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Biomedical subjects

J T Hartley

Publications and source records attributed to J T Hartley.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1994

Reading speed and prose memory in older and younger adults.

A method is described for determining the minimum amount of time required to read a proposition in the context of a sentence. This threshold reading time was reliable, stable, and significantly longer for older adults than for younger adults. Prose memory was assessed for texts presented at varying speeds determined by the threshold reading time measure and by a whole-text reading time measure. Recall from these paced conditions was compared with recall from a self-paced condition. In general, age differences in recall tended to increase as the amount of time allowed for processing increased. The results of regression analyses suggest that although the basic speed of processing for a single sentence accounts for substantial variance in prose recall, processes that operate across sentence boundaries are also important and require further specification.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Aging and prose memory: tests of the resource-deficit hypothesis.

Two experiments tested predictions that age differences in processing resources underlie age differences in prose recall. Topic familiarity, text length, and speed of text presentation were manipulated and reduced the amount recalled in a manner consistent with the hypothesis that these variables would tax processing resources. The amount of information recalled was systematically lower in older adults, but age differences were not increased by the experimental manipulations as expected. However, measures of the putative processing resources did account for some of the age-related variance in prose recall, and relative memorability functions suggested that the experimental manipulations interfered with the quality of recall in older adults more than in younger adults. The outcome did not support the resource-deficit hypothesis as originally proposed and may best be understood in terms of factors other than age-related deficits in the measured amounts of processing resources.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Reader and text variables as determinants of discourse memory in adulthood.

Young students, old students, and old nonstudents read and recalled short texts that were in either narrative or expository form. In addition, a set of six verbal ability measures thought to be related to discourse memory was obtained for all of the participants. Older subjects recalled less from the texts than younger subjects, and neither type of text nor student status modified the magnitude of the age differences. The set of verbal ability measures was adequately described by two principal components, one consisting of simple, speed-related skills, and the other consisting of more complex skills. Each set of variables predicted a proportion of discourse memory variance, and accounted for some of the variance that would otherwise be attributed to age. The results suggest that age differences in some basic cognitive skills related to reading effectiveness might underlie age differences in memory for discourse.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Age differences and changes in sprint swimming performances of masters athletes.

Sprint swimming speeds were compared in cohorts of masters swimmers ranging from 25-29 to 65-69 years of age in 1976. The cross-sectional comparisons were repeated for the same cohorts in 1981. The ten fastest performers in the United States in each cohort were obtained for women (n = 1407) and men (n = 1437) in 50-yd and 100-yd races for each of the four competitive strokes. Results showed the greatest decrement in performance with increasing age for the butterfly stroke. The slowing with age was unaffected by the length of the race. The results supported the hypothesis that age differences in performance are due primarily to differences in muscle strength. As in previous studies, changes in performance with age in the same cohort were substantially smaller than differences between cohorts.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Performance changes in champion swimmers aged 30 to 84 years.

Performance changes in champion swimmers aged 30 to 84 years were examined using both longitudinal and repeated cross sectional designs. When single cross sectional slices of the data were analyzed, decrements in performance with advancing age were found, similar to those reported in older track athletes. When the same individuals or cohorts were followed over time, the changes were found to be substantially smaller. The results also showed greater age changes in short, anaerobically-swum races than in longer, aerobically-swum races.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Retrograde enhancement of human memory with alcohol.

In two experiments with normal male subjects, the ingestion of alcohol (1 ml/kg) immediately after learning significantly improved subsequent remembering. By comparison, marijuana (15 mg) had no significant post-acquisition effect. Facilitation of visual and verbal memory with alcohol under these conditions has implications for the interference and consolidation views of memory.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

The effect of monetary incentive on amount and rate of free recall in older and younger adults.

In a single-trial, free-recall experiment, older and younger adults received either 0, 5, or 50 cents for each word recalled from a 24-word list. Each subject served in each of the incentive conditions. It was hypothesized that monetary incentive would increase the degree of task involvement for older subjects and result in a noticeable reduction in the magnitude of age-related performance differences. In accord with previous investigations, incentive was expected to have no effect on the performance of younger subjects. The results showed that overall recall was not facilitated by incentive, but there was an increase in the rate of recall when incentive was available. This effect of incentive was the same for older and younger subjects, and performance deficits observed for the older subjects were not reduced by incentive. Age differences in recall were largely confined to the first 30 seconds of the recall period, suggesting that age-related differences in willingness or ability to engage in extended memory search were not the source of age-related performance differences. In addition, performance declined steadily across each successive list learned for the older learners, a result we interpreted in terms of susceptibility to interference from prior-list learning.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Alcohol and elaborative schemas for sentences.

Three experiments were conducted to determine whether alcohol-induced impairments of memory would be reduced by providing subjects with elaborative schemas. Anomalous sentences were presented to sober or intoxicated subjects either alone or with context words to facilitate comprehension. Memory was tested immediately with a yes-no recognition task. The results consistently showed that context words did not increase the number of hits in either sober or intoxicated subjects, and sober subjects made reliably more hits whether or not context words had been provided. The accuracy of recognition of distractors, however, was consistently improved by the presentation of context words, and was much more improved for intoxicated than for sober subjects. The results indicate that alcohol intoxication disrupted the production of elaborative schemas for understanding, but that intoxicated subjects were quite successful at utilizing such schemas as long as the schemas had been provided for them.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Teaching students for whom English is a second language.

Nursing students for whom English is a second language (ESL) are now found in greater numbers in nursing schools. Their presence in nursing contributes to the diversity of the profession, but the language difficulties these students experience may influence academic achievement. Nurse educators can assist ESL students in reaching their career goal by being aware of the special language problems the students can encounter in academic settings and by instituting early and appropriate retention interventions.

Communication↗