The control of training and transfer effects in the Minnesota Spatial Relations and other tasks

An experiment was carried out to demonstrate transfer of training in preschool children on tasks where transfer had previously been demonstrated in different populations. No evidence for transfer was found in any of the three tasks employed. The possibility that this finding was due to the lack of appropriate controls for the effects of specific training was examined using three groups to provide base-lines for the effects of practice, cognitive stimulation and social intervention. No significant differences were found either at post-test or follow-up between the specific training group and the control groups. A second experiment controlled for the effects of pre-testing. It was found that considerable transfer occurred from the pre-test trial to the first training trial. It appeared that one trial was sufficient to allow subjects to develop a strategy which was appropriate for both the training and transfer materials. Experiments of this type can clearly indicate whether or not some basic processes can be modified by means of short-term intervention and have implications for inducing longer-term benefits.     

The contribution of the human medial temporal lobe to perception: bridging the gap between animal and human studies.

The medial temporal lobe (MTL) has been considered traditionally to subserve declarative memory processes only. Recent studies in nonhuman primates suggest, however, that the MTL may also be critical to higher order perceptual processes, with the hippocampus and perirhinal cortex being involved in scene and object perception, respectively. The current article reviews the human neuropsychological literature to determine whether there is any evidence to suggest that these same views may apply to the human MTL. Although the majority of existing studies report intact perception following MTL damage in human amnesics, there have been recent studies that suggest that when scene and object perception are assessed systematically, significant impairments in perception become apparent. These findings have important implications for current mnemonic theories of human MTL function and our understanding of human amnesia as a result of MTL lesions.