List discrimination in associative recognition and implications for representation

Four experiments tested the predictions made by the model outlined in A. H. Criss and R. M. Shiffrin (2004b). Participants studied 2 successive lists of pairs followed by a recognition memory test for the most recent list. Some items and some pairs were repeated across the 2 lists. Critically, a given item could be repeated in the same or different type of pair. For associative recognition, performance was only affected by repetitions in the same pair type. However, in single-item recognition confusions occurred for both types of repetitions. The results are as predicted and confirm the assumption that different associative representations were stored even when the same token repeated in different pair types, whereas similar item representations were used regardless of pair type.     

Interactions between study task, study time, and the low-frequency hit rate advantage in recognition memory

In studies of episodic recognition memory, low-frequency words (LF) have higher hit rates (HR) and lower false alarm rates (FAR) than do high-frequency words (HF), which is known as the mirror pattern. A few findings have suggested that requiring a task at study may reduce or eliminate the LF-HR advantage without altering the LF-FAR effect. Other studies have suggested that the size of the LF-HR advantage interacts with study time. To explore such findings more thoroughly and relate them to theory, the authors conducted 5 experiments, varying study time and study task. The full mirror pattern was found only in 2 cases: the standard condition requiring study for a later memory test and a condition requiring a judgment about unusual letters. The authors explain their findings in terms of the encoding of distinctive features and discuss the implications for current theories of recognition memory and the word frequency effect.     

Examining the role of context variability in memory for items and associations

What properties of a word make it easy or difficult to remember? Word frequency and context variability are separate, closely related word properties that have disparate influences on memorability. The influence of word frequency changes depending on the memory task, with high-frequency words tending to be recalled better and low-frequency words to be recognized better. Conversely, low-context-variability words tend to be remembered better across tasks. One proposed explanation for the low-variability advantage is that low-variability words are easier to associate with the experimental context, given that they are associated with fewer extra-experimental contexts. On the basis of this explanation, it has been suggested that the formation of interitem associations during encoding should interfere with the formation of item-to-context associations, attenuating the low-variability advantage. Across experiments, we tested whether focusing on interitem associations disrupted the low-variability advantage, by manipulating encoding tasks, test expectancy, final test condition, word frequency, and context variability. Focusing on interitem associations did not harm performance for low-variability words. Words low in both frequency and variability were recognized better, but word pairs composed of high-frequency, low-variability words were recognized better in associative recognition. On the basis of the data, we suggest that focusing on interitem associations does not come at the expense of item-to-context associations. Moreover, the data further support the idea that frequency and variability are distinct properties.     

Neighborhood disadvantage, parent-child conflict, neighborhood peer relationships, and early antisocial behavior problem trajectories

This study examined relations among neighborhood disadvantage, parent-child conflict, deviant peer involvement in the neighborhood, and early-starting antisocial trajectories. Antisocial group patterns were identified in 218 low-income boys followed from ages 5 to 11, and neighborhood and family variables were evaluated as predictors in early and middle childhood. Four trajectory groups emerged: one increasing pattern that corresponded with developmental theories of early-starting antisocial behavior; one with initially high and decreasing problems over time; and two low antisocial groups. Parent-child conflict and neighborhood disadvantage were significantly associated with trajectory patterns, with youth in the 2 higher antisocial behavior groups characterized by more neighborhood problems and parent-child conflict than other groups. The results suggest that in early childhood, neighborhood disadvantage and family conflict place children at risk for early-starting trajectories, and that involvement with deviant peers in the neighborhood takes on an increasingly important role in patterns of antisocial behavior over middle childhood.     

Dragon Training and Changing Culture: A Review of DreamWorks' How to Train Your Dragon

DreamWorks' How to Train Your Dragon is an animated coming-of-age story in which the hero uses behavioral techniques to befriend and then to train an adversary. This movie provides an example of the successful dissemination of behavioral principles and technologies to the general population. Although it does not represent best practices in every instance, the movie may be an indication of a broader social acceptance of behavioral approaches to conflict resolution.     

Neighborhood Disadvantage, Parent–Child Conflict, Neighborhood Peer Relationships, and Early Antisocial Behavior Problem Trajectories

  This study examined relations among neighborhood disadvantage, parent–child conflict, deviant peer involvement in the neighborhood, and early-starting antisocial trajectories. Antisocial group patterns were identified in 218 low-income boys followed from ages 5 to 11, and neighborhood and family variables were evaluated as predictors in early and middle childhood. Four trajectory groups emerged: one increasing pattern that corresponded with developmental theories of early-starting antisocial behavior; one with initially high and decreasing problems over time; and two low antisocial groups. Parent–child conflict and neighborhood disadvantage were significantly associated with trajectory patterns, with youth in the 2 higher antisocial behavior groups characterized by more neighborhood problems and parent–child conflict than other groups. The results suggest that in early childhood, neighborhood disadvantage and family conflict place children at risk for early-starting trajectories, and that involvement with deviant peers in the neighborhood takes on an increasingly important role in patterns of antisocial behavior over middle childhood.     

On the interpretation of removable interactions: A survey of the field 33 years after Loftus

In a classic 1978 Memory & Cognition article, Geoff Loftus explained why noncrossover interactions are removable. These removable interactions are tied to the scale of measurement for the dependent variable and therefore do not allow unambiguous conclusions about latent psychological processes. In the present article, we present concrete examples of how this insight helps prevent experimental psychologists from drawing incorrect conclusions about the effects of forgetting and aging. In addition, we extend the Loftus classification scheme for interactions to include those on the cusp between removable and nonremovable. Finally, we use various methods (i.e., a study of citation histories, a questionnaire for psychology students and faculty members, an analysis of statistical textbooks, and a review of articles published in the 2008 issue of Psychology and Aging) to show that experimental psychologists have remained generally unaware of the concept of removable interactions. We conclude that there is more to interactions in a 2 × 2 design than meets the eye.     

Determinants of subjective contour: Bourdon illusions and “unbending” effects

Wenderoth and O’Connor (1987b) reported that, although matches to the straight edge of two triangles placed apex to apex revealed an apparent bending in the direction of the chevron formed by the hypotenuse pair (the Bourdon effect), no perceptual unbending of the bent chevron occurred. Using subjective contour figures, Walker and Shank (1988b) found large and approximately equal bending and unbending effects, consistent with two theories that they proposed. In Experiment 1, using adjustable chevron matching and subjective contours, we found that Bourdon effects, equivalent in magnitude to those reported by Walker and Shank, were 4–5 times larger than unbending effects. In Experiment 2, we used a variation of Walker and Shank’s measurement technique, in which subjects selected a matching angle from a graded series. We obtained Bourdon effects similar to those in Experiment 1, but much larger unbending effects. Nevertheless, Bourdon effects were significantly larger than unbending effects in one set of data; and in another, Bourdon test means were larger than unbending test means. In both data sets, there was a large and significant pretest bending effect, which enhanced the magnitude of unbending test minus pretest scores. These results were consistent with our theory but not the theories of Walker and Shank. The variance of unbending test matches, 3–4 times that of Bourdon test matches, reflected the task difficulty. We propose that subjective obtuse angle contraction that exceeds real obtuse angle contraction explains the fact that unbending effects are larger in subjective than in real contours.     

Determinants of subjective contour: Bourdon illusions and "unbending" effects

Wenderoth and O'Connor (1987b) reported that, although matches to the straight edge of two triangles placed apex to apex revealed an apparent bending in the direction of the chevron formed by the hypotenuse pair (the Bourdon effect), no perceptual unbending of the bent chevron occurred. Using subjective contour figures, Walker and Shank (1988b) found large and approximately equal bending and unbending effects, consistent with two theories that they proposed. In Experiment 1, using adjustable chevron matching and subjective contours, we found that Bourdon effects, equivalent in magnitude to those reported by Walker and Shank, were 4-5 times larger than unbending effects. In Experiment 2, we used a variation of Walker and Shank's measurement technique, in which subjects selected a matching angle from a graded series. We obtained Bourdon effects similar to those in Experiment 1, but much larger unbending effects. Nevertheless, Bourdon effects were significantly larger than unbending effects in one set of data; and in another, Bourdon test means were larger than unbending test means. In both data sets, there was a large and significant pretest bending effect, which enhanced the magnitude of unbending test minus pretest scores. These results were consistent with our theory but not the theories of Walker and Shank. The variance of unbending test matches, 3-4 times that of Bourdon test matches, reflected the task difficulty. We propose that subjective obtuse angle contraction that exceeds real obtuse angle contraction explains the fact that unbending effects are larger in subjective than in real contours.