Investigating the attentional demands of recognition memory: Manipulating depth of encoding at study and level of attention at test

Two experiments investigated the effects of divided attention at test after manipulating levels of processing at study. In Experiment 1 items were studied either intact or as anagrams. In Experiment 2 items were studied with either full or divided attention (DA). In both experiments participants carried out a recognition test with either full or divided attention. Analysis of remember and know responses revealed that DA at test had no effect on remember responses to anagrams or to items studied with full attention. In contrast, Know responses decreased with DA at test, and this occurred for items studied in both deep and shallow encoding conditions. The present study confirms recent findings (Knott & Dewhurst, 2007a) that knowing can rely on more controlled retrieval processes, whereas remembering can rely on more automatic retrieval processes. Differences in the controlled processes associated with recollection and familiarity and remember and know responses are discussed.     

Processing Faces and Facial Expressions

This paper reviews processing of facial identity and expressions. The issue of independence of these two systems for these tasks has been addressed from different approaches over the past 25 years. More recently, neuroimaging techniques have provided researchers with new tools to investigate how facial information is processed in the brain. First, findings from traditional approaches to identity and expression processing are summarized. The review then covers findings from neuroimaging studies on face perception, recognition, and encoding. Processing of the basic facial expressions is detailed in light of behavioral and neuroimaging data. Whereas data from experimental and neuropsychological studies support the existence of two systems, the neuroimaging literature yields a less clear picture because it shows considerable overlap in activation patterns in response to the different face-processing tasks. Further, activation patterns in response to facial expressions support the notion of involved neural substrates for processing different facial expressions.     

Remote Odor Memory in Alzheimer's Disease: Deficits as Measured by Familiarity

Deficit in olfaction and remote nonolfactory memory in Alzheimer's disease (AD) motivated the present study of remote memory for odors and faces, operationally defined as rated familiarity, in patients with AD and controls. Uncommon engineering symbols were rated for familiarity to ensure task comprehension. Results showed that patients with AD rate odors, but not faces, as significantly less familiar than do controls, which is indicative of deficit in remote odor memory. Follow-up testing 1 year later again showed this result. Poor odor-detection sensitivity in patients, with AD, but lack of significant correspondence between sensitivity and familiarity, suggests an existing but limited effect of sensitivity on familiarity. The findings provide further evidence that olfaction may be a useful modality for early identification of AD.     

汉字材料的性质对视觉短时记忆广度影响的实验研究

汉字材料的熟悉性和复杂性对视觉短时记忆（ＶＳＴＭ）广度的影响研究存在分析。本研究在实验设计上区分了汉语字词的熟悉性和复杂性维度,探讨了它们对ＶＳＴＭ广义的不同影响程度,结果表明：（１）材料的熟悉性是影响汉语字词ＶＳＴＭ广度的最重要因素,材料的复杂性影响不大;（２）在材料熟悉程度一致,被试在１１－２０岁年龄范围条件下,汉语字词ＶＳＴＭ广义将保持相对恒定（３）在承认“组块假说”的前提,汉语字词ＶＳＴＭ     

Imagery Value,Subjective and Objective Frequency,Date of Entry into the Language,and Degree of Polysemy in a Sample of 998 French Words

A random sample of 998 lexical words was drawn from a dictionary of the French language. Two groups of subjects rated the words for imagery value (IV) and subjective frequency (SF). Despite substantial individual differences in the ratings, the subjective measures were highly reliable (α = 0.98 for both IV and SF). The relation between the standard deviation and the mean of the ratings can be described by a quadratic function (R = 0.93 for IV and R = 0.75 for SF). The independence of IV and frequency was confirmed. IV was found to be partially dependent on grammatical category (η = 0.50) and slightly dependent on polysemy. Date of entry into the language (DE) was correlated with objective and subjective frequency. The correlation between DE and IV was weak. The words and their characteristics are presented in the Appendix.     

柯林斯语义层次网络模型的实验研究

应用语义验证法对柯林斯与奎利安的语义层次网络模型进行研究,结果表明:(1)柯林斯等人的语义层次网络模型不完全适用于人脑的信息加工;(2)被试对主语所指称客体的熟悉程度是决定语义验证时间的一个重要因素;(3)被试提取概念各属性的时间并非完全由属性储存的位置决定的。     

Do they ‘look’ different(ly)? Dynamic face recognition in Malaysians: Chinese,Malays and Indians compared

Previous cross-cultural eye-tracking studies examining face recognition discovered differences in the eye movement strategies that observers employ when perceiving faces. However, it is unclear (1) the degree to which this effect is fundamentally related to culture and (2) to what extent facial physiognomy can account for the differences in looking strategies when scanning own- and other-race faces. In the current study, Malay, Chinese and Indian young adults who live in the same multiracial country performed a modified yes/no recognition task. Participants' recognition accuracy and eye movements were recorded while viewing muted face videos of own- and other-race individuals. Behavioural results revealed a clear own-race advantage in recognition memory, and eye-tracking results showed that the three ethnic race groups adopted dissimilar fixation patterns when perceiving faces. Chinese participants preferentially attended more to the eyes than Indian participants did, while Indian participants made more and longer fixations on the nose than Malay participants did. In addition, we detected statistically significant, though subtle, differences in fixation patterns between the faces of the three races. These findings suggest that the racial differences in face-scanning patterns may be attributed both to culture and to variations in facial physiognomy between races.     

Super-recognisers: Face recognition performance after variable delay intervals

Outstanding long-term face recognition of suspects is a hallmark of the exceptionally skilled police ‘super-recognisers’ (SRs). Yet, research investigating SR's memory for faces mainly employed brief retention intervals. Therefore, in Experiment 1, 597 participants (121 SRs) viewed 10 target videos and attempted identification of targets from 10 target-present line-ups after 1–56 days. In Experiment 2, 1,421 participants (301 SRs) viewed 20 target videos, and after a baseline of no delay to 28 days,—10 target-present and 10 target-absent line-ups, to assess correct line-up rejections. Overall, delay positively correlated with hits but not with correct rejections. Most, but not all SRs, made more correct identifications and correct rejections than controls at all retention intervals, demonstrating that many SRs possess enhanced long-term face memory. This research adds to the knowledge of SR's skillsets, and enhances the case for the selection of SRs to identity critical roles—particularly policing.     

No evidence of other-race effect for Chinese faces in Malaysian non-Chinese population

The other-race effect (ORE) reflects poor recognition of faces of a different race to one's own. According to the expertise-individuation hypothesis, this phenomenon is a consequence of limited experience with other-race faces. Thus, similar experience with own and other-race faces should abolish the ORE. This study explores the ORE in a multi-racial country (i.e., Malaysia) by comparing Malaysian observers' face recognition for faces of a predominant racial group in Malaysia (i.e., Chinese) with faces from an uncommon group (i.e., Caucasian). Malaysian Chinese, Malays, and Malaysian Indians completed the Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT) and the CFMT-Chinese. Compared with the normative scores, Malaysian observers showed poor performance in the CFMT-Caucasian. Interestingly, Malays and Malaysian Indians observers' performance was identical to that of Malaysian Chinese in the CFMT-Chinese and to the normative scores of the test. These results demonstrate the relevance of experience in shaping the ORE.