A functional relation between learning and organization in free recall

It is well known that multitrial free recall is accompanied by increased organization of output over learning trials, even when the order of presentation is randomized. We compared the relation between learning and organization in 30 young and 30 older adults as they learned categorized materials to a criterion of 100% recall. The importance of this age manipulation was that it allowed us to examine, using two groups that differ significantly in their learning ability, whether organization and learning follow the same function. As was expected, older adults showed less organization on any given learning trial. However, when equated for degree of learning, the older adults showed approximately the same level of organization as the young. This finding suggests that the organization-learning relation remains invariant in the face of significant differences in participants’ mnemonic abilities.     

Assessing adolescents' personality with the NEO PI-R

The suitability of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R) to assess adolescents' personality traits was investigated in an unselected heterogeneous sample of 469 adolescents aged 12 to 17 years. They were further administered the Hierarchical Personality Inventory for Children (HiPIC) to allow an examination of convergent and discriminant validity. The adult NEO PI-R factor structure proved to be highly replicable in the sample of adolescents, with all facet scales primarily loading on the expected factors, independent of the age group. Domain and facet internal consistency coefficients were comparable to those obtained in adult samples, with less than 12% of the items showing corrected item-facet correlations below absolute value .20. Although, in general, adolescents reported few difficulties with the comprehensibility of the items, they tend to report more problems with the Openness to Ideas (05) and Openness to Values (06) items. Correlations between NEO PI-R and HiPIC scales underscored the convergent and discriminant validity of the NEO facets and HiPIC scales. It was concluded that the NEO PI-R in its present form is useful for assessing adolescents' traits at the primary level, but additional research is necessary to infer the most appropriate facet level structure.     

Dual processes in recognition: Does a focus on measurement operations provide a sufficient foundation?

Current theoretical thinking about dual processes in recognition relies heavily on the measurement operations embodied within the process dissociation procedure. We critically evaluate the ability of this procedure to support this theoretical enterprise. We show that there are alternative processes that would produce a rough invariance in familiarity (a key prediction of the dual-processing approach) and that the process dissociation procedure does not have the power to differentiate between these alternative possibilities. We also show that attempts to relate parameters estimated by the process dissociation procedure to subjective reports (remember-know judgments) cannot differentiate between alternative dual-processing models and that there are problems with some of the historical evidence and with obtaining converging evidence. Our conclusion is that more specific theories incorporating ideas about representation and process are required.     

Object identification as a function of discriminability and learning presentations: the effect of stimulus similarity and canonical frame alignment on aircraft identification

Aircraft that were relatively similar (homogeneous) and relatively dissimilar (heterogeneous) in appearance were studied at orientations either consistent (canonical) or inconsistent (noncanonical) with the environmental frame of reference. At test, participants' identification performance was measured with stimuli rotated to novel orientations within the picture plane. During learning and testing, identification of heterogeneous aircraft was better than that of homogeneous aircraft. At test, only identification of homogeneous aircraft revealed a strong linear degradation of performance as angular disparity between the novel test orientations and the original learning orientations increased. During learning and testing, identification was better for aircraft studied at canonical orientations than for those studied at noncanonical orientations. The results are discussed in terms of object identification, aircraft recognition training, categorization, mental representations, and visual mental rotation.     

Mean response times, variability, and skew in the responding of ADHD children: a response time distributional approach

Response time (RT) distributions from three fixed foreperiod conditions (2, 4, and 8 s) in a warned four-choice RT task were obtained for a group of boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, combined type (ADHD; n = 17) and for two groups of normal control boys (age-matched, n = 18, and younger-aged, n = 10). Quantitative measures of distributional shape were derived by fitting the ex-Gaussian distributional model to the individual RT data. Statistical results indicate that the ADHD distributions differ from the age-matched control distributions with respect to the size of the tail (larger for the ADHD boys), but differ from the younger control distributions with respect to the location of the leading edge (slower for the younger control boys). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) results reveal that the ex-Gaussian exponential component is highly diagnostic of the ADHD boys.     

Cognitive neuroscience of episodic memory encoding

This paper presents a cognitive neuroscientific perspective on how human episodic memories are formed. Convergent evidence from multiple brain imaging studies using positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) suggests a role for frontal cortex in episodic memory encoding. Activity levels within frontal cortex can predict episodic memory encoding across a wide range of behavioral manipulations known to influence memory performance, such as those present during levels of processing and divided attention manipulations. Activity levels within specific frontal and medial temporal regions can even predict, on an item by item basis, whether an episodic memory is likely to form. Furthermore, separate frontal regions appear to participate in supplying code-specific information, including distinct regions which process semantic attributes of verbal information as well as right-lateralized regions which process nonverbal information. We hypothesize that activity within these multiple frontal regions provides a functional influence (input) to medical temporal regions that bind the information together into a lasting episodic memory trace.     

Repeat pregnancy among urban adolescents: sociodemographic, family, and health factors

First-time adolescent mothers are at high risk for a repeat pregnancy. The present investigation, part of an ongoing longitudinal study, examined sociodemographic, family, and health factors associated with repeat Pregnancy in a clinic sample of urban, first-time adolescent mothers (ages 13 to 17 years). They were predominantly African-American and from low-income households. Repeat pregnancy within one year and between one and two years postpartum was determined from medical records. Summary statistics, point biserial correlations, and chi-square statistics were used to analyze the data. Results indicated that postpartum contraceptive method was associated with repeat pregnancy at Year 1; contraceptive use, maternal age, history of miscarriages, and postpartum contraceptive method were associated with repeat pregnancy at Year 2. It was concluded that efforts to prevent repeat pregnancies among first-time adolescent mothers should include the continuous monitoring of contraceptive use, as well as the promotion of long-acting contraceptives (e.g., medroxyprogesterone or progesterone implants). Further, counseling should be offered to adolescent mothers with a history offered miscarriages.     

Counterconditioning in the treatment of spider phobia: effects on disgust, fear and valence

From the perspective that disgust is a core feature of spider phobia, we investigated whether the treatment efficacy could be improved by adding a counterconditioning procedure. Women with a clinically diagnosed spider phobia (N = 34) were randomly assigned to the regular one-session exposure condition (EXP) or to the exposure with counterconditioning condition (CC). In the CC-condition tasty food-items were used during the regular exposure exercises and the participants' favourite music was played. Both treatment conditions appeared very effective in reducing avoidance behaviour and self-reported fear of spiders, strongly attenuated the disgusting properties of spiders and altered the affective evaluations in a positive direction. CC was not more effective in altering the affective valence of spiders than EXP and was not superior with respect to the long term treatment efficacy at 1 year follow up. Apparently, regular exposure treatment is already quite effective in altering the affective-evaluative component of spider phobia and it remains to be seen whether it is possible to further improve treatment outcome by means of procedures which are specifically designed to reduce the spiders' negative affective valence.     

"Factor analyses of the family assessment device," by Ridenour, Daley, & Reich

Ridenour, Daley, and Reich conducted a series of factor analyses using the correlational matrix of the subscale scores of the Family Assessment Device (FAD), published in Family Process, December, 1999. They conclude that "the FAD subscales be reorganized from their current seven-subscale format" (p. 507). We propose that this suggestion for reorganization is premature and based on the inappropriate application of an "internal consistency" model of scale construction to the FAD. We further suggest that the most important criteria regarding an assessment instrument are those of reliability, validity, and clinical utility. In the absence of this kind of data regarding alternative organizations of the FAD, we believe that the original subscales remain the best choice.