Boundary distortions for neutral and emotional pictures

In two experiments, we examined Safer, Christianson, Autry, and Osterlund's (1998) claim that when emotional material is remembered, tunnel memory (i.e., the tendency to remember less of a scene than was actually shown) occurs. In Experiment 1, 81 undergraduate students drew photographs from memory after having briefly seen either four neutral or four emotional photographs. Both neutral and emotional drawings revealed boundary extension (i.e., the tendency to remember more of a scene than was actually shown). Experiment 2 relied on the camera distance paradigm (Intraub, Bender, & Mangels, 1992). In a recognition test, 60 undergraduate students judged the camera distance of previously seen neutral or emotional photographs. The majority of them demonstrated accurate judgments and neither extended nor restricted picture boundaries. Those participants who made an error more often displayed a boundary extension than a tunnel memory error. Taken together, our results suggest that boundary extension for neutral and emotional photographs is a more robust phenomenon than its counterpart, tunnel memory.     

The locus of spatial attention during the temporal integration of visual memories and visual percepts

Temporal integration is a process by which two serially presented visual stimuli are mentally integrated to form a composite representation. In the present research, we explored how spatial selective attention is used during the delay separating stimuli, in order to determine the contents of spatial working memory in this task. A two-task situation was created. On the primary task, two dot arrays were serially presented within a grid, leaving one space empty, which subjects identified. On the secondary task, instead of the second array, a discrimination probe was presented. Integration accuracy increased through delays of 1,500 msec, revealing an estimate of the time required to form an optimal memory trace for integration. Once the memory trace was formed (but not before), response time to the probe was faster if it was presented in a location previously occupied by a dot from Array 1. This indicates that during the delay separating the arrays, the subjects assigned spatial attention to the locations occupied by the first array and actively maintained the leading array in working memory. Implications for theories of visual processing and memory are discussed.     

Differentiating location- and distance-based processes in memory for time: An ERP study

Memory for the time of events may benefit from reconstructive, location-based, and distance-based processes, but these processes are difficult to dissociate with behavioral methods. Neuropsychological research has emphasized the contribution of prefrontal brain mechanisms to memory for time but has not clearly differentiated location- from distance-based processing. The present experiment recorded event-related brain potentials (ERPs) while subjects completed two different temporal memory tests, designed to emphasize either location- or distance-based processing. The subjects’ reports of locationbased versus distance-based strategies and the reaction time pattern validated our experimental manipulation. Late (800–1,800 msec) frontal ERP effects were related to location-based processing. The results provide support for a two-process theory of memory for time and suggest that frontal memory mechanisms are specifically related to reconstructive, location-based processing.     

A phoneme-grapheme feedback consistency effect

Recent studies examining the feedback consistency effect have been criticized for poor item selection (Peereman, Content, & Bonin, 1998). In the present study, an experiment was run with a new set of items, in which feedback consistency was manipulated at a phoneme-grapheme level. The results suggested that participants responded faster to feedback-consistent words than to feedback-inconsistent words. This was despite the feedback-consistent and feedback-inconsistent word groups’ being matched on many other dimensions, including word frequency and subjective orthographic frequency. These results may differ from those of previous studies, since previous studies in English have measured feedback consistency at the rime-body level.     

Viewpoint alignment and response conflict during spatial judgment

Spatial judgment (e.g., identifying the relative location, such as left or right, of a target) from a reference point becomes more difficult with increasing disparity between the relevant allocentric viewpoint and the observer-centered viewpoint. The viewpoint alignment hypothesis suggests that this misalignment effect is due to a realignment process that reconciles two viewpoints, implying that providing an advance cue for a viewpoint should facilitate the subsequent judgment. We examined whether advance viewpoint information can reduce the misalignment effect and whether the misalignment effect reflects response conflict, as well as realignment of viewpoints. In Experiment 1, the misalignment effect decreased with advance viewpoint information, suggesting that the misalignment effect indeed reflects viewpoint realignment. In Experiment 2, the misalignment effect was greater with spatial response codes that might conflict with the spatially arranged response keys than with arbitrary responses with no such conflict. These results suggest that the misalignment effect may arise from both viewpoint realignment and response conflicts.     

A reversed word length effect in coordinating the preparation and articulation of words in speaking

Speakers tend to prepare their nouns immediately before saying them, rather than preparing them further in advance. To test the limits of this last-second preparation, speakers were asked to name object pairs without pausing between names. There was not enough time to prepare the second name while articulating the first, so the speakers’ delay in starting to say the first name was based on the amount of time available to prepare the second name during speech. Before speaking, they spent more time preparing a second name (e.g., carrot) when the first name was monosyllabic (e.g., wig) rather than multisyllabic (e.g., windmill ). When additional words intervened between names, the length of the first name became less important and speech began earlier. Preparation differences were reflected in speech latencies, durations, and eye movements. The results suggest that speakers are sensitive to the length of prepared words and the time needed for preparing subsequent words. They can use this information to increase fluency while minimizing word buffering.     

Irrelevant speech,articulatory suppression,and phonological similarity: A test of the phonological loop model and the feature model

Two experiments tested competing predictions about the nature of the irrelevant speech effect that were derived from Neath's (2000) feature model and from Salamé and Baddeley's (1982) phonological loop model. The first experiment examined the combined effects of irrelevant speech and articulatory suppression when target items were presented auditorily. Contrary to the suggestions of Neath, but consistent with the phonological loop model, the effects of articulatory suppression and irrelevant speech were additive even when the irrelevant speech was presented during the retention interval The second experiment examined the combined effects of irrelevant speech and phonological similarity when target items were presented visually. Consistent with the phonological loop model, the effects of phonological similarity and irrelevant speech were additive when participants were specifically instructed to use articulatory/phonological rehearsal to remember the list items. The results therefore contradicted Neath's claim that irrelevant speech abolishes the phonological similarity effect when list items are presented visually. However, the effect of phonological similarity was abolished in the irrelevant speech conditions when no instructions were given concerning rehearsal. It is argued that the phonological similarity effect disappears in some experiments because participants sometimes employ a semantic rehearsal strategy, consistent with the views of Salamé and Baddeley (1986).     

On-line syntactic processing under concurrent memory load

Thirty-six university students were tested in a plausibility judgment task using a self-paced listening paradigm under no-interference and two-digit load conditions. Listening times were longer at syntactically more complex portions of syntactically more complex sentences, and greater loads led to increased listening times. However, listening times at syntactically more complex positions in syntactically more complex sentences did not increase more than listening times at comparable positions in syntactically simple sentences under digit load conditions. The results indicate that a concurrent memory load does not reduce the availability of working memory resources used for on-line syntactic processing and, thus, provide evidence that the working memory system used for assigning syntactic structure is separate from that measured by standard working memory tasks.     

The difference engine: A model of diversity in speeded cognition

A theory of diversity in speeded cognition, the difference engine, is proposed, in which information processing is represented as a series of generic computational steps. Some individuals tend to perform all of these computations relatively quickly and other individuals tend to perform them all relatively slowly, reflecting the existence of a general cognitive speed factor, but the time required for response selection and execution is assumed to be independent of cognitive speed. The difference engine correctly predicts the positively accelerated form of the relation between diversity of performance, as measured by the standard deviation for the group, and task difficulty, as indexed by the mean response time (RT) for the group. In addition, the difference engine correctly predicts approximately linear relations between the RTs of any individual and average performance for the group, with the regression lines for fast individuals having slopes less than 1.0 (and positive intercepts) and the regression lines for slow individuals having slopes greater than 1.0 (and negative intercepts). Similar predictions are made for comparisons of slow, average, and fast subgroups, regardless of whether those subgroups are formed on the basis of differences in ability, age, or health status. These predictions are consistent with evidence from studies of healthy young and older adults as well as from studies of depressed and age-matched control groups.     

Does Singing Promote Well-Being?: An Empirical Study of Professional and Amateur Singers during a Singing Lesson

This study explored the possible beneficial effects of singing on well-being during a singing lesson. Eight amateur (2m, 6f, age 28-53 yrs) and eight professional (4m, 4f, age 26-49 yrs) singers who had been attending singing lessons for at least six months were included. Continuous ECG was recorded and computerized spectral analysis was performed. Serum concentrations of TNF-alpha, prolactin, cortisol, and oxytocin were measured before and 30 min after the lesson. Five visual analogue scales (VAS, sad-joyful, anxious-calm, worried-elated, listless-energetic, and tense-relaxed) were scored before and after the lesson. In addition, a semi-structured interview was performed. Heart rate variability analyses showed significant changes over time in the two groups for total power, and low and high frequency power. Power increased during singing in professionals, whereas there were no changes in amateurs. This indicates an ability to retain more "heart-brain connection." i.e., more cardio-physiological fitness for singing in professional singers, compared to amateur singers. Serum concentration of TNF-alpha increased in professionals after the singing lesson, whereas the concentration in amateurs decreased. Serum concentrations of prolactin and cortisol increased after the lesson in the group of men and vice versa for women. Oxytocin concentrations increased significantly in both groups after the singing lesson. Amateurs reported increasing joy and elatedness (VAS), whereas professionals did not. However, both groups felt more energetic and relaxed after the singing lesson. The interviews showed that the professionals were clearly achievement-oriented, with focus on singing technique, vocal apparatus and body during the lesson. The amateurs used the singing lessons as a means of self-actualization and self-expression as a way to release emotional tensions. In summary, in this study, singing during a singing lesson seemed to promote more well-being and less arousal for amateurs compared to professional singers, who seemed to experience less well-being and more arousal.