The development and effectiveness of memory strategies in kindergarten and elementary school: Findings from the Würzburg and Göttingen longitudinal memory studies

This article reports findings of the Würzburg and Göttingen Longitudinal Memory Studies, which focused on children's verbal memory development. The studies started with 102 (German) kindergarten children in Würzburg and 86 second-graders in Göttingen who were tested on various memory measures, including sort-recall, memory capacity, metamemory, and verbal IQ. Assessments were repeated nine times, with adjacent measurement points separated by 6-month time intervals. The main goals of the studies concerned the assessment of utilization deficiencies during the course of strategy development, the analysis of factors influencing the effectiveness of strategy use, and the occurrence of multiple strategy use. Findings confirmed the outcome of previous longitudinal studies in that semantic organization strategies were not always accompanied by superior recall, but utilization deficiency problems were comparably rare. Strategy effectiveness was shown as being affected mainly by memory capacity and by children's tendency to engage in multiple strategy use. However, children did not start to apply multiple strategies effectively until the end of Grade 2.     

Automatic affective-motivational regulation processes underlying supportive dyadic coping: the role of increased implicit positive attitudes toward communal goals in response to a stressed relationship partner

Background and objectives: We examined the implicit affective mechanisms underlying provision of support in intimate dyads. Specifically, we hypothesized that in individuals with high relationship satisfaction, the perception that one’s partner is stressed leads to increased implicit positive attitudes toward communal goals. In turn, this change in implicit attitudes facilitates supportive behavior.

Design and methods: In two studies, we induced partner stress by instructing participants to either recall a situation where their partner was highly stressed (Study 1; N?=?47 university students) or imagine a specific stressful event (excessive workload; Study 2; N?=?85 university students). Subsequently, implicit attitudes toward communal goals were assessed with an Implicit Association Test.

Results: In both studies, we found that among participants with high relationship satisfaction partner stress increases preferences for communal goals. In addition, implicit preferences for communal goals predicted stronger inclinations to engage in supportive dyadic coping (Study 2).

Conclusions: The current findings provide important insights into the implicit cognitive-affective mechanics of dyadic coping. Moreover, they can explain how people manage to avoid experiencing motivational conflicts between partner-oriented and self-oriented goals in situations characterized by high partner stress.     

Problem-solving performance and reproductive success of great tits in urban and forest habitats

Success in problem solving, a form of innovativeness, can help animals exploit their environments, and recent research suggests that it may correlate with reproductive success. Innovativeness has been proposed to be especially beneficial in urbanized habitats, as suggested by superior problem-solving performance of urban individuals in some species. If there is stronger selection for innovativeness in cities than in natural habitats, we expect problem-solving performance to have a greater positive effect on fitness in more urbanized habitats. We tested this idea in great tits (Parus major) breeding at two urban sites and two forests by measuring their problem-solving performance in an obstacle-removal task and a food-acquisition task. Urban pairs were significantly faster problem-solvers in both tasks. Solving speed in the obstacle-removal task was positively correlated with hatching success and the number of fledglings, whereas performance in the food-acquisition task did not correlate with reproductive success. These relationships did not differ between urban and forest habitats. Neophobia, sensitivity to human disturbance, and risk taking in the presence of a predator did not explain the relationships of problem-solving performance either with habitat type or with reproductive success. Our results suggest that the benefit of innovativeness in terms of reproductive success is similar in urban and natural habitats, implying that problem-solving skills may be enhanced in urban populations by some other benefits (e.g. increased survival) or reduced costs (e.g. more opportunities to gain practice with challenging tasks).     

Approach-avoidance goals and relationship problems,communication of stress,and dyadic coping in couples

Partners in romantic relationships differ in the extent to which they are oriented towards positive outcomes (e.g., intimacy) or away from negative outcomes (e.g., conflict). The present study examines these approach-avoidance relationship goals in relation to self-reported relationship problems, stress communication, and dyadic coping. Hypotheses were tested on a dyadic level (Actor-Partner Interdependence Model) using data from 368 couples. As expected, people endorsing approach goals reported fewer relationship problems, more effective stress communication, and better dyadic coping. People endorsing avoidance goals reported more relationship problems and poorer dyadic coping. Further, approach-oriented people tended to perceive their partner as being more communicative and more supportive, whereas avoidance-oriented people tended to perceive their partner as more communicative but less supportive. Reports by partners agreed with the self-reports of approach- and avoidance-oriented spouses concerning stress communication and dyadic coping. These findings highlight motivational factors in general, and orientation towards approach-avoidance goals in particular, as key features in understanding relationship maintenance.     

Goals need implementation intentions: The model of action phases tested in the applied setting of continuing education

In the present study, the model of action phases (Heckhausen & Gollwitzer, 1987) was applied to the area of continuing education. A subsample of 136 East German participants in the larger study "Active Actions in a Radical Change Situation" rated the expected value of further education, indicated whether they had taken a decision to continue their education (goal intention) and whether they were planning goal-directed actions (implementation intention). Two years later, it was ascertained whether participants had initiated vocational retraining. Findings support the core assumptions of the model. Postdecisional participants endorsed the positive aspects of further education more strongly (implemental mindset) than predecisional participants, who looked at its pros and cons impartially (deliberative mindset). Second, participants were more successful in initiating vocational retraining when they had a goal intention that was additionally furnished with an implementation intention. Findings are discussed with respect to theoretical and practical implications of the distinction between goal setting and goal implementation.     

Concept identification with and without blank trials

The blank trials technique introduced by Levine (1966) has been of considerable importance in the study of concept identification and human discrimination learning, as it provides a means of identifying the hypotheses generating choice responses. However, this technique involves the interpolation between normal feedback trials of several trials during which no feedback concerning the correctness of a subject's responses is given.

An experiment was conducted to study the comparability of concept identification with and without blank trials. No differences in trials to criterion, number of errors, or in presolution latencies were observed. These results tend to justify inferences about normal concept identification from blank trial data, and they also have some implications concerning the role of memory in concept identification.     

Effects of phonological similarity and concurrent irrelevant articulation on short-term-memory recall of repeated and novel word lists

The extent to which phonological similarity of list words impairs short-term-memory recall was investigated in two experiments. Experiment 1 showed that the phonological-similarity effect occurred both when list words were repeatedly sampled from a small set and when they were new on every trial, both when word-order information was required and when it was not. Furthermore, the adverse effect of phonological similarity on recall was apparent on the initial lists recalled, did not change over trials, and cannot be attributed to increasing levels of proactive inhibition across lists. In Experiment 2, subjects were required to count repeatedly to six during list presentation. Concurrent irrelevant articulation lowered recall and abolished the phonological similarity effect for both repeated and novel word lists.     

Indirect majority and minority influence: An exploratory study

In a 2 × 2 design, 85 subjects were asked to estimate the size of angles (direct influence) that were either 90 or 85°, after being confronted with incorrect judgements of a majority (88 per cent) or a minority (12 per cent) of people estimating the angles at 50°. Additionally, pre- and post-test measures were used to establish indirect influence on subjects' judgements pertaining to acute angles (i.e. on the estimation of the length of lines constituting the angles, and on the imaginary weight of figures represented by these angles). Overall, little direct influence is observed. This may partly be due to the introduction of a denial of the credibility of the source in all conditions. In fact, some evidence of direct influence is only found in the majority–85° angles condition. An instance of indirect influence (on the estimation of length of lines) appeared as the result of a majority stance when the angles in the experimental phase were 90°. When these angles were 85°, indirect minority influence (on the estimation of weight of figures) was observed. These effects had been predicted on the basis of the hypothesis stating that indirect majority influence would be possible when subjects expected consensus on the correct response (in the 90° angles condition), without being able to reach consensus at the manifest level (because of the denial and the restriction imposed by the clear shape of 90° angles). Indirect minority influence was hypothesized to be stronger in a situation that allows for diverse responses (i.e. for 85° angles).     

Get a Taste of Your Goals: Promoting Motive–Goal Congruence Through Affect-Focus Goal Fantasy

ABSTRACT Studies show that motive–goal congruence is an important predictor of well-being ( Baumann, Kaschel, & Kuhl, 2005; Brunstein, Schultheiss, & Grässmann, 1998 ). However, little is known about the factors that promote congruence between implicit motives and goals. Relying on McClelland's (1985) concept of implicit motives and the theory of fantasy realization ( Oettingen, 1999 ), we postulated that goal fantasies focusing on motive-specific affective incentives promote motive-congruent goal setting. This hypothesis was tested in 3 experimental studies. In Study 1 ( n =46) and Study 2 ( n =48), participants were asked to select goals in a hypothetical scenario. In Study 3 ( n =179), they rated their commitment to personal goals for their actual life situation. The results of all 3 studies supported our hypothesis that participants who focus on motive-specific affective incentives in their goal fantasies set their goals in line with their corresponding implicit motive dispositions.