bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Implicit and explicit memory in young children and adults
Authors: Parkin Alan J. , Streete Sarah
Published: April 2011

This study investigates implicit and explicit memory in normal subjects over two retention intervals, one hour and two weeks. Four age groups were used: 3 years, 5 years, 7 years and adults. In all conditions subjects were initially shown 15 fragmented pictures where each consisted of eight stages ranging from very incomplete to complete. Subjects were shown increasingly complete versions of each stimulus until it was successfully identified. After the retention interval the 15 target pictures were re‐presented using the same procedure as the original learning phase. Fifteen new fragmented pictures were also presented. After identifying each picture during the test phase subjects were asked whether or not they had seen it before. Savings on picture completion were taken as a measure of implicit memory and recognition accuracy as a measure of explicit memory. All age groups showed significant savings and, when performance was calculated as a proportion of the initial score, no developmental trend was evident. Savings were greater after one hour than two weeks. After one hour all age groups could reliably distinguish pictures they had seen in the learning phase from those presented for the first time after the retention interval. Similar results were found after two weeks with the exception of the 3−year‐olds who were very poor at remembering which pictures they had seen before. Where analysis was possible it was found that savings scores were not correlated significantly with recognition accuracy. This, combined with the differential effects of age on the implicit and explicit components of the task, suggests that different memory systems may underlie performance on the two tasks.
The benefits of legal psychology: Possibilities, practice and dilemmas
Authors: Lloyd‐Bostock Sally
Published: April 2011

The law is in some ways an obvious area where psychology could be of benefit. Many of the problems the law and legal procedures deal with are essentially psychological in nature. Law, like psychology, is fundamentally concerned with how people think, feel and behave; with the causes and modification of behaviour; and with the processes of perception, memory and decision theory. At the same time, law is a particularly difficult area for psychologists to tackle, not only for scientific, but also for ethical and political reasons. The role and functions of legal institutions such as juries and courts are by no means straightforward and the prima facie relevance of psychology can be deceptive. Moreover, even when psychology clearly has a relevant contribution to make, attempts to exert real influence on legal decisions or policy can be frustrating. A certain amount of scepticism on the part of lawyers is healthy. But the influence of psychology in legal contexts frequently has less to do with the quality of the psychology than with professional, political and organizational considerations.

Given the breadth of the field, this article is inevitably selective in the research and practice discussed. I shall not attempt to offer a comprehensive review of current work and its possible benefits. Rather, I aim to illustrate the range of topics, and the possibilities and difficulties in legal psychology using examples of recent research and attempts to influence legal decisions and legal policy. I first sketch briefly the growth of legal psychology.
A longitudinal study of school leavers' employment experiences, time structuring and self‐attributions as a function of local opportunity structure
Authors: Honess T. M.
Published: April 2011

A three‐year longitudinal study of young people drawn from a sample of 150 15‐year‐olds who were interviewed shortly before their planned school leaving date is reported. The schools are situated in two different labour markets, which vary in the extent to which they offer employment opportunities. Individual interviews were employed to allow a more context‐sensitive and less pre‐emptive analysis than would have been possible using reactive questionnaires. It is established that there are different cultures of expectation with regard to employment, and that these engender clear differences in coping response and self‐description which are largely interpretable as appropriate accommodations to these different expectations. For example, within the relatively strong labour market, ‘worry about employment’ implicated greater effort; such young people also planned their time to a considerably greater extent, and generally talked about themselves in a more self‐reflective way. Nevertheless, there are some effects that transcend cultural differences, at least as contrasted in this study. For example, a ‘commodity’ view of time and positive self‐esteem are shown to be unambiguous predictors of success in employment placements. Finally, it is clear that some patterns are culture sensitive: the availability of good supportive relationships was a strong indicator of employment placement for the young people from the relatively disadvantaged community only.
Observer agreement calculations: The role of primary data in reducing obfuscation
Authors: Harrop Alex , Foulkes Christine , Daniels Michael
Published: April 2011

By the use of momentary time‐sampling data obtained from a pair of observers, various indices of observer agreement were computed. An analysis of the results showed that conflicting claims could be made for the adequacy of the observers’ agreement levels depending upon which indices were used. By contrast, visual inspection of the primary data in contingency tables was seen to reveal full information without introducing any in‐built assumptions. As a consequence, it is suggested that reports which include observer agreement in their results should include contingency tables which show numbers of agreements and disagreements on occurrences and non‐occurrences of behaviour.
Repetition priming of face recognition in a serial choice reaction‐time task
Authors: Roberts Tony , Bruce Vicki
Published: April 2011

Marshall & Walker (1987) found that pictorial stimuli yield visual priming that is disrupted by an unpredictable visual event in the response‐stimulus interval. They argue that visual stimuli are represented in memory in the form of distinct visual and object codes. Bruce & Young (1986) propose similar pictorial, structural and semantic codes which mediate the recognition of faces, yet repetition priming results obtained with faces as stimuli (Bruce & Valentine, 1985), and with objects (Warren & Morton, 1982) are quite different from those of Marshall & Walker (1987), in the sense that recognition is facilitated by pictures presented 20 minutes earlier.

The experiment reported here used different views of familiar and unfamiliar faces as stimuli in a serial choice reaction‐time task and found that, with identical pictures, repetition priming survives an intervening item requiring a response, with both familiar and unfamiliar faces. Furthermore, with familiar faces such priming was present even when the view of the prime was different from the target. The theoretical implications of these results are discussed.
Memory updating in working memory: The role of the central executive
Authors: Morris Neil , Jones Dylan M.
Published: April 2011

Two experiments are reported which suggest that a dynamic memory updating task, running memory, requires two independent mechanisms — the articulatory loop and a component of the central executive. Experiment 1 shows that irrelevant speech and articulatory suppression impair the serial recall component of the running memory task but not the updating component. Updating memory affects performance independently of the effects of irrelevant speech and suppression. The second experiment produced the same pattern of results with a close to span memory load. These results are interpreted in terms of the working memory model outlined by Baddeley (1986). It is concluded that the updating of working memory in real time is coordinated by a central executive component of the model.
Age, blocking and the tip of the tongue state
Authors: Maylor Elizabeth A.
Published: April 2011

This article reports the results of a laboratory study of tip of the tongue (TOT) experiences using a blocking technique (Jones & Langford, 1987). Subjects aged between 52 and 78 years were presented with definitions of rare words and were asked to generate the target word. Following the definition, a potential blocking word was presented which was either phonologically related to the target or not, and either semantically related to the target or not. There were more TOTs when the potential blocking word was phonologically related to the target than when it was not but the effect decreased with increasing age. Furthermore, the mean number of features of the target word reported in the TOT state declined with age. Together these results suggest that the elderly may have particular difficulty in accessing and using phonological information.
Adaptive probit estimation and body size: The evaluation of a new psychophysical technique
Authors: Fonagy Peter , Benster Rosalind , Higgitt Anna
Published: April 2011

Studies of body size estimation are frequently used to identify body‐image disturbances in clinical populations. No clear pattern of results has, however, so far emerged. One reason for this may be that studies confound non‐sensory influences on performance deriving from motivational components with the observer's discriminative sensitivity. This study introduces an adaptive version of the method of constant stimuli and probit analysis (APE) to determine independently bias and threshold in the estimation of four body parts for two samples of undergraduate students. In the first study, test‐retest reliability coefficients were obtained for body‐size estimates, using the traditional technique and the new method. Estimates of subjective body size obtained by the new method were shown to have higher test‐retest reliabilities than those obtained using traditional techniques. The stability of sensitivity estimates was in the .8‐.9 range. In a second study we attempted to validate the new technique by comparing the body‐size estimates of male and female observers. Independent bias and sensitivity estimates were found to be significantly different. Female observers were more likely to overestimate the size of their chest and waist whilst underestimating face size. There was no difference overall between the accuracy of male and female observers. Perceptual sensitivity did not differ significantly overall but, whilst female subjects showed a particularly low threshold for waist size, male observers showed the same specific sensitivity for thigh width. The extension of this method of measuring body‐image distortions to relevant clinical populations is recommended.
Towards a theory of algorithm‐determined cognitive test construction
Authors: Irvine S. H. , Dann P. L. , Anderson J. D.
Published: April 2011

A rationale for, and data from, a trial of a theory of item generation by algorithms whose origins are cognitive models of task performance are presented. Since Spearman (1904), intelligence has been operationally defined and assessed in human subjects by administering identical test items whose content and order have been fixed only after empirical iterations. In our approach, intelligence is ostensively defined by theoretically determined algorithms used for item construction and presentation. Knowledge of what cognitive factors limit human performance makes it possible to vary within tightly specified parameters those features of the tasks that contribute to difficulty, which we call radicals, to let those components of the tasks that do not contribute to difficulty vary randomly, and to counterbalance aspects of answer production that might induce biases of response. Empirical data are based on the generation of five different short tests demanding only functional literacy as a prerequisite for their execution. Four parallel forms of each test were administered to young male Army recruits whose scores were collated with their Army Entrance Test results, which were not previously known to us. Results show that the parallel, algorithm‐generated item sets are statistically invariant, which item generation theory demands; and that the individual tests differentially predict Army Entrance Test scores. We conclude that IQ test performances are parsimoniously explained by individual differences in encoding, comparison and reconstructive memory processes.
Articulatory coding in prose reading: Evidence from braille on changes with skill
Authors: Millar Susanna
Published: April 2011

The role of speech‐based strategies in prose reading was tested in two experiments with braillists at different levels of proficiency. Subjects read prose texts in silent and oral control conditions, under articulatory suppression, and while making non‐speech movements during silent and oral reading, respectively.

Experiment 1 used relatively difficult braille texts and showed that articulatory suppression reduced comprehension significantly compared to the other conditions. Speed (syllables per minute) was not significantly reduced under articulatory suppression, although two subjects were unable to read at all in that condition.

Experiment 2 used easy texts and included beginning readers. Proficiency levels interacted significantly with experimental conditions for both speed and comprehension. The best readers showed no effect of articulatory suppression on either speed or comprehension with easy texts. Beginners showed significantly reduced speed and comprehension (or failed to score at all) under articulatory suppression, despite good comprehension in control conditions. For subjects in the middle groups, articulatory suppression had some effect on comprehension, but speeded rather than slowed reading, if anything.

The results suggest that articulatory suppression can affect input strategies as well as comprehension, but that the strategies which underly it vary with skill and text conditions. It was argued that suppression taps important but changing strategies in prose reading.
Sternberg's mixed model applied to indeterminate linear syllogisms: A mismatch
Authors: Maybery Murray T.
Published: April 2011

Extensions to the mixed model of linear syllogistic reasoning, which were designed to encompass the solution of indeterminate syllogisms, are criticized. The extended model was incorrectly tested in Sternberg (1981), and reanalyses disconfirm the model. Conceptual difficulties are also noted in that the proposed checks for indeterminacy do not classify appropriately all versions of the linear syllogism. Further, post hoc analyses implicate linguistic processes in the selection of answers to certain forms of indeterminate problems, and this form of processing cannot be accommodated under the mixed model. Linear syllogistic reasoning may be more diverse, either across problem forms or across participants, than recognized previously.
Mayday for Maybery: A reply to an invalid critique of the mixed model of linear‐syllogistic reasoning
Authors: Sternberg Robert J.
Published: April 2011

Murray Maybery's critique of the mixed model of linear‐syllogistic reasoning as applied to both determinate and indeterminate items is invalid. First, the model correctly predicts that heterogeneous indeterminate linear syllogisms should be harder, not easier, than determinate ones. Second, contrary to Maybery's claim, my coding of the mismatch parameter was correct. Third, the operations I suggest for distinguishing indeterminate from determinate linear syllogisms do indeed apply to all items I (or Herbert Clark) modelled, although there do exist other problems that might have been modelled for which the operations would be insufficient to make the distinction. These points notwithstanding, the mixed model has in common with other cognitive models that it is an approximation to what subjects do, not an exact rendition. And as I have shown earlier, there are individual differences in subject strategies that are worth taking into account.
Why is it difficult to put names to faces?
Authors: Cohen Gillian
Published: April 2011

Two experiments tested the hypothesis that recall of names would be more difficult than recall of other personal identity information because names are meaningless and lack semantic associations. In both experiments subjects were shown photographs of 12 unfamiliar faces and asked to learn information about each person. Three types of information were supplied: names, occupations and possessions. Experiment 1 manipulated the meaningfulness of possessions. Recall of names was no better than recall of meaningless non‐word possessions and poorer than recall of meaningful possessions or meaningful occupations. Experiment 2 varied the meaningfulness of names and occupations, and showed that, when names were meaningless, name recall was inferior, but if names were meaningful and occupations were meaningless, the deficit in name recall disappeared. Conditional dependencies between recall of different types of information showed that occupations were normally accessed before either names or possessions, but when meaning was manipulated, meaningful items were accessed before meaningless ones.
Ageing memory: Use versus impairment
Authors: Holland Carol A. , Rabbitt Patrick M. A.
Published: April 2011

An uncued recall technique was used to compare recall of autobiographical events by two groups of elderly volunteers of equivalent general intelligence (assessed by unadjusted scores on the AH4 intelligence test). One group lived in residential care, and the other led independent lives. Residential care subjects recalled and spontaneously rehearsed more memories from their early than their recent lives, whereas the reverse was true for the independent elderly. The effects of senile confusional states were also investigated by testing a subgroup of cognitively impaired subjects, also in residential care. Although unimpaired elderly in care produced more early than recent memories, they were still able to produce substantial numbers of recent memories. Impaired subjects produced very few memories, those they did produce were mainly early ones. Frequency of rehearsal (or reminiscence) seemed to affect the probability of elicitation of a memory. People in institutions more often rehearse memories of early events. Frequency of rehearsal is thus a function of the use which people in different situations make of their memories. Cognitive impairment due to organic neurological changes in the elderly had a characteristic effect on the abundance of recall from recent life.
The effects of test expectancy on quality of note taking and recall of text at different times of day
Authors: Oakhill Jane , Davies Anne‐Marie
Published: April 2011

An experiment is reported which investigated how the type of memory test that subjects are expecting after listening to a short prose passage affects the quality of the notes they take and their subsequent recall. It also explored whether effects of test expectations are modified by the time of day at which the subjects are tested. The results of the recall test showed that subjects noted and recalled more of the high importance ideas in the text, relative to those of medium or low importance, and that, in the case of note taking, this selectivity was particularly marked for those subjects expecting a recall test. This finding supports the idea that subjects expecting different types of test prepare for them differently. The overall effects of test expectancy on performance were in line with the predominant pattern of earlier findings: subjects' recall was better if they were expecting a free‐recall test than if they were expecting a multiple‐choice test, but their performance on a multiple‐choice test did not vary as a function of the type of test they were expecting. Although the effects of test expectancy did not vary with time of day, a main effect of time of day in the recognition test confirms earlier findings that memory for the exact wording of text, and in particular that of information of low importance, is superior in the morning.
Noise and aspects of attention
Authors: Smith Andrew P.
Published: April 2011

The paper reviews research on the effects of noise on attention. An experimental study of noise and selective attention is then described. The results showed that noise has different effects on tasks requiring focused attention and categoric search, with noise impairing performance on the focused attention task and having little effect on the search task. This effect of noise did not interact with time of day, level of anxiety, or cognitive failure. Noise did not influence the size of the Eriksen effect, although this did change at different times of day. Neither noise nor any of the other factors had a significant effect on the place repetition effect.
Differentiating phonological memory and awareness of rhyme: Reading and vocabulary development in children
Authors: Gathercole Susan E. , Willis Catherine , Baddeley Alan D.
Published: April 2011

A study of 4‐and 5‐year‐old children investigated whether measures of phonological memory and rhyme awareness reflect a common phonological processing skill or differentiable phonological abilities. Tests of phonological memory, rhyme oddity detection, reading, vocabulary and non‐verbal intelligence were given to the children in each age group. Factor analyses performed on the measures showed that phonological memory and rhyme awareness measures did indeed share a common phonological processing component, but other analyses established that the two types of phonological processing task were nonetheless differentially linked with reading and vocabulary development. The two phonological memory measures taken in the study–non‐word repetition and digit span–were significantly related to vocabulary knowledge in both the ages 4 and 5 groups, and to reading achievement at age 5, but not age 4. These findings replicate and extend our earlier findings. In contrast, rhyme awareness scores were not significantly associated with vocabulary knowledge at either age, but were strongly related to scores on one of the reading tests, a multiple‐choice measure, at both ages 4 and 5. The pattern of findings indicates that, although there appears to be a common phonological processing component underpinning phonological memory and phonological awareness tasks, the tasks also reflect separate cognitive skills which make differential contributions to reading and vocabulary development.
Facilitation in the Wason selection task with a consequent referring to an unsatisfactory outcome
Authors: George Christian
Published: April 2011

It is assumed that when the outcome mentioned in the consequent of a conditional statement refers to an unsatisfactory event, subjects may look for information about the other alternative and thus be prompted to select the q̄ card in the Wason selection task more often. Experiment 1 tested 80 adult subjects on four sentences where a change in wording was used to denote a change in the value of the outcome, for example: ‘if one chooses school P, one is sure of passing (failing) the exam’. Each subject had to solve the Wason selection task with four different sentences and two values of the outcome. For each sentence subjects were invited to assume they had a specified goal, for example to pass an exam. The frequency of the selection of the q̄ card was 64 per cent with an unsatisfactory outcome compared to 27 per cent with a satisfactory outcome, and the frequency of the correct answer pq̄ was 21 versus 6 per cent. In Expt 2 the effect of the outcome value was duplicated when a goal was specified, but was not significant when no goal was specified. The results are interpreted as showing that a goal assigns different degrees of pertinence to pieces of information.
Children's perception of safety and danger on the road
Authors: Ampofo‐Boateng Kwame , Thomson James A.
Published: April 2011

This study investigates the ability of children between 5 and 11 years to select safe places to cross the street. The children were presented with situations which were either extremely safe or manifestly dangerous and were asked to correctly identify these. In other cases, they were asked to choose for themselves routes across the road which they thought would be safe. The tasks were presented in various ways: by means of a table‐top simulation on which traffic scenarios had been contrived; by means of photographs of road situations; and by taking the children to real‐world sites in the streets near their schools. All the experiments showed a similar pattern of results. Five‐and 7‐year‐olds exhibited very poor skill in identifying dangerous road‐crossing sites. Their judgements relied exclusively on the visible presence of cars in the vicinity. Other factors such as blind summits, obscuring obstacles or complex junctions were never recognized as threatening situations. They also showed an unwillingness to make detours when planning their own routes, even where the direct route was manifestly dangerous. Nine‐year‐olds showed a higher level of ability and 11‐year‐olds showed quite good skill in these judgements. No sex differences were apparent. These results suggest that young children up to about 9 years must often be at considerable risk as they do not have the ability to recognize a location as dangerous, even if they know the mechanics of the Green Cross Code. The implications for road safety education are discussed.
Beginning reading with phonology
Authors: Masterson Jacqueline , Laxon Veronica , Stuart Morag
Published: April 2011

Seymour & Elder (1986) investigated the reading of children in the first year of school and suggested that the first stage of learning to read shows little involvement of assembled phonology. The present study examines processes involved in the reading‐aloud and printed‐word comprehension of children in the second year of school. Use of assembled phonology was evident in the children's reading‐aloud responses, and proficiency in its use was related to reading ability. Printed‐word comprehension appeared to involve prior retrieval of a phonological code for less frequent words. Similarities between the processing systems for reading used by these children and by skilled readers were discussed, and related to the computational model of reading development proposed by Seidenberg & McClelland (1989).
Absolute pitch revisited
Authors: Wynn Vernon Thomas
Published: April 2011

The absolute pitch ability (AP) of three female and two male subjects has been investigated over many years. The pitch estimates of A4 (440 Hz) of four of the subjects varied by up to a semitone during the longitudinal study. The fifth subject showed no noticeable variation in his estimates of A4. Standard deviations calculated from the data showed no significant variation with age.
Gender‐linked differences in everyday memory performance
Authors: Herrmann Douglas J. , Crawford Mary , Holdsworth Michelle
Published: April 2011

Recent research has demonstrated that people hold beliefs about how well others perform everyday memory tasks according to another's sex. For example, meta‐memory ratings indicate that other men and other women are believed to differ in their success at performing certain memory tasks (Crawford, Herrmann, Holdsworth, Randall & Robbins, 1989). In the present study, two experiments investigated whether gender stereotypes concerning everyday memory have any validity. Experiment 1 presented female and male subjects with two tasks that the aforementioned meta‐memory ratings had shown are implicitly gender marked: learning a shopping list (a stereotypically feminine task) and learning directions to go to a particular place (a stereotypically masculine task). The results were consistent with the gender stereotypes, i.e. women recalled more of the shopping list than men whereas men recalled more of the directions than women. The second experiment investigated whether memory performance would be influenced by mere changes in the label of materials in memory tasks to be biased toward male or female gender background: labelling a shopping list as pertaining to ‘groceries’ or to ‘hardware store’; and a set of directions to ‘make a shirt’ or to ‘make a workbench’. The results also indicated that memory performance varied in ways consistent with gender stereotypes.
On the determinants of persistent gambling behaviour. I. High‐frequency poker machine players
Authors: Dickerson Mark , Hinchy John , England Stephanie Legg , Fabre John , Cunningham Ross
Published: April 2011

Persistent gambling was studied as a function of the reinforcement of arousal and winning during normal poker machine playing sessions. Play rate, heart rate, winnings, subjective excitement and expectations of winning were recorded for five male and five female high‐frequency players. Autoregressive regression analysis indicated that wins affect play rate for up to three minutes, while effects of the other variables were inconsistent. Markov chain analysis confirmed that wins smaller than 50 credits tend to elevate play rate, while larger wins cause a breakdown in the otherwise very regular rate of play. Results are discussed in relation to the development of impaired control of gambling behaviour.
Motion sickness and perception: A reappraisal of the sensory conflict approach
Authors: Yardley Lucy
Published: April 2011

This review examines the role of activity and perceptual learning in motion sickness by means of a survey of the two kinds of recent research relevant to this topic. The first is a body of literature concerned not with motion sickness as such, but with perception of orientation and self‐motion under the conditions of ‘sensory conflict’ which are thought to provoke motion sickness. The second consists of investigations into the prediction and prevention of motion sickness itself. A major weakness is identified in the methodologies employed in both types of research: namely, a neglect of the way in which responses to unusual and disorienting environments, whether nauseogenic or not, may be affected by the activities, skills and strategies of the perceiver. New directions are outlined for future research into immediate reactions and longer‐term adaptation to such environments.
Retrieval of proper names: Testing the models
Authors: Stanhope Nicola , Cohen Gillian
Published: April 2011

The predictions from two theoretical models of name retrieval were tested in three experiments. The Bruce & Young (1986) model assumes serial access, first to semantic information about a person and then to the person's name. According to this model, names are harder to recall than semantic information because access to the name occurs after, and is dependent on access to the semantic information. The architecture of the Interactive Activation and Competition model (Burton & Bruce, 1992) ensures that information which is unique or highly distinctive receives less activation. According to this model, names are harder to recall because they are more distinctive than semantic information. Experiment 1 tested the serial access assumption by comparing immediate recall of names, occupations, or both names and occupations when these were associated with unfamiliar faces. The results were difficult to reconcile with the serial access assumption. Experiment 2 tested the uniqueness assumption by manipulating the distinctiveness of the names and occupations and, contrary to the IAC model, distinctiveness was found to confer an advantage on recall of both names and occupations. Experiment 3 showed that distinctive names were learned faster and were better retained after a 48‐hour delay. These results suggest that the IAC model requires modification.
Priming effects in children's face recognition
Authors: Ellis Hadyn D. , Ellis Diane M. , Hosie Judith A.
Published: April 2011

Two experiments are described that explore identity priming to faces in children and young adults. Experiment 1 indicated that subjects of five years show the same identity priming reaction time (RT) advantage as older children in a face familiarity task. In the second experiment, five‐year‐olds and young adults were tested on a task involving identity priming (same picture on each occasion) and non‐identity priming (different view of the face on the second occasion). Again the RTs for familiarity judgements were qualitatively the same across ages. For each group, identity priming produced a greater facilitation than non‐identity priming. The data are considered alongside those showing the absence of developmental changes in implicit memory.
The mathematical modelling of human culture and its implications for psychology and the human sciences
Authors: Laland Kevin N.
Published: April 2011

Recent years have seen the growth of a new and exciting field of theoretical research concerned with the mathematical modelling of human culture, and of its interaction with genetics. Drawing on analogies between genetic and cultural processes, mathematically sophisticated biologists have used population genetics models as the basis for the development of analogous models of cultural transmission, cultural evolution and gene‐culture co‐evolution. These models are designed to describe and analyse the diffusion of cultural traits through populations, under the influence of various cultural and evolutionary forces. They have already been applied to address many problems of interest to psychologists. Here I present an introduction to these models, explaining the mathematics in simple terms, and giving examples of the work of leading theorists. I go on to discuss the findings of most relevance to psychology, critically analysing the most important conclusions. Finally, I suggest some areas of psychology in which these models might usefully be applied. I argue that these models constitute a major theoretical innovation, and that there is considerable potential for their application in psychology.
Counterfactual thinking and the perception of criminal behaviour
Authors: Macrae C. Neil , Milne Alan B. , Griffiths Riana J.
Published: April 2011

The present research investigated the effects of counterfactual thinking on the interpretation of criminal behaviour. It was predicted that the availability of counterfactual alternatives for a crime would affect a range of incident‐related judgements. The results of two studies strongly supported this prediction. When counterfactual alternatives to an outcome were readily available, subjects: (i) punished the perpetrators more severely; (ii) considered the incident to be more serious; and (iii) felt greater sympathy toward the victims. In addition, the results confirmed earlier research in this domain and demonstrated that counterfactual effects on judgemental processes are mediated by subjects' affective reaction towards events. The wider implications of these findings and their potential implications for judicial decision making are considered.
Encoding strategy dynamics: When relationships between words determine strategy use
Authors: McDougall Siné , Velmans Max
Published: April 2011

A number of questions remain largely unanswered about when subjects are likely to employ imagery as opposed to verbal encoding and the subsequent effect this will have on recall. The present experiments examined some of the factors determining such use. Subjects were asked to learn mixed lists of word pairs which were either spatially related (i.e. their referents normally appear in spatial contiguity) or categorically related (their referents are members of a shared superordinate category) using either imagery or verbal mediators throughout. For half the pairs the encoding instructions were appropriate to the relationship between words (e.g. the use of imagery for spatially related pairs) and for the other pairs the instructions were inappropriate (e.g. the use of imagery for categorically related pairs). Subjects were not influenced by experimental instructions under these conditions but overwhelmingly used encodings appropriate to the relationship between words. Furthermore, it was found that subjects were able to adjust encoding strategies from one pair to the next in a flexible manner in accordance with the nature of the relationship between words. What determines strategy use at a given instant appears to result from the interaction of cues provided by the experimental materials with prior world knowledge relating to individual words or combinations of words. Recall for categorically related pairs was better than for spatially related pairs despite the fact that imagery was used more frequently for spatially related pairs and both types of pair were rated equally for concreteness and imageability. Alternative explanations for this finding are discussed.
Specifying dysfunctional mismatches between different control dimensions
Authors: Evans Gary W. , Shapiro D. H. , Lewis Megan A.
Published: April 2011

Although the dominant paradigm in psychology currently suggests that having control is positive, there is a small literature suggesting that having or seeking control can be negative. In this article we develop a framework for specifying why and when control results in dysfunction. These conditions involve a mismatch between control dimensions of environmental affordances and personal variables of behavioural competencies, control cognitions, and control motivation. We apply this framework to two general sets of mismatches: high environmental affordances/low person control variables; low environmental affordances/high personal control variables. The first set of mismatches directly counters the dominant psychological paradigm because the mismatches specify when greater opportunities for environmental control are dysfunctional. The second set of conditions moves prior research on control to a new level of specificity by precisely demonstrating when low environmental affordances are problematic.
Abstraction of covariation in category learning: A critical note on K. Richardson's studies
Authors: Perruchet Pierre , Pacteau Chantal , Gallego Jorge
Published: April 2011

Several studies directed by K. Richardson (Richardson, 1986, 1987; Richardson & Carthy, 1989, 1990) claimed that people are able to abstract imperfect covariations among feature variables defining artificial categories, and to use that information in various subsequent tasks. We challenge this claim on a twofold basis. First, a large part of the performance variance Richardson attributed to covariation knowledge may be accounted for by a very simple exemplar model, which assumes no abstractive processes. Second, the residual influence of relational information on performance may be attributed to the knowledge subjects have acquired in real‐world situations before their training with the study exemplars.
Why is coin head orientation misremembered? Tests of schema interference and handedness hypotheses
Authors: McKelvie Stuart J. , Aikins Shari
Published: April 2011

Three experiments were conducted to investigate memory for head direction on Canadian coins. In Expt 1, 71 per cent of 125 subjects reported wrongly that the Queen's head faces to their left, replicating previous claims of significant misremembering, and contradicting the specific interference hypotheses that responses are guided by knowledge of coins or postage stamps. In Expts 2 and 3, with 100 and 126 subjects respectively, a majority (59 per cent) of left‐handers correctly identified coin head orientation whereas a majority (62 per cent) of right‐handers were incorrect. However, the instruction to imagine the coin in the left or right hand had no effect on performance. Although it is suggested that the handedness findings warrant further attention, it is concluded that the data are generally consistent with the hypothesis that subjects base their judgements of coin head direction on a memory schema that favours heads facing left.
The cognitive profile in infantile autism—A study of 70 children and adolescents using the Griffiths Mental Development Scale
Authors: Sandberg Annika Dahlgren , Nydén Agneta , Gillberg Christopher , Hjelmquist Erland
Published: April 2011

Seventy children and adolescents with infantile autism were tested with the Griffiths Mental Development Scale II. A characteristic profile emerged with peaks in motor and visuo‐spatial domains and troughs in verbal and practical reasoning areas. These results support conclusions from previous research using other cognitive tests.
Effects of mobilizing prior knowledge on information processing: Studies of free recall and allocation of study time
Authors: Machiels‐Bongaerts Maureen , Schmidt Henk G. , Boshuizen Henny P. A.
Published: April 2011

In this study, three experiments examine the effects of mobilizing prior knowledge on information processing. Subjects generated names of either US presidents or States before studying a relevant list. Study time allocated to different parts of the list and free recall were recorded. In Expt 1, study time was unlimited; no recall differences were found but experimental subjects spent less time studying the material. In Expt 2, total study time was fixed, but subjects were free to allocate the available time to individual items. Experimental subjects spent less time on items in the mobilized category and recalled more items. This facilitative effect of mobilization extended or ‘spilled over’ from mobilized to non‐mobilized information. In Expt 3, where both time for studying individual items and, hence, total study time were fixed, experimental subjects recalled more mobilized category items than controls. These results were interpreted in terms of a cognitive set‐point regulating the amount of time spent on processing different parts of the material. Mobilization reduces the time required to reach criteria set for mobilized category items during study since these items have been processed previously. Finally, these experiments prove that the set‐point hypothesis applies not only to items actually mobilized but also to non‐mobilized same‐category items, probably through a process of spreading activation at mobilization.
The disadvantages of dextrality for intelligence—corrected findings
Authors: Annett Marian
Published: April 2011

An error was recently discovered in the marking template made by the author to facilitate the scoring of the Coloured Progressive Matrices (CPM) test. This meant that the scores of children reported by Annett & Manning (1989) must be checked and revised where necessary. This paper reports the corrected findings for all analyses involving the CPM test in the Annett & Manning paper. The findings are similar to those previously described and several comparisons remain statistically significant, but levels of significance are generally reduced.
Choice autonomy and memory for spatial locations in six‐year‐old children
Authors: Foreman Nigel , Gillett Raphael , Jones Sandra
Published: April 2011

Six‐year‐old children were presented with 12 identically labelled locations in a room and required to search non‐redundantly for the six that contained rewards. On each day they could commit Across‐Trial Memory (ATM) errors by visiting non‐rewarded locations, or Within‐Trial Memory (WTM) errors by revisiting locations previously visited that day. Groups were trained for nine days, either walking or pushed in a wheelchair, and with or without freedom of choice. They were then tested, walking with freedom of choice. Performance of the task improved significantly across training days in groups allowed free choice, whether walking or transported, and was superior at test to that of non‐choosing groups. Throughout training and testing, the ATM component of performance was superior in groups allowed free choice. WTM was more accurate than would be expected by chance in all subjects at all stages of the experiment, but did not differ between groups. The problem of comparing WTM scores in groups differing in ATM accuracy was discussed. It was concluded that the primary benefit of free choice in spatial memory tasks is that it promotes accurate environmental segmentation, and that WTM is little affected by training or environmental familiarity.
Differences in the semantic integration of tabled and non‐tabled numbers
Authors: Milikowski Marisca , Elshout Jan J.
Published: April 2011

This study examined the relationship between effects found in studies of cognitive arithmetic and differences in the psychological representation of individual numbers. In two association experiments data were collected about all numbers from 1 to 100. Numbers which are part of the multiplication tables were predicted to be better integrated semantically. Semantic integration was measured in both continuous and discrete association settings using university students as experimental subjects. The variables taken to indicate semantic integration were meaningfulness, commonality of prime responses, percentage of omissions, reaction times and semantic content of the prime response. Tabled numbers were indeed found to obtain better scores than non‐tabled numbers on each of these variables. At the same time, a change in the wording of the instruction was found to enhance semantic responses, favouring tabled numbers in particular.
Experimental inductions of emotional states and their effectiveness: A review
Authors: Gerrards‐Hesse Astrid , Spies Kordelia , Hesse Friedrich W.
Published: April 2011

Several procedures for the experimental induction of mood states have been developed. This paper reviews nearly 250 studies from the last 10 years which concern mood induction procedures. A classification system is introduced. According to the stimuli used to influence subjects, five groups of mood induction procedures (MIPs) are differentiated. The effectiveness of MIPs is analysed and compared. The Film/Story MIP and the Gift MIP proved to be highly effective in inducing elation. For the induction of depression, the Imagination MIP, the Velten MIP, the Film/Story MIP and the Success/Failure MIP can be recommended.
Characteristics of visual interference with visuospatial working memory
Authors: Toms Margaret , Morris Neil , Foley Peter
Published: April 2011

Recent discussions of visuospatial working memory have suggested that this subsystem may incorporate a visual buffer which holds visuospatial information relatively passively. Empirical investigations of visual interference with information held within a visuospatial subsystem have yielded somewhat equivocal results. Nonetheless, evidence from Logie (1986) has indicated that visuospatial processing can be disrupted by passive exposure to irrelevant visual material in a manner analogous to the disruption of serial verbal recall by exposure to irrelevant speech. This paper reports two experiments which explore whether such irrelevant visual input is disruptive to storage of imaginal information in a primarily spatial task—the Brooks spatial matrix task. Experiment 1 shows that exposure to irrelevant visual input during encoding selectively disrupts performance on a spatial, but not a verbal, version of the task. The extent of such disruption is shown to be independent of the visual complexity of the material, its similarity to the to‐be‐remembered information, or a change in state, with a static white square pattern yielding equivalent disruption to that produced by changing matrix patterns. The second experiment indicates that this pattern of effects is robust, and that such disruption is evident at an equivalent level when the visual material is present only during a 20‐second retention interval. These results are interpreted as evidence of obligatory access of external visual material to a passive visual buffer. Implications for the nature of a visuospatial subsystem in working memory are discussed.