Is expanding retrieval a superior method for learning text materials?

Expanding retrieval practice refers to the idea that gradually increasing the spacing interval between repeated tests ought to promote optimal long-term retention. Belief in the superiority of this technique is widespread, but empirical support is scarce. In addition, virtually all research on expanding retrieval has examined the learning of word pairs in paired-associate tasks. We report two experiments in which we examined the learning of text materials with expanding and equally spaced retrieval practice schedules. Subjects studied brief texts and recalled them in an initial learning phase. We manipulated the spacing of the repeated recall tests and examined final recall 1 week later. Overall we found that (1) repeated testing enhanced retention more than did taking a single test, (2) testing with feedback (restudying the passages) produced better retention than testing without feedback, but most importantly (3) there were no differences between expanding and equally spaced schedules of retrieval practice. Repeated retrieval enhanced long-term retention, but how the repeated tests were spaced did not matter.     

Concept Grounding and Knowledge of Set Theory

C. S. Jenkins has recently proposed an account of arithmetical knowledge designed to be realist, empiricist, and apriorist: realist in that what’s the case in arithmetic doesn’t rely on us being any particular way; empiricist in that arithmetic knowledge crucially depends on the senses; and apriorist in that it accommodates the time-honored judgment that there is something special about arithmetical knowledge, something we have historically labeled with ‘a priori’. I’m here concerned with the prospects for extending Jenkins’s account beyond arithmetic—in particular, to set theory. After setting out the central elements of Jenkins’s account and entertaining challenges to extending it to set theory, I conclude that a satisfactory such extension is unlikely.     

Pictorial encoding effects and memory confusions in the Deese–Roediger–McDermott paradigm: Evidence for the activation of spontaneous imagery

The purpose of the experiments reported in this paper was to examine the possible role of spontaneous imagery and list-specific cues on pictorial encoding effects induced by the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) task. After viewing pictures and words referring to thematically related materials, by way of a picture/word source-judgement task, participants were asked to remember the way in which these materials were presented. Participants reported “seeing” pictures of items that were presented as words, an effect predicted by the imaginal activation hypothesis in its suggestion that incidental images experienced during encoding will later be mistaken as memories for pictures. Whether participants made the same picture misattributions on related lures (or non-presented related items) depended on the way in which the lures’ respective thematic lists were experienced during encoding (Experiments 1 and 2), pointing to the effects of list-specific cues in picture/word judgements. These findings have intriguing implications for interpretations of picture-encoding effects induced by the DRM task. The findings also speak to the use of DRM false-memory rates when marshalling evidence against the use of imagery in applied settings.     

Three-year-olds Remember a Novel Event from 20 Months: Evidence for Long-term Memory in Children?

Abstract

Thirty-seven 3-year-old children, who had learned a 9-action event sequence (“making Play-Doh spaghetti”) when they were 20 months old, returned to the lab to determine whether they would be able to verbally and/or behaviourally recall the event after a 12- to 22-month delay. Children originally participated in the event either one or three times and experienced different parts of the event either at three distinct locations (spatial condition) or at a single location (nonspatial condition). Results show very little evidence of long-term memory for the event after one to two years. Returning children did not verbally recall the event, and they did not perform more actions or sequence the event more accurately than controls, with the exception of the older experimental children who had a tendency to sequence the event more accurately than same-aged controls. Although the results indicate that young children's memory for novel events is not very enduring, there were individual differences in children's ability to remember the event. These differences are discussed in terms of potential differences in cognitive abilities and changing knowledge about retrieval strategies or memory.     

Direct Comparison of Episodic Encoding and Retrieval of Words: An Event-related fMRI Study

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to compare directly episodic encoding and retrieval. During encoding, subjects studied visually presented words and reported via keypress whether each word represented a pleasant or unpleasant concept (intentional, deep encoding). During the retrieval phase, subjects indicated (via keypress) whether visually presented words had previously been studied. No reliable differences were found during the recognition phase for words that had been previously studied and those that had not been studied. Areas preferentially active during encoding (relative to retrieval) included left superior frontal cortex, medial frontal cortex, left superior temporal cortex, posterior cingulate, left parahippocampal gyrus, and left inferior frontal gyrus. Regions more active in retrieval than encoding included bilateral inferior parietal cortex, bilateral precuneus, right frontal polar cortex, right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and right inferior frontal/insular cortex.     

The incidence of false memories in native and non-native speakers

The current study consisted of four experiments that utilised a novel approach to investigating false memories. Each of the experiments in the current study investigated individuals with varying experience with different languages. Experiment 1 tested participants in both their native and secondary languages as well as monolingual English speakers, while Experiment 2 assessed native Spanish speakers using both English and Spanish associative lists. Experiment 3 examined the illusory memories in monolingual Spanish speakers in both English and Spanish, while Experiment 4 investigated false memories in monolingual English speakers in both English and Spanish. Results indicated that memory for list items and critical lures was greatest when the lists were presented in the participants' primary language. Results can be explained by either activation-based or fuzzy-trace theories.     

The Creativity of Lying: Divergent Thinking and Ideational Correlates of the Resolution of Social Dilemmas

The goal of this study was to develop a measure of creativity that builds on the strengths of youth with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The assessment of creativity focused on the visual-spatial abilities of these youth using 3D modeling software. One of the objectives of the research was to develop a measure of creativity in an authentic learning environment that built on the interests and creative talents of youth with ASD. Traditional creativity tests may underestimate the creativity of youth with ASD because of the tests’ constrained nature, such as having a time limit, being limited to paper and pencil, testing in an over- or understimulating environment, and overlooking visual-spatial ability. A random selection of 27 student 3D design projects (out of approximately 100 projects) was assessed using dimensions of fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration. The validity of this assessment was examined by comparing the creativity scores of the 27 projects to the creativity scores given by a team of Google experts (3D designers and software engineers). Results indicated that the scores were significantly correlated for three of the four dimensions of the creativity assessment. There was high inter-rater reliability among coders (M = .82) using intra-class correlation (ICC). Results suggest that this assessment process could be used as a visual-spatial creativity measure for youth with ASD, as well as a creativity measure used by employers to determine real-world creative potential in their employees, particularly those with neurodiversity.     

Efficacy of Cognitive Rehabilitation Therapies for Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) in Older Adults: Working Toward a Theoretical Model and Evidence-Based Interventions

To evaluate the efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation therapies (CRTs) for mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Our review revealed a need for evidence-based treatments for MCI and a lack of a theoretical rehabilitation model to guide the development and evaluation of these interventions. We have thus proposed a theoretical rehabilitation model of MCI that yields key intervention targets–cognitive compromise, functional compromise, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and modifiable risk and protective factors known to be associated with MCI and dementia. Our model additionally defines specific cognitive rehabilitation approaches that may directly or indirectly target key outcomes–restorative cognitive training, compensatory cognitive training, lifestyle interventions, and psychotherapeutic techniques. Fourteen randomized controlled trials met inclusion criteria and were reviewed. Studies markedly varied in terms of intervention approaches and selected outcome measures and were frequently hampered by design limitations. The bulk of the evidence suggested that CRTs can change targeted behaviors in individuals with MCI and that CRTs are associated with improvements in objective cognitive performance, but the pattern of effects on specific cognitive domains was inconsistent across studies. Other important outcomes (i.e., daily functioning, quality of life, neuropsychiatric symptom severity) were infrequently assessed across studies. Few studies evaluated long-term outcomes or the impact of CRTs on conversion rates from MCI to dementia or normal cognition. Overall, results from trials are promising but inconclusive. Additional well-designed and adequately powered trials are warranted and required before CRTs for MCI can be considered evidence-based.     

Mechanisms Responsible for Differences in Perceived Duration for Rising-Intensity and Falling-Intensity Sounds

Sounds that are equivalent in all aspects except for their temporal envelope are perceived differently. Sounds with rising temporal envelopes are perceived as louder, longer, and show a greater change in loudness throughout their duration than sounds with falling temporal envelopes. Stecker and Hafter (2000) Stecker, G. C. and Hafter, E. R. 2000. An effect of temporal asymmetry on loudness. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 107: 3358–3368.  [Google Scholar] proposed that participants ignore the decay portion of sounds with falling temporal envelopes to account for observed loudness differences, but there is no empirical evidence support this hypothesis. To test this idea, two duration-matching experiments were performed. One experiment used broadband noise and the other natural stimuli. Different groups of participants were given different instruction sets asking them to (1) simply match the duration or (2) include all aspects of the sounds. Both experiments produced the same result. The first instruction set, which represented participants' natural biases, yielded shorter subjective durations for sounds with falling temporal envelopes than for sounds with rising temporal envelopes. By contrast, asking participants to include all aspects of the sounds significantly reduced the size of the asymmetry in subjective duration, a result that supports Stecker and Hafter's hypothesis. This segregation of the stimulus at the perceptual level is consistent with observed asymmetries in loudness change and overall loudness for sounds with rising and falling temporal envelopes, but it does not account for the entire effect. The remaining portion of the effect, after considering biases due to instructions, is not likely a result of adaptation but could be associated with persistence. The amount of persistence was inferred from behavioral masking data obtained for these sounds.     

Metamers for Hammer-With-Ability Are Not Metamers for Poke-With-Ability

Studies on dynamic (i.e., kinesthetic) touch perception have shown that perception of many properties of wielded objects are linked to variables related to the rotational inertia of those objects. The broad nature of the sensitivity to such variables invites the question of whether various perceived functional properties of wielded objects are distinct (i.e., whether they map to rotational inertia via different functions) or whether they are perceptually equivalent (i.e., whether they map to opposite extremes of the same function). Two experiments investigated whether hammer-with-ability and poke-with-ability are perceptually equivalent (i.e., metamers) using a metameric matching strategy. The results show that metamers for hammering were not metamers for poking, and vice versa. The results suggest that haptic perception of poke-with-ability and hammer-with-ability are distinct percepts.