Automatic activation of multiplication facts: Evidence from the nodes adjacent to the product

Adult observers are widely assumed to be equipped with a specific memory store containing arithmetic facts. The present study was aimed at exploring the possibility of obtaining an automatic activation of multiplication facts by using the number-matching paradigm (LeFevre, Bisanz, & Mrkonjic, 1988), in which mental arithmetic is task irrelevant. In particular, we were interested in exploring whether the nodes that precede or follow the product node in the multiplication table can also be automatically activated as a consequence of the mere presentation of two numbers. In Experiments 1 and 2, we showed that participants were slower in responding “no” to probes that were numbers adjacent to the product in the table related to the first operand of the initial pair than to probes that were unrelated to the initial pair. In Experiments 3 and 4, we showed a similar pattern for probes that were numbers adjacent to the product in the table related to the second operand of the initial pair. Experiments 5 and 6 ruled out alternative accounts and confirmed the results of the previous experiments. Taken together the present findings suggest that multiplication facts are stored in a highly related network in which activation spreads from the product node to adjacent nodes.     

What “Evidence” in Evidence-Based Medicine?

Topoi - The concept of evidence has gone unanalysed in much of the current debate between proponents and critics of evidence-based medicine. In this paper I will suggest that part of the...     

Validation of scales measuring attitudes and norms related to mammography screening in women veterans.

Validation of psychosocial measures for use in mammography screening research has been given inadequate attention in the literature. The authors report on the validation of 5 measures examining 4 attitudinal constructs (i.e., pros, cons, outcome expectations, and cancer worries) and 1 social influence construct (i.e., subjective norms) in a 22-item inventory. The study participants consisted of a national, randomly sampled population of women veterans (n = 2,910). After minor revision of scales, the authors found independent measures for 4 constructs: pros, cons, cancer worries, and subjective norms. The authors concluded that these scales have acceptable psychometric properties; support construct validity; and provide brief, reliable, and valid measures of attitudes toward and norms regarding mammography screening. These scales may be useful for intervention research.