The power of cognitive psychology lies in the promise of cognitive technology.
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The power of cognitive psychology lies in the promise of cognitive technology.
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Abstracts - Spring 2005
THEORETICAL AND RESEARCH ARTICLES 4 The Self-Monitoring Approach for Effective Learning 12 Evolution, Culture and the Processes of Learning and Memory 15 What Aspects of Their Memories do People Most Want to Improve? 18 Distributed Artificial Neural Network (DANN) Models of Cognitive Functioning Glenn Gettinger, M.Div., Eric Anderson, M.A., Torsten Alvager, Ph.D., David Beach, Ph.D., W. Tad Foster, Ed.D. and Folajimi Fayemi, M.S. 24 Advertising as Information or Misinformation? 29 Using the Self-report Free Recall Technique to Explore Everyday Memory Failures in the Aging Adult. 38 Articulatory Suppression in Bilingual and Second Language Speakers 47 Pain Assessment Based on a Fixed Resource Method The Self-Monitoring Approach for Effective Learning John Dunlosky, Ph.D. Christopher Hertzog, Ph.D. Mary Kennedy, Ph.D. Keith Thiede, Ph.D. People often seek techniques that can enhance their learning and retention of important materials. Whereas popular techniques focus on how to increase the effectiveness of memorization by using mnemonics, the self-monitoring approach attempts to enhance people’s learning vis-à-vis the use of accurate monitoring to regulate study. As such, this approach may complement existing mnemonic techniques by helping students to identify which materials have not been well learned and hence require further study. The promise of this self-monitoring approach is illustrated by evidence from three independent lines of research, which demonstrate that the use of accurate monitoring can improve learning for individuals with varying abilities and across different kinds of material.
Kathleen Heath, Ph.D. Larry Gant, Ph.D. Methods and technologies for enhancing cognitive learning and memory abilities have exploded in the last ten years. However, the potential benefits of cognitive aids may exceed the actual outcome because of a lack of under-standing about how people learn and remember based on our evolutionary adaptation to a hunter-gatherer way of life and our adaptations to particular cultures. Here we discuss the value of understanding our adaptive ancestral self and the role of culture in developing an agenda for individual learning and memory strategies. What Aspects of Their Memories do People Most Want to Improve? Kenneth Higbee, Ph.D. There has been much research on how often people experience specified memory problems. This research investigated the importance, rather than the frequency of occurrence, of everyday memory problems by asking people in memory-improvement classes what aspects of their memories they most want to improve. Remembering people’s names was the most important aspect and remembering everyday tasks was more important for females than for males. Other aspects of memory also showed gender and age differences. Distributed Artificial Neural Network (DANN) Models of Cognitive Functioning Glenn Gettinger, M.Div. Eric Anderson, M.A. Torsten Alvager, Ph.D. David Beach, Ph.D. W. Tad Foster, Ed.D. Folajimi Fayemi, M.S. This article proposes a new approach for the use of artificial neural net-works in the modeling of cognitive brain functioning. Early artificial neural network models began modeling cognitive function at the neural level using one computer to process all algorithms. The complexity of the neural system in most species suggests that a more realistic approach to modeling cognitive function would be to design a system with multiple artificial neural networks distributed over multiple computers. In this approach each computer in the distributed network would serve a particular function. The goal of this research is to determine a preferable configuration of computer hardware resources and will eventually enable tests of rival theories of cognition and of treatments for neurological disorders. Advertising as Information or Misinformation? Sven van de Wetering, Ph.D. Daniel Bernstein, Ph.D. Elizabeth Loftus, Ph.D. Defenders of advertising often insist that advertisements serve an in-formational function. The present work explores the use of misinformation in advertising as a means of distorting memory. We review recent work on memory and advertising that demonstrates the malleability of memory after exposure to advertisements containing misleading in-formation. Memory distortion can readily occur for products whose features are hard to verbalize (e.g., the taste of orange juice or wine, the smell of coffee, a theme park vacation). Such memory distortion may compromise one's ability to effectively evaluate products, especially in cases where memory is vital to the evaluation. We argue that misinformation in advertising can distort memory, possibly undermining the informational value of such advertising. Using the Self-report Free Recall Technique to Explore Everyday Memory Failures in the Aging Adult. Gabrielle Osborne, M.A. Memory failures are lapses in cognitive performance that occur in everyday life. In a laboratory setting, older adults show a decline in memory skills (e.g., Burke & Light, 1981; Park et al., 1996) and therefore they may experience more memory failures in a non-laboratory environment. Self-report questionnaire assessments, however, have shown that older adults experience fewer memory failures. The current study used a self-report free recall interview to gather data on the types and reasons for memory failures participants experienced in everyday life. This technique also allowed an observation of any autobiographical reminiscence bump in the recall of memory failures. Articulatory Suppression in Bilingual and Second Language Speakers Mary Flaherty, Ph.D. Aidan Moran, Ph.D. There is variation in the literature as to the effect of articulatory suppression on numeral span performance in bilinguals. This study attempts to address these differences by considering the influence of the different definitions of bilingualism and the effect of orthographic variables. The language proficiency in English and Japanese of 39 participants was assessed by measuring their reading rate for both numerals and digit words in the two languages. Those who had learned both languages as children and who spoke both languages daily were “bi-lingual” (n=20), and the others (n=19) who were native English-speaking learners of Japanese were “second-language learners” (L2). Memory span was obtained for numerals and digit words in both languages, under normal and articulatory suppression conditions. The bilinguals’ numeral span advantage in English was eliminated under suppression. L2s showed a superior performance in English in both numerals and digit words in the normal and suppression memory tasks. Memory span on Arabic numerals and Japanese digit words (written in kanji) were similar for both groups of participants, thus suggesting the importance of orthographic features on memory span Pain Assessment Based on a Fixed Resource Method Rebecca Burfeind, M.D. Gilbert Fanciullo M.D. Robert Jamison, Ph.D. John Baird, Ph.D We evaluated a new rating method that allows patients to express their recalled pain as a profile of percentages over different intensity levels rather than by using more traditional category scaling methods. Patients in chronic pain generated percent-ages of time they experienced pain by adjusting the heights of four bars, displayed on the computer, representing four levels of pain intensity (none, some, moderate, extreme). The bars were dynamically linked to each other so that changing the height of any one of them simultaneously changed the heights of all the remaining ones in the opposite direction. Cluster analysis identified and separated the patients into three groups, each characterized by a distinct pain profile.
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