Independent retrieval of source dimensions: an extension of results by Starns and Hicks (2005) and a comment on the ACSIM measure

Recently, J. J. Starns and J. L. Hicks (2005) have argued that source dimensions are retrieved independently from memory. In their innovative experiment, manipulating the retrievability of 1 source feature did not affect memory for a 2nd feature. Following C. S. Dodson and A. P. Shimamura (2000), the authors argue that the source memory measure that Starns and Hicks used (known as the average conditional source identification measure) is vulnerable to a response bias in this particular paradigm, and this may undermine Starns and Hicks's conclusion. Starns and Hicks, however, acknowledged this possibility. The authors substantiate this claim by a simulation and by replicating Starns and Hicks's experiment. In 2 further experiments, the authors use an extended multinomial model to analyze data showing that Starns and Hicks's conclusion holds even if results cannot be attributed to response biases.     

The perception of visually presented yaw and pitch turns: assessing the contribution of motion, static, and cognitive cues

Terrestrial gravity restricts human locomotion to surfaces in which turns involve rotationsaround the body axis. Because observers are usually upright, one might expect the effects of gravity to induce differences in the processing of vertical versus horizontal turns. Subjects observed visual scenes of bending tunnels, either statically or dynamically, as if they were moving passively through the visual scene and were then asked to reproduce the turn deviation of the tunnel with a trackball. In order to disentangle inertia-related (earth-centered) from vision-related (body-centered) factors, the subjects were either upright or lying on their right side during the observations. Furthermore, the availability of continuous optic flow, geometrical cues, and eye movement were manipulated in three experiments. The results allowed us to characterize the factors' contributions as follows. Forward turns (pitch down) with all cues were largely overestimated, as compared with backward turns (pitch up). First, eye movements known to be irregular for vertical stimulation were largely responsible for this asymmetry. Second, geometry-based estimations are, to some extent, asymmetrical. Third, a cognitive effect corresponding to the evaluation of navigability for upward and downward turns was found (i.e.,top-down influences, such as the fear of falling often reported), which tended to increase the estimation of turns in the direction of gravity.     

Word,nonword, and visual paired associate learning in Dutch dyslexic children

Verbal and non-verbal learning were investigated in 21 8-11-year-old dyslexic children and chronological-age controls, and in 21 7-9-year-old reading-age controls. Tasks involved the paired associate learning of words, nonwords, or symbols with pictures. Both learning and retention of associations were examined. Results indicated that dyslexic children had difficulty with verbal learning of both words and nonwords. In addition, analysis of the errors made during nonword learning showed that both phonological errors and general learning errors were distributed similarly for the reading groups. This suggests that nonword learning in dyslexics is slower, but not qualitatively different from normal readers. Furthermore, no differences were found between the dyslexics and age-matched normal readers on non-verbal learning. Long-term retention of the learned visual-verbal associations (both words and nonwords) was not impaired in dyslexic children as compared to normal readers. Finally, phonological awareness ability was assessed. Dyslexics performed worse than age-matched normal readers, but similar to reading-age controls.     

Individual differences in adult foreign language learning: The mediating effect of metalinguistic awareness

In this study, we sought to identify cognitive predictors of individual differences in adult foreign-language learning and to test whether metalinguistic awareness mediated the observed relationships. Using a miniature language-learning paradigm, adults (N = 77) learned Russian vocabulary and grammar (gender agreement and case marking) over six 1-h sessions, completing tasks that encouraged attention to phrases without explicitly teaching grammatical rules. The participants’ ability to describe the Russian gender and case-marking patterns mediated the effects of nonverbal intelligence and auditory sequence learning on grammar learning and generalization. Hence, even under implicit-learning conditions, individual differences stemmed from explicit metalinguistic awareness of the underlying grammar, which, in turn, was linked to nonverbal intelligence and auditory sequence learning. Prior knowledge of languages with grammatical gender (predominantly Spanish) predicted learning of gender agreement. Transfer of knowledge of gender from other languages to Russian was not mediated by awareness, which suggests that transfer operates through an implicit process akin to structural priming.     

Trauma-Related Negative Cognitions Mediate the Relationship Between Avoidant Personality Beliefs and Impeded Response to Psychotherapy for PTSD

There is strong research evidence for the association of personality pathology and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as well as trauma-related negative cognitions (TRNC) and PTSD symptoms. However, the relationship between personality pathology and TRNC in the context of PTSD is mostly unknown. In the present study, we aimed to examine whether avoidant and borderline personality beliefs (PB, indicator of personality pathology) could predict therapy outcome in PTSD, and whether the relationship between PB and therapy outcome could be mediated by TRNC. Sixty patients with PTSD were assessed for PB, TRNC and PTSD symptoms at baseline, and for PTSD symptoms at the termination of Prolonged Exposure Therapy. Baseline avoidant PB predicted significant variance in PTSD symptoms at termination over and above baseline PTSD symptoms (16% reduction in treatment effect per SD on avoidant PB). Moreover, TRNC at baseline fully mediated the relationships between baseline avoidant PB and PTSD symptoms at termination. This is the first study to show that avoidant PB predicts treatment response in PTSD, and that patients with avoidant beliefs are more vulnerable to have TRNC, which are associated with impeded therapy response. Our results highlight the importance of targeting both dysfunctional PB and TRNC in PTSD interventions.     

An application of caricature: How to improve the recognition of facial composites

Facial caricatures exaggerate the distinctive features of a face and may elevate the recognition of a familiar face. We investigate whether the recognition of facial composites, or pictures of criminal faces, could be similarly enhanced. In this study, participants first estimated the degree of caricature necessary to make composites most identifiable. Contrary to expectation, an anticaricature was found to be best, presumably as this tended to reduce the appearance of errors. In support of this explanation, more positive caricature estimates were assigned to morphed composites: representations that tend to contain less overall error. In addition, anticaricaturing reduced identification for morphed composites but enhanced identification for individual composites. Although such improvements were too small to be of value to law enforcement, a sizeable naming benefit was observed when presenting a range of caricature states, which appeared to capitalize on individual differences in the internal representation of familiar faces.