Showing papers in "Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology in 1986"

Dementia and Working Memory

Abstract: This study explored the hypothesis that patients suffering from dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) are particularly impaired in the functioning of the Central Executive component of working memory, and that this will be reflected in the capacity of patients to perform simultaneously two concurrent tasks. DAT patients, age-matched controls and young controls were required to combine performance on a tracking task with each of three concurrent tasks, articulatory suppression, simple reaction time to a tone and auditory digit span. The difficulty of the tracking task and length of digit sequence were both adjusted so as to equate performance across the three groups when the tasks were performed alone. When digit span or concurrent RT were combined with tracking, the deterioration in performance shown by the DAT patients was particularly marked.

The relationship between eye movements and spatial attention.

Abstract: Most previous studies of the attentional consequences of making saccadic eye movements have used peripheral stimuli to elicit eye movements. It is argued that in the light of evidence showing automatic “capture” of attention by peripheral stimuli, these experiments do not distinguish between attentional effects due to peripheral stimuli and those due to eye movements. In the present study, spatial attention was manipulated by varying the probability that peripheral probe stimuli would appear in different positions, while saccades were directed by a central arrow, enabling the effects of attention and eye movements to be separated. The results showed that the time to react to a peripheral stimulus could be shortened both by advance knowledge of its likely position and, separately, by preparing to make a saccade to that position. When the saccade was directed away from the most likely position of the probe, the targets for attention and eye movements were on opposite sides of the display. In this condition,...

Priming effects in amnesia: Evidence for a dissociable memory function

Abstract: Amnesic patients are impaired on tests of recall and recognition memory, yet they exhibit intact priming effects. That is, their performance can be facilitated or biased by recently encountered information. This paper reviews the phenomenon of preserved priming effects in amnesia, describes relationships between priming and other memory functions, and comments on what this spared memory function tells us about the organization of memory.

Visuo-spatial processing in working memory

Abstract: This paper reports four experiments designed to develop a simple technique for the study of visuo-spatial processing within the working memory framework (Baddeley and Hitch, 1974). Experiment 1 inv...

The memory deficits in Alzheimer-type dementia: a review.

Abstract: This review is an account of recent experimental studies of memory deficits at the early stages of Alzheimer-type dementia, evaluating these studies in relation to current theories of memory functioning in humans. Whilst memory deficits are found to be widespread, some aspects are more resilient to impairment than others. For example, the processes associated with articulatory rehearsal in working memory are unimpaired despite a reduction in performance on most tests of primary memory. The “implicit” aspects of secondary memory appear to remain unimpaired, in contrast to a marked decline in “explicit” or “episodic” memory. In addition, there is evidence that the rate of forgetting from secondary memory is normal. Some aspects of episodic and semantic memory are found to be impaired as a consequence of a decline in the efficient organisation and processing of verbal material at encoding or retrieval. It is concluded that the deficits share particular features found in organic amnesia, but with additional d...

Evidence for a visuo-spatial scratch-pad in working memory

Abstract: Experiments are reported which address the nature of the working memory system. Articulatory suppression (continuous recital of the digits 1 to 4) disrupted concurrent performance of a verbal reasoning task, but had no effect upon performance of a spatial reasoning task. In contrast, spatial suppression (continuous sequential tapping) produced reliable interference only with spatial reasoning. These findings are taken as consistent with Baddeley's argument for two slave systems in working memory: the articulatory loop and the more controversial visuo-spatial scratch-pad.

The cholinergic neurotransmitter system in human memory and dementia: a review.

Abstract: The present paper reviews three types of evidence implicating the role of acetylcholine in human memory and dementia: (1) neuropathological evidence that the cholinergic transmitter system is depleted in Alzheimer-type dementia; (2) psychopharmacological studies that have employed “cholinergic blockade” as a model of cholinergic depletion; and (3) clinical studies of cholinergic “replacement” therapy in Alzheimer-type dementia. The evidence that the cholinergic system is depleted in Alzheimer-type dementia has been complemented by the finding that cholinergic blockade in healthy subjects causes a substantial learning (or “acquisition”) deficit in episodic memory. The overall results of studies of replacement therapy have generally been disappointing, but a few have reported benefits in recall and recognition tests. The role of the cholinergic system in many aspects of memory remains to be elucidated; but it seems unlikely that cholinergic depletion accounts for all aspects of the memory disorder in Alzhei...

Digit span, reading rate, and linguistic relativity.

Abstract: The relations between reading time and memory span were studied in four languages: English, Spanish, Hebrew, and Arabic. Reading rate was measured either in speeded reading of digits or in normal-pace reading of stories. Faster speeded reading and normal-pace reading rates for a given language were associated with larger memory span for speakers of that language. These relations, which were shown to be monotonically related to the number of syllables or phonemes per item, extend the within-language word-length effect reported by Baddeley, Thomson and Buchanan (1975), across languages. In addition, these findings demonstrate a form of linguistic relativity: a relation between simple surface-structural features of language (number of syllables) and cognitive processing (memory span and reading rate). It is argued that this linguistic relativity may be limited by trade-offs between surface features and common linguistic practice.

Bilingual lexical representation: The status of spanish-english cognates

Abstract: Two experiments were conducted to determine the functional status of cognates. Two hypotheses were considered. According to the first hypothesis, language is a critical feature governing lexical or...

Movement and Attention in Visual Working Memory

Abstract: Three experiments that adopt an interference technique to investigate the involvement of movement in the production of a spatial code are described. Arm movements rather than the more commonly empl...

The uses of short-term memory: A case study

Abstract: It has been widely claimed that the systems employed in tasks of immediate memory have a function in the comprehension of speech; these systems, it has been proposed, are used to hold a representation of the speech until a syntactic analysis and interpretation have been completed. Such a holding function is meant to be especially important where the sentences heard are long or complex. It has thus been predicted that subjects with impaired short-term memory performance would show deficits in comprehension of such materials. In this study, one subject with impaired phonological processing and a severely reduced digit span was tested on a range of tasks requiring the syntactic analysis, memory and comprehension of long and complex material. She was found to be unimpaired on syntactic analysis and comprehension, but not on sentence repetition. The implications for models of short-term memory are discussed.

Semantic priming of familiar faces

Abstract: A series of experiments to explore the effect of priming by semantically related items in familiarity judgement tasks using faces and names that are analogous to lexical decision tasks is reported. In the first experiment, the semantic priming effect in face recognition reported by Bruce (1983) was explored in more detail by including neutral as well as associated and unrelated primes and by varying the prime-target SOA from 250 to 1,000 msec. Significant facilitation effects, with no inhibition, were found at all three SOAs. To explore the analogy between the processing of faces and verbal materials, a second experiment used names rather than faces. The difference between related and unrelated conditions at 250- and 1,000-msec SOA was similar to that found for faces in Experiment 1, but for names there was some evidence of inhibition. To investigate the locus of the priming effect with faces, in Experiment 3 the effect of degrading face targets was examined. An interaction between stimulus quality and se...

Effects of encoding strategy on long-term memory for odours

Abstract: The effects of various encoding tasks on long-term recognition of odours were examined. Different groups of subjects were instructed (a) to form visual images of the source of the odour, (b) to generate the name of the odour and provide a dictionary-like definition, or (c) to describe a life episode of which the odour reminded them. A no-strategy control was simply told to try to remember the odours for a subsequent recognition test. One week later, subjects performed a yes–no recognition test for the odours. The second and third groups displayed significantly higher recognition than the controls. The visual imagery group did not differ significantly from the control group. The results seem to be accounted for best by dual coding theory.

Naming and categorizing faces and written names

Abstract: In naming and categorization tasks, subjects were able to name aloud written names faster than photographs of faces, but were usually able to classify faces on familiarity (Experiment 1) or occupation (Experiments 2, 3 and 4) faster than written names. Faces were categorized faster than they were named, but written names were named faster than they could be categorized. Experiment 5 showed that familiar names were named more quickly than “rearranged” names made by exchanging the first and second names of familiar people. This pattern of findings is consistent with the view that faces can only access name (phonological) codes via an intervening semantic representation, whereas written names can access semantic and name codes in parallel. In this respect, faces show properties similar to those of other visual objects, despite a priori reasons why this might not have been expected to be the case.

Visual and auditory recognition of prefixed words

Abstract: The involvement of stem storage and prefix stripping in the recognition of spoken and printed prefixed words was examined. In both an auditory and a visual lexical decision experiment, it was found...

Word stems as cues in recall and completion tasks

Abstract: Subjects tend to complete word stems to form words to which they have recently been exposed. These priming effects in word-stem completion are compared to cued recall, where subjects are asked to recall list items and are given word stems as cues. Intentionality of learning and duration of rehearsal affected recall performance but not the magnitude of priming in word-stem completion. However, cued recall and word-stem tasks did not exhibit stochastic independence: performance on one task was strongly related to performance on the other. These results are inconsistent with extreme accounts that would attribute performance on these tasks either to entirely separate systems or to an identical set of processes.

Access to identity-specific semantic codes from familiar faces.

Abstract: Information codes that can specify the surface form of a face are contrasted with semantic codes describing the properties of the person to whom the face belongs Identity-specific semantic codes that specify characteristics of familiar people based on personal knowledge are in turn contrasted with the visually derived semantic codes and expression codes that can be derived even from unfamiliar faces The idea that familiarity decisions (ie, categorizing faces as belonging to known or unknown people) can be based on surface form, whereas certain types of semantic decision demand additional access to identity-specific semantic codes was investigated in four experiments Experiments 1 and 3 showed that decisions based on identity-specific semantic codes (semantic decisions) usually take longer than decisions that do not demand access to an identity-specific semantic code (familiarity decisions) Experiment 2 showed that the use of familiar faces drawn from consistent or mixed categories affected reaction

A philosophical and empirical analysis of subjects' modes of inquiry in Wason's 2-4-6 task.

Abstract: Investigations of hypothesis-testing behaviour typically conclude that subjects' methods are characterized by “confirmation bias.” However, these studies (a) relied exclusively upon Karl Popper's philosophy of science, (b) only described subjects' strategies via a falsificationist terminology, and (c) failed to determine subjects' precise intentions in the task situations. Alternative philosophies of science can be used to describe hitherto ignored aspects of rule discovery in Wason's (1960) 2–4–6 task as well as reinterpret findings from previous research. Using Wason's task, Experiment 1 adopted J. S. Mill's inductive methodology in order to assess better the extent of elimination in experimentation. While it was found that subjects did eliminate a large proportion of their hypotheses rather than merely confirm them, Mill's eliminative methods applied to this task failed to account for the entirety of subjects' behaviours. Experiment 2 examined subjects' methods in more depth by asking subjects during t...

Modularity, mass-action and memory.

Abstract: The present special issue is the result of a call for papers on human memory, preferably with a biological perspective, so as to make it an appropriate companion issue to the animal section issue on memory. When invited to write an editorial, I accepted, provided I was to be allowed the traditional prerogative of writers of editorials, namely licence to substitute opinion for evidence and speculation for expertise. The topic on which I want to offer my ill-formed speculation is the traditional question of the extent to which human memory is modular, on the one hand, and to what extent Lashley’s concept of mass-action can be applied to those parts of the brain responsible for memory. I speculate with some trepidation, as a cognitive psychologist dabbling in a classical area of physiological psychology. I would suggest, however, that this is an issue of direct current interest both to cognitive psychologists and to those interested in memory in animals, and as such is perhaps an appropriate editorial topic for this particular issue of the journal. Over the last decade or so, the combination of neuropsychological single case techniques with the development of cognitive approaches to human memory have produced a considerable advance in our functional understanding of human memory. Theoretical development has typically occurred by means of a series of dissociations established between different aspects of memory, allowing the previous unitary concept of memory to be fractionated into a number of interrelated subsystems. The first example of this was the distinction between short-term and long-term memory strongly supported by studies of the classical amnesic patient H M (Milner, 1966), followed by the demonstration that this neuropsychological dissociation could be tied in with the theoretical distinctions proposed by cognitive psychologists working with normal

Developmental changes in word recognition: An information-processing account.

Abstract: Two experiments examining developmental changes in the use of context in single word reading are reported. The first experiment investigated how effectively children can access conceptual knowledge...

Activation and elaboration effects in recognition and word priming

Abstract: Two experiments investigated the effect of direct and indirect activation on subsequent accessibility to individual items. In the first experiment, words were semantically processed in the context ...

Suppression effects in rhyme judgement tasks

Abstract: Orthographic and phonological similarity were orthogonally manipulated in a rhyme judgement task. The effects were assessed of paced versus very rapid articulatory suppression on subjects' ability to make rhyme judgements when pairs of words were presented either simultaneously or successively. It was found that there were consistent suppression effects on the accuracy of subjects' judgements to visually similar non-rhyming pairs (e.g. “pint-tint”), visually dissimilar rhyming pairs (e.g. “fare–wear”) and visually similar rhyming pairs (e.g. “fall–tall), regardless of mode of presentation or speed of suppression. The size of the suppression effect was greatest for the visually similar non-rhyming word pairs. It was argued that subjects need to carry out a recheck for phonological similarity when word pairs are visually but not phonologically similar, and that encoding the words in articulatory form is particularly beneficial for making accurate rhyme judgements to such pairs. E. A. McDermott was in receip...

Joint effects of semantic priming and repetition in a lexical decision task: Implications for a model of lexical access

Abstract: An experiment is reported which showed that in a lexical decision task semantic priming by a related preceding word and repetition of target words produce additive effects on decision latency. Prev...

Short-term storage and the processing of cohesion during reading.

Abstract: Four studies examine the role of short-term storage in the processing of grammatical cohesion devices (reference and conjunction) during reading. They demonstrate that short-term storage carries specific information that resolves reference and conjunction relations demanded by text. They also show that during reading, if short-term storage is unimpaired, these linkages produce smooth, efficient performance. If, however, short-term storage is cleared of its contents with a distractor task, reading is disrupted. The extent of the disruption is determined, in part, by the linkage demands of the text. It is theorized that this occurs because resolution of linkage takes place in short-term storage. Both indirect and direct evidence is also obtained that short-term storage is carrying higher-order thematic information. The first three studies demonstrate that a range of distractor tasks produces the basic results. The fourth study compares the effects of different distractor tasks and permits the specification ...

Access to spoken language and the acquisition of orthographic structure: evidence from deaf readers.

Abstract: Sensitivity to two types of orthographic structure was investigated: linguistically based orthographic regularity and summed single letter positional frequency. Deaf college students were found to make use of positional frequency information no less than hearing college students; however, the extent to which they made use of orthographic regularities in word recognition was related to their speech production skills. In one task, subjects were presented nonword letter strings for short durations, each followed by a masking stimulus and a target letter. They were asked to indicate whether or not the target had been present in the letter string. It was found that the accuracy of deaf subjects with good speech, like that of hearing subjects, was considerably greater for orthographically regular than irregular strings. In contrast, the accuracy of deaf subjects with poor speech was much less related to orthographic regularity. In a second task, in which subjects made judgements about how word-like various lett...

Evaluations of causal and conditional hypotheses.

Abstract: This study examined evaluations of causal and conditional hyptheses on the basis of individual exemplars. Subjects were presented scenes describing something that is malfunctioning and is taken to an expert. The expert makes a causal diagnosis and a prediction concerning an outcome following treatment. Four types of outcome evidence were provided: (1) treatment is provided and the problem is eliminated; (2) treatment is not provided and the problem is eliminated; (3) treatment is provided and the problem is not eliminated; and (4) treatment is not provided and the problem is not eliminated. Subjects were required to judge whether individual exemplars prove the diagnosis, disprove the diagnosis, or fail to test the diagnosis. A second form of problem presented the same scenes but required evaluation of the conditional prediction. A third form of problem did not present the causal scenes; the subject evaluated the conditional predication and no context. Three content domains were used: medical, mechanical, ...

Children'S Syllogistic Reasoning:

Abstract: Most theories of the development of deductive ability propose that children acquire formal rules of inference. An alternative theory assumes that reasoning consists of constructing a mental model of the situation described in the premises, scanning the model for an informative conclusion, and then searching for alternative models that refute this conclusion. Hence, performance should reflect two principal factors: the difficulty of constructing a model, which depends on the “figure” of the premises, and the number of models that have to be evaluated to respond correctly. In Experiment 1, two groups of children (9- to 10- and 11- to 12-year-olds) drew conclusions from 20 pairs of syllogistic premises. The results confirmed that children are affected both by figure and by number of models. Experiment 2 corroborated these findings for all 64 possible forms of syllogistic premises. The development of reasoning ability may therefore depend on the acquisition, not of formal rules of logic, but of procedures for...

Effects of time of day and information importance on adults' memory for a short story

Abstract: An experiment is reported that tested subjects' memory for information in a short story, either immediately after hearing the story or after a delay of one week. The story was presented, and the subjects tested, either in the morning or in the afternoon. The results showed that, although there was no overall effect of time of day of presentation on recall, relatively more important information from the story was recalled after a delay following presentation in the late afternoon, and more unimportant information following original presentation in the morning. The time of day of the delayed recall test did not have any effect on performance.

Process Traces of Binary Choices: Evidence for Selective and Adaptive Decision Heuristics

Abstract: While previous research has shown that human decision processes adjust to the characteristics of choice situations and task demands, the present study examined whether information processing would even adapt to the characteristics of an individual choice pair. By a process tracing method it was found that the amount of inspected information systematically depended upon the particular choice pair. In order to specify the selective and adaptive information processing, criterion-dependent choice models were introduced. These models postulate that information processing continues until the accumulated amount by which one alternative is better than the other reaches or exceeds a certain criterion. These models are strongly supported by the empirical data of the present study. Deviations between model predictions and observed data are explained in terms of fluctuating feature values of the choice alternatives.

The enterprise of performance

Abstract: In any university where human experimental psychology is studied seriously, the row of volumes labelled Attention & Performance is a familiar sight. Their format has changed over the years, starting with an original greenish paper-back offprinted from Acta Psychologica, through a period with Academic Press, to the most recent white jackets and contrasting lettering of Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. All of them are fairly massive, most copies by now are well-thumbed, and libraries that allow borrowing usually have to put them in a special restricted category to stop despairing finalists from disappearing with them. They are a feature of the past two decades that should surely interest future historians of the subject: not a journal, not a monograph series supported by a large academic society, not based on a single laboratory, not sustained by a single publisher or charity, and yet speaking with authority for an international community of investigators and thinkers. Their entry into double figures gives a good excuse for thinking about the phenomenon as a whole rather than about the individual volumes. Besides, the appearance of this particular issue coincides with the departure of Andreis Sanders from the post at TNO-Soesterberg where he has served applied psychology with such distinction all these years; he has at last gone to a university, that at Aachen. Sanders was invited to give a special address at the meeting reported in this volume, since there is no doubt that he has been the originator,