bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
As time goes by: Sixth graders remember a kindergarten experience
Authors: Hudson Judith A. , Fivush Robyn
Published: June 2007

In this research we compared kindergarten children's immediate recall of a class field trip to a museum of archaeology on the same day of the trip to their recall 6 weeks later, 1 year later and 6 years later. Not surprisingly, children remembered less about this event over time. However, what children did recall was recalled as accurately and in as much detail 6 years after the trip as immediately after the trip. Most striking were the effects of cueing on memory over time. Without specific cues the event was forgotten by almost all of the children after 1 year, but with cues, 87 per cent of the children could recall details of the event even after 6 years. The set of ‘core’ activities which all children tended to recall on all recall trials were those activities that made this particular event distinctive. However, with increasing time since experiencing the event, children's recall tended to become more reconstructive and inferential. Thus, forgetting in autobiographic memory seems to involve three processes: decreases in amount recalled, changes in accessibility, and changes in memory content.
A Maturing of Research on the Behaviour of Eyewitnesses
Authors: Deffenbacher Kenneth A.
Published: June 2007

More than a decade of sustained, vigorous research has resulted in an applied cognitive psychology of eyewitness behvaviour that is a rapidly maturing body of knowledge. Several developments now would police forces to increase the sensitivity, reliability, and fairness of eyewitness memory retrieval. The juror's task of estimating the effects of certain variables on the accuracy of eyewitness report can now be a much more informed one, the relevant research literature now being relatively clear and consistent. Across studies the effect size of a number of these variables is moderate or greater. Equally important has been the consistent failure to document several results that would be predicted from the common‐sense intuition of juror and jurist alike.
Selective encoding in the interpretation of topographic maps
Authors: Eley Malcolm G.
Published: June 2007

In two experiments, practised adult map users compared three‐dimensional landsurface drawings against previously and separately studied contour maps. In the first experiment, adding extra contour levels, or marked drainage patterns, led to increased map study and decreased judgement times, whereas adding both led to no further increase or decrease respectively. In the second experiment, removing minor surface details from the drawings produced no overall variation in judgement times. These findings were taken as suggesting that map users selectively encode features from the map in task‐determined fashion.
The instructional enhancement of the flexibility and originality scores of divergent thinking tests
Authors: Runco M. A. , Okuda S. M.
Published: June 2007

This investigation was conducted to examine the effects of insturctions designed to enhance ideational origianlity and flexibility, and to test the prediction that flexibility is functionally related to originality. Twenty‐nine adolescents received three divergent thinking tests with conventional (inexplicit) instructions, one test with explicit originality instructions, and one test with explicit flexbility instructions. Contrary to expection, results indicated that originality scores were low when the adolescents were given the explicit flexiibility instructions. This suggests that flexibility does not facilitate originality. However, the explicit originality instructions did elicit the highest originality scores, and the explicit flexibility instructions elicited the highest flexibility scores.
Memory complaints in younger and older adults
Authors: Devolder Patricia A. , Pressley Michael
Published: June 2007

Two samples of older and younger subjects were administered a series of memory tasks and questionnaires tapping their perceptions about their own memory functioning. As in previous research, memory performance was usually better in the younger than in the older sample. In contrast, perceptions about memory varied little as a function of age, and these subjective reports were not related to objective memory performances. These results are relevant to theories that metacognition plays an important role in mediating performance declines with advancing age. If metacognition is implicated in age‐related memory differences, it is some aspect of metacognition other than long‐term beliefs about memory functioning (e. g. short‐term perceptions that occur while attempting to perform memory tasks).
Mood‐related self‐schemata and mood‐congruity effects in autobiographical memory: A study of women with premenstrual syndrome
Authors: Barclay C. R. , Petitto A. , Labrum A. H. , Carter‐Jessop L.
Published: June 2007

Everyday autobiographical memory and mood interactions were explored in a small clinical sample of women with premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and a matched control group. Subjects kept daily records of memorable events for two consecutive menstrual cycles. Two recognition memory tests were given after a one‐cycle delay. Mood, or affect, was self‐assessed retrospectively over a week, at the end of each day during data collection and at testing, and when events occurred. Women with PMS were more depressed and more negative (angry) than positive (experiencing bursts of energy) in their daily moods than controls. Memory accuracy was poorer overall for PMS than control subjects, although no direct effects of menstrual cycle phase on memory were found. Instead, mood affected memory indirectly through moodrelated self‐schemata which subsequently mediated mood‐congruity effects. Memory accuracy for events experienced in negative mood states and associated with negative affective reactions was higher for PMS subjects when tested in negative mood states than for controls. No group differences were found on events associated with positive affect or positive daily moods when mood state at the time of testing was also positive. Women with PMS processed information selectively from negative events and events experienced in negative moods compared to controls. Negative events and negative moods appeared to interfere with remembering for control subjects. Women in the control group appeared to be biased towards selectively remembering positive events and events experienced on days when their mood states were relatively positive.
Effects of stress on recall
Authors: Kramer T. H. , Buckhout R. , Fox P. , Widman E. , Tusche B.
Published: June 2007

Subjects in experimental conditions were exposed to a traumatic autopsy colour slide (labelled either as of New York Police Department (NYPD) or MGM studio origin) embedded in a neutral series of travel scenes, while control subjects saw a neutral target. Subjects in the high‐stress condition showed a significant decrease in memory for neutral slides which followed the NYPD‐labelled traumatic stimulus (p < 0.001). Results support evidence in the eyewitness memory field which indicate reduced recall under elevated levels of stress.
An independent replication of the effectiveness of the cognitive interview
Authors: Aschermann E. , Mantwill M. , Köhnken G.
Published: June 2007

The cognitive interview developed by Geiselman and co‐workers is a set of memory retrieval aids to enhance recall in memory tasks such as eyewitness reports. This research is a replication of the study of Geiselman, Fischer, Firstenberg, Hutton, Sullivan, Avetissian and Prosk (1984) with a German version of the cognitive interview. Twenty‐nine subjects participated and saw a short film in an incidental learning situation. Approximately 6 days later the participants were questioned about one scene of the film. Fourteen subjects received the cognitive interview instructions and 15 were questioned without special instructions. First, subjects gave a written free report of the scene and subsequently answered more specific questions concerning details. The results clearly indicate that the cognitive interview enhances memory retrieval in free recall conditions but this effect is reduced to specific questions. The effects are discussed in terms of a possible underlying memory organization and the use of retrieval strategies.
Estimating the frequency of everyday events
Authors: Thompson Charles P. , Mingay David
Published: June 2007

In two experiments, subjects recorded the frequency of occurrence of 12 classes of events each week for 3 months. During a final test they estimated frequency of occurrence of events either under time restrictions (Experiment 1) or difference priming instructions (Experiment 2). They also made (metamemory) estimates of the accuracy of their estimates. Time restrictions during an initial estimate did not affect the accuracy of frequency or metamemory estimation but a second estimate did increase accuracy. Priming instructions affected accuracy of metamemory estimates as well as the accuracy of estimates for high‐frequency events. Metamemory error increased with event frequency.
Memory for discourse: Loci mnemonics and the oral presentation effect
Authors: Cornoldi Cesare , De Beni Rossana
Published: June 2007

The help given by loci mnemonics in memorizing isolated items is widely known, whereas there is no doubt as to whether mnemonics are useful for learning meaningful passages. In the present research it is argued that past failures to find a loci effect with text may have been due to the limited range of conditions explored during analysis of the problem. In the present research the modality of presentation of the text was hypothesized to be particularly relevant. In two experiments groups of trained and non‐trained students were asked to memorize two different passages, either using loci mnemonics or not. Loci mnemonics facilitated memory of passages, the increase being greater for oral presentation of text than after private study of a written text.
Multiple effects of visual format on TV news learning
Authors: Berry Colin , Brosius Hans‐Bernd
Published: June 2007

Two experiments were conducted on edited TV newscast sequences to clarify effects of film accompaniment on learning from heard news text. In Experiment 1,150 British subjects viewed a sequence with either film format throughout or alternating film and ‘talking head’ format between items. Those items that were presented by ‘talking heads’ in the mixed sequence were learned better with film format, in which the heard text was accompanied by appropriate moving pictures. However, no effect of uniform context was found on the remaining items. In Experiment 2, 91 German subjects viewed one of four versions of a bulletin, one with ‘talking head’, one with film throughout, the other two having complementary mixed‐format patterns. Besides confirming a beneficial effect of film presentation over ‘talking head’ which accords with the findings of all studies of learning from material in the form of national network newscasts, the results showed an impairing effect of uniform visual format. This can explain ‘contradictory’ findings, notably with atypical test material.
The effects of social support on children's eyewitness testimony
Authors: Moston Stephen , Engelberg Terry
Published: June 2007

Child witnesses often give only short accounts of witnessed events. Part of the reason for this failing centres on the stress present during an interview. The most obvious means of reducing stress in children, through the provision of social support, has typically been neglected in eyewitness research, presumably because of fears over children's excessive suggestibility. Social support is also believed to inhibit children during interviews. However, these fears appear to stem more from general suspicions about children's competencies rather than empirical findings. Studies are described which show that child witnesses express a strong desire for social support, and that support may be provided in a number of different ways, from peers as well as adults. It is argued that social support is one of the most unfairly neglected issues in eyewitness research, and the minimal evidence available suggests that allowing support may have a facilitative effect on task performance, including free‐recall memory.
Who remembers best? Individual differences in memory for events that occurred in a science museum
Authors: Loftus Elizabeth F. , Levidow Bjorn , Duensing Sally
Published: June 2007

Individual differences in memory and suggestibility were assessed in an experiment involving 1989 people who attended the Exploratorium, a science museum located in San Francisco. Subjects watched a brief film clip of an assault and later answered questions about it. Approximately half received misinformation about some critical items. Four demographic variables (gender, educational level, age, and occupation) were examined to determine their impact on memory performance. The principle of discrepancy detection predicts that, compared to individuals with a good memory, people who have poor memory to begin with will be relatively suggestible (that is susceptible to misinformation). Some of our findings were consistent with this principle. For example, children (5–10 years) and elderly (over 65) were relatively inaccurate and also relatively suggestible. Other findings were not consistent with the principle, for example the finding that artists and architects were relatively accurate, but they were also highly suggestible.
Daily‐life difficulties in person recognition reported by young and elderly subjects
Authors: Schweich M. , van der Linden M. , Bredart S. , Bruyer R. , Nelles B. , Schils J.‐P.
Published: June 2007

Elderly people frequently complain spontaneously about their inability to remember people and their names. Naturalistic methods such as diaries, checklists, etc. provide useful means to study and make more explicit the nature of such memory difficulties among the elderly, as well as to better understand normal memory functioning. We developed a checklist (inspired by a study by Young, Hay and Ellis, 1985) to explore normal young and elderly people's difficulties in person recognition. The checklist is composed of four parts, each one corresponding to a particular context in which the difficulty took place. Each part has the same structure and consists of precise questions about the type of incident, the circumstances, the persons involved, and the way the incident ended. Three groups of normal subjects kept records of their difficulties and errors in recognizing people for 1 month: young subjects with a bad memory for faces, young subjects without particular problems of face memory, and a group of elderly subjects. A total of 299 records were collected. They were classified with respect to the functional components presumably implied in the process breakdown. The elderly subjects experienced difficulties with retrieving names, first names, or nicknames (Name Codes), while the young subjects with a bad memory for faces reported overall the greatest number of incidents and were particularly impaired in access to Face Recognition Units. A characterization of these two kinds of difficulties is proposed. Young subjects without problems of face memory presented equal numbers of difficulties at all stages of person recognition. These patterns of results will be discussed in terms of current cognitive models of person recognition.
Elaborative interrogation and children's learning of unfamiliar facts
Authors: Symons Sonya , Greene Catherine
Published: June 2007

In two experiments, Canadian children in grades 6 and 7 processed facts about Canada and the U. S. under instructions to: (a) explain why the facts were true (elaborative interrogation); (b) read the facts with elaborations provided (provided elaborations); or (c) read the facts to remember (reading control). In Experiment 1, recall of Canadian facts was higher in the elaborative‐interrogation condition than in the elaboration‐provided condition. In Experiment 2 (Canadian and US facts), there were no significant differences in recall. Although only one comparison reached statistical significance, recall was descriptively greatest in the elaborative‐interrogation condition in both experiments with both Canadian and US facts. Across both experiments the average effect size of elaborative interrogation was 0.40 SD compared to the reading‐control and 0.56 SD compared to the elaboration‐provided condition. The quality of children's explanation in the elaborative‐interrogation condition was related to probability of recall. Inclusion of prior knowledge in the children's explanations was a better predictor of recall than was the adequacy of explanations.
Very long‐term retention of a first language without rehearsal: A case study
Authors: Power Des
Published: June 2007

A case study is presented of an American sign language‐using deaf woman whose life circumstances were such that she had no opportunities to use her sign language over nearly 40 years, but whose recall of its lexicon and syntax were almost unimpaired when she resumed its use after that period. Implications for the role of memory in first language learning are compared with results for second languages, and the role of rehearsal and interference in remembering over very long periods is considered.
Visual information for categorizing facial expression of emotions
Authors: Yamada Hiroshi
Published: June 2007

Two experiments were conducted to reveal the visual information from the face utilized for the categorization of its expression of emotions. In Experiment 1 the subjects produced six schematic faces expressing six basic emotions by using a computer graphics system. By a series of factor analyses on the variables of displacements of feature points for deforming a neutral schematic face to produce the six expressional ones, two factors of ‘curvedness/openness’ and ‘slantedness’ of facial elements were obtained. In Experiment 2 another group of subjects made category judgements of emotions for 72 of the total 216 schematic faces produced in Experiment 1. The relationship between the displacements of feature points in Experiment 1 and subjects' categorical responses in Experiment 2 were examined by canonical discriminant analysis. It was found that the categorical judgements were well explained by two canonical variables whose structures were quite similar to those of factors obtained in Experiment 1. These results indicated that we extract the information of changes in curvedness/openness and slantedness of facial elements among other information on the face for categorizing its expressions of emotions. Lastly, the relationship between the dimensions of visual information obtained here and those of semantic affective meanings found in earlier research was discussed.
Learning from lectures: Effects of knowledge maps and cooperative review strategies
Authors: Lambiotte Judith G. , Skaggs Lisa P. , Dansereau Donald F.
Published: June 2007

The effects of knowledge maps versus list‐style lecture aids and cooperative versus individual review strategies were investigated. Eighty‐five undergraduates viewed either knowledge maps or lists while hearing a lecture on descriptive statistics, then reviewed the information alone or with a partner, using either maps or lists as review aids. Dependent measures were free recall and scores on a multiple‐choice test including factual versus application‐level items. Other measures included self‐reports of prior knowledge and confidence, and repeated‐measures ratings of comprehension and predicted test performance. Recall performance was influenced significantly by the interaction of format with confidence; that is, less confident students were helped by having maps while more confident students did better with lists. An analysis of notetaking behaviours revealed that map‐users annotated their handouts significantly less than list users. Also, the metacognitions of map‐users with regard to their comprehension and predicted performance were less accurate than list‐users, as shown by correlations between self‐ratings and test scores. Map‐users with low confidence had the least accurate metacognitions.
An empowerment model of memory training
Authors: Parente' Rick , Stapleton Mary
Published: June 2007

The authors outline an empowerment model of memory rehabilitation. Unlike conventional cognitive rehabilitation methods, clients' plan and control the treatment process from the earliest stages of therapy. The client identifies functional goals and the therapy is geared to achieve those goals. The empowerment model also emphasizes domain‐specific compensatory training. Memory strategies and prosthetic devices are chosen so as to maximize transfer of training in the workplace, training programme, or in the client's activities of daily living. Group therapy involves clients teaching their newly learned skills to other clients. The authors present research findings to document the efficacy of the empowerment model, describe its limitations, and discuss how the model can be implemented effectively.
Memory phenomena in the law
Authors: Johnson Molly Treadway
Published: June 2007

Memory issues arise in the law in many different ways. At the most fundamental level, assumptions about memory are inherent in both substantive laws and procedural rules that govern the operation of the legal system. For example, the rules and procedures used to govern the conduct of jury trials reflect a great deal of faith in jurors' ability to understand and retain information over long periods of time, often with much intervening information. Memory issues also arise in the context of individual cases. For example, the ability of an attorney to satisfactorily prosecute or defend a case on behalf of a client often relies largely upon the completeness and accuracy of the memory of the client and other witnesses. This paper discusses examples of memory issues in the law and describes how applied research on these issues can be used to inform basic memory theory, particularly with respect to the relationship between emotion and memory.
Automation and cognition in air traffic control: An empirical investigation
Authors: Vortac O. U. , Edwards Mark B. , Fuller Dana K. , Manning Carol A.
Published: June 2007

Several investigators have expressed concern that the imminent automation of air traffic control may have negative consequences on cognitive functioning, and ultimately on performance. We investigated these possibilities empirically by comparing normal, conventional air traffic control with an experimental condition designed to resemble an extreme version of automation. Overall, measures of performance were comparable between conditions. Most of the cognitive measures (attentional demands, visual search, recall of flights, recall of flight data) were not impaired by the automation analogue. Instead, two prospective measures (prospective memory, planning) showed improved performance. The prospective memory advantage is particularly surprising given that the automation‐analogue group was unable to manipulate external memory aids. Possible reasons for the prospective memory advantage include a reduced workload, which allows the controller to get the necessary information in other ways, and a change in the nature of the task resulting from the “automation” of the strip management module.
More motivational aspects of an imagery mnemonic
Authors: Higbee Kenneth L.
Published: June 2007

Mnemonics research has focused on cognitive aspects of mnemonics. This study explored some motivational aspects of mnemonics–factors that can affect how much people might want to use mnemonics. It was hypothesized that using a mnemonic can make learning easier and more fun. College students used the rhyming peg mnemonic to learn 12 sayings (e. g. ‘Curiosity killed the cat’). The students rated the task as being easier (lower difficulty and effort) than did control students who learned the sayings without the mnemonic. There was also a tendency for the mnemonic students to rate the task as being more fun (higher interest and enjoyability), although behavioural measures of interest did not support the ratings. The mnemonic students also recalled more sayings than did the control students. The results suggest that, in addition to the cognitive effectiveness of mnemonics in increasing recal, mnemonics might also have the potential to make learning easier and possibly more fun.
The cognitive interview: Are the interviewers' memories enhanced, too?
Authors: Köhnken Günter , Thürer Claudia , Zoberbier Dirk
Published: June 2007

The cognitive interview is a technique which has been developed by Geiselman and Fisher to help police officers interrogating witnesses. Previous research has shown the advantage of the cognitive interview over standard interview procedures. Reports generated with this interview technique comprise an average of 35% more correct information while the amount of incorrect information is usually unaffected. In previous studies, the number of correct and in correct details was counted directly from the transcriptions of the interviewee statements. The present experiment was conducted to investigate the novel idea of whether there would also be an advantage of the cognitive interview when the written accounts/protocols of the interviewers were used to analyse the amount of correct and incorrect information they produced. Interviewes saw a video film showing a blood donation event. One week later they were questioned about the film using either a cognitive or a standard interview. The interviewers prepared from their memory written accounts/protocols of the event. The number of correct, false, and confabulated details was counted from these protocols and from the tape recordings of the interviews. There sults showed when interviewed using the cognitive interview the interviewees recalled, as hypothesized, about 60% more correct information than did those interviewed using standard interviews. This advantage of the cognitive interview was preserved in the interviewer accounts/protocols where about 50% more correct facts were recalled by the interviewers.
Considering prior knowledge when using elaborative interrogation
Authors: Woloshyn Vera E. , Wood Eileen , Willoughby Teena
Published: June 2007

Previous studies have promoted the use of elaborative interrogation (a “why”‐questioning strategy) for the acquisition of factual information. One assumption in these studies is that prior knowledge influences when students will be able to use the strategy, with greater prior knowledge leading to higher recall performance. In the studies reviewed here, the effect of prior knowledge on strategy effectiveness was investigated. Specifically, students' performances were compared for materials about which they possessed substantial prior knowledge, little prior knowledge, inconsistent prior knowledge, or shared prior knowledge. In general, the data support the use of elaborative interrogation when studying alone or in dyads especially when learners possess some relevant prior knowledge about the new information.
Comprehension of legal contracts by non‐experts: Effectiveness of plain language redrafting
Authors: Masson Michael E. J. , Waldron Mary Anne
Published: June 2007

The primary motivation behind the advocated use of plain language in legal documents is to increase comprehension among non‐experts. We report empirical evidence regarding the effectiveness of three kinds of simplification of standard legal contracts for increasing comprehension among naïve readers. A set of legal contracts was redrafted in three stages to produce three modified versions. In the first stage we removed or replaced archaic and redundant terms; in the next stage simplified words and sentence structure were introduced; in the final stage legal terms were defined or replaced with simpler terms. Comprehension, as measured by paraphrasing and question‐answering tasks, was reliably enhanced by the use of simplified words and sentence structure, but absolute levels of comprehension were still very low. An examination of erroneous responses suggested that, quite apart from the constraints of language, non‐experts have difficulty understanding complex legal concepts that sometimes conflict with prior knowledge and beliefs.
Very long‐term memories of a salient preschool event
Authors: Pillemer David B. , Picariello Martha L. , Pruett Jenzi C.
Published: June 2007

Children who attended either a younger (mean age = 3frac12;years) or an older (mean age = 4frac12; years)preschool classroom were interviewed twice about an emergency school evacuation in response to a fire alarm. All children were able to answer some memory questions 2 weeks after the evacuation occurred, but the memory narratives produced by older preschool children showed a more refined knowledge of the temporal and causal sequence of events. Seven years later, memory of the fire alarm was reassessed. Only those preadolescents who had been in the older preschool group at the time of the alarm showed convincing evidence of long‐term memory. The offset of childhood amnesia appears to be influenced by developmental changes in cognitive processing.
Interrogative suggestibility: The effects of sleep deprivation and relationship with field dependence
Authors: Blagrove Mark , Cole‐Morgan Dominic , Lambe Hazel
Published: June 2007

Suggestibility (yield) scores on the first Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale were found to correlate significantly with field dependence, as measured by the Finding Embedded Figures Test. Sleep‐deprived subjects, while scoring worse on story memory, reaction time, POMS vigour–energetic and POMS confusion than controls, did not show any increase in yielding to suggestive questions. Upon answering the questions again after negative feedback, however, sleep‐deprived subjects shifted their responses to questions significantly more than did controls. The results are interpreted in terms of sleep loss increasing the variability of performance.
Psychotherapy and memories of childhood sexual abuse: A cognitive perspective
Authors: Lindsay D. Stephen , Read J. Don
Published: June 2007

Cognitive psychological research on the fallibility of human memory is reviewed, focusing on evidence of memory distortions and illusions, with the aim of sharing research on memory with clinical psychologists and practitioners who use memory recovery techniques to help clients recover suspected memories of childhood sexual abuse. The memory literature suggests that incautious use of memory recovery techniques may lead some adult clients who were not abused to come to believe that they were. Considerations relevant to assessing whether or not clients have repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse are discussed, as are suggestions for minimizing the risk of leading clients to create illusory memories or beliefs of childhood sexual abuse.
The illusion of illusory memory
Authors: Pezdek Kathy
Published: June 2007

In this commentary on the paper, Psychotherapy and Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse: A Cognitive Perspective, by Lindsay and Read, three points are addressed. First, although the bulk of Lindsay and Read's paper is devoted to elaborating an explanation for the phenomenon that ‘memory recovery therapies’ may ‘inadvertently lead some adult clients to create illusory memories of childhood sexual abuse’, this phenomenon itself has never been demonstrated. There is a logical flaw in inferring the existence of a phenomenon from the fact that there might be an explanation for it. Second, Signal Detection Theory (SDT) is proposed as a useful heuristic for conceptualizing the debate regarding true memory versus illusory memory for sexual abuse. SDT is applied to elucidate the phenomenon of memory for sexual abuse, and then several directions for future research on this topic using the SDT framework are proposed. Finally, the cognitive research literature on the prevalence of suggestively planted memories is discussed. It is proposed that ‘memory recovery therapy’ is not widespread in the field of psychotherapy and that the evidence for therapist‐implanted illusory memories for incestuous sexual abuse is very weak.
Moving toward a middle ground on the ‘false memory debate’: Reply to commentaries on lindsay and read
Authors: Read J. Don , Lindsay D. Stephen
Published: June 2007

This rejoinder to the six commentaries on Lindsay and Read (this issue) focuses primarily on responding to criticisms levelled by some of the commentators, We clarify and elaborate upon the grounds for believing that some mental health practitioners use highly suggestive memory recovery therapies and that such therapies can lead some clients to develop illusory memories or false beliefs about childhood sexual abuse. We also comment on Pezdek's ideas concerning signal detection theory, Morton's application of the Headed Records model to amnesia and Multiple Personality Disorder, and to Sales, Shuman, and O'Connor's discussion of courtroom standards for the admissibility of expert psychological testimony.
Face and voice identifications in showups and lineups
Authors: Yarmey A. Daniel , Yarmey A. Linda , Yarmey Meagan J.
Published: June 2007

Witnesses were asked to identify a young adult female target to whom they had spoken for 15 seconds five minutes earlier in a naturalistic field setting. Subjects were given a single facial photograph or a single tape‐recorded voice of either the target or a highly similar foil, or a target‐present or target‐absent six‐person photo lineup or six‐person voice lineup. Identification of the target was superior in the six‐person photo lineup than in the one‐person photo lineup when choices were corrected for guessing. False identifications of the ‘innocent’ suspect did not differ in one‐person and six‐person photo lineups. However, the diagnosticity index indicated that witnesses were twice as likely to be more accurate than inaccurate in making a selection with the six‐person photo lineup than in the one‐person lineup. Performance was poor in both one‐person and six‐person voice lineups. With the exception of the target‐absent one‐person photo lineup, no significant correlations were found between confidence and performance.
The experience of road environments under two lighting and traffic conditions: Application of a road environment construct list
Authors: Steyvers Frank J. J. M. , Dekker K. , Brookhuis K. A. , Jackson A. E.
Published: June 2007

The aim of this study is to find out whether the different accident rates on two roads may be explained by drivers' different appreciations of these roads. Therefore a rating scale specially developed for the evaluation of drivers' experience of the road environment was used. The study is based on the assumption that experience of the road environment is an important factor in driving behaviour. An experiment was carried out in which two roads were compared in daylight and darkness, with and without traffic. The roads were presented on films. Subjects' evaluation scores appeared to be founded on three factors, which explained 66.8 per cent of the variance. The factors were named ‘hedonic value’, ‘activational value’ and ‘perceptual variation’. Composite scores were constructed from the rating scale scores for each factor, per road, and condition. This revealed that the two roads differed on all three factors. Ambient lighting and traffic conditions also influenced the values of the factors and some interactions were found. The range of scores for one road was greater than for the other. The road that ranked lowest on activational level and perceptual variation, especially during daylight conditions with no traffic, was ranked highest on hedonic value. This combination of conditions and experiences could explain the higher rate of ‘incomprehensible’ single vehicle accidents on that road compared with the other.
A longitudinal study of real‐life decision making: Choosing a college
Authors: Galotti Kathleen M.
Published: June 2007

Three hundred and twenty two college‐bound high school students described aspects of their college decision‐making processes. Students listed their criteria as well as the alternatives (i. e., schools) under consideration, rated the importance of each criterion, and rated each alternative with respect to each criterion. They also gave their overall impressions of each alternative. Finally, students rated their comfort with the decision‐making process and, at the conclusion of the study, reported on how many schools they had applied to, had or had not been accepted at, were waiting to hear from, or were waitlisted at. Students consider four or five alternatives, and use eight to ten criteria in evaluating them. These figures do not change appreciably over the course of the process, although only about half the criteria or/and slightly more than half of the schools considered at one time are considered again 6 months later, and there are several changes in the kinds of criteria considered at different points in time. There was a marginally significant trend for higher ability and average ability students to consider more criteria, more distinct types of criteria, and more alternatives than do lower ability students. There were no gender differences in this regard. Gender differences and academic ability group differences were apparent, however, in the types of criteria students reported. Participation in multiple sessions in this study had few reliable effects on decision‐making performance. Students were given a list of 34 standard criteria at each session, and incorporated some of these into their own lists of criteria during subsequent sessions. However, there was no indication that repeated participation led students to adopt a more analytical strategy than they would have otherwise. Data were compared with three linear models of information integration. Models using data with multiple criteria better fit the students' data than did a model using only the most important criterion. Higher ability students were particularly better able to integrate information according to linear models.
Toward the clarification of classroom contexts: Pragmatic aspects of effective instruction
Authors: Turnure James E.
Published: June 2007

Recent research and theory devoted to developing the socio‐historical context of educational innovation may be enhanced and invigorated by considering some overlooked theoretical precursors in the educational and child development literature. These sources converge on the centrality of communication in clarifying recent advances in both experimental and school‐based research and development. Focusing on student sensitive communication, a basic developmental process called intellectualization is proposed to establish that there are social agent‐intellectual system relations to be investigated just as with the social agent‐personality relations intrinsic in the ubiquitous socialization process. Relevant background literature is identified, and exemplary recent research is noted.
Collaborative dialogue patterns in naturalistic one‐to‐one tutoring
Authors: Graesser Arthur C. , Person Natalie K. , Magliano Joseph P.
Published: June 2007

Naturalistic one‐to‐one tutoring is more effective than traditional classroom teaching methods, but there have been few attempts to examine the features of normal tutoring that might explain its advantage. This project explored dialogue patterns in two samples of naturalistic tutoring with normal unskilled tutors (as opposed to expert tutors): graduate students tutoring undergraduates in research methods and high school students tutoring 7th graders in algebra. We analysed the extent to which those tutoring protocols manifested components that have been emphasized in contemporary pedagogical theories and intelligent tutoring systems: active student learning, sophisticated pedagogical strategies, specific examples and cases, collaborative problem solving and question answering, deep explanatory reasoning, convergance toward shared meanings, feedback, error diagnosis and remediation, and affect. The most prominent components consisted of collaborative problem solving, question answering, and explanation in the context of specific examples. We identify frequent dialogue patterns that characterize these collaborative processes.
Intonation and auditory grouping in immediate serial recall
Authors: Frankish Clive
Published: June 2007

The concept of auditory buffer storage is supported by evidence from studies of dichotic memory and serial recall tasks. Previously reported studies of modality‐specific grouping effects can also be accommodated within this theoretical framework, with the effects of stimulus grouping attributed to more effective utilization of the buffer. In this study, the representation of structured sequences in the auditory buffer was further explored in five experiments which investigated the extent to which this system can make use of prosodic cues. Experiment 1 demonstrated that the variations in pitch which constitute the intonation pattern of a natural utterance are extremely effective in enhancing memory performance. Experiment 2 demonstrated that the presence of a strong melodic contour is not a sufficient condition for improvement in recall, even when the melodic structure is both familiar and well‐formed. The results of Experiments 3 and 4 suggested that improvements in recall are most likely to occur when abrupt changes in pitch at group boundaries are the most prominent features of the pitch contour. In Experiment 5 the natural pitch contour was simplified to produce a pattern in which the final item in each group was spoken with accented pitch. This structure was found to be as effective as grouping by pauses. These findings are related to perceptual studies of intonation, and implications for theoretical accounts of auditory memory are discussed.
The fate of the unattended stimulus: Irrelevant speech and cognition
Authors: Jones Dylan
Published: June 2007

Following a tradition established by Broadbent of understanding the fate of the unattended message, the effects of extraneous sound (especially speech) on cognitive processing are reviewed. Speech disturbs the encoding or registration of visual material, particularly in settings in which the sound and vision combine to have the property of a single object. The effect of irrelevant speech on short‐term memory is confined to verbal or spatial tasks that require memory for serial order, and is most pronounced with sounds that exhibit change. This effect is not confined to speech, however, and a range of non‐speech sounds can disrupt serial recall. Studies using complex tasks, though less common, are consistent in showing appreciable interference from irrelevant speech. The effect on reading is qualitatively dissimilar to that found with short‐term memory. Implications for theory and practice are spelled out.
On adaptive control, sleep loss, and fatigue
Authors: Chmiel Nik , Totterdell Peter , Folkard Simon
Published: June 2007

This paper considers the relationship between levels of control and stressors put forward by Broadbent in Decision and Stress. Broadbent speculated that a lower level of control could be maintained in an optimal state by the activity of an upper level such that performance outcomes remained constant. The upper level, however, could become fatigued, allowing any inefficiency of the lower to be reflected in performance. He thought that lower inefficiency was a function of sleep deprivation, among other stressors. To illustrate the ideas put forward by Broadbent, preliminary results from an extended study of the effects of varying amounts of sleep deprivation and length of work day on an adaptive control task are presented, with the aim of exploring the value and limitation of the levels approach. The adaptive control task used is one developed by Broadbent to explore levels of control. The paper considers how levels of control could relate to behavioural outcomes of 'performance level' and 'work rate' under conditions of sleep loss and fatigue, and discusses some of the advantages and disadvantages of so doing. We conclude that the levels of control approach offers a potentially rich interpretive framework for the effects of stressors on performance, but that attempting to relate particular performance indices to particular levels is a less fruitful diagnostic endeavour.
The effect of different forms of advice on the control of a simulated complex system
Authors: Gardner Peter H. , Berry Dianne C.
Published: June 2007

Three experiments examine the effect of different forms of computer‐generated advice on concurrent and subsequent performance of individuals controlling a simulated intensive‐care task. Experiment 1 investigates the effect of optional and compulsory advice and shows that both result in an improvement in subjects' performance while receiving the advice, and also in an improvement in subsequent unaided performance. However, although the advice compliance displayed by the optional advice group shows a strong correlation with subsequent unaided performance, compulsory advice has no extra benefit over the optional use of advice. Experiment 2 examines the effect of providing users with on‐line explanations of the advice, as well as providing less specific advice. The results show that both groups perform at the same level on the task as the advice groups from Experiment 1, although subjects receiving explanations scored significantly higher on a written post‐task questionnaire. Experiment 3 investigates in more detail the relationship between advice compliance and performance. The results reveal a complex relationship between natural ability on the task and the following of advice, in that people who use the advice more tend to perform either better or worse than the more moderate users. The theoretical and practical implications of these experiments are discussed.
A model of medical reception–the planning and control of multiple task work
Authors: Hill Becky , Long John , Smith Walter , Whitefield Andy
Published: June 2007

This research follows in the Broadbent tradition of constructing a general theory to solve applied problems. The paper reports part of wider research intended to construct a framework for modelling the planning and control of multiple task work. The function of the framework is to support the solution of design problems associated with the performance of interactive planning and control worksystems. The study reported here used an initial version of the framework, based on a study of secretarial office administration, to construct a model of medical reception work. An observational study collected protocol data concerning a medical reception worksystem, comprising two receptionists and various office devices; its domain of application, comprising doctors, patients, their appointments, medical records etc.; and its performance, comprising the quality of medical reception work and the costs to the receptionists of performing that work. The data were then used in conjunction with the planning and control framework to construct the model of medical reception. The model includes physical and abstract structures and behaviours of the medical reception worksystem, as well as physical and abstract objects of its domain of application. Of particular interest for the solution of design problems is the model's differentiation of plan types into task plans, procedure plans, and activity plans. These plan types were used to extend the framework for the planning and control of multiple task work. The paper concludes with a brief illustration of how the model of medical reception might be used to support the solution of interactive worksystem design problems as they relate to performance. Future work to develop further the framework of planning and control of multiple task work and its application are discussed.