Memory for Movement Sequences in Gymnastics: Effects of Age and Skill Level

The authors studied the performances of 8- to 13-year-old skilled (n = 30) and less skilled (n = 30) gymnasts on a gymnastics routine recall task by examining the role of memorization strategies and imagery ability. Subjects had to reproduce 3 movement sequences presented on videotape. The number of trials needed to achieve correct recall, the strategies employed, and the subjects' imagery ability were analyzed. Recall performance improved with age and skill level. Movement labeling was the most prevalent strategy used; its frequency increased with age, although it did not lead to better recall performance. Performance was higher, however, among subjects with better imagery skills. The role of strategy development in the age-related improvement in memory performance was not clearly demonstrated. The effect of skill level is interpreted in terms of knowledge bases and kinesthetic movement encoding.     

空间及言语工作记忆任务的情绪效应：来自ERP/ fMRI的证据

情绪与工作记忆的关系问题是情绪和认知研究领域中的子课题。根据加工效能理论, 负性情绪, 特别是焦虑对认知的影响通常被看作是通过影响工作记忆来完成的。因此, 探讨负性情绪是如何作用于工作记忆, 将有助于完善和发展情绪与认知的理论, 为心境障碍疾病的诊断、治疗及干预提供依据, 既具有学术价值又具有一定的临床意义。本论文在前人研究的基础上, 采用事件相关电位(ERP)和功能磁共振技术(fMRI), 系统地考察了情绪和工作记忆三个子成分(语音环路、视空间模板及中央执行器)间的关系。本论文抓住了当前的热点问题, 从情绪和认知的关系入手, 将脑成像、电生理和行为方面的研究有机结合, 将时间动态研究与空间定位研究相结合, 为情绪和工作记忆相互作用的神经机制提供独到的证据, 验证且发展了情绪和认知关系的奠基理论—— 加工效能理论。     

Interactive context integration in children? Evidence from an action memory study

Action–object phrases (e.g., “lift the bottle”) are remembered better if they have been enacted rather than learned verbally. This enactment effect is largest in free recall for phrases with objects (e.g., “bottle”) present because these phrases can be interactively encoded with those context objects (interactive context integration) that serve as retrieval cues. The current study investigated whether 6- and 8-year-olds are already capable of interactive context integration. Experiment 1 demonstrated interactive context integration with 8-year-olds. This was hindered in a condition where attention was directed away from context objects. Experiment 2 demonstrated interactive context integration with 6-year-old kindergartners. Taken together, our findings show that even 6-year-olds are capable of incidental context integration through enactment and that this process is attention based.     

不同情绪效价的DRM词表对错误记忆的影响

请49名在校大学生对自编的36个具有不同情绪效价的DRM词表进行评定,再以60名在校大学生为实验对象考察不同情绪效价的DRM词表对错误记忆的影响。结果发现,(1) 负性和中性DRM词表产生的错误记忆量显著高于正性DRM词表;(2) 被试在“记得/知道/猜测”判断上对负性和中性词表的关键诱饵倾向于“知道”,而对正性词表的关键诱饵更倾向于“记得”。结果表明,DRM词表本身所具有的情绪与人为诱发的情绪,对错误记忆的影响具有不同的性质和特点。     

Test–retest reliability of an emotion maintenance task

Research on working memory has suggested domain-specific components for visual, verbal, and spatial information, and more recently for emotion. Affective working memory has been proposed as the set of processes involved in the maintenance of emotions to guide behaviour. The current study examined the reliability of an emotion maintenance/affective working memory task over two experimental sessions separated by one week. Subjective accuracy based on individual ratings was found to correlate over time and was highest for negatively valenced pictures. Results suggest that this paradigm is a reliable measure of emotion maintenance, underscoring the utility of this measure as an assessment tool for normative and clinical populations.     

Rumination and Impaired Prospective Memory

Prospective memory (PM), remembering to remember, is crucial to everyday functioning. Understanding factors associated with PM impairments is thus important. One likely factor is rumination: a common cognitive process comprising repetitive self-focused thoughts. We investigated whether rumination is associated with impaired PM, and whether any associated impairment is exacerbated with negative stimuli. A sentence-rating task with sentences varying in valence was used with embedded PM cues in a non-clinical sample (N = 60). State rumination, two trait rumination subtypes (reflective pondering and brooding), and mood were measured in relation to PM cue detection and response times. Results showed that state rumination was associated with impaired PM cue detection and slower response times to PM cues embedded in negative sentences (not positive or neutral). Trait brooding (not reflective pondering) was associated with slower PM response times. These findings indicate that state rumination and trait brooding are associated with dissociable PM impairments.     

注意分心对定义一体化编码的影响

通过考察编码阶段注意分心对定义一体化条件下联结记忆成绩的影响,探究定义一体化编码对注意资源的依赖程度。使用注意分心范式,在记忆编码过程操作无分心、奇偶分心和大小分心条件,比较不同注意条件下的联结记忆成绩。结果发现:与无分心条件相比,定义一体化下的联结记忆成绩在两种分心条件下没有显著变化,而造句下的联结记忆成绩在两种分心条件下显著降低。当前发现表明了定义一体化编码较少依赖于注意资源,这深化了对定义一体化编码机制的认识。     

Mood-dependent retrieval in visual long-term memory: dissociable effects on retrieval probability and mnemonic precision

Although memories are more retrievable if observers’ emotional states are consistent between encoding and retrieval, it is unclear whether the consistency of emotional states increases the likelihood of successful memory retrieval, the precision of retrieved memories, or both. The present study tested visual long-term memory for everyday objects while consistent or inconsistent emotional contexts between encoding and retrieval were induced using background grey-scale images from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS). In the study phase, participants remembered colours of sequentially presented objects in a negative (Experiment 1a) or positive (Experiment 2a) context. In the test phase, participants estimated the colours of previously studied objects in either negative versus neutral (Experiment 1a) or positive versus neutral (Experiment 2a) contexts. Note, IAPS images in the test phase were always visually different from those initially paired with the studied objects. We found that reinstating negative context and positive context at retrieval resulted in better mnemonic precision and a higher probability of successful retrieval, respectively. Critically, these effects could not be attributed to a negative or positive context at retrieval alone (Experiments 1b and 2b). Together, these findings demonstrated dissociable effects of emotion on the quantitative and qualitative aspects of visual long-term memory retrieval.