Voluntary attention and the spacing effect

Three experiments were done to test the hypothesis that the spacing effect results from a voluntary decision by the subject to pay little attention to the second presentation (P₂) of an item when it occurs shortly after the first (P¹)- In all three experiments, the spacing of repetitions was varied. In Experiment I, allocation of attention was manipulated by pairing P₂ of some pictures with a signal that indicated high payoff for later retention. In Experiment II, attention was controlled more directly by requiring the subject, in one condition, to recite words aloud. In both experiments, the dependent variable was judged frequency. In neither experiment did the effect of the attention manipulation interact with that of the spacing of repetitions. In Experiment III, the number of eye fixations given a picture was taken to be a measure of attention. The number of fixations dropped from P₁ to P₂ to P₃, but was unaffected by the spacing of repetitions. The experiments provide no support for a voluntary attention explanation of the spacing effect.     

On the blessing of abstraction

The “blessing of abstraction” refers to the observation that acquiring abstract knowledge sometimes proceeds more quickly than acquiring more speci?c knowledge. This observation can be formalized and reproduced by hierarchical Bayesian models. The key notion is that more abstract layers of the hierarchy have a larger “effective” sample size, because they combine information across multiple speci?c instances lower in the hierarchy. This notion relies on speci?c variables being relatively concentrated around the abstract “overhypothesis”. If the variables are highly dispersed, then the effective sample size for the abstract layers will not be appreciably larger than for the speci?c layers. Moreover, the blessing of abstraction is counterbalanced by the fact that data are more informative about lower levels of the hierarchy, because there is necessarily less stochasticity intervening between speci?c variables and the data. Thus, in certain cases abstract knowledge will be acquired more slowly than speci?c knowledge. This paper reports an experiment that shows how manipulating dispersion can produce both fast and slow acquisition of abstract knowledge in the same paradigm.     

The Alpha-1 Association Genetic Counseling Program: An Innovative Approach to Service

In an era of specialty medicine, genetic counselors are becoming increasingly focused in their service provision. The Alpha-1 Association Genetic Counseling Program, established in September 2007, specializes in confidential toll-free genetic counseling provided by a certified genetic counselor for Alpha-1 Antitrypsin deficiency, a co-dominant condition associated with lung and/or liver disease. The program received more than 600 callers in its first 2 years. Sixty-seven percent of new callers were family members, carriers, or health professionals. The number of callers increased between the first 2 years, with the greatest increases being family members and health professionals. Testing options and explanation of results encompassed 60% of initial reasons for calls. Seventy-two percent of referrals came from family and friends, test result letters, and the Alpha-1 Association. Between year 1 and 2 family member referrals showed the largest increase. This disease-specific genetic counseling program provides a model that may be useful for other rare disease communities.     

Human memory reconsolidation can be explained using the temporal context model

Recent work by Hupbach, Gomez, Hardt, and Nadel (Learning & Memory, 14, 47–53, 2007) and Hupbach, Gomez, and Nadel (Memory, 17, 502–510, 2009) suggests that episodic memory for a previously studied list can be updated to include new items, if participants are reminded of the earlier list just prior to learning a new list. The key finding from the Hupbach studies was an asymmetric pattern of intrusions, whereby participants intruded numerous items from the second list when trying to recall the first list, but not viceversa. Hupbach et al. (2007; 2009) explained this pattern in terms of a cellular reconsolidation process, whereby first-list memory is rendered labile by the reminder and the labile memory is then updated to include items from the second list. Here, we show that the temporal context model of memory, which lacks a cellular reconsolidation process, can account for the asymmetric intrusion effect, using well-established principles of contextual reinstatement and item–context binding.     

Executive functioning predicts social skills following prenatal alcohol exposure.

Adverse sequelae of prenatal alcohol exposure include executive function and social skills impairments, although these two domains have not been empirically linked in alcohol-exposed individuals. This study investigated this relationship using the BRIEF and the SSRS in 98 children aged 6 to 11 years. Executive functions explained a significant percentage of variance in parent and teacher rated social skills. No differences were found among children with diagnoses of FAS, partial FAS, or alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder. It may be helpful to consider executive functioning in designing social skills interventions for alcohol-exposed children whether or not they have full FAS.     

Group cohesion in cognitive-behavioral group therapy for social phobia

Cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) for Social Phobia is effective in both group and individual formats. However, the impact of group processes on treatment efficacy remains relatively unexplored. In this study we examined group cohesion ratings made by individuals at the midpoint and endpoint of CBT groups for social phobia. Symptom measures were also completed at the beginning and end of treatment. We found that cohesion ratings significantly increased over the course of the group and were associated with improvement over time in social anxiety symptoms, as well as improvement on measures of general anxiety, depression, and functional impairment. In conclusion, findings are consistent with the idea that changes in group cohesion are related to social anxiety symptom reduction and, therefore, speak to the importance of nonspecific therapeutic factors in treatment outcome.     

Alcohol: Effects on Neurobehavioral Functions and the Brain

Alcoholism results from an interplay between genetic and environmental factors, and is linked to brain defects and associated cognitive, emotional, and behavioral impairments. A confluence of findings from neuroimaging, physiological, neuropathological, and neuropsychological studies of alcoholics indicate that the frontal lobes, limbic system, and cerebellum are particularly vulnerable to damage and dysfunction. An integrative approach employing a variety of neuroscientific technologies is essential for recognizing the interconnectivity of the different functional systems affected by alcoholism. In that way, relevant experimental techniques can be applied to assist in determining the degree to which abstinence and treatment contribute to the reversal of atrophy and dysfunction.