Modality and domain specific components in auditory and visual working memory tasks

In the tripartite model of working memory (WM) it is postulated that a unique part system—the visuo-spatial sketchpad (VSSP)—processes non-verbal content. Due to behavioral and neurophysiological findings, the VSSP was later subdivided into visual object and visual spatial processing, the former representing objects’ appearance and the latter spatial information. This distinction is well supported. However, a challenge to this model is the question how spatial information from non-visual sensory modalities, for example the auditory one, is processed. Only a few studies so far have directly compared visual and auditory spatial WM. They suggest that the distinction of two processing domains—one for object and one for spatial information—also holds true for auditory WM, but that only a part of the processes is modality specific. We propose that processing in the object domain (the item’s appearance) is modality specific, while spatial WM as well as object-location binding relies on modality general processes.     

THE RHYTHM OF GOD'S ETERNAL MUSIC: ON ANTJE JACKELÉN'S TIME AND ETERNITY

Antje Jackelén's book Time and Eternity is a thorough and carefully presented theology of time and, by its very essence, an incomplete and open thought model because time will always be dynamic and relational. This approach is an excellent example for the dialogue between science and religion because it uses resources not tapped in the dialogue so far: hymn‐books stemming from Germany, Sweden, and the English‐speaking world published between 1975 and 1995. They are taken as resources for a critical investigation on the meaning and importance of the notion of eternity for the interdisciplinary dialogue, which is characterized not as a synthesis but as holding a beneficial tension, or “eutonia.” I suggest that this approach can be taken even further by merging it with a model of time developed by the German mathematician A. M. Klaus Müller: The crossing over of time modes in a relational matrix of time also gives clear insights into the time of God not only as futurum—time as extrapolation of the past and present—but also as adventus—time which is to come.     

Working-memory capacity and reading comprehension in young and older adults

Summary This study investigates the role of working-memory capacity in reading comprehension in young and older subjects. A task yielding separate measures for processing and storage components was used to assess working-memory capacity. A French version of the Nelson-Denny test was administered as a measure of abilities that underlie reading comprehension. In the working-memory task, recall performances were lower in older subjects. Nevertheless, the intercorrelations suggested that the age-related impairment was probably linked to the processing component. Mean scores on the reading-comprehension test did not differ between groups. However, scores were correlated with processing time on the working-memory task in younger subjects, but with storage capacity in older subjects.     

Motor similarity in subject-performed tasks

In two experiments, subjects learned action phrases in verbal and subject-performed tasks. They had to recognize these action phrases among foils that denoted either completely different actions, conceptually similar actions, or actions that were conceptually and motorically similar. It was found that recognition performance was impaired equally after both kinds of learning when conceptually similar distractors were used, but was impaired more after subject-performed-task learning when the distractors were both conceptually and motorically similar. The possible contribution of motor information in this interaction is discussed.     

Memory of self-performed tasks: Self-performing during recognition

Two experiments focused on whether performing actions described by to-be-remembered phrases during recognition enhances recognition compared with results of a standard verbal recognition test. The enhancement was predicted when the actions described by the phrases had been performed during study, but not when the phrases were verbally encoded by simply listening to and memorizing the material. Both experiments showed that enactment prior to recognition improved memory performance, but only when subjects had encoded by enactment. Experiment 1 also demonstrated that this test-procedure effect was independent of a bizarreness effect, which was observed only with the verbal encoding task. Experiment 2 showed that the effect of enactment during recognition was reduced when subjects used different hands for performing the actions during study and recognition- The findings support the assumption that some kind of motor memory record underlies the enactment effect that occurs when actions are performed during recognition.     

Procedural fairness in performance appraisal: Beyond the review session

Utilizing an organizational justice perspective, this cross-organizational study developed procedural fairness dimensions for the appraisal review session and two contextual domains of the performance appraisal process. The contextual domains were: (a) the structure, policies, and support characterizing the formal appraisal system, and (b) the appraisal-related interactions that occur throughout the year between supervisors and subordinates. In addition, relationships of the three procedural variable sets and their respective individual variables with three fairness (two distributive justice and one global) criteria were assessed. Procedures from the session and system domains were found to be most useful for predicting the fairness criteria.     

The person as co-investigator in personality research

In this paper, arguments are presented for considering the subject as co-investigator in personality research. A review of current research methods suggests that personality psychology is well on its way to recognizing the individual as an expert on his or her own self and situation. This means that the subject should also be allowed to take a much more active role in psychological research. It is argued that the ideal methodology for accomplishing this integration of the individual into psychological research is to establish a dialogue between psychologist and subject, allowing each to contribute to the scientific process from his or her own perspective and on the basis of his or her own expertise. The present approach calls for greater emphasis on the organization and coherence of personality as a system, greater openness and sensitivity to the particular world of the individual, and an even more dynamic conception of individuality than is currently found in our field. An important implication of the open system approach advocated in this article, the reduced role of prediction in personality research, is discussed and, finally, a preliminary list of expected gains and losses is presented.     

Memory after motoric encoding in a generation-recognition model

Summary Two groups of subjects were required to learn taxonomic verb lists without being given explicit information about the categories. Category size was varied. Different categories were represented in the list by 2, 4, 6, or 8 instances per category. One group learned under standard learning instructions, the other learned by performing the denoted actions. We observed higher memory performances for the enacting group in free recall and recognition in comparison with those of the standard learning group. Category size did not interact with encoding condition. Free recall, but not recognition, correlated slightly positively with category size. After the memory tests a generation-recognition procedure was carried out. Subjects were given the category names and had to generate as many items as possible without reference to the learning list. After this, they had to mark the items from the learning list in their own productions. Both groups generated an equal number of items per category, but the proportion of generated old items and of recognized self-generated items was higher for the enacting group than for the standard learning group. The conclusion is discussed that enacting did not change relational information, but made items more accessible in memory.This research was supported by a grant from the German Science Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) to J. Engelkamp and the author under En 124/8-1.