Categorical-relational and order-relational information in memory for subject-performed and experimenter-performed actions

Memory for self-performed tasks (SPTs) is better than memory for experimenter-performed tasks (EPTs). In short unrelated lists of actions this effect occurs if the encoding condition is manipulated within subjects. In a between-subjects design, the enactment effect disappears (J. Engelkamp & D. Dehn, 2000; J. Engelkamp & H. D. Zimmer, 1997). These findings were explained by the item-order hypothesis, which claims that encoding order information depends on the type of encoding and design. The authors demonstrate that this differential encoding of order information in EPTs and SPTs is not effective in free recall if categorized lists are used. The use of categorized lists makes the interaction of type of encoding and design in free recall of short lists disappear, and the enactment effect reappears independent of the type of design.     

The item-order hypothesis reconsidered: The role of order information in free recall

According to the item-order approach of free recall, in pure short lists the free recall of unrelated items is organized according to their order of presentation in the study list. The approach was applied in the present study to experimenter-performed tasks (EPTs) and subject-performed tasks (SPTs). It claims that EPTs provide better serial order information than SPTs. Consequently, free recall of EPTs should be more organized along the presentation order of the items than the free recall of SPTs. In three experiments, some specific aspects of this approach were studied. Firstly, it was demonstrated that serial retrieval is not strongly used spontaneously and that its use is overestimated in the literature because it is usually evoked by an order reconstruction test which follows free recall testing. Secondly, a serial retrieval strategy in free recall can be encouraged by explicit instructions. Finally, the present experiments showed that a serial output strategy alone does not allow one to predict performance in free recall. The implications of these findings for the item-order approach will be discussed.     

Multinational data show that conspiracy beliefs are associated with the perception (and reality) of poor national economic performance

While a great deal is known about the individual difference factors associated with conspiracy beliefs, much less is known about the country-level factors that shape people's willingness to believe conspiracy theories. In the current article we discuss the possibility that willingness to believe conspiracy theories might be shaped by the perception (and reality) of poor economic performance at the national level. To test this notion, we surveyed 6723 participants from 36 countries. In line with predictions, propensity to believe conspiracy theories was negatively associated with perceptions of current and future national economic vitality. Furthermore, countries with higher GDP per capita tended to have lower belief in conspiracy theories. The data suggest that conspiracy beliefs are not just caused by intrapsychic factors but are also shaped by difficult economic circumstances for which distrust might have a rational basis.     

A FORTRAN 77 program for a nonparametric item response model: The Mokken scale analysis

A nonparametric item response theory model—the Mokken scale analysis (a stochastic elaboration of the deterministic Guttman scale)—and a computer program that performs this analysis are described. Three procedures of scaling are distinguished: a search procedure, an evaluation of the whole set of items, and an extension of an existing scale. All procedures provide a coefficient of scalability for all items that meet the criteria of the Mokken model and an item coefficient of scalability for every item. Four different types of reliability coefficient are computed both for the entire set of items and for the scalable items. A test of robustness of the found scale can be performed to analyze whether the scale is invariant across different subgroups or samples. This robustness test serves as a goodness of fit test for the established scale. The program is written in FORTRAN 77. Two versions are available, an SPSS-X procedure program (which can be used with the SPSS-X mainframe package) and a stand-alone program suitable for both mainframe and microcomputers.     

Management of extended-wear contact lenses in infant rhesus monkeys

Infant rhesus monkeys were fitted with extended-wear contact lenses (EWCLs) to correct surgically induced aphakia. The protocol that produced the most favorable experimental outcome, including good lens-wear compliance, involved: (1) custom-made EWCLs with parameters adjusted for each animal, (2) selection for study of neonates who seemed to tolerate EWCLs most naturally, (3) individual housing of monkeys, (4) lens check at 2-h intervals around the clock by trained personnel, (5) a large inventory of EWCLs for each animal, (6) periodic ophthalmologic examinations, and (7) darkroom housing of monkeys during treatment of lens-wear-related incidents. The EWCL is a new tool for studies of the visual system and is a useful complement to existing experimental techniques.     

Paired associate learning of action verbs with visual-or motor-imaginal encoding instructions

Summary It is suggested that visual-imaginal encoding of actions, i.e., imagining seeing somebody else performing a described action, should be distinguished from motor-imaginal encoding, i.e., imagining how one performs the action oneself. While both kinds of encoding should provide good item-specific information, only visual-imaginal encoding should also lead to good relational encoding of word pairs. In three experiments in which subjects had to learn verb pairs, we obtained supporting data for this assumption. Although CR performance was equal to FR performance under visual-imaginal encoding, under motorimaginal encoding CR performance was worse than FR performance. In principle, this finding parallels results obtained with imagined noun pairs and with performed verb pairs.The research reported here was supported by a grant from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft to J. Engelkamp and Hubert D. Zimmer. The paper was prepared during a stay of these authors at the Centre d'Études de Psychologie Cognitive, enabled by a grant of PROCOPE 311 pro     

Memory for performed and imaged noun pairs and verb pairs

Summary In a previous study by Engelkamp, cued recall of performed verb pairs was shown to be poorer than free recall of the same word pairs. For visually encoded verb pairs and for noun pairs, cued recall gave higher scores than free recall. This interaction between test types and encoding interactions was taken as support for the theory that motormemory representations differ from visual memory representations. With some modifications, the present experiment is an extension of one of Engelkamp's experiments. The subjects were given instructions that emphasized, more than those of Engelkamp, the integration aspect, and a further condition enacting noun pairs was added. Several parallel observations were made, but the crucial interaction between tests and encoding conditions was not replicated. The results are interpreted in terms of a problem-solving analysis.     

The given-new structure of cleft sentences and their influence on picture viewing

Summary In three experiments the influence of the given-new structure of cleft sentences on picture viewing was examined. Subjects heard cleft sentences and subsequently inspected pictures depicting the agent and the patient of the action mentioned in the sentence. Each sentence-picture pair was preceded by an adequate context sentence and a context picture. It was demonstrated that the delineation of the agent or of the patient in the sentence was looked at longer when it was marked as new information in the sentence that described the picture than when it was marked as old information. We interpret these findings to mean that the new information of a cleft sentence sets up a focus of attention in the cognitive structure and that this prolongs the time spent in the inspection of a delineation of the focal concept.     

Cortical auditory disorders: a case of non-verbal disturbances assessed with event-related brain potentials

In the auditory modality, there has been a considerable debate about some aspects of cortical disorders, especially about auditory forms of agnosia. Agnosia refers to an impaired comprehension of sensory information in the absence of deficits in primary sensory processes. In the non-verbal domain, sound agnosia and amusia have been reported but are frequently accompanied by language deficits whereas pure deficits are rare. Absolute pitch and musicians' musical abilities have been associated with left hemispheric functions. We report the case of a right handed sound engineer with the absolute pitch who developed sound agnosia and amusia in the absence of verbal deficits after a right perisylvian stroke. His disabilities were assessed with the Seashore Test of Musical Functions, the tests of Wertheim and Botez (Wertheim and Botez, Brain 84, 1961, 19-30) and by event-related potentials (ERP) recorded in a modified 'oddball paradigm'. Auditory ERP revealed a dissociation between the amplitudes of the P3a and P3b subcomponents with the P3b being reduced in amplitude while the P3a was undisturbed. This is interpreted as reflecting disturbances in target detection processes as indexed by the P3b. The findings that contradict some aspects of current knowledge about left/right hemispheric specialization in musical processing are discussed and related to the literature concerning cortical auditory disorders.