependent on the gender of the student. Twenty-five tutors were asked to read six vignettes describing composite case-studies of students showing overt distress. The vignettes were constructed to represent two of each of three types of problem (anxiety, depression and aggression). One of each clinical type depicted a female student and the other a male. The tutors were asked to evaluate each of the six vignettes along a visual analogue scale, according to the perceived urgency of the problem and its long-term nature. The results were then analysed using two-factor within-subjects anovas and unplanned multiple pairwise comparisons to establish whether there existed any differences on these dimensions. Of the analyses computed, it was found that depressive vignettes were considered to be in more urgent need of referral than were anxious or aggressive vignettes; that males were generally considered to have a more urgent need for referral than were females; that anxiety was construed as a less enduring problem than was depression or aggression; and that male aggressive vignettes were considered to be a longer-term problem than were females, anxious or depressive clients. These results indicate that some sex-role stereotyping exists with respect to psychological problems. This is discussed in terms of equal opportunities and access to student support systems.     

The effects of stimulus movement and attention on peripheral stimulus localization by 8- to 26-week-old infants

This study examined the effect of stimulus movement on localization probability and latency during attention and inattention. Forty infants, 10 each at 8, 14, 20, and 26 weeks of age were presented with a central stimulus. Then, a peripheral stimulus was presented (static or dynamic checkerboard). Stimulus movement did not affect localization probability. Infants localized the dynamic peripheral stimulus more quickly than the static peripheral stimulus when there was no focal stimulus. Focal stimulus attention attenuated this difference in localization latency between static and dynamic stimuli. Signal detection analysis showed that sensitivity to the peripheral stimulus increased over this age range along with a decrease in the bias against responding. The effects of attention were on response bias rather than stimulus sensitivity. These results imply attention affected the localization response to the peripheral stimulus but did not affect the sensitivity of the sensory and perceptual pathways to peripheral stimuli.     

Dark Storm Clouds and Rays of Sunshine: Profiles of Negative and Positive Rumination About Daily Hassles and Uplifts

Daily negative events (hassles) and positive events (uplifts) have an impact on our subjective well-being, and how we react to those events (e.g., negatively ruminating by reflecting on the difficulties that come with hassles, positively ruminating by reflecting on the good aspects of uplifts) often has additional influence. However, little is known about the use of positive and negative rumination in combination. Using data from 469 adults, we examined retrospective accounts of negative and positive rumination about specific hassles and uplifts in reference to a 24-h period. Although differences in rumination were not observed across various domains (e.g., work, family, health), profiles emerged in relation to valence. Specifically, we identified four profiles of rumination: Non-Ruminators (39 %), Multivalence Ruminators (10 %), Positive Ruminators (26 %) and Negative Ruminators (24 %). Neither age nor gender systematically related to rumination profile. We further examined whether the associations among hassles, uplifts and well-being outcomes differed across these profiles. Results suggested few differences in the structural relations across the profiles, although the strength of associations was stronger for Negative Ruminators than Positive Ruminators. Results are discussed in terms of the robustness of effects of hassles and uplifts on subjective well-being across individual difference variables.     

Happiness begets children? Evidence for a bi-directional link between well-being and number of children

The purpose of the current research was to examine the association between different facets of well-being and parenthood status. Specifically, using two longitudinal data sets, the present research explored whether individuals who possess high cognitive (Studies 1 & 2), emotional, and psychological well-being (Study 2) are more likely to subsequently become parents compared to their less happy counterparts. The results of both studies demonstrated that well-being at Time 1 positively predicted number of children at Time 2, controlling for a number of relevant variables (e.g. income, age). Additional analyses revealed that the relationship between cognitive well-being and subsequently having children was particularly strong for people who did not have any children previously. Potential mechanisms explaining how and why well-being may influence parenthood are discussed.     

Associating a time‐based prospective memory task with an expected context can improve or impair intention completion

Three experiments investigated time‐based prospective memory defined here as remembering to fulfil an intention during a later window of time. When people associated the response window with a future context, time‐based responding was better if that context expectation was correct as compared with having no context expectation at all. By contrast, if the response window occurred in a context that preceded the expected context, time‐based performance was worse than having no context expectation at all. An explicit reminder about the intention was sufficient to ameliorate the decrement found with an incorrect context association. However, successfully completing a different, event‐based prospective memory intention was not sufficient to overcome the incorrect context association. The authors assert that possessing such associations alters normal monitoring of the passage of time which in turn leads to the pattern of results obtained. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cogmed working memory training: Does the evidence support the claims?

Cogmed working memory training is sold as a tool for improving cognitive abilities, such as attention and reasoning. At present, this program is marketed to schools as a means of improving underperforming students’ scholastic performance, and is also available at clinical practices as a treatment for ADHD. We review research conducted with Cogmed software and highlight several concerns regarding methodology and replicability of findings. We conclude that the claims made by Cogmed are largely unsubstantiated, and recommend that future research place greater emphasis on developing theoretically motivated accounts of working memory training.