The myth of the encoding-retrieval match

Modern memory researchers rely heavily on the encoding-retrieval match, defined as the similarity between coded retrieval cues and previously encoded engrams, to explain variability in retention. The encoding-retrieval match is assumed to be causally and monotonically related to retention, although other factors (such as cue overload) presumably operate in some circumstances. I argue here that the link between the encoding-retrieval match and retention, although generally positive, is essentially correlational rather than causal—much like the link between deep/elaborative processing and retention. Empirically, increasing the functional match between a cue and a target trace can improve, have no effect, or even decrease retention performance depending on the circumstance. We cannot make unequivocal predictions about retention by appealing to the encoding-retrieval match; instead, we should be focusing our attention on the extent to which retrieval cues provide diagnostic information about target occurrence.     

False reports of childhood events in appropriate interviews

The present study employed the “parental misinformation & CloseCurly ” paradigm to examine whether individuals report false events from their childhood even when they are interviewed in an appropriate manner by a trained interviewer. Each participant was interviewed on three occasions. By the final interview, one participant produced a “full & Close Curly ” report, and six participants produced “partial & Close Curly ” reports, of childhood events that did not occur. Although participants reported perceiving greater pressure to report the false events than the real events, independent judges' ratings of social pressure in the interviews did not differ as a function of what type of event participants were being asked about. Participants also reported higher confidence in their parents', compared to their own, recall of events from their childhood. False reports were also positively correlated with scores on both the full and the revised versions of the Dissociative Experiences Scale, and negatively correlated with score on the Self-Monitoring scale. These results indicate that, despite being interviewed in an appropriate manner by a trained interviewer, some participants will falsely report events from their childhoods.     

The Philosophy of Mathematical Practice

The Semantic Tradition from Kant to Carnap: To the Vienna Station By J. Alberto Coffa, Cambridge University Press, 1991. Pp. xi + 445 ISBN 0–521–37429–4 £35.00.

A Companion to Aristotle's Politics Edited by David Keyt and Fred D. Miller Jnr. Basil Blackwell, 1991. Pp. 407. ISBN 1–55786–096‐X. £14.95 pbk.

Equality and Partiality By Thomas Nagel Oxford University Press, 1991. Pp. ix + 186. ISBN 0–19–506967–6. £12.95.     

We,Heirs of Enlightenment: Critical Theory,Democracy and Social Science

Abstract

My goal here is to come to terms with the Enlightenment as the horizon of critical social science. First, I consider in more detail the understanding of the Enlightenment in Critical Theory, particularly in its conception of the sociality of reason. Second, I develop an account of freedom in terms of human powers, along the lines of recent capability conceptions that link freedom to the development of human powers, including the power to interpret and create norms. Finally, I show the ways in which the social sciences can be moral sciences in the Enlightenment sense. This account provides us with a coherent Enlightenment standard by which to judge institutions as promoting development, understood in terms of the capabilities necessary for freedom. The relevant social science in this area might include the robust generalization that there has never been a famine in a democratic society.     

Problem Solving Style and Beliefs about Teaching,Learning, and Problem Solving

Seventy-four pre-service teachers in an urban graduate school of education were administered VIEW: An Assessment of Problem Solving Style and a questionnaire in which they were asked to rate the importance of numerous principles of learning, teaching, and problem solving. Judges had previously classified these principles according to the six different VIEW problem solving styles (Explorer, Developer, External, Internal, Person-oriented, Task-oriented). Participants categorized by a particular style rated more highly those principles that matched their style. Implications for instruction and the development of problem solving skills are discussed.     

Maternal teaching techniques and preschool children's ideational fluency

As a counterpart to research showing relationships between parental behaviors and attitudes and children's divergent thinking, this study investigated mothers’ teaching techniques and preschool children's ideational fluency, one aspect of creativity. Twenty mother‐child dyads were videotaped interacting in both a warm‐up and structured teaching session. Mothers’ teaching behaviors were assessed with the Maternal Teaching Observation Technique (MTOT) and children's ideational fluency was measured with the Multidimensional Stimulus Fluency Measure (MSFM). Correlational analyses indicated relationships between children's divergent thinking and mothers’ use of verbal negative feedback (r = .51), physical control (r = ‐.40), and visual cues (r = ‐.44).     

Consequence of Self Versus Externally Generated Visual Motion on Postural Regulation

A limiting factor in the use of virtual environments to examine perception and action is that it is dependent on the quality of the interaction. A virtual reality game (first-person viewpoint with moderate difficulty) was used to investigate the link between control and postural regulation. Postural regulation was examined using a motion capture system, and the differences that emerged as a result of the participant being a passive observer versus an active participant were evaluated using a fractal procedure: dispersion analysis. A significant interaction was found between control and health, namely, participants' postural behavior tended to be less uniform when they were sick and when they were in control of the environment. These results lead the authors to suggest that successful interaction with novel environments depends on the ability to find and consistently use appropriate control strategies.     

Diagnosing Organizational Innovation: Measuring the Capacity for Innovation

Organizational innovation involves reconciling many contradictions or paradoxes. Dividing the process of innovation into phases ranging from Activation to Validation and examining each phase in terms of the six Ps of creativity offers a framework for making sense of these contradictions. The Innovation Phase Assessment Instrument (IPAI) was designed to assess organizations according to such an approach. The scale was administered to 454 student volunteers and an analysis of their responses indicated that the IPAI is highly reliable and has substantial construct validity. At a practical level, it can be used for assessing the strengths/weaknesses of organizations in a differentiated way and for making recommendations for improving their capacity for innovation. It is also a source of research questions for examining creativity and innovation in an organizational context.