bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The effects of acoustic similarity on memory in children: A comparison between visual and auditory presentation
Authors: Hulme Charles
Published: June 2007

Children from 4 to 10 years old were presented with a serial recall task with pictures of common objects which had acoustically similar or dissimilar names, or with the spoken names of the pictures. Children of all ages showed consistently better recall of the pictures with dissimilar names. It is concluded, in contrast to some earlier studies, that children as young as 4 years are able to utilize a speech code as a means of memorizing pictures. With auditory presentation as in previous studies acoustic similarity had progressively more effect on recall with increasing age. The implications of these finding for current theories of short‐term memory and its development are discussed.
Face recognition, pose and ecological validity
Authors: Logie Robert H. , Baddeley Alan D. , Woodhead Muriel M.
Published: June 2007

This paper describes five experiments with two main aims; first, to assess the effects of variations in photographic facial pose on recognizability. A second, more fundamental aim was to examine the reliability of laboratory findings relevant to face recognition, in more ecologically valid settings, and to develop a methodology to further this aim. In Experiment 1 best performance was achieved with provision of three facial poses, namely full‐face, three‐quarter and profile views. With a single pose a three‐quarter view was the most helpful. Experiments 2 and 3 attempted to evaluate these findings in a real‐life setting using the general public or paid volunteers who attempted to identify a live target in a town centre from a previously presented photograph. The general public produced a very poor response, and the volunteers produced a low detection and high false recognition rate. Experiment 4 increased constraints on the experimental environment and produced a reasonable hit rate, but no effects of pose. Experiment 5 was a laboratory study where the presentation of a live target preceded photographic recognition. Effects of pose reappeared in line with results of Experiment 1. These results underline the danger involved in making practical recommendations arising from purely laboratory based research.
Conversation and remembering: Bartlett revisited
Authors: Edwards Derek , Middleton David
Published: June 2007

Bartlett's book Remembering (1932) is frequently cited as a major forerunner of the information processing approach to memory and cognition. This approach has itself been criticized by one of its founders, Ulric Neisser (1982), for its narrowness and artificiality compared with the nature of remembering in natural contexts. A re‐examination of Bartlett's work demonstrates that it offers little basis for an information processing approach, but rather that it offers the foundation of a much broader, culturally contextualized and functional approach to the study of everyday remembering. Three particular themes are discussed: the integration of social judgements and affective reactions with cognition, the role of conventional symbols in the coding and communication of experience, and the importance of conversational discourse. Bartlett's best‐known studies, involving the method of serial reproduction, are shown to be microcosmic demonstrations of the process that he was most concerned with—that of conventionalization of symbols rather than of the workings of an individual's memory. It is argued, again beginning with Bartlett, that everyday remembering may be most fruitfully studied in terms of its personal and social functions, and particularly through its realization in discourse.
Macro‐contexts for learning: Initial findings and issues
Authors: Sherwood Robert D. , Kinzer Charles K. , Hasselbring Ted S. , Bransford John D.
Published: June 2007

The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of video‐based technologies to create macro‐contexts that can facilitate comprehension and learning. A theoretical rationale for the use of macro‐contexts is considered, and the results of three experiments are described. The experiments involve very simple uses of technology yet show positive results. The results suggest that more sophisticated uses of technology, especially computer‐controlled interactive videodiscs, should have even greater benefits on comprehension and learning. The findings provide a rationale for conducting more extensive investigations that utilize sophisticated technologies.
The basis of the 3/4 view advantage in face recognition
Authors: Bruce Vicki , Valentine Tim , Baddeley Alan
Published: June 2007

Three‐quarter views of faces promote better recognition memory for previously unfamiliar faces than do full‐face views. This paper reports experiments which examine the possible basis of the effect, and, in particular, examine whether the effect reflects some ‘canonical’ role for the 3/4 view of a face. Experiment 1 showed no advantage of 3/4 views over full‐face views when the task was to decide whether or not each of a series of faces was that of a highly familiar colleague. In Experiment 2 a sequential matching task was used, where subjects had to respond positively if both members of a pair of faces were of the same person. When the faces used were highly familiar to the subjects, there was no evidence of an advantage for a 3/4 view in the matching task. Three‐quarter views and full‐face views led to equivalent performance, though profiles produced decrements in performance. When the same faces were shown to subjects who were unfamiliar with the faces, 3/4 views did lead to increased speeds in same trials, compared with full‐face, though profiles again proved difficult. Thus a 3/4 view advantage appeared only where the faces were unfamiliar, and the task had to be performed at the level of visual matching. It appears that the 3/4 view advantage may be obtained only when the task involves explicit matching between test views and remembered target photographs, rather than reflecting any more fundamental properties of the representations used to recognize highly familiar faces.
A language effect in voice identification
Authors: Thompson Charles P.
Published: June 2007

Bilingual students recorded messages in English, Spanish, and English with a strong Spanish accent. Monolingual English‐speaking subjects heard a single message and attempted to identify the voice in a six‐person line‐up 1 week later. The line‐up message was delivered in the same language and accent as the initial message. Voices were identified best when speaking English and worst when speaking Spanish. Identification accuracy was intermediate for the accent condition. There were no reliable differences among conditions in false alarms when the target voice was absent from the line‐up. The effect of language was replicated using a 30‐min retention interval. Familiarity with the language and language constraints on voice characteristics were discussed as possible explanations of the language effect.
Braille learning: Relative importance of seven variables
Authors: Hall Anthony D. , Newman Slater E.
Published: June 2007

A number of experiments have demonstrated that the learning of braille is affected by a variety of factors. The present experiment was carried out to determine the relative importance of these variables for braille learning. The variables were stimulus set discriminability (high, low), study modality (visual, haptic), test modality (visual, haptic), study size (large vs standard braille cell), test size (large vs standard braille cell), study rate (5 or 10 seconds per item), and test rate (5 or 10 seconds per item). The results showed that study modality, stimulus set discriminability, and test modality were the variables mainly responsible for differences in performance during acquisition. Some practical and theoretical implications of these results are considered.
Lay knowledge of eyewitness behaviour: A British survey
Authors: Noon Elizabeth , Hollin Clive R.
Published: June 2007

One of the recent concerns in the study of eyewitness memory is how well lay knowledge, i.e. ‘common sense’, matches the findings of empirical research. A number of American and Canadian studies, some using questionnaire methodology, have found limitations in lay knowledge of eyewitness behaviour. Further studies have extended this general finding beyond the lay public–who are prospective jurors–to legal professionals such as lawyers and policemen. The present study utilized the Knowledge of Eyewitness Behaviour Questionnaire (KEBQ), an inventory used in previous studies, to replicate the North American studies with a British sample of students, including law students, and the general public. The results showed a great similarity between the North American and British samples' knowledge of eyewitness behaviour. A significant number of correct responses were made to eight of the 14 KEBQ items, with a significant number of incorrect responses to the remainder. It was also found that law students were no more knowledgeable than other subjects; that knowledge did not vary with age; and that previous experience as an eyewitness was not related to knowledge of eyewitness behaviour. In responding to some of the criticisms of questionnaire studies it is argued that the evidence is mounting in favour of the need for a recognized system to make jurors aware of the factors known to influence eyewitness testimony.
Readability of instructional text, written for the general public
Authors: Wagenaar Willem A. , Schreuder Rob , Wijlhuizen Gert Jan
Published: June 2007

The readability of nine texts, written for the general public, was assessed by 12 different scores. Five of these scores were obtained from the structural analysis proposed by Kintsch and his colleagues. The analysis was applied on the macro‐level of text composition. Four measures were related to reading speed. The three remaining measures were: subjective assessment of readability, the Flesch index, and the cloze percentage. The pattern of correlations among the twelve measures revealed a close relation between subjective assessments, cloze scores, Flesch indices, the number of propositions per 100 words, and all measures of reading speed. The four remaining measures proposed by Kintsch did not correlate with this group, nor did they correlate amongst each other. A principal‐components analysis revealed two major factors which were identified as text difficulty at the micro‐level and at the macro‐level. It is concluded that a full description of readability requires analyses at both levels. Analysis at the macro‐level will remain extremely time‐consuming, especially since it can only be done by hand.
Autobiographical memories and self‐schemata
Authors: Barclay Craig R. , Subramaniam Gayatri
Published: June 2007

Self‐schemata associated with dependency were assessed in a group of nine adults. Subjects subsequently kept diary‐type records of the three most memorable events occurring in their daily lives during a 3‐week period. Free and cued recall memory tests for reported events were given approximately 5½ weeks after the completion of record keeping. A priori assessments of self‐schemata were correlated with the kinds of daily events reported: independent subjects evaluated their events as more independent than did dependent subjects, and vice‐versa. Free recall results suggested that the degree of schematicity found in assessment, and the nature of reported events, were correlated with memory. In cued recall no significant memory differences were found between independent and dependent subjects for schema‐consistent or inconsistent events. Self‐schemata apparently function as an effective retrieval environment in the absence of observable mnemonics. The data support the view that autobiographical recollections are reconstructions driven, in part, by self‐schemata derived from life experiences.
Learning a procedure from multimedia instructions: The effects of film and practice
Authors: Baggett Patricia
Published: June 2007

College students were taught to build a model helicopter from an assembly kit. Their instructions consisted of a narrated film (one viewing or two), hands‐on practice using a model as a guide (one building or two), or a combination (see film first, build second; or build first, see film second). Performance on assembly from memory was assessed either immediately or after a 1‐week delay. Both structural and functional measures were used. (A new structural measure is introduced here.) Performance was best immediately for groups who had hands‐on practice, either twice, or in conjunction with a film. After a week, the group who practised first and saw the film second performed significantly better than all others. A theoretical framework, based on multimedia concept formation, is briefly presented to account for the results. In order for lasting concepts to be formed in memory, a precedence is suggested: motoric elements with their accompanying mental components should be put in first, followed by visual, followed by linguistic.
The early stages of reading: A longitudinal study
Authors: Ellis Nick , Large Barbara
Published: June 2007

Forty children were studied as they began to learn to read at 5 years old and as they developed their skill up to 7 years old. At each year they were tested for ability on 44 variables which measured ability in reading, spelling, vocabulary, short‐term memory, visual perception and discrimination, auditory‐visual integration, language knowledge, phonological awareness, grammatical knowledge, rote knowledge and ordering ability, and performance on the Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children. The data for the whole group of children were analysed in several ways: (1) At each year the patterns of associates of reading skill were determined (with and without control for IQ); (2) the abilities at one point in time which were associated with later reading skill were charted for the whole group, for a subset of children who at 5 years old started with no reading skill, and for another group of children who were progressing rapidly at 7 years old. Cross‐lagged correlation comparisons were made to investigate causal paths. These analyses allowed us to chart the course of reading development and the interactive ways in which associated skills such as spelling, reading, phonological awareness and syntactic knowledge grow from each other differentially at different stages of development. The nature of reading skill changes rapidly in the first 3 years of acquisition. In information processing terms it begins as an undifferentiated skill associated with knowledge of the letters of the alphabet, phonological awareness, and visual symbolic short‐term memory processes. It then changes in character, being associated with holistic visual pattern recognition skills. By 6 years old phonological awareness and verbal short‐term memory processes are by far the strongest associates. By 7 years old the better readers' skills are associated with analytic visual perceptual analysis, the learning of new symbol‐sound associations, and sound blending skill. Reading has become a multifaceted ability tapping a wide range of different skills from language comprehension to analysis of the order of elements in a visual array.
The use of computer displays to improve reading comprehension
Authors: Juola James F.
Published: June 2007

There are a number of different ways to present text on computer‐controlled displays, and these vary in their relative readabilities. ‘Electronic pages’ can be made to be almost as readable as high‐quality printed pages. Alternative text display formats can make use of some of the flexibility inherent in computers—for example, by presenting text that appears to move upwards from the bottom of the screen or from right to left along a single line. Research has shown, however, that the most viable alternative to the standard page format, both as a tool for the study of reading processes and as a means to promote reading efficiency, is the rapid, serial visual presentation (RSVP) technique. In RSVP the text is divided into small units of one or a few words that are presented successively for brief durations to a common location on a screen. Text presented in this way can be read rapidly and with good comprehension, while the need for eye movements is eliminated. The data from several studies indicate that RSVP can actually improve the comprehension abilities of less‐skilled readers. The present paper explores reasons for this apparent advantage of RSVP for some readers, and proposes ways in which the method might be applied in instructional settings.
Retroactive interference in the retention of prose: A reconsideration and new evidence
Authors: Dempster Frank N.
Published: June 2007

The sensitivity of naturalistic prose material to retroactive interference (RI) was investigated in three experiments, with due consideration given to the conditions known to produce RI in non‐prose material. In experiment 1, unrelated, related, and nearly identical (parapharase) prose passage conditions yielded a pattern of results very similar to those obtained with non‐prose material, with only the related condition associated with significant amounts of RI. Based upon these results and a few simple assumptions, a classificatory scheme was developed within which predictions were made regarding RI in related prose material. Several such predictions were tested and confirmed in Experiments 2 and 3. It was concluded that the many previous failures to detect RI in the retention of prose may be attributed to factors other than any inherent insensitivity of the material itself, and that RI may be just as predictable in prose as it is non‐prose material.
Learning from lectures: The effect of varying the detail in lecture handouts on note‐taking and recall
Authors: Morgan C. H. , Lilley J. D. , Boreham N. C.
Published: June 2007

Previous research on the effect of lecture handouts on student learning indicates that students who are given skeletal handouts usually perform better in course examinations than students who take all their own notes. The present study investigates whether the amount of detail in the handout is a critical factor in this. A randomized groups experiment was conducted in the context of a course on dental surgery. Four lecture handout conditions (headings and full text; headings and key points; headings only; no supplementary materials) were compared on tests 2 days and 2 weeks after the lecture. The significant differences between conditions were: ‘headings only’ better than ‘headings and key points’ on the first test; ‘headings only’ better than ‘no supplementary materials’ on the second test; and ‘headings and full text’ better than ‘no supplementary materials’ on the second test. These results indicate that the amount of detail is a critical factor in handout effectiveness.
Text memory and integration at different times of day
Authors: Oakhill Jane
Published: June 2007

This paper reports an experiment that explored whether the extent to which the ideas in a text are integrated changes over the day. In order to monitor integration, a task used by Wilkes, Alred and Al‐Ahmar (1983) was adopted. The assumption underlying the task was that information that is inconsistent with respect to preceding information in a text will be remembered differently from information that is not inconsistent. Obviously, such selective remembering cannot occur if the information in the text is not integrated, so the degree to which differential remembering occurs can be taken as an index of degree of integration. Although the predicted differences in degree of integration between morning and afternoon subjects were not confirmed, the morning superiority effect in text recall was replicated, and it was demonstrated that this superiority arose because of the morning subjects' better memory for the exact wording of the text. In addition, subjects showed different types of recall error at the two times of day. These errors are discussed in relation to subjects' hypothesized changes in strategy over the day.
Relative retention of verbal and audiovisual information in a national training programme
Authors: Gehring Robert E. , Toglia Michael P.
Published: June 2007

A 15‐min segment of a national pharmaceutical sales training programme was evaluated in two experiments. Lecture supplemented by 139 colour slides failed to produce recognition scores on immediate and 1‐week tests above those produced by lecture alone. However, videotaped visuals designed to carry the main points of the message in a dynamic way enhanced retention over 1 week, compared to lecture only and lecture plus slides. The video presentation also yielded less intertest forgetting over 1 week than the combined results of lecture and lecture plus slides. The findings indicate that video presentations emphasizing action and conveying more than redundant illustrations of a verbal message can elevate long‐term retention in training programmes. A modified version of dual‐coding theory may explain the results and predict the circumstances under which combined pictorial and verbal codes will or will not be superior to a code which is primarily verbal.
The applicability of verbal mnemonics for different populations: A review
Authors: Cook Neil McLaughlin
Published: June 2007

The main aims of this review were to assess(1) the likelihood of learners making spontaneous use of verbal mnemonics, and (2) the extent to which learners will benefit from using verbal mnemonics. Over 60 investigations of verbal mnemonics were reviewed, most of which concentrated upon sentence mnemonics or first‐letter mnemonics; although many of the studies used students as subjects, the review also considers the value of verbal mnemonics for schoolchildren, mentally handicapped people, brain‐injured patients, and the elderly. On the whole, verbal mnemonics are relatively popular internal memory aids and, when compared to standard control conditions such as rehearsal, appear to be effective learning strategies for most of the populations studied, although mentally handicapped people and schoolchildren may find it difficult to produce effective mnemonics themselves; additionally, students and schoolchildren can benefit from the use of mnemonic sentences as part of more complex techniques. Comparisons between verbal mnemonics and other memory‐aiding strategies have, however, given more equivocal results. A number of areas for future research are identified. In particular it is hoped to see a development of recent trends to use non‐student subject, and to investigate the applicability of verbal mnemonics outside the laboratory.
Digit memory of soroban experts: Evidence of utilization of mental imagery
Authors: Hatta Takeshi , Hirose Takehiko , Ikeda Kazuo , Fukuhara Hiroyuki
Published: June 2007

Two experiments were conducted to demonstrate that skilled soroban (Japanese abacus) operators can improve digit memory retention by manipulating the beads of a ‘mental soroban’ which is analogous to the actual one. In Experiment 1, soroban experts and control subjects were given two digit memory tasks. In one task, pictures of a soroban figure and in the other, pictures of digit sequences, were presented to the subjects during the retention interval. Soroban experts experienced greater interference from presentation of the soroban figures than the digits; on the other hand, the reverse was true in the control subjects. In Experiment 2, ther soroban experts and control subjects were given the same digit memory tasks under three conditions—soroban pictures, pictures of digit sequences, and human faces were presented to subjects during the retention period of 15 s. The soroban experts were more affected by the presentation of the soroban figures than by the faces or digits, whereas the controls showed more interference from the digits than by the presentation of faces or soroban pictures.
Hypnotic memory and confident reporting
Authors: Krass Jeanette , Kinoshita Sachiko , McConkey Kevin M.
Published: June 2007

The effect of hypnosis on the relationship between confidence and accuracy of memory reports is examined. Specifically, the article reviews experimental research that has measured subjects' confidence in their hypnotically influenced memory reports. The findings of this research are discussed in terms of the factors that increase confidence without affecting accuracy, and the factors that decrease accuracy without affecting confidence. The article argues that both the experiential and social factors associated with hypnosis potentially reduce the correspondence between confidence and accuracy of memory. Finally, the article specifies the major implications for further theoretical and empirical work on hypnotic memory and confident reporting.
Effects of racial stereotypes on eyewitness performance: Implications of the real and the rumoured Allport and Postman studies
Authors: Treadway Molly , McCloskey Michael
Published: June 2007

The Allport and Postman (1945, 1947) study of rumour has been widely cited in support of the claim that expectations based upon racial stereotypes can cause eyewitnesses to make dramatic errors in perceiving or remembering an event. However, this claim is founded on inaccurate accounts of the study that have appeared throughout the eyewitness testimony literature. In this article we explore the implications of the actual Allport and Postman study, and the study as erroneously described, for questions about eyewitness performance.
Novice Strategies for Understanding Paintings
Authors: Schmidt Julie A. , McLaughlin John P. , Leighten Patricia
Published: June 2007

Visual analysis is taught in art history classes as a skill which aids a student in understanding a work of art in its appropriate conceptual or historical context. To provide a foundation for the design of computer‐based lessons to train students in the skill, this study attempted to discover the strategies that novices employ when viewing a set of paintings. Verbal protocols obtained from novices in this study indicated that they described semantic features, or content, of paintings more than the formal elements, e. g. line, colour, shape, when viewing realist paintings. However, when presented with abstract, i. e. less semantically accessible paintings, novices shaply altered their approach and discussed formal elements over content. These findings suggest that an analysis of formal elements is not performed by a novice when a painting depicts a clear subject, but is attempted when the subject‐matter becomes obscure. This implies that, at some level, novices realize that the meaning of a painting can be extracted from attention to the formal elements. Interestingly, novice protocols contained the same categories of strategies deemed important by experts. The lack of training in visual analysis was not notably manifest with respect to style. Of all formal dimensions, this one yielded the greatest discrepancy between novices and the expectations of instructors.
Practice schedule and cognitive style interaction in learning a maze task
Authors: Jelsma Otto , Pieters Jules M.
Published: June 2007

In the present study the effects of contextual interference on the retention and transfer performance of reflectives and impulsives on a maze task were studied. Forty‐seven subjects were randomly assigned to either a high contextual interference group or to a low contextual interference group. Within the two groups subjects were further classified according to their preferred modes of responding. Retention and transfer were measured immediately following practice and after a 4‐week delay. The dependent variables were tracing time and errors. Reflectives made fewer errors and moved more quickly after practising under conditions of high contextual interference. Impulsives tended to have fewer errors after practising under conditions of high contextual interference but moved more slowly. Based on these results it was suggested that trainers consider individual differences in reflectivity‐impulsivity before designing particular practice schedules.
Moderators of the confidence‐accuracy correlation in face recognition: The role of information processing and base‐rates
Authors: Cutler Brian L. , Penrod Steven D.
Published: June 2007

Forty‐four undergraduates were shown one set of slides of persons in the beginning of the session and a second set of slides at the end. During the second slide presentation subjects gave recognition judgements for each slide and confidence judgements for each decision. The disguise of the to‐be‐recognized (TBR) persons was varied and the distinctiveness and attractiveness of the TBR persons were assessed. The relation between subjects' confidence judgements and their face recognition accuracy was stronger if the TBR persons were not disguised and if the TBR persons had distinctive characteristics. Attractiveness was unrelated to face recognition accuracy. Base‐rate information, which referred to the number of persons the subjects expected to recognize, affected decision criterion but had no effect on confidence judgements.
Recall of autobiographical events
Authors: White Richard T.
Published: June 2007

The clarity with which events that happened 6 years earlier can be recalled was estimated. The estimates are consistent with a gradual degradation rather than a precipitate decline of memory, and with the proposition that once an event cannot be recalled then it will remain inaccessible under similar conditions of cueing. Rare events are recalled well, suggesting that proactive interference has a strong influence on difficulty to recall. Vivid events are recalled well, also, but other dimensions such as importance of the event, its association with semantic knowledge, and the intensity of physical sensation are not related to recallability. Memory for the date of an event is poor, but for its time of day is good.
Errors in the quantification of uncertainty: A product of heuristics or minimal probability knowledge base?
Authors: Gebotys R. J. , Claxton‐Oldfield S. P.
Published: June 2007

The use of intuitive heuristics (e. g. representativeness and availability) has been put forward as an explanation for peoples' assignment of probabilities (Tversky and Kahneman, 1971). This phenomenon is seen as robust since experts as defined by education (professional psychologisis), despite advanced training in statistics and methodology, rely on the same heuristics as novices (lay people). Both experts and novices, as defined by education, were studied in a series of experiments and further classified as experts and novices according to their probability knowledge base, prior to receiving (or not) a brief (15‐minute) training session. Immediately following training, subjects completed a probability test which consisted of ten Tversky and Kahneman (e. g. 1974) problems. The training significantly increased the number of problems correctly solved on the probability test and eliminated the expert/novice education classification. The results of a follow‐up test 5 weeks after the experiment indicated that the training group maintained its superior performance. It is proposed that failure to use proper methods of probability assignment may not be due to intrinsic human inference biases or heuristics, but is a result of a minimal probability knowledge base.
Cognitive psychology and medical diagnosis
Authors: Gilhooly K. J.
Published: June 2007

The nature and acquisition of complex cognitive skills have been intensively investigated over the past 20 years. From such studies in non‐medical domains it appears that experts (a) generally remember new information in their field better than do the less expert; (b) work forward to solutions; (c) form superior representations of problems; (d) are superior in knowledge, not in basic processing abilities; and (e) require extensive practice over a period of years to achieve expert status. Studies of expertise in medical diagnosis have found two major departures from the typical findings in other areas of expertise, viz. that memory for new information seems best at intermediate levels of skill rather than at high levels, and that a mixture of forward and backward reasoning (hypothetico‐deductive inference) is common at all levels of skill in medical diagnosis. These departures from findings in other domains are explained by the special characteristics of both medical knowledge and the diagnostic task.
Autobiographical memory: The next phase
Authors: Robinson John A. , Swanson Karen L.
Published: June 2007

The study of autobiographical memory has entered a new stage. Three emerging areas of research are reviewed: contents and organization of autobiographical memory; qualities of consciousness associated with remembering; functions and uses of autobiographical memory. Selected issues in each area are discussed and directions for further research proposed.
Hybrid computation in cognitive science: Neural networks and symbols
Authors: Anderson James A.
Published: June 2007

The human brain seems to be a hybrid computer, partly a highly efficient, highly evolved, massively parallel ‘intuitive’ and ‘perceptual’ processor, and, partly a slow and inaccurate serial symbol manipulator. Neural network models seem compatible with the massively parallel hardware, and are probably the best current model for the parallel part of the hybrid. Traditional symbol‐based artificial intelligence has usually based its models on the presumed properties of the symbol manipulator. Potentially, the strengths and weaknesses of the two parts of the hybrid complement each other nicely, and ultimately, a computer could make good use of both strategies simultaneously. However, the coupling between them in humans is still uneasy, perhaps because this novel combination is biologically recent. A brief discussion of human ‘computation’ suggests the virtues and problems inherent in a hybrid.
Imaginal elaboration of illustrations to facilitate fact learning: Creating memories of Prince Edward Island
Authors: Pressley Michael , Brewster Mary Ellen
Published: June 2007

Canadian students in grades 5 and 6 studied facts about the 10 Canadian provinces (e. g. Many very good plays are put on in Prince Edward Island). At study, each fact was accompanied by a picture of a stereotypical setting in the province (e. g. a picture of the lush farmland in Prince Edward Island). Half the subjects were instructed to learn by imagining the fact as stated occurring in the depiction (e. g. very good plays being produced in the lush farmland setting); half were told only to try hard to remember that the fact occurred in the particular province. The imagery instruction was effective, but only when children had previously mastered associations between the provinces and the pictures of the provinces. Naturalistically occurring pictures can be used by grade‐school children to create elaborative images that facilitate acquisition of confusing facts, but only if children first know what the illustrations represent.
Reconstructing the dates of personal events: Gender differences in accuracy
Authors: Skowronski John J. , Thompson Charles P.
Published: June 2007

One commonly held stereotype is that females are more concerned with, and attentive to, dates than are males. One possible implication of this idea is that females have a more welldeveloped temporal reference schema than males, which should allow females to reconstruct the dates on which past events have occurred with more accuracy than males. This accuracy hypothesis was assessed by re‐analysing the data from four studies collected in previous work on the accuracy of event dating. Analyses of two of the studies yielded evidence for more accurate female dating; analysis of a third study produced a substantial, but non‐significant, trend in the predicted direction; and analysis of the fourth study yielded a small, but nonsignificant, reversal. A meta‐analysis combining the results of these four studies indicated that the dating accuracy of females was superior to the dating accuracy of males. Additional analyses indicated that these differences were probably not due to differences in self‐disclosure patterns.
The bilingual‐dichotic method for learning a foreign‐language vocabulary
Authors: Aarons Louis
Published: June 2007

The bilingual‐dichotic method organizes native and foreign words in paired‐associate learning for optimum compatibility with study behaviour and asymmetric cerebral hemispheric specialization. Slow‐paced auditory presentations alternate dichotic (simultaneous, native word at left ear and foreign word at right ear) and diotic (foreign word at both ears) input while the student views the word list in parallel to the dichotic format (native word‐foreign word). More college students attained the criterion of perfect cuedrecall and in significantly less study time using the bilingual‐dichotic method to learn English‐Russian word pairs compared with those using the conventional (diotic Russian) or a reversed‐ear dichotic control method. The new method yielded superior overall performance with significantly more accurate recall of the Russian words, and with shorter latencies of response than that obtained with the conventional method. Analysis suggests the bilingual‐dichotic method combines attentional strategies with the right‐ear advantage for dichotic verbal material to enhance rehearsal processes of learning. Practical applications of this new method for learning foreign vocabulary may be found in the early stages of foreign‐language learning in coordination with other exercises.
The suggestibility of child witnesses: A review
Authors: Baxter James S.
Published: June 2007

The idea that child witnesses are unreliable because of their high suggestibility is a common one. However, it is questionable if suggestibility can be attributed to individuals without considering the situational determinants of the phenomenon. This paper reviews studies of suggestibility in adults and children with particular reference to its determinants. The possibility that interview techniques might be developed which could enhance the reliability of child witnesses is considered.
The cognitive consequences of poverty: A neo‐Piagetian study with Zulu children
Authors: Bentley A. M. , Kvalsvig J. , Miller R.
Published: June 2007

Samples of impoverished Zulu schoolchildren drawn from three age groups were tested repeatedly on the Figural Intersection Test (FIT), a measure of M‐power in Pascual‐Leone's theory of constructive operators. Results showed an initial underperformance when compared with Canadian and urban Zulu children. This was attributed to the effects of impoverishment. However, impoverished children did acquire the age‐related levels of performance after repeated trials, a result consistent with the concept of M‐power in the theory of constructive operators.
Intensional and extensional analogy items: Differences in performance as a function of academic major and sex
Authors: Chaffin Roger , Peirce Leslie , Bejar Isaac
Published: June 2007

Is there a relationship between academic field and ability to use different types of semantic relation? Performance on two types of analogy item in the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test was compared. Intensional relations are inherent in the meanings of the words and are based on shared or contrasting properties (e. g.farmer:person, breeze:gale, alive: dead, beggar: poor). Extensional relations reflect empirical relations between things in the world and are based on contiguity or causality (e. g.farmer:tractor, road:sidewalk, flu:headache). Performance on the two kinds of analogy items was compared for a single administration of the GRE for English and History majors (verbal group,n= 2238) and electrical engineering, computer science, and mathematics majors (practical group,n= 2143). The verbal group did better on intensional, and the practical group did better on extensional analogies. The difference was not explained by a correlated gender difference by which women did better on intensional and men did better on extensional items. Thus differences in the ability to use intensional and extensional relations was related to academic training, although the direction of this relationship was not established.
Children's sensitivity to traffic hazard in peripheral vision
Authors: David Siriol S. J. , Foot Hugh C. , Chapman Antony J.
Published: June 2007

Although children and adults have poorer peripheral vision than foveal vision there is contradictory evidence about the developmental changes that occur in peripheral sensitivity. Previous research on detections of traffic hazard has not, however, provided any evidence that peripheral vision is implicated in the particualr vulnerability of children to pedestrain accidents. In the absence of differences in peripheral detections it was hypothesized that children may nevertheless be less efficient than adults in utilizing information presented in the periphery. Road traffic scenes depicting vehicles in potentially hazardous and non‐hazardous positions for road crossings were presented to adults and to childre, aged 7, 9, and 11. Results confirmed that children were relatively no poorer than adults at hazard detection in peripheral vision than in foveal vision, but indicated that they were marginally poorer at utilizing information presented in the periphery, as measured by a vehicle recognition test. Against expectd developmental trends 9‐year‐olds were as fast as adults at hazard detection, but no different from the other groups of children in recognition performance. Evidence that information detected and assimilated in peripheral vision does not contribute to the high pedestrian accident rates of children comes from the absence of any sex differences favouring girls. Since girls have considerably lower accident rates than boys, it would have been expected that both their detection and recognition performance would have been higher.
An experimental approach to the design of cartographic symbols
Authors: Phillips Richard J. , Coe Brain , Kono Eiichi , Knapp John , Barrett Stephen , Wiseman Graham , Eveleigh Piers
Published: June 2007

Graphic designers and an experimental psychologist worked together to improve the design of two map symbols which are frequently confused: the symbols for cuttings and embankments on topographic maps. The problem was analysed in terms of the function of the symbols and their likely cognitive representations. Tests were developed to evaluate alternative designs, including an intervisibility task which requirred users to visualize the landform from the symbols viewed in the context of a map. Tests were given to schoolchildren and to experienced map users in order to compare the standard symbols with five alternative designs. Children's performance was strongly affected by the symbols they used, but experienced users were much less affected. After some refinement of the symbols a further experiment demonstrated the superiority of a number of alternative designs over the existing symbols on a range of test: scores were almost double on the intervisibility task. The paper makes recommendations to cartographers and argues for greater consideration of the inexperienced map user in the design process.
Cognition and survey measurement: History and overview
Authors: Jobe Jared B. , Mingay David J.
Published: June 2007

In 1978 a small group of cognitive psychologists and survey methodologists initiated research in a new and exciting interdisciplinary field. This research applies the methods and theories of cognitive science to the study of respondents' answers to autobiographical and attitude surveys. This article describes the events that led up to the initiation of research, describes the history of the field, and overviews the cutting edge of research. Finally, the article offers perspectives on the benefits of collaborative research to both cognitive science and survey research, and the prospects for future research.
When personal history repeats itself: Decomposing memories for recurring events
Authors: Means Barbara , Loftus Elizabeth F.
Published: June 2007

Retrospective reports of personal events constitute the principal data source for much applied social science research. Such reports are known to be subject to biases and errors of inference. In health surveys, for example, events associated with chronic conditions are particularly likely to be under‐reported (Jabine, 1987). In this series of studies we apply perspectives and tools from psychological studies of memory to the problem of understanding and improving reports of past untilization of health care. In two studies we found that subjects report using different strategies to answer questions about how often they have seen a doctor over the past 12 months, depending on the type of doctor's visit and its frequency. A third study, in which subjects' recall was checked against medical records, provided evidence that individual health events within a group of recurring, similar events are much less likely than non‐recurring events to be recalled. In Experiment 4 we tested the efficacy of cognitively oriented intervention techniques designed to (1) help subjects decompose their molar memories of groups of similar events into individual events and (2) place all remembered health events into a personal timeline. The intervention more than doubled the proportion of recurring events on the medical record that was recalled. In addition, the proportion of events that could be dated, and the accuracy of dates provided, both rose.
Autobiographical memory in natural discourse
Authors: Dritschel B. H.
Published: June 2007

This paper discusses the methodological issues involved in studying autobiographical memory in natural discourse. A method is developed herein that is sufficiently versatile to be used to probe various other research questions. The analysis of four equal‐length transcripts using this method demonstrates that autobiographical memory units can be reliably distinguished from other personal memory and non‐memory idea units. Further, the reliability of subdividing the autobiographical memories into classes is also shown. There is a discussion of how this type of work relates to relevant research in autobiographical memory. The potential application of these results is also described.
Improving lecture comprehension: Effects of a metacognitive strategy
Authors: King Alison
Published: June 2007

In previous research self‐questioning strategies have been found to significantly improve reading comprehension, presumably because of the metacognitive nature of the self‐questioning process. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether this metacognitive strategy also enhances lecture comprehension, that is, comprehension of non‐text, orally presented material. In a self‐questioning combined with reciprocal peer‐questioning condition, ninthgraders were trained to pose questions for themselves during classroom lectures; following the lectures, they used their questions to engage in reciprocal peer‐questioning and responding. Students in a self‐questioning only condition also engaged in self‐questioning during the lectures and then answered their own questions; in a review condition, students discussed the lecture material in small cooperative groups; and in a control group students reviewed the lecture material independently. On post‐practice and 10‐day maintenance tests participants in the self‐questioning with reciprocal peer‐questioning and the self‐questioning only strategy groups showed lecture comprehension superior to that of participants in both the discussion review and control groups. These results suggest that: use of a self‐questioning strategy can improve high school students' comprehension of lectures; students can maintain this strategy when external prompts are removed; and this metacognitive strategy can be readily taught to high school students and incorporated into their real‐world classroom learning environment.