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Biomedical subjects

B Hannon

Publications and source records attributed to B Hannon.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Encoding specificity revisited: the role of semantics.

Three experiments examined the effects of semantic characteristics of word pairs on memory using the encoding specificity paradigm. The paradigm involved four phases: (a) an encoding phase to relate cues and targets, (b) a phase in which words were generated to new cues, (c) a phase for recognition of generated targets, and (d) a cued-recall phase using the original encoding cues. Encoding pairs were classified a priori as either semantically similar (e.g., alluring-PRETTY), semantically contrasting (e.g., drab-PRETTY), or semantically unrelated (e.g., sore-PRETTY). Generation pairs were classified a priori as either semantically similar (e.g., beautiful-PRETTY) or semantically contrasting (e.g., ugly-PRETTY). For recall, the results showed that both the semantic relations between the encoding cue and target and the reprovision of the encoding cue at retrieval were important factors. In the case of recognition, however, both the semantic congruence between the encoding and generation contexts and the amount of semantic elaboration provided by the encoding context were important factors.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2001

Susceptibility to semantic illusions: an individual-differences perspective.

When asked How many animals of each kind did Moses take on the ark?, people frequently respond "two" even though they know it was Noah, not Moses, who took animals on the ark. We replicate previous research by showing that susceptibility to semantic illusions is influenced by the semantic relatedness of both the impostor word and the surrounding context. However, we also show that the two text manipulations make independent contributions to semantic illusions, and we propose two individual-differences mechanisms that might underlie these two effects. We propose that the ability to resist the lure of a semantically related impostor word is related to the individual's skill at accessing and reasoning about knowledge from long-term memory. And we propose that the ability to resist the lure of the surrounding sentential context is related to the individual's capacity to simultaneously process and store information in working memory.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Facilitating Knowledge-Based Inferences in Less-Skilled Readers

The present study replicated Long, Oppy, and Seely's (1994) finding that skilled readers make knowledge-based inferences spontaneously during reading whereas less-skilled readers do not. However, the study also showed that less-skilled readers can make knowledge-based inferences with appropriate textual support. Evidence for knowledge-based inferences was obtained by examining whether readers were faster to make lexical decision responses to theme-appropriate targets (e.g., burglar) than to theme-inappropriate targets (e.g., blueprint), when reading short passages (e.g., The old woman awoke to a sound from downstairs. She reached into her purse and found only a file.). Whereas skilled readers generated knowledge-based inferences under all text conditions, less-skilled readers only showed evidence of having generated knowledge-based inferences when the text incorporated a question inviting the inference (e.g., The old woman awoke and said, 'Why is there a sound downstairs?' She reached into her purse and found only a file.) and text-presentation speed was slower. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1990

Biological time value.

A measure of time value for living species, a natural discount rate, is proposed. It is the rate at which a species reveals its progressive disregard of the importance of future events. The discount rate is shown to be equal to the average (standard) metabolic rate for the species at a steady-state condition. The connection of the discount rate to standard empirical measures allows it to be assigned a numerical value. Knowing a species' discount rate should help determine its successional success and allow more meaningful solutions to optimality problems in biology.

Ecology↗