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PubMed1998

Memory monitoring by animals and humans.

The authors asked whether animals and humans would use similarly an uncertain response to escape indeterminate memories. Monkeys and humans performed serial probe recognition tasks that produced differential memory difficulty across serial positions (e.g., primacy and recency effects). Participants were given an escape option that let them avoid any trials they wished and receive a hint to the trial's answer. Across species, across tasks, and even across conspecifics with sharper or duller memories, monkeys and humans used the escape option selectively when more indeterminate memory traces were probed. Their pattern of escaping always mirrored the pattern of their primary memory performance across serial positions. Signal-detection analyses confirm the similarity of the animals' and humans' performances. Optimality analyses assess their efficiency. Several aspects of monkeys' performance suggest the cognitive sophistication of their decisions to escape.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2001

Timing and reaction time.

Because reaction time (RT) tasks are generally repetitive and temporally regular, participants may use timing strategies that affect response speed and accuracy. This hypothesis was tested in 3 serial choice RT experiments in which participants were presented with stimuli that sometimes arrived earlier or later than normal. RTs increased and errors decreased when stimuli came earlier than normal, and RTs decreased and errors increased when stimuli came later than normal. The results were consistent with an elaboration of R. Ratcliff's diffusion model (R. Ratcliff, 1978; R. Ratcliff & J. N. Rouder, 1998; R. Ratcliff, T. Van Zandt, & G. McKoon, 1999), supplemented by a hypothesis developed by D. Laming (1979a, 1979b), according to which participants initiate stimulus sampling before the onset of the stimulus at a time governed by an internal timekeeper. The success of this model suggests that timing is used in the service of decision making.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Reinforced variability decreases with approach to reinforcers.

Anticipation of rewards had different effects on operant variability than on operant repetition. We reinforced variable (VAR) response sequences in groups of rats and pigeons and repetitive (REP) response sequences in separate groups. A fixed number of variations or repetitions was required per food reinforcer (e.g., fixed-ratio 4). Although VAR contingencies resulted in high levels of variability and REP contingencies in high repetition, opposite patterns of performance accuracy were observed as rewards were approached. Likelihood of satisfying REP contingencies increased within the fixed ratio, whereas likelihood of satisfying VAR contingencies decreased. These opposite patterns of accuracy were also generated by conditioned reinforcing stimuli correlated with food. Constraints on variability by proximity to reinforcers may explain some detrimental effects of reward.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Memory of auditory lists by rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta).

Monkey auditory memory was tested with increasing list lengths of 4, 6, 8, and 10 sounds. Five-hundred and twenty environmental sounds of 3-s duration were used. In Experiment 1, the monkeys initiated each list by touching the center speaker. They touched 1 of 2 side speakers to indicate whether a single test sound (presented from both side speakers simultaneously) was or was not in the list. The serial-position functions showed prominent primacy effects (good first-item memory) and recency effects (good last-item memory). Experiment 2 repeated the procedure without the list-initiation response and with a variable intertrial interval. The results of both experiments were similar and are discussed in relation to theories and hypotheses of serial-position effects.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Conceptual masking: the effects of subsequent visual events on memory for pictures.

Three experiments studied the effects of voluntary and involuntary focus of attention on recognition memory for pictures. Experiments 1 and 3 tested the conceptual-masking hypothesis, which holds that a visual event will automatically disrupt processing of a previously glimpsed picture if that event is new and meaningful. Memory for 112-ms pictures was tested under conditions where the to-be-ignored 1.5-s interstimulus interval contained a blank field; a repeating picture; a new picture; a new, nonsense picture; or a new, inverted picture each time. The blank field, repeating picture, and new, nonsense picture did not disrupt memory as much as a new, meaningful picture, supporting the conceptual-masking hypothesis. Experiment 2 studied voluntary attentional control of encoding by instructing subjects to focus attention on the brief pictures, all pictures, or the long pictures in a sequence. Recognition memory for pictures of both durations showed a striking ability of observers to process pictures selectively. The possible role of these effects in visual scanning are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Representation of serial order in speech: evidence from the repeated phoneme effect in speech errors.

Previous research has shown that slips of the tongue involving the exchange of phonemes (e.g., left hemisphere----left hemisphere) are often characterized by a repeated phoneme next to the exchanging ones (the vowel /epsilon/ in the above example is next to both of the exchanging sounds, /l/ and /h/). Two experiments, which elicited slips of the tongue under controlled conditions, revealed that repeated sounds in a speech plan are contributory causes of phoneme exchanges, anticipations, and perseverations. In addition, it was found that repeated sounds induce the misordering of sounds that are not adjacent to the repeated ones, as well as those that are adjacent to the repeated ones. An analysis of a collection of natural slips also supported the conclusion that repeated sounds cause nonadjacent sounds to slip. The results are seen as inconsistent with serial order theories that propose a linear structure of sounds held together by contextual influences between adjacent phonemes.

Cues↗
PubMed1984

Effects of repetition on short-term retention of order information.

Two experiments examined the effects of repetition on the short-term retention of order information. A partial report procedure was coupled with the distractor paradigm to vary which one of two 4-letter sequences was tested after a digit-filled retention interval. Repeatedly presenting the stimulus but not its testing did not increase recall, but recall did increase when both presentation and testing were repeated. Recall was also improved by precues that informed subjects in advance which sequence was to be recalled. The perturbation model of Estes (1972; Lee & Estes, 1981) was able to account for the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the results by making an explicit distinction between two types of rehearsal: the reactivation process, which corresponds to a passive, automatic rehearsal process; and an active, conscious rehearsal process that crystallizes the memory structure and makes perturbations less likely.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

The lag effect and differential organization theory: nine failures to replicate.

In our first experiment, we tried to replicate and extend previous results that had provided seemingly convincing support for a differential organization explanation of the monotonically increasing lag effect in free recall. However, we failed to obtain the lag effect. Eight additional experiments also failed to replicate the lag effect. In all, we made 918 observations of performance on items repeated at each of three lags, and the mean percentage of correct free recall varied by less than one percentage point. These results suggest that there are boundary conditions limiting the generality of the monotonically increasing lag effect in free recall. In addition, caution should be exercised in accepting certain previous findings as strong evidence for a differential organization explanation of the phenomenon.

Cues↗
PubMed1988

Short-term memory errors for spoken syllables are affected by the linguistic structure of the syllables.

Three experiments on short-term serial memory for spoken syllables are reported. The stimuli were CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) syllables in Experiment 1, CCVs in Experiment 2, and VCCs in Experiment 3. Analyses of subjects' errors showed that the phonemes within a syllable were not equally free to break apart and recombine. Certain groups of phonemes-the vowel-final consonant group of a CVC, the initial cluster of a CCV, and a vowel-liquid group within a VCC-tended to behave as units. These results are consistent with the view that syllables are coded in terms of an onset (initial consonant or cluster) and a rime (remainder). Errors in short-term memory for spoken syllables are affected by the linguistic structure of the syllables.

Humans↗
PubMed1989

Immediate serial recall of mixed-modality lists.

Seven experiments are reported in which subjects were tested for immediate serial recall of mixed-modality lists. On mixed auditory-visual lists, there was an advantage for auditory items at all serial positions. This was due to both a facilitation of auditory items and an inhibition of visual items on mixed lists, as compared with single-modality lists. When presented on a list containing items read silently, recall of items that were silently mouthed by the subject demonstrated patterns similar to those found with auditory items. When presented on a list containing items read aloud, recall of mouthed items showed patterns similar to those found with silently read items. The auditory advantage on mixed lists was found even when the list items were acoustically similar or identical and was not reduced by midlist auditory suffixes. The results suggest that modality differences in recall of mixed-modality lists are based on information different from that responsible for modality differences in recall of single-modality lists.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Perceptual organization and precategorical acoustic storage.

Current views of precategorical acoustic storage (PAS) have been largely based on differences in the level of recall of terminal list items as a function of input modality and on experiments in which various types of suffixes are added to unstructured auditory lists. Experiments with grouped lists reveal that PAS can make a far more extensive contribution to serial recall. A series of four experiments investigated grouping effects in relation to existing accounts of consolidation, attentional selection, and auditory masking in PAS. Grouping effects obtained with very brief intralist pauses were inconsistent with the consolidation and masking hypotheses. Contrary to the attentional hypothesis, nontemporal grouping by voice or by spatial location was found to be as effective as grouping by extended pauses. When nontemporal methods of grouping were combined with intralist pauses, the two sets of grouping cues were no better than one, suggesting that list segmentation by pauses and by item attributes must be explained in terms of a single process. These results are discussed in the context of previous research that implies the existence of an auditory store with a capacity greater than previously attributed to PAS. Existing data on modality and suffix effects are seen as specific instances of a more general relation between the structure of spoken sequences and their subsequent recall.

Attention↗
PubMed1989

Effects of talker variability on recall of spoken word lists.

Three experiments were conducted to investigate recall of lists of words containing items spoken by either a single talker or by different talkers. In each experiment, recall of early list items was better for lists spoken by a single talker than for lists of the same words spoken by different talkers. The use of a memory preload procedure demonstrated that recall of visually presented preload digits was superior when the words in a subsequent list were spoken by a single talker than by different talkers. In addition, a retroactive interference task demonstrated that the effects of talker variability on the recall of early list items were not due to use of talker-specific acoustic cues in working memory at the time of recall. Taken together, the results suggest that word lists produced by different talkers require more processing resources in working memory than do lists produced by a single talker. The findings are discussed in terms of the role that active rehearsal plays in the transfer of spoken items into long-term memory and the factors that may affect the efficiency of rehearsal.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Long-term repetition effects for motoric and perceptual procedures.

Two experiments examined the relationship between implicit and explicit measures of memory for information encoded in a motoric task, called data entry. In both experiments, subjects entered lists of digit sequences with a computer keypad. They were retested on the same task after a delay of up to 1 month. At retention, implicit memory for the digit lists was evidenced by faster entry of old relative to new lists in both experiments. In Experiment 1, subjects were able to discriminate old from new lists. Recognition memory of old lists was better after than before entering the lists. In Experiment 2, perceptual and motoric contributions to the old/new difference in typing speed were isolated by means of a transfer paradigm. The results showed that the entry-speed advantage for the old lists was due to the separate reinstatement at the retention test of both perceptual and motoric procedures encoded earlier. Implicit and explicit measures of memory were found to be dependent rather than independent. The findings from this study are interpreted within a framework of memory based on procedural reinstatement.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Adult age effects of plausibility on memory: the role of time constraints during encoding.

We investigated the role of training-induced knowledge schemas and encoding time on adult age differences in recall. High-plausible (schema coherent) words were recalled better than low-plausible (schema discrepant) words in both age groups. This difference was larger for old adults than for young adults for presentation times ranging from 3 s to 11 s per word. After equating participants in overall recall (i.e., at 50% correct) by dynamic adjustment of presentation time, old adults again showed a stronger plausibility effect than young adults when recall was above criterion. In a second experiment with self-paced encoding, old adults used more time than young adults only for low-plausible pairs, yet they still remembered fewer of them. In a third experiment, both age groups preferred to imagine high- rather than low-plausible words, but this effect was more pronounced in old adults. The results indicate that, compared with young adults, old adults find it particularly difficult to form elaborative mental images of schema-discrepant information under a wide variety of time constraints during encoding. Results are discussed in relation to explanations based on age-related mental slowing.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Dissociative effects of generation on item and order retention.

The effects of generation on the long-term retention of item and order information were examined in a between-list design in 3 experiments. In each experiment, completing word fragments during presentation significantly impaired long-term retention of serial order, as measured by either a reconstruction task or the amount of input-output correspondence in free recall. Memory for the individual items, however, was sometimes helped by generation. This pattern of dissociation, reminiscent of immediate memory findings, is used to interpret problematic issues in the generation effect literature and to argue for the role of the item-order distinction in the long-term-memory arena.

Humans↗
PubMed1992

Unexceptional spatial memory in an exceptional memorist.

Rajan Mahadevan evidences an exceptional memory for arrays of digits. We tested whether Rajan's spatial memory was likewise exceptional. Eight control Ss and Rajan were instructed to remember the position and orientation of 48 images of common objects shown either to the left or the right of fixation and facing either left or right. Rajan's accuracy for judging whether the position and orientation of these pictures had changed when they were shown in a different sequence was lower than that of control Ss for both judgments. Rajan's exceptional memory capacity apparently does not extend to spatial relations.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Reaction time measures of spelling: testing a two-strategy model of skilled spelling.

Two strategies have been suggested to be important in skilled English spelling: a lexical strategy, which relies on word-specific graphemic information, and a rule strategy, which relies on phoneme-to-grapheme correspondences. Limitations in the usefulness of spelling accuracy as a dependent variable make it difficult to test claims about how the strategies might work together. Two experimental paradigms that measure both spelling accuracy and time are suggested to be useful. Results produced with the paradigms were consistent with the claims that skilled spellers make use of both strategies and that the lexical strategy is more useful than the rule strategy. Working memory may be important in combining products of both strategies. Results were inconsistent with the claim that the rule strategy is invoked only when the lexical strategy fails to produce a complete spelling.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Alphabetic sequence decisions for letter pairs with separations of one to three letters.

The alphabet storage and retrieval theory of Klahr, Chase, and Lovelace (1983) was tested for applicability to letter-order decisions. Ss judged whether letter pairs with sequential separations of 1, 2, or 3 letters were in correct or incorrect order. Ss made decisions either in a continuous- or intermittent-attention mode. The results for alphabetic letter-order decisions with a letter separation of 1 were in conformance with the theory of Klahr et al. in both attention modes. However, at letter separations of 2 and 3 letters, Ss made decisions that were more compatible with a symbolic-distance mechanism. Speculation on how Ss could make alphabetic-order decisions in either a memory-consultation or a symbolic-distance manner is made.

Adult↗