Picturing survival memories: Enhanced memory after fitness-relevant processing occurs for verbal and visual stimuli

Recent studies have shown that processing words according to a survival scenario leads to superior retention relative to control conditions. Here, we examined whether a survival recall advantage could be elicited by using pictures. Furthermore, in Experiment 1, we were interested in whether survival processing also results in improved memory for details. Undergraduates rated the relevance of pictures in a survival, moving, or pleasantness scenario and were subsequently given a surprise free recall test. We found that survival processing yielded superior retention. We also found that distortions occurred more often in the survival condition than in the pleasantness condition. In Experiment 2, we directly compared the survival recall effect between pictures and words. A comparable survival recall advantage was found for pictures and words. The present findings support the idea that memory is enhanced by processing information in terms of fitness value, yet at the same time, the present results suggest that this may increase the risk for memory distortions.     

The effect of behavioral skills training with general‐case training on staff chaining of child vocalizations within natural language paradigm

This study used behavioral skills training (BST) and general‐case training (GCT) in which the experimenter simulated child performance to teach three staff to conduct NLP and response chaining to increase three‐link vocal chains in three children with autism. Staff increased their correct NLP performance during post‐training in comparison to baseline. Two of three children emitted more vocal chains following training. This study demonstrated that BST and GCT were effective in training NLP and response chaining. When assessing social validity, both Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) and teachers did not indicate an increase in staff members' teaching skills. Future research should develop effective technologies to chain vocal behavior and to teach staff and parents to implement response chaining. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysis of ordinal categorical data with misclassification

We develop a method for the analysis of multivariate ordinal categorical data with misclassification based on the latent normal variable approach. Misclassification arises if a subject has been classified into a category that does not truly reflect its actual state, and can occur with one or more variables. A basic framework is developed to enable the analysis of two types of data. The first corresponds to a single sample that is obtained from a fallible design that may lead to misclassified data. The other corresponds to data that is obtained by double sampling. Double sampling data consists of two parts: a sample that is obtained by classifying subjects using the fallible design only and a sample that is obtained by classifying subjects using both fallible and true designs, which is assumed to have no misclassification. A unified expectation–maximization approach is developed to find the maximum likelihood estimate of model parameters. Simulation studies and examples that are based on real data are used to demonstrate the applicability and practicability of the proposed methods.     

Males outperform females in translating social relations into spatial positions

Research indicates that human males interact in groups, whereas females form one-on-one relationships. Whereas females excel in understanding intimate verbally-mediated social information, we hypothesized that males would be more sensitive to the spatial positions of friends within a group. In Study 1, we demonstrate that after a very brief exposure, compared to females, males more accurately recalled the spatial positions of individuals who were friendly with one another when their relative positions mirrored their friendship structures. In Study 2, we demonstrate that females were as accurate as males in reconstituting the positions of individuals who were not friends with one another. In Study 3, we demonstrate that the male advantage remains when indirect cues to positive group relations are used. These results support the idea that the group-based social structure of males renders them more sensitive than females to the use of relational information in reconstituting the short-term spatial locations of group members.     

Gender and priming differences in speed of processing of information relating to social structure

Previous research has shown that women and men’s different interactional contexts result in selective differences in retention of information (e.g., Gabriel & Gardner, 1999). This study tested the hypothesis that there should be broad gender-related differences in latencies of retrieval of information focused on groups or dyads, with women processing the latter more rapidly, and men processing the former more rapidly. Participants were given a diary reading task with explicit recall instructions. Results showed that although no difference was found in overall retention of items, women responded more rapidly to items referring to dyads, while men responded more rapidly to items referring to groups. In addition, a strong effect of the gender of the protagonist of the diary was found. Participants of both gender responded more rapidly to dyadic items when the protagonist was female but responded more rapidly to group items when the protagonist was male. These results indicate that gender differences in social structure result in differences in encoding and retrieval of broad classes of information that are not accountable for by selective retention.     

When additional multiple‐choice lures aid versus hinder later memory

Three experiments were conducted to investigate whether increasing the number of lures on a multiple‐choice test helps, hinders or has no effect on later memory. All three patterns have been reported in the literature. In Experiment 1, the stimuli were unrelated word lists, and increasing the number of lures on an initial multiple‐choice test led to better performance on later free recall and cued recall tasks. In contrast, in Experiments 2 and 3, stimuli were facts from prose materials, and increasing the number of multiple‐choice lures led to robust costs in cued recall and smaller costs in free recall. The results indicate that performance on the initial multiple‐choice test is a critical factor. When initial multiple‐choice performance was near ceiling, testing with additional lures led to superior performance on subsequent tests. However, at lower levels of multiple‐choice performance, testing with additional lures produced costs on later tests. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

先前知识对初中学生学习家族相似性类别的影响研究

采用特征—主题的类别学习范式,考察了先前知识对初中学生学习具有家族相似性结构人工类别的影响。结果表明:基于先前知识的主题关系对初中学生的类别学习有显著促进;初中学生在基于已有知识的类别学习中更多地获得了知识关联特征的信息,同时也能对机械特征保持敏感。