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.     

An Exploratory Study of Flow and Motivation in Theater Actors

The purpose of this study was to examine theater actors' experiences of flow and their motivational characteristics. Forty theater students completed revised versions of the Flow State Scale and the Sport Motivation Scale. Participants viewed theater as very challenging, and they performed at a high skill level when having an optimal performance, which occurred almost four times a year. Participants were strongly motivated to participate in theater because the experience of acting was stimulating and exciting. Theater performers also were motivated to perform, to a lesser degree, by external reasons. Patterns of correlations supported the theoretical foundations underlying both flow and motivation. Finally, MANOVA results indicated gender differences and undergraduate versus graduate student status differences.     

Imitation Is the Sincerest Form of Cheating: The Influence of Direct Knowledge and Attitudes on Academic Dishonesty

What effect does witnessing other students cheat have on one's own cheating behavior? What roles do moral attitudes and neutralizing attitudes (justifications for behavior) play when deciding to cheat? The present research proposes a model of academic dishonesty which takes into account each of these variables. Findings from experimental (vignette) and survey methods determined that seeing others cheat increases cheating behavior by causing students to judge the behavior less morally reprehensible, not by making rationalization easier. Witnessing cheating also has unique effects, controlling for other variables.     

An Anonymous Lutheran? Can Luther's Theology Permit Salvation Outside the Church?

How accurate must one's religious beliefs be in order to qualify for saving faith? Is there salvation outside the visible church? How much room for error does God allow? For two millennia, Christians have struggled with these questions. Martin Luther insisted on a very precise understanding of the gospel for the reception of God's grace, leaving the vast majority of humanity without any possibility of entering the kingdom of heaven. This obviously has troubled a great many of his theological progeny. While his theology appears to demand such narrow parameters for the faithful, the author maintains that it is possible to retain Lutheran orthodoxy and posit salvation outside the visible church.