Digitally manipulating memory: Effects of doctored videos and imagination in distorting beliefs and memories

In prior research on false autobiographical beliefs and memories, subjects have been asked to imagine fictional events and have been exposed to false evidence that indicates that the fictional events occurred. But what are the relative contributions of imagination and false evidence toward false belief and memory construction? In the present study, subjects observed and copied various simple actions; then they viewed doctored videos that suggested that they had performed extra actions and they imagined performing some of those and some other actions. Subjects returned 2 weeks later for a memory test. False evidence or imagination alone was often sufficient to cause belief and memory distortions; in combination, they appeared to have additive or even superadditive effects. The results bear on the mechanisms underlying false beliefs and memories, and we propose legal and clinical applications of these findings.     

Variation in working memory capacity,fluid intelligence,and episodic recall: A latent variable examination of differences in the dynamics of free recall

A latent variable analysis was conducted to examine the nature of individual differences in the dynamics of free recall and cognitive abilities. Participants performed multiple measures of free recall, working memory capacity (WMC), and fluid intelligence (gF). For each free recall task, recall accuracy, recall latency, and number of intrusion errors were determined, and latent factors were derived for each. It was found that recall accuracy was negatively related to both recall latency and number of intrusions, and recall latency and number of intrusions were positively related. Furthermore, latent WMC and gF factors were positively related to recall accuracy, but negatively related to recall latency and number of intrusions. Finally, a cluster analysis revealed that subgroups of participants with deficits in focusing the search had deficits in recovering degraded representations or deficits in monitoring the products of retrieval. The results are consistent with the idea that variation in the dynamics of free recall, WMC, and gF are primarily due to differences in search set size, but differences in recovery and monitoring are also important.     

Inter- and intra-individual variation in immediate free recall: an examination of serial position functions and recall initiation strategies

Serial position functions in immediate free recall have been historically noted for their bowed shape, where items presented at the beginning (primacy) and end (recency) of a list are better remembered than those presented in the middle. While extensive work has examined these effects, researchers typically ignore the systematic differences among individuals that likely contribute, but are lost when using an aggregate function. In the current study, inter- and intra-individual differences in serial position functions and differences in recall strategies were examined. Participants performed a free recall task on multiple lists. Three groups of participants were derived based on the relative profiles in their serial position functions. These groups differed in the extent that they output mainly primacy items, recency items, or both primacy and recency items. Performance on immediate free recall and on cognitive ability tasks was compared between these three groups. Systematic inter- and intra-individual variation in recall strategies led to differential profiles of performance in immediate free recall, which was also related to the additional cognitive ability measures. Performance on a task can be due to the utilisation of a variety of control processes that emphasise various components of that task over other components.     

Does Psychological Empowerment Mediate the Relationship Between Psychological Climate and Job Satisfaction?

This study tested a model in which empowerment was hypothesised to mediate the relationship between psychological climate and job satisfaction. Individual levels of negative affectivity were controlled for. The sample consisted of 174 customer service employees (59% female and 39% male). Support was found for a model in which empowerment mediated the relationship between climate and job satisfaction, the dimensions of meaning and competence were largely responsible for the mediating effects of empowerment. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings were explored.     

“You Have to Sit and Explain it All,and Explain Yourself.” Mothers’ Experiences of Support Services for Their Offspring with a Rare Genetic Intellectual Disability Syndrome

The experiences of mothers of adult offspring with Angelman, Cornelia de Lange, or Cri du Chat syndrome have not been previously explored in research. The current study focuses on experiences with social and medical services and the impact the rareness of an adult offspring’s syndrome has on the experiences of mothers. Eight mothers of adults with Angelman, Cornelia de Lange, or Cri du Chat syndrome were interviewed. Thematic Content Analysis was used to interpret the interviews. Four themes emerged from the analysis: (i) The rarity of their offspring’s syndrome, (ii) Uneven medical and social care service provision, (iii) The inertia of social care services, and (iv) Mothers as advocates. Mothers felt that the rareness of their offspring’s syndrome did not affect experiences with social care services, but did affect access to medical services and some aspects of day-to-day living. Accessing appropriate social care services was reported to be a lengthy and complex process. These data may help inform care service providers about how best to support adults with rare genetic syndromes and their families.     

Reconstructing alcohol-induced memory blackouts

Many people who drink alcohol have experienced a blackout; whereby they are unable to recall events that occurred during a period of intoxication. Following these blackout episodes individuals may attempt to reconstruct what happened to them. Blackouts therefore afford an excellent opportunity to study the strategies people use to reconstruct forgotten experiences. We conducted a survey of university students to explore how people choose to reconstruct blackouts, and the likely accuracy of these reconstructions. Our findings add to the growing research literature on people's strategies for validating their past experiences, and highlight the important role of external sources in the reconstruction process. The data show that people's desire to "fill in the blanks" can lead them to rely on rather unreliable sources, and may also encourage them to adopt weaker source-monitoring criteria. Indeed, in at least some cases reconstructing blackouts appears to lead to the development of false beliefs or memories.     

Reliability and validity of the Women's Health Initiative Insomnia Rating Scale

The reliability and construct validity of the 5-item Women's Health Initiative Insomnia Rating Scale (WHIIRS) were evaluated in 2 studies. In Study 1, using a sample of 66,269 postmenopausal women, validity of the WHIIRS was assessed by examining its relationship to other measures known to be related to sleep quality. Reliability of the WHIIRS was estimated using a resampling approach; the mean alpha coefficient was .78. Test-retest reliability coefficients were .96 for same-day administration and .66 after a year or more. Correlations of the WHIIRS with the other measures were in the predicted directions. Study 2 used a sample of 459 women and compared the WHIIRS with objective indicators of sleep quality. Results showed that differences in the objective indicators could be detected by the WHIIRS. Findings suggest that a between-group mean difference of approximately 0.50 of a standard deviation on the WHIIRS may be clinically meaningful.     

Relative influences of affect and cognition on behavior: are feelings or beliefs more related to blood donation intentions?

This study tested the relative predictive power of affect and cognition on global attitude and behavioral intention within the tripartite model of attitude structure. Participants (N = 264) completed questionnaires that included an item regarding blood donation experience, five semantic differential items, four behavioral intention items, and one global attitude item. Participants were randomly assigned to either an affective or cognitive instruction set for the semantic differential items. As predicted, semantic differentials were more highly correlated with both global attitude and behavioral intention when completed under the affective instructions than under the cognitive instructions. In addition, donors' and non-donors' attitudes on the semantic differential scales were distinguished from one another only when they were elicited under the affective instruction set. Results provide support for the tripartite model of attitude structure. Future research should examine the relative importance of affect and cognition in less emotion-laden domains.     

Ontogeny and adult behavior of mice with congenital neural tube defects

Effects of abnormal neural tube development were studied in immature and adult mice. The behavior of affected adult mice was found to resemble that of mice that exhibit the "waltzer syndrome." Behavioral ontogenetic studies indicate that effected mice are deficient in labyrinthine responses as shown by the late development or lack of negative geotaxic behaviors and the delayed loss of pivoting behavior. Retarded maturation of neural responses was indicated by a delay in the appearance of the startle response. Evidence that circling behavior in adult mice of the "waltzer syndrome" may be a result of central nervous system disorders alone, or in concert with abnormalities of the inner ear, was provided by the fact that open field activity was increased in affected mice that exhibit circling behavior as adults.