Quantifying precision and availability of location memory in everyday pictures and some implications for picture database design

The authors investigated whether memory for object locations in pictures could be exploited to address known difficulties of designing query languages for picture databases. M. W. Lansdale's (1998) model of location memory was adapted to 4 experiments observing memory for everyday pictures. These experiments showed that location memory is quantified by 2 parameters: a probability that memory is available and a measure of its precision. Availability is determined by controlled attentional processes, whereas precision is mostly governed by picture composition beyond the viewer's control. Additionally, participants' confidence judgments were good predictors of availability but were insensitive to precision. This research suggests that databases using location memory are feasible. The implications of these findings for database design and for further research and development are discussed.     

The relative effectiveness of various instructional approaches in developing anticipation skill

The relative effectiveness of explicit instruction, guided discovery, and discovery learning techniques in enhancing anticipation skill in young, intermediate-level tennis players was examined. Performance was assessed pre- and postintervention, during acquisition, and under transfer conditions designed to elicit anxiety through the use of laboratory and on-court measures. The 3 intervention groups improved from pre- to posttest compared with a control group (n = 8), highlighting the benefits of perceptual-cognitive training. Participants in the explicit (n = 8) and guided discovery (n = 10) groups improved their performance during acquisition at a faster rate than did the discovery learning (n = 7) group. However, the explicit group showed a significant decrement in performance when tested under anxiety provoking conditions compared with the guided discovery and discovery learning groups. Although training facilitated anticipation skill, irrespective of the type of instruction used in this experiment, guided discovery methods are recommended for expediency in learning and resilience under pressure.     

Differential induction of c-Jun and Fos-like proteins in rat hippocampus and dorsal striatum after training in two water maze tasks

Research examining the neuroanatomical bases of memory in mammals suggests that the hippocampus and dorsal striatum are parts of independent memory systems that mediate "cognitive" and stimulus-response "habit" memory, respectively. At the molecular level, increasing evidence indicates a role for immediate early gene (IEG) expression in memory formation. The present experiment examined whether acquisition of cognitive and habit memory result in differential patterns of IEG protein product expression in these two brain structures. Adult male Long-Evans rats were trained in either a hippocampal-dependent spatial water maze task, or a dorsal striatal-dependent cued water maze task. Ninety minutes after task acquisition, brains were removed and processed for immunocytochemical procedures, and the number of cells expressing Fos-like immunoreactivity (Fos-like-IR) and c-Jun-IR in sections from the dorsal hippocampus and the dorsal striatum were counted. In the dorsal hippocampus of rats trained in the spatial task, there were significantly more c-Jun-IR pyramidal cells in the CA1 and CA3 regions, relative to rats that had acquired the cued task, yoked controls (free-swim), or na?ve (home cage) rats. Relative to rats receiving cued task training and control conditions, increases in Fos-like IR were also observed in the CA1 region of rats trained in the spatial task. In rats that had acquired the cued task, patches of c-Jun-IR were observed in the posteroventral striatum; no such patches were evident in rats trained in the spatial task, yoked-control rats, or na?ve rats. The results demonstrate that IEG protein product expression is up-regulated in a task-dependent and brain structure-specific manner shortly after acquisition of cognitive and habit memory tasks.     

New approaches to demystifying insight

After a person has become stuck on a problem, they sometimes achieve a clear and sudden solution through insight--the so-called Aha! experience. Because of its distinctive experience, the origins and characteristics of insight have received considerable attention historically in psychological research. However, despite considerable progress in characterizing insight, the underlying mechanisms remain mysterious. We argue that research on insight could be greatly advanced by supplementing traditional insight research, which depends on a few complex problems, with paradigms common in other domains of cognitive science. We describe a large set of mini-insight problems to which multiple methods can be applied, together with subjective reports to identify insight problem-solving. Behavioral priming and neuroimaging methods are providing evidence about what, where, and how neural activity occurs during insight. Such evidence constrains theories of component processes, and will help to demystify insight.     

Processes of change in brain and cognitive development

We review recent advances in the understanding of the mechanisms of change that underlie cognitive development. We begin by describing error-driven, self-organizing and constructivist learning systems. These powerful mechanisms can be constrained by intrinsic factors, other brain systems and/or the physical and social environment of the developing child. The results of constrained learning are representations that themselves are transformed during development. One type of transformation involves the increasing specialization and localization of representations, resulting in a neurocognitive system with more dissociated streams of processing with complementary computational functions. In human development, integration between such streams of processing might occur through the mediation of language.     

Semantic feature production norms for a large set of living and nonliving things

Semantic features have provided insight into numerous behavioral phenomena concerning concepts, categorization, and semantic memory in adults, children, and neuropsychological populations. Numerous theories and models in these areas are based on representations and computations involving semantic features. Consequently, empirically derived semantic feature production norms have played, and continue to play, a highly useful role in these domains. This article describes a set of feature norms collected from approximately 725 participants for 541 living (dog) and nonliving (chair) basic-level concepts, the largest such set of norms developed to date. This article describes the norms and numerous statistics associated with them. Our aim is to make these norms available to facilitate other research, while obviating the need to repeat the labor-intensive methods involved in collecting and analyzing such norms. The full set of norms may be downloaded from www.psychonomic.org/archive.     

Microswitch programs for persons with multiple disabilities: an overview of the responses adopted for microswitch activation

Background: To introduce a person with multiple disabilities to a microswitch-aided program, one has to select a plausible response(s), that is, a response(s) that can be performed reliably and without excessive effort by the person and can successfully activate the microswitch(es) available (producing preferred stimuli). This paper provides an overview of the responses adopted for microswitch activation in research studies during the last 20 years. Method: Computerized and manual searches were carried out to identify the studies published between 1986 and 2005. Forty-eight research studies were identified. They concerned the use of (1) a single (typical) response, (2) a single (non-typical) response, (3) multiple (typical and non-typical) responses, and (4) multiple (vocal) responses. Results and discussion: The results showed that 151 of the 190 participants involved in the studies had a positive outcome (i.e., clear increases in their responding, which suggested that they had learned the association between responding and consequent preferred stimuli). Failures were largely concentrated in the first group of studies. The discussion focused on (a) the importance of selecting plausible responses for increasing the chances of success, (b) the need of non-typical responses for persons with minimal motor behavior, (c) implications of programs with multiple responses on engagement and choice, and (d) relevance of using vocal utterances. Some suggestions for future research concerning these points were also examined.     

Measurement of Cruelty in Children: The Cruelty to Animals Inventory

Cruelty to animals may be a particularly pernicious aspect of problematic child development. Progress in understanding the development of the problem is limited due to the complex nature of cruelty as a construct, and limitations with current assessment measures. The Children and Animals Inventory (CAI) was developed as a brief self- and parent-report measure of F. R. Ascione's (1993) 9 parameters of cruelty. The CAI emerged as a reliable, stable, and readily utilized measure of cruelty using parent and child reports. Children (especially the older children) reported higher rates of cruelty than their parents and boys reported more cruelty than girls. Self- and parent-reports showed good convergence with independent observations of cruelty versus nurturance during free interactions with domestic animals. The results indicate that cruelty to animals can be reliably measured using brief child and parent report measures.     

Homosexuality, ethics and identity synthesis.

Implicit metaphysical assumptions concerning the nature of sexual orientation are reflected in the language used to frame ethical debates concerning "reorientation" therapies. An alternative metaphysical construal is presented concerning sexual orientation and sexual identity development and synthesis. This alternative construal allows for humility concerning what we know and do not know about sexual orientation, underscores the client's self-determination and autonomy, and demonstrates regard for personal and religious valuative frameworks. Rather than focusing on therapies aimed specifically at sexual reorientation, clinicians would do well to provide clients with informed consent and to facilitate identity development and synthesis in keeping with their clients' requests for professional services.     

Increasing implicit self-esteem through classical conditioning

Implicit self-esteem is the automatic, nonconscious aspect of self-esteem. This study demonstrated that implicit self-esteem can be increased using a computer game that repeatedly pairs self-relevant information with smiling faces. These findings, which are consistent with principles of classical conditioning, establish the associative and interpersonal nature of implicit self-esteem and demonstrate the potential benefit of applying basic learning principles in this domain.