Showing papers in "Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition in 1984"

Repetition priming and frequency attenuation in lexical access

Abstract: Repetition priming effects in lexical decision tasks are stronger for low-frequency words than for high-frequency words. This frequency attenuation effect creates problems for frequency-ordered search models that assume a relatively stable frequency effect. The suggestion is made that frequency attenuation is a product of the involvement of the episodic memory system in the lexical decision process. This hypothesis is supported by the demonstration of constant repetition effects for high- and low-frequency words when the priming stimulus is masked; the masking is assumed to minimize the influence of any possible episodic trace of the prime. It is further shown that long-term repetition effects are much less reliable when the subject is not required to make a lexical decision response to the prime. When a response is required, the expected frequency attenuation effect is restored. It is concluded that normal repetition effects consist of two components: a very brief lexical effect that is independent of frequency and a long-term episodic effect that is sensitive to frequency. There has been much recent interest in the fact that in a lexical decision experiment, where subjects are required to classify letter strings as words or nonwords, there is a substantial increase in both the speed and the accuracy of classificatio n for words that are presented more than once during the experiment, even though considerable time may have elapsed between successive presen

The information that amnesic patients do not forget.

Abstract: The performance of three kinds of amnesic patients and control subjects was assessed using four methods for testing memory: free recall, recognition, cued recall, and word completion. Whereas amnesic patients were impaired on free recall, recognition, and cued recall, they were normal on word completion. Moreover, performance on the word-completion test declined at a normal rate reaching chance after about 120 min. The word-completion test resembled the cued-recall test in that the initial letters of previously presented words were given as cues. It differed from cued recall only in the instructions, which directed subjects away from the memory aspects of the test and asked them to complete each three-letter cue with the first word that came to mind. The present results offer an explanation of conflicting findings that have been obtained with amnesic patients on tests of the cued-recall type. The results are considered in terms of a process (activation or procedural learning), which is spared in amnesia and not dependent on the integrity of the damaged brain regions.

Choice, similarity, and the context theory of classification.

Abstract: Medin and Schaffer's (1978) context theory of classification learning is interpreted in terms of Luce's (1963) choice theory and in terms of theoretical results obtained in multidimensional scaling theory. En route to this interpretation, quantitative relationships that may exist between identification and classification performance are investigated. It is suggested that the same basic choice processes may operate in the two paradigms but that the similarity parameters that determine performance change systematically according to the structure of the choice paradigm. In particular, when subjects are able to attend selectively to the component dimensions that compose the stimuli, the similarity parameters may tend toward what is optimal for maximizing performance.

When Novices Surpass Experts: The Difficulty of a Task May Increase With Expertise

Abstract: A detailed look at the representations constructed by novice and expert computer programmers is presented. The issue is addressed by looking at the interaction between the representation naturally formed by programmers at each level of expertise and .an experimentally induced abstract or concrete "mental set." The data suggest that, in the absence of an experimentally provided set, experts form abstract representations (denned here as what a program does), whereas novices form concrete representations (defined here as how a program functions). The data also suggest that appropriate sets can aid each group to form the representation not natural to them; however, these representations are not as stable as the preferred ones. The generality of the findings and the utility of the experts' representation of a task is discussed both in relation to computer programming and to problem solving in other domains. In the semantically rich domains of skilled problem solving (Bhaskar & Simon, 1977), the difference between experts and nonexperts is both qualitative and quantitative. Not only do experts perform better than novices on quantitative measures of skill but experimental manipulations also uncover qualitative differ- ences in the representations and strategies used by experts. Repeatedly, we find that the work- ing representations of experts are abstract conceptualizations of the original problem statement, whereas those of novices are less abstract and focus more on surface features of the problem. For example, in a recent ex- periment, Adelson (1981c) found that expert programmers used abstract, conceptually based representations when attempting to re- call programming material, whereas novices used syntactically based representations. Using a multitrial free-recall procedure, Adelson asked novice and expert programmers to recall a set of 16 lines of programming code that had been presented in random order. Although the subjects had not been told that the 16 lines

Induction of category distributions: a framework for classification learning.

Abstract: We present a framework for classification learning that assumes that learners use presented instances (whether labeled or unlabeled) to infer the density functions of category exemplars over a feature space and that subsequent classification decisions employ a relative likelihood decision rule based on these inferred density functions. A specific model based on this general framework, the category density model} was proposed to account for the induction of normally distributed categories either with or without error correction or provision of labeled instances'. The model was implemented as a computer simulation. Results of five experiments indicated that people could learn category distributions not only without error correction, but without knowledge of the number of categories or even that there were categories to be learned. These and other findings dictated a more general learning model that integrated distributional representations based on both parametric descriptions and stored instances. In this article we present a new model of category learning and classification based on the acquisition and use of distributiona l knowledge. This category density model, derived from work by Fried (1979), makes the central assumption that the goal of the category learner is to develop a schematic description Experiment IA was reported at the meeting of the Psy

Memory as a function of attention, level of processing, and automatization

Abstract: The relationships between long-term memory (LTM) modification, attentional allocation, and type of processing are examined. Automatic/controlled processing theory (Schneider & Shiffrin, 1977) predicts that the nature and amount of controlled processing determines LTM storage and that stimuli can be automatically processed with no lasting LTM effect. Subjects performed the following: (a) an intentional learning, (b) a semantic categorization, (c) a graphic categorization, (d) a distracting digit-search while intentionally learning words, and (e) a distracting digit-search while ignoring words. Frequency judgments were more accurate in the semantic and intentional conditions than the graphic condition. Frequency judgments in the digit-search conditions were near chance. Experiment 2 extensively trained subjects to develop automatic categorization. Automatic categorization produced no frequency learning and little recognition. These results also disconfirm the Hasher and Zacks (1979) "automatic encoding" proposal regarding the nature of processing.

Metacomprehension of text material.

Abstract: Subjects' abilities to predict future multiple-choice test performance after reading sections of text were investigated in two experiments. In Experiment 1, subjects who scored above median test performance showed some accuracy in their predictions of that test performance. They gave higher mean ratings to material related to correct than to incorrect test answers. Subjects who scored below median test performance did not show this prediction accuracy. The retention interval between reading and the test was manipulated in Experiment 2. Subjects who were tested after at least a 24-hr delay showed results identical to those of Experiment 1. However, when subjects were tested immediately after reading, subjects above and below median test performance gave accurate predictions for the first immediate test. In contrast, both types of subjects gave inaccurate predictions for the second immediate test. Structural variables, such as length, serial position, and hierarchical level of the sections of text were related to subjects' predictions. These variables, in general, were not related to test performance, although the predictions were related to test performance in the conditions described above.

Emotional mood states and memory: elaborative encoding, semantic processing, and cognitive effort.

Abstract: The effects of experimentally induced mood states on recall of target words embedded in sentences or alone were examined in three experiments. All experiments focused on the role of a depressed-mood induction on recall and looked at the effects of elaborative encoding, semantic processing, or cognitive effort. The overall effect of the depressed-mood state was to reduce recall in all three situations; however, the opportunity to process information semantically still led to superior recall in the depressed condition. In contrast, the superiority of recall of high-effort items disappeared in the depressed condition, suggesting that subjects may differentially allocate resources when under a depressed-mood state. The results are briefly discussed within the framework of a resource allocation theory.

Odor recognition: familiarity, identifiability, and encoding consistency.

Abstract: The investigation examined the association between the perceived identity of odorous stimuli and the ability to recognize the previous occurrence of them. The stimuli comprised 20 relatively familiar odorous objects such as chocolate, leather, popcorn, and soy sauce. Participants rated the familiarity of the odors and sought to identify them. At various intervals up to 7 days after initial inspection, the participants sought to recognize the odors among sets of distractor odors that included such items as soap, cloves, pipe tobacco, and so on. The recognition response entailed a confidence rating as to whether or not an item had appeared in the original set. At the time of testing, the participants also sought to identify the stimuli again. The results upheld previous findings of excellent initial recognition memory for environmentally relevant odors and slow forgetting. The results also uncovered, for the first time, a strong association between recognition memory and identifiability, rated familiarity, and the ability to use an odor label consistently at inspection and subsequent testing. Encodability seems to enhance rather than to permit recognizability. Even items identified incorrectly or inconsistently were recognized at levels above chance.

Building spatial representations through primary and secondary learning.

Abstract: The current study examined the conditions under which cognitive representations of spatial information are stored in orientation-specific ways (like pictures) versus orientation-free ways. College students learned simple paths by viewing a map of them (map condition), by walking them while blindfolded (walk condition), or by directly viewing the route from a single vantage point (look condition). Blindfolded subjects then stood on the route in various orientations and made directional judgments to other locations on the route. When subjects learned the route by indirect, symbolic means (map), judgments were quite easy when aligned with the learned map orientation and were difficult if the judgment was not aligned with the learned map orientation. However, when subjects learned the route by more direct, primary spatial learning (walk or look), there were no alignment effects. Thus, subjects treat information from primary (direct) and secondary (symbolic) spatial learning in distinct ways. Learning from a map results in a figural representation that has great precision but a specific orientation. Learning the route more directly results in a representation that is less precise but one that can be used in more flexible ways.

Given versus induced category representations: use of prototype and exemplar information in classification.

Abstract: Acquisition of category-level information can be based on experience with category members (induced) as well as on direct presentation of prototypical values (given). To investigate the effects of these two types of information, a relational coding model of categorization was developed in which classification is based on a mixture of exemplar and prototype information. In two experiments, subjects learned about two ill-defined categories. Stimuli were geometric shapes varying along four binary-valued dimensions. For three groups of subjects, training consisted of (a) experience with exemplars only, (b) learning prototype values followed by exemplar experience, or (c) learning prototype values concurrently with exemplar experience. Following training, all subjects received classification tests on prototype values as well as on old and new exemplars. By varying the relative use of prototype and exemplar information, the mixture model accurately accounted for category judgements in all three groups. For subjects directly presented with prototype values, classification was based on a mixture of similarity to prototypes and to stored exemplars. In contrast, subjects who only received experience with exemplars appeared to base their category judgements solely on similarity to stored exemplars, even though they could accurately judge the prototype values. The two components of the mixture model are related to subjects' classification strategies and the nature of abstracted, category-level information. Language: en

Cognitive arithmetic: comparison of operations.

Abstract: Adults' performance of simple arithmetic calculations (addition, multiplication, and numerical comparison) was examined to test predictions of digital (counting), analog, and network models. Although all of these models have been supported by studies of mental addition, each leads to a different prediction concerning relations between the times required for addition, multiplication, and numerical comparison. Pairs of single-digit integers were presented and reaction times (RTs) for adding, multiplying, and comparing the stimuli were collected. A high correlation between RT for addition and multiplication of the same digits was obtained. This result is consistent with a network model, but presents difficulties for both analog and counting models. A "ties" effect of no increase in RT with increases in problem size for doubles such as 2 + 2 has been found in previous studies of addition using verification procedures, but was not found with the production task employed in the present study. Instead, a different kind of ties effect was found. Reaction time for both addition and multiplication of ties increased more slowly with problem size than did RT for non-tie problems. This ties effect, and the finding that probability of making errors contributes independently of problem size to RT support a distinction between location and accessibility of information in a network. Language: en

Critical importance of exposure duration for affective discrimination of stimuli that are not recognized.

Abstract: Previous research has found that repeated exposure to briefly presented visual stimuli can increase the positive affect for the stimuli without enhancing their recognition. Subjects could discriminate target and distractor shapes by affective preference in the absence of recognition memory. This study examined this phenomenon as a function of stimulus exposure duration. Over exposure durations of 0, 2, 8, 12, 24, and 48 ms, the functions for affect and recognition judgments exhibited different temporal dynamics. Target selection by affect was possible at very brief exposures and was influenced little by increasing durations; target selection by recognition required longer stimulus exposures and improved with increasing durations. Affective discrimination of stimuli that are not recognized is a reliable phenomenon, but it occurs only within a narrow band of time. This parametric study has specified the relationship between exposure duration and affect and recognition judgments and has located that temporal window. Language: en

The mental representation of knowledge acquired from maps.

Abstract: The experiments reported here, tested how knowledge acquired from simple maps is mentally represented and processed. These experiments also tested a new methodology for examining spatial representations. The main question addressed in this research was how route and distance information are represented in cognitive maps. In particular, the experiments examined the relative contributions of route and Euclidean distance on a map to determining the psychological distance between locations in the mental representation of that map. For example, in Figure 1, the cities Sedona and Emmet are equidistant from Nesmith in terms of Euclidean distance. However, Sedona is much closer to Nesmith than is Emmet in terms of route distance. In Experiments 1 and 2, we attempted to determine if the psychological distance between cities in a cognitive map would be primarily dependent on the route distance or the Euclidean distance between those cities on the real map. The second goal of this research was to test a new methodology for examining the

Category size effects in recall: The roles of relational and individual item information.

Abstract: Memory for events varies as a function of the number of events in a given class, but previous research from organization theory did not succeed in establishing a consistent function relating memory and category size. We suggest that prior research can be systematized within a framework of relational and individual item processing. Relational processing refers to the encoding of similarities among events, and individual item, processing refers to encoding of distinctive information for each event. Assuming the importance of both types of information for precise recall and that the type of information encoded will depend on category size and the subject's attention to relational or distinctive features, predictions are derived concerning the interaction of orienting activity and category size. The predicted interaction was obtained in two experiments that demonstrated that small categories are better recalled following relational processing, and large categories are; better recalled following individual item processing. Additional dependent measures (clustering, category recall, items per category recall, and cued recall) provided highly consistent converging evidence for the proposed theoretical analysis. The general conclusion is that theories of memory must explain the paradoxical fact of the simultaneous importance of both similarity and difference.

Automatic category search and its transfer.

Abstract: Experiments examined practice and transfer effects in consistently mapped (CM) and variably mapped (VM) semantic search. Experiment 1a examined improvements in reaction time in detecting words from a category as a function of the number of exemplars (4-12) in the category. All CM conditions showed improvement, but there was no significant effect of the number of exemplars. Experiment 1b examined the extent to which training on a subset of exemplars transferred to untrained members of the category. Results showed substantial positive transfer (60%-92%) to untrained exemplars from the trained category. The transfer was better if there were more exemplars in the training set. Experiment 2a showed practice reduced resource sensitivity in CM category search but did not benefit VM category search. Experiment 2b showed that under high workload, untrained exemplars of the trained CM category were detected when first presented to exhibit substantial positive transfer (70%). We conclude that many of the practice effects observed for CM category search take place at either the category level or the category feature level. We suggest that practice results in context activation of the category node or category features. This context activation hypothesis is evaluated with respect to major phenomena relating to automatic and controlled processing. Language: en

A Theory of Categorization Based on Distributed Memory Storage.

Abstract: : As an alternative to probabalistic and examplar models of categorization, we develop a model based on the assumption of distributed memory storage. Subjects in two experiments performed tasks related to the categorization of random dot patterns. First, the perceived similarity was measured between two such dot patterns, one a distortion of the other. Second, groups of examplar patterns derived from a category prototype were classified together in a category learning task. When the number of examples was small, new dot patterns were classified according to their similarity to learned exemplars; when the number was large, accuracy depended on a dot pattern's similarity to the prototype pattern. The distributed memory model is used to explain a number of aspects of the experimental findings. Detailed computer simulations are described for the similarity, categorization, and prototype enhancement results.

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

Abstract: 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.

Metamemory: Monitoring Future Recallability During Study

Abstract: Deux experiences etudient la capacite d'etudiants a utiliser une echelle d'evaluation de facon a predire quel item, parmi ceux qui doivent etre memorises, ils seraient capables de se rememorer dans un test ulterieur de rappel

Maintenance rehearsal: a two-component analysis

Abstract: Un modele alternatif du maintien de la repetition est propose puis mis a l'epreuve au cours de deux experiences appliquant trois criteres permettant d'etablir une distinction entre une composante controlee ou plus automatique de la repetition

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

Abstract: 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. Language: en

Stroop tasks and dichotic translation: The development of interference patterns in bilinguals.

Abstract: Deux experiences menees aupres de 114 eleves bilingues (allemands et suedois) âges de 14 a 19 ans etudient les changements developpementaux survenant dans les interferences intra et inter-langues au cours de tâches manipulant le nom de la couleur et la couleur de son ecriture pour les modalites visuelle et auditive

Mental comparison of size and magnitude: size congruity effects.

Abstract: Paivio (1975) found that the latency to choose the larger of two named objects does not depend on congruity between the object sizes and the sizes of the object names. Because size congruity does affect latencies for pictorially presented objects, Paivio interpreted this result as support for the dual coding hypothesis. However, Experiment 1 demonstrated that Paivio's results were an artifact of his experimental design. Size congruity does affect latencies to choose the larger of two named objects when object pairs are not repeated. When the same object pairs are used repeatedly, as in Paivio's experiment, the effect disappears. In this case the response is probably remembered, so that the objects need not be compared. To determine the processing stages affected by size congruity, both the distance between stimulus sizes and the size congruity were manipulated in Experiment 2. Three groups of subjects chose either the greater Arabic digit, the greater named digit, or the larger named object. Size congruity interacted with distance only for Arabic digits. For both Arabic digits and named digits, the interference caused by size incongruity was greater than the facilitation caused by size congruity, whereas for object names, the facilitation was greater than the interference. A model of the interaction between physical size comparisons and conceptual size comparisons is proposed to account for these results. Language: en