Biomedical subjects

A L Patalano

Publications and source records attributed to A L Patalano.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1999

Learning about categories that are defined by object-like stimuli despite impaired declarative memory.

Exposure to members of a category facilitates later categorization of similar but novel instances of the category. Past studies have suggested that category knowledge can be acquired implicitly and independently of declarative memory. However, these studies have relied on dot pattern stimuli that, unlike most real-world objects, are difficult to verbalize and cannot be broken into component features. It is therefore unclear how relevant such studies are to an understanding of everyday categorization. In the present studies, category learning in amnesic patients was tested with stimuli that both exhibit discrete features and are easy to describe (namely, cartoon animals). Amnesic patients were as competent as healthy volunteers in learning to categorize these animals, despite their impairment in recalling the animals' features. The results suggest that the implicit acquisition of category knowledge is a common process in everyday experience, and that it can occur whenever individuals encounter a large group of related items.

Aged↗

PubMed1998

Alternative strategies of categorization.

Psychological studies of categorization often assume that all concepts are of the same general kind, and are operated on by the same kind of categorization process. In this paper, we argue against this unitary view, and for the existence of qualitatively different categorization processes. In particular, we focus on the distinction between categorizing an item by: (a) applying a category-defining rule to the item vs. (b) determining the similarity of that item to remembered exemplars of a category. We begin by characterizing rule application and similarity computations as strategies of categorization. Next, we review experimental studies that have used artificial categories and shown that differences in instructions or time pressure can lead to either rule-based categorization or similarity-based categorization. Then we consider studies that have used natural concepts and again demonstrated that categorization can be done by either rule application or similarity calculations. Lastly, we take up evidence from cognitive neuroscience relevant to the rule vs. similarity issue. There is some indirect evidence from brain-damaged patients for neurological differences between categorization based on rules vs. that based on similarity (with the former involving frontal regions, and the latter relying more on posterior areas). For more direct evidence, we present the results of a recent neuroimaging experiment, which indicates that different neural circuits are involved when people categorize items on the basis of a rule as compared with when they categorize the same items on the basis of similarity.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

Memory for impasses during problem solving.

Three experiments were conducted to investigate the relative memorability of solved versus unsolved problems in long-term memory. In each experiment, subjects worked on a set of potentially solvable word problems, with the time spent on each problem held constant. Problem memorability was then measured with a free-recall task. In Experiment 1, in which a majority of problems were solved, unsolved problems were better remembered. In Experiments 2 and 3, we expanded on these results by manipulating problem difficulty and thus the ratio of solved to unsolved problems. When unsolved problems were as frequent as or more frequent than solved problems, no memory differences were found. Across all three experiments, the ratio of solved to unsolved problems was found to be a significant predictor of unsolved-problem memorability, but was not significantly related to the memorability of solved problems. The results illustrate that when impasses in problem solving are infrequent, they are more available in memory than are solved problems. It is speculated that this memory phenomenon may facilitate the recognition of opportunities to return to problems that have been terminated short of solution.

Female↗