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Showing papers in "European Journal of Cognitive Psychology in 1994"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The process dissociation procedure (PDP) was introduced as a general-purpose tool for quantifying the extent to which performance on various cognitive tasks is mediated by consciously controlled versus automatic processes.
Abstract: The process dissociation procedure (PDP) was introduced as a general-purpose tool for quantifying the extent to which performance on various cognitive tasks is mediated by consciously controlled versus automatic processes. In this paper, we consider several aspects that limit the procedure's domain of application. We suggest that the PDP is inappropriate for studying performance of implicit versus explicit memory tests because its focus on conscious versus automatic processes is different from the distinction between intentional versus non-intentional remembering that is targeted by implicit and explicit memory tests. We point out that the complexity of the instructions that are required for the procedure makes it unsuitable for use with special populations, such as amnesic patients. An examination of two core assumptions of the procedure (invariance of recollection and invariance of familiarity) revealed evidence suggesting that these assumptions are violated in many circumstances. In a final se...

145 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper investigated the effect of verbal instructions on the belief bias effect in syllogistic reasoning and found that belief bias is most clearly marked by a tendency for subjects to accept invalid conclusions which are a priori believable.
Abstract: The study is concerned with the question of whether robust biases in reasoning can be reduced or eliminated by verbal instruction in principles of reasoning. Three experiments are reported in which the effect of instructions upon the belief bias effect in syllogistic reasoning is investigated. Belief bias is most clearly marked by a tendency for subjects to accept invalid conclusions which are a priori believable. Experiment 1 attempted to replicate and extend an experiment reported by Newstead, Pollard, Evans and Allen (1992). In contrast with their experiment, it was found that belief bias was maintained despite the use of augmented instructions which emphasised the principle of logical necessity. Experiment 2 provided an exact replication of the augmented instructions condition of Newstead et al., including the presence of problems with belief-neutral conclusions. Once again, significant effects of conclusion believability were found. A third experiment examined the use of elaborated instructi...

139 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper investigated the effects of varying the correspondence between presentation and test modes on states of conscious awareness in recognition memory and found that auditory and visual study modes differentially affected recollective experience and feelings of familiarity assessed by “remember” and “know” responses accompanying recognition.
Abstract: Two experiments investigated the effects of varying the correspondence between presentation and test modes on states of conscious awareness in recognition memory. Experiment 1 used visual test items and showed that auditory and visual study modes differentially affected recollective experience and feelings of familiarity assessed by “remember” and “know” responses accompanying recognition: “know” responses were slightly enhanced following visual presentation, but this was largely offset by a similarly small increase in “remember” responses. Experiment 2 employed conditions designed to maximise any effect on “know” responses of the correspondence between presentation and test modes by using a highly perceptual orienting task at study. Under these conditions, there was a large mode correspondence effect on “know” responses. The results support the idea that “know” responses are particularly sensitive to perceptual factors.

112 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
Ulric Neisser1
TL;DR: In this article, three systems, primarily perceptual in function, are described: direct perception/action establishes an immediate non-representational sense of self and environment that grounds all other cognition; interpersonal perception/reactivity produces species-specific patterns of social interaction; recognition/representation identifies and classifies what is perceived.
Abstract: Cognitive processes turn out to be both more innate and more culturally based than we used to think. On the one hand, ecological and interpersonal perception are innately prepared, available in infancy; on the other, mental development depends critically on social support. Taken together with the emerging multiple/modular structure of the brain, these discoveries demand a new kind of cognitive theory: an ecologically grounded, developmental account of distinct systems in interaction. Three such systems, primarily perceptual in function, are described here: (1) direct perception/action establishes an immediate non-representational sense of self and environment that grounds all other cognition; (2) interpersonal perception/reactivity produces species-specific patterns of social interaction; (3) recognition/representation identifies and classifies what is perceived. These systems are distinguished by neurological as well as psychological criteria: the neuroanatomical “where/what” distinction, for ex...

91 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a number of cross-language priming experiments are reported that evaluate whether word meanings in the first and second language are represented in common or separate systems, and a masked priming procedure is used on the assumption that when prime awareness is limited, any priming effects directly reveal the underlying structure of the semantic system.
Abstract: A number of cross-language priming experiments are reported that evaluate whether word meanings in the first and second language are represented in common or separate systems. A masked priming procedure was used on the assumption that when prime awareness is limited, any priming effects directly reveal the underlying structure of the semantic system. Primes were presented in the subjects' first language, while targets were in their second language. Priming effects were obtained for word pairs that were semantically highly similar but not translation equivalents, for example fence-haie (= hedge in French), suggesting that words in the two languages share common elements of semantic code. Priming was also obtained between translation equivalents which, in conjunction with the results for semantically similar pairs, is most naturally interpreted in terms of partially shared semantic representations. However, no masked priming effects were obtained between associated pairs of relatively low semantic ...

84 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article found that stroke writing order has been coded in memory as an essential component of the orthographic knowledge of a character, and that this specific motor schema is used as a cue in lexical retrieval.
Abstract: Chinese characters are composed of a number of strokes, varying from 1 to 23. The strokes of each character have to be written in a precise order, which is codified in a number of rules, and which is learned in the process of literacy acquisition. The present study tested the hypothesis that stroke writing order has been coded in memory as an essential component of the orthographic knowledge of a character, and that this specific motor schema is used as a cue in lexical retrieval. In the first experiment reported here, fragments of Chinese characters consisting of “early” or of “late” strokes (namely strokes which are written first or last during writing) were pre-exposed to target characters to be named as fast as possible. The results indicated that “early” strokes were better retrieval cues for character names than “late” strokes. In the second experiment, subjects were requested to make same-different judgements about two characters which had in common either “early” or “late” strokes. Differ...

80 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
Rosalind I. Java1
TL;DR: The authors examined states of conscious awareness following word stem completion priming and cued recall and found that a proportion of correctly produced target words in implicit stem completion became available to conscious awareness as measured by “remember” and “know” responses, when subjects were made test aware.
Abstract: Two experiments are described that examine states of conscious awareness following word stem completion priming and cued recall. Experiment 1 showed that a proportion of correctly produced target words in implicit stem completion became available to conscious awareness as measured by “remember” and “know” responses, when subjects were made test aware. Experiment 2 showed opposite effects on the implicit and explicit tasks while holding retrieval cues constant, thereby satisfying Bowers and Schacter's (1990) retrieval intentionality criterion. A read superiority effect in word stem completion which contrasted with the generation effect in cued recall was shown to correspond mainly with completed stems of which subjects were test unaware. These results suggest that functional dissociations in tests of implicit memory may correspond with subjects’ state of awareness.

41 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The proposed method reveals the internal structure of the extension as well as the intension of a concept, together with a correspondence relation that shows the mutual dependence of both structures.
Abstract: A method (HICLAS; De Boeck & Rosenberg, 1988) for studying the internal structure of semantic concepts is presented. The proposed method reveals the internal structure of the extension as well as the intension of a concept, together with a correspondence relation that shows the mutual dependence of both structures. Its use is illustrated with the analysis of simple concepts (e.g. sports) and conjunctive concepts (e.g. birds that are also pets). The underlying structure that is revealed can be interpreted as a differentiation of the simple concepts studied and for conjunctive concepts the proposed method is able to extract non-inherited and emergent features (Hampton, 1988).

25 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the EEG was recorded from the scalp of musicians while they were mentally active in their field and the analytic, creative and memory processes of the brain were observable using a special electrophysiological method called DC-potential recording.
Abstract: In the present study, the EEG was recorded from the scalp of musicians while mentally active in their field. Analytic, creative and memory processes of the brain were observable using a special electrophysiological method called DC-potential recording. Music students listened to a sequence of four notes and subsequently were either to reverse the sequence (task 1 = analytic) or to compose a new continuation (task 2 = creative). In task 3, the initial segment of a well-known melody was presented and had to be continued (memory task). All tasks had to be solved mentally (imagery). In tasks 1 and 2, either tonal or atonal sequences were presented. While processing, the results show that the analytic task elicited the highest brain activity. The analytic task involved mainly parieto-temporal areas of both hemispheres, the left hemisphere showing a tendency for domination. The memory task produced predominant activity over the right hemisphere. The creative task caused the lowest brain activation and ...

25 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is argued that an account of hypothesis generation is required to explain these data and that only the counterfactual strategy is of help here, highlighting the rational basis of the strategy and some unrealities of the task.
Abstract: There are currently two competing interpretations of hypothesis testing in Wason's (1960) 2-4-6 task: the positivity heuristic (Klayman & Ha, 1987; 1989) and the counterfactual strategy (Farris & Revlin, 1989a; 1989b). We argue that an extension of the counterfactual strategy—the iterative counterfactual strategy—should be preferred over the positive test heuristic because it may resolve the paradox of why subjects succeed on this task while apparently adopting an irrational strategy. We argue that an account of hypothesis generation is required to explain these data and that only the counterfactual strategy is of help here. We discuss the strategy and the 2-4-6 task in the light of contemporary history and philosophy of science, highlighting the rational basis of the strategy and some unrealities of the task.

25 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the learning of a set of Greek pronunciation rules through explicit and implicit modes of rule presentation and found that explicit instruction was more effective in the visual than in the auditory modality.
Abstract: Two experiments examined the learning of a set of Greek pronunciation rules through explicit and implicit modes of rule presentation Experiment 1 compared the effectiveness of implicit and explicit modes of presentation in two modalities, visual and auditory Subjects in the explicit or rule group were presented with the rule set, and those in the implicit or natural group were shown a set of Greek words, composed of letters from the rule set, linked to their pronunciations Subjects learned the Greek words to criterion and were then given a series of tests which aimed to tap different types of knowledge The results showed an advantage of explicit study of the rules In addition, an interaction was found between mode of presentation and modality Explicit instruction was more effective in the visual than in the auditory modality, whereas there was no modality effect for implicit instruction Experiment 2 examined a possible reason for the advantage of the rule groups by comparing different comb

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors investigated how people process time constraints on sequence decisions entailed by an everyday type of errand-planning task and found that subjects who were not required to minimise time traded off travel distance (effort) against wait time.
Abstract: This study investigated how people process time constraints on sequence decisions entailed by an everyday type of errand-planning task. In this task, subjects chose when and where to perform a number of errands in a fictitious environment. Four experiments were conducted in which time constraints were varied. Undergraduate students served as subjects. A main finding was that subjects who were not required to minimise time traded off travel distance (effort) against wait time. Since this trade-off was stronger at early stages in the sequence of errands, it may not simply reflect inconvenience of waiting but an attempt to increase the realism of the plan by reducing the likelihood of obstacles to performing the errands. In addition to providing insights into the role of time constraints, the research demonstrated that, within a decision-making theoretical framework, planning may be conceived of as choices between sequences of actions.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, two experiments are described, which were aimed at studying attention allocation at different times following directional cognitive cue presentation, and the results showed a striking difference in the pattern of attention allocation following short (100-160 msec) and long (300-700 msec) SOAs.
Abstract: Two experiments are described, which were aimed at studying attention allocation at different times following directional cognitive cue presentation. In Experiment 1, the stimulus display consisted of a fixation cross and four boxes for stimulus presentation. The boxes were arranged horizontally above fixation. In Experiment 2, there were two rows of boxes, one above and one below fixation. In both experiments, the subjects were asked to shift attention from fixation to the cued box and to respond manually as fast as possible to the occurrence of a visual imperative stimulus, regardless of its location. The imperative stimulus was presented in the cued box or in one of the non-cued positions. The time interval between cue and imperative stimulus onset (SOA) varied from 100 to 700 msec. The results showed a striking difference in the pattern of attention allocation following short (100-160 msec) and long (300-700 msec) SOAs. Following short SOAs, attention spanned a relatively large portion of spa...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The three experiments provided data indicating that problem subspace abstraction has both benefits and costs and that chess players often make serious cognitive errors by abstracting the wrong problem subspaces.
Abstract: Chess players' long-range planning or chess-strategic thinking is based on more or less poorly definable and intuitive notions such as weak-square, initiative, space advantage, etc. Since these concepts are fuzzy and thus close to everyday concepts, chess players' long-range planning provides a good environment to study apperception with poorly definable notions. The three experiments provided data indicating that problem subspace abstraction has both benefits and costs. Active representation blockades alternative representations unless subjects restructure. As a result, chess players often make serious cognitive errors by abstracting the wrong problem subspaces. Even in strategical positions, the problem subspaces generated are self-consistent and bound by unconscious content-specific principles.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper investigated direct and associative lexical priming of nonword spelling in adults and children, and found that both types of priming were effective in influencing the choice of spelling pattern of nonwords, with both children and adults showing the effect.
Abstract: This study investigated direct and associative lexical priming of nonword spelling in adults and children. Two possible alternative orthographies of each nonword were targeted under both direct and associative priming conditions. It was found that both direct and associative priming manipulations were effective in influencing the choice of spelling pattern of nonwords, with both children and adults showing the effect. Levels of priming in children were lower, though not significantly lower, than those in adults. Direct priming was significantly stronger than associative priming for both subject groups, with the size of this differential being reduced in children. The differences between the types of priming are seen as speaking to a multiple-activation model of the orthographic lexicon, whereas those between age groups as pointing to a differential functional organisation of the lexicon.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors showed that data also approximate the recognition failure function when, following a recognition test involving only the B items, the A items are presented alongside B items in a second recognition test, but are presented as cues in a subsequent recall test.
Abstract: All the data that contribute to the recognition failure function discovered by Tulving and Wiseman (1975) come from experimental conditions in which B items are studied alongside A items that are omitted from a recognition test but are presented as cues in a subsequent recall test. According to a contextual account of this function, and of exceptions to it, data approximate the function whenever the A items in the recall test provide different contextual information to that provided by the B items in the recognition test. In line with this account, three experiments show that data also approximate the function when, following a recognition test involving only the B items, the A items are presented alongside the B items in a second recognition test. The third experiment further shows that data diverge from the function under similar conditions to those that have previously been shown to produce an exception to the function when the second test is cued recall; namely, conditions under which the A i...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the prominence effect was demonstrated for choices between pairs of options, choices to accept single options, and preference ratings of single options and the results were replicated in Experiment 2, in which subjects chose between or rated their preference for pair of options which were matched to be equally attractive either in the same session or 1 week earlier.
Abstract: A violation of procedure invariance in preference measurement is that the predominant or prominent attribute looms larger in choice than in a matching task. In Experiment 1, this so-called prominence effect was demonstrated for choices between pairs of options, choices to accept single options, and preference ratings of single options. That is, in all these response modes the prominent attribute loomed larger than in matching. The results were replicated in Experiment 2, in which subjects chose between or rated their preference for pairs of options which were matched to be equally attractive either in the same session or 1 week earlier. On the basis of these and previous results, it is argued that the prominence effect is a reliable phenomenon. However, none of several cognitive explanations which have been offered appears to be completely viable.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the Orthographic Depth Hypothesis predicts that priming and degradation will interact in the orthographically deep language (English) but not in the shallow language (Spanish).
Abstract: The performance of English and Spanish subjects was examined in two experiments using a lexical decision task in which the effects of semantic priming and stimulus degradation were systematically varied. The Orthographic Depth Hypothesis predicts that priming and degradation will interact in the orthographically “deep” language (English) but not in the “shallow” one (Spanish). In the first experiment, the two factors were found to interact in a similar way in both English and Spanish groups. In the second experiment, in which only Spanish subjects participated, the interaction was again present but only in those subjects who showed an overall facilitation effect on primed words. The results are consistent with the use of the so-called “direct” route in Spanish and are at variance with other previous findings which have suggested that reading in shallow orthographies occurs via the “indirect” phonological route. There was also evidence that nonword rejection times were slower in Spanish subjects a...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the orthographic neighbourhood and context are manipulated independently in Experiment 1, and the findings are better understood in terms of the orthogonality of a word's neighborhood.
Abstract: In explaining the word-superiority effect (i.e. the better detection of a letter in a word than in a nonword), the Interactive Activation Model (IAM) of McClelland and Rumelhart (1981) and the Fuzzy Logical Model of Perception (FLMP) of Massaro (1979) emphasise the importance of orthographic redundancy (i.e. the regularities of letters within words) in different ways. In the IAM, orthographic redundancy is defined by the number of “friends”; that is, words sharing the same letters except one with the word containing the target letter. Such friends constitute the orthographic “neighbourhood”. FLMP stresses the orthographic “context”; that is, the similarity of the word with a representation in the lexicon. The orthographic neighbourhood and context are manipulated independently in Experiment 1, and the findings are better understood in terms of the orthographic neighbourhood. By increasing the number of friends in nonwords, better letter detection is also obtained in nonwords as compared with lett...

Journal ArticleDOI
Ronald L. Cohen1
TL;DR: In a free recall situation, subjects can predict, with some degree of accuracy, which words they will subsequently recall as mentioned in this paper, and the question of why subjects often recall words to which they assign low prediction ratings was approached by comparing the properties of recall-not-predicted (RNP) and recall-prediction (RP) words which appeared in subjects' recall protocols.
Abstract: In a free recall situation, subjects can predict, with some degree of accuracy, which words they will subsequently recall. This study focused on the question of why subjects often recall words to which they assign low prediction ratings. This problem was approached by comparing the properties of recall-not-predicted (RNP) and recall-predicted (RP) words which appeared in subjects' recall protocols. No differences were found between the two types of items (RNP and RP) in retrieval monitoring. The two types of items were differentiated by whether subjects could recollect the actual occurrence of the recalled items in the study list (“remember” responses) or not (“know” responses). Furthermore, the recall of RNP items, but not RP items, was improved by retrieval prompts. These results were taken to support the position that weakly encoded items may be recalled if they encounter a highly favourable retrieval environment, not anticipated by subjects during study.