Adaptive memory: young children show enhanced retention of fitness-related information

Evolutionary psychologists propose that human cognition evolved through natural selection to solve adaptive problems related to survival and reproduction, with its ultimate function being the enhancement of reproductive fitness. Following this proposal and the evolutionary-developmental view that ancestral selection pressures operated not only on reproductive adults, but also on pre-reproductive children, the present study examined whether young children show superior memory for information that is processed in terms of its survival value. In two experiments, we found such survival processing to enhance retention in 4- to 10-year-old children, relative to various control conditions that also required deep, meaningful processing but were not related to survival. These results suggest that, already in very young children, survival processing is a special and extraordinarily effective form of memory encoding. The results support the functional-evolutionary proposal that young children's memory is "tuned" to process and retain fitness-related information.     

The oceanic state: a conceptual elucidation in terms of modal contact

Despite its lengthy history in psychoanalysis, the psychological origins, essential features and value of the oceanic state remain open to dispute. This ambiguity has come at a cost to the clarity of theoretical discussions on the topic. In working towards a conceptual elucidation, the author maintains that there are three primary accounts of the oceanic state: the metaphysical one of Romain Rolland, the developmental one of Sigmund Freud, and the cognitive-perceptual one of Anton Ehrenzweig. Based on the notion of modal contact, he argues that the accounts share a general theoretical structure that establishes as the necessary criterion for all oceanic states the loosening of ego boundaries and sufficient contact between differentiated and undifferentiated modalities of the mind. However, within this common structure, the accounts employ dissimilar metapsychologies to promulgate oceanic states of appreciably distinct kinds. To support this view, the author carries out a comparative examination of the modal contacts involved in the primary accounts' oceanic states. To conclude, he reviews the main implications of the notion of modal contact vis-à-vis recent discussion on oceanic phenomena, and puts forward for consideration a pluralist account of the mind that can accommodate the existence of several kinds of oceanic states.     

Rigidity and actuality-dependence

It is generally assumed that rigidity plays a key role in explaining the necessary a posteriori status of identity statements, both between proper names and between natural kind terms. However, while the notion of rigid designation is well defined for singular terms, there is no generally accepted definition of what it is for a general term to be rigid. In this paper I argue that the most common view, according to which rigid general terms are the ones which designate the same kind in all possible worlds, fails to deliver a posteriori necessities. I also present an alternative view, on which the work of explaining a posteriori necessities is not done by rigidity, but by a related metasemantic notion, which I call actuality-dependence.     

Identity and attitudinal reactions to perceptions of inter-group interactions among ethnic migrants: a longitudinal study

This 1-year follow-up study investigated the direct and indirect effects of past, anticipated, and actual experiences of inter-group interactions on the development of national identity and attitudes towards the national majority among ethnic re-migrants (N= 141) from Russia to Finland. According to the results, the quality of past inter-group contact in the pre-migration stage (T(1)) did not directly affect national identification and out-group attitudes in the post-migration stage (T(2)). Instead, the effect of contact quality at T(1) on national identification and out-group attitudes at T(2) was indirect via perceived discrimination and out-group rejection at T(2). In addition, there were two indirect pathways from out-group attitudes at T(1) to national identification and out-group attitudes at T(2), via pleasant contact experiences (further associated with positive out-group attitudes) and via perceived discrimination (further associated with negative attitudes and lower national identification) in the post-migration stage. Anticipated discrimination only had a direct effect on out-group attitudes in the post-migration stage. The results highlight the role of past and anticipated inter-group relations in the formation of post-migration inter-group interactions, which, in turn, are decisive for the formation of national identification and out-group attitudes of re-migrants.     

Outgroup helping as a tool to communicate ingroup warmth

The authors extend previous research on the effects of metastereotype activation on outgroup helping by examining in more detail the role of group impression management motives and by studying direct helping (i.e., helping the outgroup believed to hold a negative view of the ingroup). Data from three experiments provided full support for the communicative nature of direct outgroup helping by demonstrating that outgroup helping in response to a negative metastereotype was predicted by participants' concern for the image of their ingroup, but not by their self-image concerns. Moreover, group image concerns predicted outgroup helping but not ingroup helping and predicted outgroup helping only when a negative metastereotype was activated, compared with a positive metastereotype, or a (negative or positive) autostereotype. The results also ruled out an alternative explanation in terms of denying the self-relevance of the metastereotype.     

Age benefits in everyday prospective memory: the influence of personal task importance, use of reminders and everyday stress

The present diary study examined everyday prospective memory tasks in younger and old adults and explored the role of personal task importance, use of reminders and everyday stress as possible correlates of age-related prospective memory performance in everyday life. Results revealed an age benefit in everyday prospective memory tasks. In addition, task importance was identified as a critical moderator of age-related prospective memory performance. More frequent use of reminders and lower levels of stress, however, were associated with better prospective memory performance in general but did not contribute to age-related prospective memory performance. Exploring further possible correlates of prospective memory revealed that the strategy to reprioritize initially planned intentions was associated with age benefits in everyday prospective memory. Results suggest that the age-related benefit observed in experimenter-given tasks transfers to everyday prospective memory and varies in dependence of motivational and cognitive factors. Implications for theoretical models of prospective memory and aging are discussed.     

Influences of part-list cuing on different forms of episodic forgetting

Across 3 experiments, we examined the interplay of part-list cuing and forgetting, employing 3 different methods to induce episodic forgetting-list--method directed forgetting, context-dependent forgetting, and proactive interference. For each form of forgetting, participants were asked at test to recall the target items of a previously studied list in the presence or the absence of the list's remaining items serving as retrieval cues. We found such part-list cuing to amplify the forgetting in proactive interference but to diminish the forgetting in list-method directed forgetting and context-dependent forgetting. These results show that the effects of part-list cuing on forgotten memories depend critically on the circumstances surrounding the forgetting. If the forgetting reflects impaired access to the original encoding context, as has been suggested in list-method directed forgetting and context-dependent forgetting (but not in proactive interference), part-list cues improve access to forgotten memories; if the forgetting does not reflect such a contextual effect, no such beneficial effects emerge, and access to forgotten memories may even be impaired.     

Retrieval-induced forgetting, delay, and sleep

Retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF) refers to the finding that retrieval of a subset of previously studied material can cause forgetting of related unpractised material. Prior work on the role of delay between practice and test for RIF reported mixed results. Whereas some studies found RIF to be a relatively transient phenomenon, others found RIF to persist over time. We examined whether the persistence of RIF can depend on whether wakefulness or sleep follows retrieval practice. We employed a variant of the retrieval-practice paradigm with short (20 minutes) and long (12 hours) delay conditions. In all conditions participants studied a perceptually categorised list followed by retrieval practice on some of the items from some of the categories. Participants studied and practised the material in the morning or the evening. RIF was present in the short-delay conditions, and it was present in the long-delay condition if the delay included nocturnal sleep; if the long delay was filled with diurnal wakefulness, RIF was absent. Results show that whether delay eliminates RIF or not can depend on whether sleep or wake follows retrieval practice. Connections of the results to recent findings about the role of delay and sleep for RIF are discussed.