Ältere Menschen als Zeugen vor Gericht

This article provides an overview of the current empirical literature concerning older adults as eyewitnesses. Aging affects perception, memory and eyewitness testimony in many older adults (aged 65 years and above). As a group, they provide shorter accounts in free call, fewer correct and more incorrect details. Often they have to be asked more questions than young witnesses in order to obtain the same amount of information. Age differences have also been demonstrated for answers to questions. There are some promising attempts to improve older witnesses’ testimony, such as the Cognitive Interview. However, replication studies are still needed here. It remains unclear if older witnesses are generally more vulnerable to suggestions than young witnesses. There is some evidence that at least in some situations this seems to be the case. In photographic line-ups young and older adults show similar positive identification rates, but older adults have higher false alarm rates. When viewing mug books, older adults are more likely to make a choice than young adults, which can lead to higher rates of possibly false identification in a subsequent line-up. With increasing age age differences between young and old witnesses also increase. However there is considerable interindividual variation in witness performance: some witnesses are impacted by age early-on, while others remain highly functioning until very old age.     

Sleep's function in the spontaneous recovery and consolidation of memories

Building on 2 previous studies (B. R. Ekstrand, 1967; B. R. Ekstrand, M. J. Sullivan, D. F. Parker, & J. N. West, 1971), the authors present 2 experiments that were aimed at characterizing the role of retroactive interference in sleep-associated declarative memory consolidation. Using an A-B, A-C paradigm with lists of word pairs in Experiment 1, the authors showed that sleep provides recovery from retroactive interference induced at encoding, whereas no such recovery was seen in several wake control conditions. Noninterfering word-pair lists were used in Experiment 2 (A-B, C-D). Sleeping after learning, in comparison with waking after learning, enhanced retention of both lists to a similar extent when encoding was less intense because of less list repetition and briefer word-pair presentations. With intense encoding, sleep-associated improvements were not seen for either list. In combination, the results indicate that the benefit of sleep for declarative memory consolidation is greater for weaker associations, regardless of whether weak associations result from retroactive interference or poor encoding.     

Unconscious modulation of the conscious experience of voluntary control

How does the brain generate our experience of being in control over our actions and their effects? Here, we argue that the perception of events as self-caused emerges from a comparison between anticipated and actual action-effects: if the representation of an event that follows an action is activated before the action, the event is experienced as caused by one's own action, whereas in the case of a mismatch it will be attributed to an external cause rather than to the self. In a subliminal priming paradigm we show that participants overestimated how much control they had over objectively uncontrollable stimuli, which appeared after free- or forced-choice actions, when a masked prime activated a representation of the stimuli immediately before each action. This prime-induced control-illusion was independent from whether primes were consciously perceived. Results indicate that the conscious experience of control is modulated by unconscious anticipations of action-effects.     

Longing for tomorrow: phenomenology,cognitive psychology,and the methodological bases of exploring time experience in depression

The subjective experience of time in depression has been described to be altered in complex ways, with sensations of particular slowness, delay or stillness being the most often named articulations. However, the attempts to provide empirical evidence to the phenomenon of “time slowing down in depression” have resulted in inconsistent findings. In consequence, the overall claim that depressive time somehow differs from ordinary time has often been discarded as unfounded. The article argues against such conclusion, contending that the described ambiguity might be caused by the methods employed to assess the phenomenon under observation. In the first part of the article, a reconceptualization of the experience of time in depression is proposed on the grounds of classic and contemporary phenomenological psychiatry. This leads to identify the essential features of depressive time as described both in clinical and philosophical contexts. In the second part, a critique of the existing methods of time perception assessment is conducted, with a specific focus on duration estimation and time passage perception tasks. The above-mentioned core features serve as guidelines in discussing to what degree such methods fit the phenomenon at stake. Finally, an alternative and innovative method is put forward, that might not only help to explore the scope of existing methods but might itself present an alternative to such: the micro-phenomenological interview.     

Linear phase correction models for synchronization: parameter identification and estimation of parameters.

Linear phase correction models for synchronized tapping and their stochastic properties are presented. In the most general form they include a central timer, a motor execution, and a phase correction mechanism that acts on the physical or the perceived asynchrony. A central issue of the article is how to identify and estimate the model parameters from the data. Monte Carlo simulations show serious problems of parameter interdependency.     

Conditionals As Representative Inferences

According to Adams (Inquiry 8:166–197, 1965), the acceptability of an indicative conditional goes with the conditional probability of the consequent given the antecedent. However, some conditionals seem to be inappropriate, although their corresponding conditional probability is high. These are cases with a missing link between antecedent and consequent. Other conditionals are appropriate even though the conditional probability is low. Finally, we have the so-called biscuit conditionals. In this paper we will generalize analyses of Douven (Synthese 164:19–44, 2008) and others to account for the appropriateness of conditionals in terms of evidential support. Our generalization involves making use of Value, or intensity. We will show how this generalization helps to account for biscuit conditionals and conditional threats and promises. Finally, a link is established between this analysis of conditionals and an analysis of generic sentences.

     

Being Called a ‘Streber’: The Roles of Personality and Competition in the Labelling of Academically Oriented Students

The current research investigated a phenomenon that has received little attention so far: the labelling of students who are characterised by a strong academic orientation. We analysed whether personality predicts being labelled a ‘Streber’ (literally a person who strives for success; German origin, similar to the English word ‘nerd’) and labelling others as Strebers. Besides individual characteristics, we examined the impact of the classroom context. In Study 1 (N = 317), eighth‐grade students nominated classmates who were considered to be Strebers and provided self‐ratings on how often they had labelled others as Strebers. In Study 2 (N = 358), using a round robin design, we had students rate each of their classmates on the extent to which the students perceived their classmates to be Strebers. Results showed that being labelled was associated with introversion and conscientiousness. Labelling others was related to extraversion, low conscientiousness and low agreeableness. Furthermore, the labelling and the expected relation between individual characteristics and labelling were stronger in high‐achieving than in low‐achieving classes. Results are discussed with respect to personality traits as potential risk factors in peer stigmatisation and the impact of the classroom context. Copyright © 2012 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Cognitive determinants of the success of inventors: Complex problem solving and deliberate use of divergent and convergent thinking

With reference to Henderson's (2004) assumption that inventors are “expert problem solvers”, we studied the ability of inventors to solve complex problems (CPS) using a sample of 46 German inventors. The participants had to use FSYS 2.0, a computer-simulated microworld. Additionally, we assessed metacognition, in particular the participants' ability to make deliberate use of divergent and convergent thinking. This ability was expected to be an important skill involved in solving complex problems (Dörner, Kreuzig, Reither, & Stäudel, 1983). We assumed a positive correlation between the individual success of inventors (number of granted and marketed patents) and CPS abilities. Controllability of divergent and convergent thinking turned out to be a predictor of the success of inventors and allowed us to identify the top 10% performers. Oddly however, the best problem solvers were inventors with exactly one granted patent. Data from a posteriori conducted interviews help explaining the results.     

Differential Course of Executive Control Changes During Normal Aging

ABSTRACT

Normal aging has been associated with executive control deficits, but it is as yet unclear whether different executive subprocesses are differentially affected during the course of aging. The present study aimed to investigate age effects on a range of executive control subcomponents. Four consecutive age groups (20–30 years, 31–45 years, 46–60 years, 61–75 years), matched on present state IQ and mood, were compared on tasks of strategic memory processing, verbal fluency, reasoning, inhibition, task management, and self-rating of executive abilities. Deficits concerning the suppression of habitual and experimentally induced prepotent response tendencies and the ability to efficiently divide attention were observed in subjects over 60 years of age compared to the younger groups, while memory, verbal fluency, and reasoning were largely unaffected. Results suggest a sharp decline of executive function after age 60 and a differential course of different executive subcomponents across aging, adding further support to a multi-dimensional model of executive function.