In this review, the authors examine the basis for the mnemonic superiority that results from relating material to the self. A meta-analysis confirms the expected self-reference effect (SRE) in memory, with self-referent encoding strategies yielding superior memory relative to both semantic and other-referent encoding strategies. Consistent with theory and research that suggest self-reference (SR) produces both organized and elaborate processing, the SRE was smaller (a) when SR is compared with other-reference (OR) rather than semantic encoding and (b) when the comparison tasks promote both organization and elaboration. Thus, the SRE appears to result primarily because the self is a well-developed and often-used construct that promotes elaboration and organization of encoded information. The authors discuss the implications of these and other findings for theories of the SRE and for future research.

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The Self-Reference Effect in Memory: A Meta-Analysis

Anxiety, learning, and memory: A reconceptualization

In the past 30 years researchers have examined the impact of heightened stress on the fidelity of eyewitness memory. Meta-analyses were conducted on 27 independent tests of the effects of heightened stress on eyewitness identification of the perpetrator or target person and separately on 36 tests of eyewitness recall of details associated with the crime. There was considerable support for the hypothesis that high levels of stress negatively impact both types of eyewitness memory. Meta-analytic Z-scores, whether unweighted or weighted by sample size, ranged from -5.40 to -6.44 (high stress condition-low stress condition). The overall effect sizes were -.31 for both proportion of correct identifications and accuracy of eyewitness recall. Effect sizes were notably larger for target-present than for target-absent lineups, for eyewitness identification studies than for face recognition studies and for eyewitness studies employing a staged crime than for eyewitness studies employing other means to induce stress.

/pdf/a-meta-analytic-review-of-the-effects-of-high-stress-on-3b37znaosx.pdf

A meta-analytic review of the effects of high stress on eyewitness memory.

It is difficult to match two images of the same unfamiliar face, even under good conditions. Here, we show that there are large individual differences on unfamiliar face matching. Initially, we tried to predict these using tests of visual short-term memory, cognitive style, and perceptual speed. Moderate correlations were produced by various components of these tests. In three other experiments, we found very strong correlations between face matching and inverted face matching on the same test. Finally, we examined potential associations between familiar and unfamiliar face processing. Strong correlations were found between familiar and unfamiliar face processing, but only when the familiar faces were inverted. We conclude that unfamiliar faces are processed for identity in a qualitatively different way than are familiar faces.

/pdf/unfamiliar-faces-are-not-faces-evidence-from-a-matching-task-3gikk4s45k.pdf

Unfamiliar faces are not faces: Evidence from a matching task

The family plays an important and powerful role in the sexual socialization of children and adolescents. The information and messages that are (or are not) communicated between parents and children have the potential to shape sexual decision-making during adolescence, particularly related to HIV/AIDS risk behaviors. This paper presents a review and synthesis of three areas of the literature on parent-child communication about sexuality-content and process; predictors of parent-child communication; and behavioral outcomes associated with communication. Based on the review, gaps in the research and directions for future studies are discussed.

Parent-child communication about sexuality: A review of the literature from 1980-2002

Subjects selected on the basis of test anxiety scores made a judgement about each face in a series of slides. These orienting tasks involved either abstract traits (e.g. dependability) or physical features (e.g. weight), and decisions were made relative to either an absolute criterion or self-reference. A subsequent recognition test revealed superior performance by low-anxiety subjects and by subjects who evaluated abstract features during study, but there were no depth by anxiety interactions. The reference point for the decision had little effect overall, but the anxiety deficit was more apparent when the absolute reference point was involved.

Depth of processing and anxiety in facial recognition.

Laboratory research has established that face recognition memory performance for own-race faces is better than for other-race faces. Three studies are reported exploring the possibility that the other-race effect will generalize to voice recognition memory. Recognition memory performance for non-native American speakers speaking both English and their native languages was compared with memory for native American speakers. With relatively long speech samples, accented voices were no more difficult to recognize than were unaccented voices; reducing the speech sample duration decreased recognition memory for accented and unaccented voices, but the reduction was greater for accented voices.

/pdf/recognition-memory-for-accented-and-unaccented-voices-wcjqqkfwxl.pdf

Recognition memory for accented and unaccented voices

Data from several studies have indicated that direct parental involvement in sex education is not occurring frequently. One hypothesis advanced to explain the lack of parental involvement is the poor sex education of parents themselves. Response acquisition training programs have been used to improve parents' skill and comfort in this parenting task. To improve the generalizability of such training programs, direct interviews with 59 parents were conducted to determine what types of sexually‐oriented situations occur in the home. Transcriptions of these interviews provided a set of 392 sex education situations which were categorized into 21 topic areas. Analysis of these situations revealed no difference in number or type of sexual situations occurring as a function of the child's sex, but there were significant differences as a function of the child's age. Preadolescent children tended to present more sexual situations to their parents than did adolescent children. Home‐based situations also sho...

https://www.jstor.org/stable/info/3812427

Sex education in the home: An empirical task analysis

In thls research we have explored plcture recognitlon memory performance In a real world context The outcome of thls lnvestlgatlon contributes information pertinent both to our understanding of pictorial recognltlon memory In general, and to lnstructlonal use of photographs In ~ntroductory psychology textbooks In partlcular Results from many laboratory studles suggest that human vlsual recognltlon memory for plctures IS a h~ghly eff~c~ent, almost flawless process (e g , Nlckerson, 1965, Shepard, 1967, Standing, Conezlo & Haber, 1970) In fact, Haber (1970) concluded that \" recognltlon memory for plctures 1s essentially perfect \" Understandably, some objections to thls extreme view have been ralsed (Goldsteln & Chance, 1970, 1974) but In general, ~f stlmull are llmlted to partlcular klnds of complex scenes, subjects can ldentlfy whlch plctures they have and have not seen before In the laboratory wlth aston~sh~ng accuracy Even when vlewlng homogeneousand therefore more d~ff~cult-mater~al such as faces, laboratory recognltlon performance IS amazingly robust In view of brlef stlmulus exposure durations and the relatlvely large numbers of faces each subject 1s typically asked to encode However, the bulk of the plcture recognltlon memory data has been collected In laboratory stud~es, and evaluation of the ~mpl~cat~ons of these data must walt untll memory performance IS measured under reallstlc, natural condltlons Accuracy of recognitlon memory performance when assessed In the few studles whlch have been conducted under relatlvely natural condltlons often falls far below the performance of subjects In laboratory based studles Simulated \"real Ilfe\" experiments conducted In the laboratory often addressed eyewitness ldentlflcation problems or related Issues and therefore were frequently confounded wlth Issues other than memory for plctures Only rarely has \"natural\" plcture recognltlor3 memory been investigated (e g , Bahrlck, Bahrrck & Wltthnger, 1975, Nlckerson & Adams, 1979, see especially Gruenberg, Morrls & Sykes, 1978, and Nelsser, 1982, for a comprehensive view of the problem of real world memory ) One questlon addressed In thls lnvestlgatlon IS whether recognltlon memory performance for plctures encountered In a real world sltuat~on matches the accuracy observed In the laboratory, where subjects vlew photoslldes In a settlng wh~ch can best be described as atyplcal when compared to everyday experience One major difference between the laboratory and reallty IS the level of expectation the observer brlngs to the sltuatlon In real world sltuatlons people seldom prepare thamselves to be tested at a later time on the content of an event, but when subjects come to a laboratory even though experimenters attempt to disguise the purpose of the experiment the effectiveness of the fakery is always arguable. Moreover, the laboratory is always an artificial situation, and forthis reason alone it could affect behavior in unknown ways. In the present investigation, the pictures used to test recognition memory were obtained from the subjects' introductory psychology textbook; the later picture recognition test was completely unanticipated by the students. A second issue addressed by this study concerns one aspect of a larger question which has consistently provoked a variety of comments from introductory psychology teachers for at least as long as psychology textbooks have become big business; do the illustrations (photographs) which are found so abundantly in almost every introductory psychology text serve a useful educational purpose? Although a direct answer to that question must await further research, the important preliminary question, Do students remember the text pictures? is answered by this research.

Do Students Remember Pictures in Psychology Textbooks

Subjects made decisions about facial photographs and were tested later for recognition memory of the pictures The study decisions involved judgments about abstract personality traits (eg, friendliness) or physical features (eg, lip thickness) relative to either self-comparisons or some nonself standard The expected abstract-physical feature difference emerged, but there was no evidence for a self-other difference for either type of feature A molar self-reference task specifying no particular attribute produced good performance, but no better than the abstract-nonself task or intent-to-learn instructions For the molar-self task, faces judged to be similar to one’s own were easier to recognize than were dissimilar faces The self-comparison task yields good retention with face stimuli, but apparently no better than other tasks that require examining many features during encoding

/pdf/self-reference-in-facial-recognition-1db96y6zfn.pdf

Karen L. Bailis

Papers

Depth of processing and anxiety in facial recognition.

Recognition memory for accented and unaccented voices

Sex education in the home: An empirical task analysis

Do Students Remember Pictures in Psychology Textbooks

Self-reference in facial recognition