1
Selective directed forgetting (9:00
- 9:25)
Peter F. Delaney, Emily R. Waldum and Namrata Godbole
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Abstract: In list-method directed
forgetting, people study some material and then are instructed to
forget it. People can do this, but they are not usually able to
forget only some of the material when instructed to do so
after the fact; they forget it all, or none of it. We present
several experiments showing that people can forget selectively, so
long as there is (a) enough interference between the learned
materials, and (b) an attempt to keep track of the two sets of
material separately during study. Experiment 1 used textual
materials, while Experiment 2 used categorized word lists. We
suggest possible mechanisms that could produce this effect.
2
Assessing symbol comprehension for teratogen
warnings (9:25 - 9:50)
Christopher B. Mayhorn
North Carolina State University
Abstract: I
describe efforts to refine the design of recently developed
teratogen warning symbols and examine their interpretation by
different populations (e.g., those with low health literacy,
adolescents, and non-fluent English speakers). At least two viable
alternative symbols were identified by the current work. Alternative
symbols identified as most successful in an earlier study
(Goldsworthy and Kaplan, 2006b) were further refined through the use
of multiple focus groups and expert review. Six symbols emerged as
potential candidates to replace the current symbol. A nationally
distributed field trial (n = 700) examined these six alternate
teratogen warnings in addition to the symbol presently in use. Two
symbols consistently elicited the most accurate responses in terms
of message interpretation, target audience, intended action, and
perceived consequences of ignoring the warning. Several results
varied by participant characteristics. Understanding how members of
diverse subpulations might interact with these warnings should be
informative to healthcare professionals.
3
Applied cognitive psychology: Visual learning in
the botany classroom (9:50 - 10:15)
Bruce K. Kirchoff
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Abstract:
Woody Plants of the Southeastern United States: A Field Botany
Course on CD helps users become visual experts in species
recognition. Unlike novices, experts are able to quickly recognize
patterns. This allows chess masters to recognize chess
configurations, and botanists to identify species from a glimpse out
the window of a moving vehicle. The program helps students rapidly
achieve this mastery by adapting techniques from the visual
processing literature to the task of species recognition. The
program is designed to promote holistic processing, the visual
processing mode used by experts. It is the only program we know of
that allows the student to learn in the same visual mode used by
experts. Most programs require students to learn plant characters
analytically. This analytical training must be overcome as the
student becomes an expert at identifying plants in the field.
Classroom testing of the program has shown it to be more effective
than traditional study methods in teaching species recognition.
4
Bias in number line estimation (10:35 - 11:00)
Dale J. Cohen and Daryn Blanc-Goldhammer
University of North Carolina Wilmington
Abstract: The number line task is
often used to assess children and adults’ underlying representation
of integers. Traditional bounded number line tasks, however, have
limitations that can lead to misinterpretation. Here we present a
new task, an unbounded number line task that overcomes
these limitations. In Experiment 1, we show that adults use a biased
proportion estimation strategy to complete the traditional bounded
number line task. In Experiment 2, we show that adults use dead
reckoning integer estimation strategy in our unbounded number line
task. Participants revealed a positively accelerating numerical bias
in both tasks, but showed scalar variance only in the unbounded
number line task. We conclude that the unbounded number line task is
a more pure measure of integer representation and using these
results, we present a preliminary description of adults’ underlying
representation of integers.
5
KEYNOTE ADDRESS ~ Individual differences in concept
learning: Tendencies to focus on exemplars versus abstraction (11:00
- 12:00)
Mark S. McDaniel
Washington University
Abstract: An
important part of classroom learning involves understanding general
concepts derived from a set of exemplars. However, I suggest that
not everyone approaches concept learning in the same way.
Specifically, I propose that during training, some learners focus on
acquiring the particular exemplars and responses associated with
those exemplars, wheras other learners attempt to abstract
underlying regularities. These latter people I term "abstractors."
Whether a person focuses on exemplars or is an abstractor might be a
relatively stable characteristic of different learners. I report
laboratory experiments demonstrating that people who were a priori
identified as abstractors (through a method called function-learning
extrapolation profiling) were more likely to transfer their
knowledge to new exemplars in several kinds of concept learning
tasks. I also present a classroom study suggesting that these
individual differences are related to course performance.
6
Alzheimer’s disease and memory-monitoring
anosognosia: Alzheimer’s patients show a monitoring deficit that is
greater than their accuracy deficit (1:30 - 1:55)
Chad Dodson
University of Virginia
Abstract: Although the memory deficit
from Alzheimer’s disease is clear, what is not clear is the extent
to which AD patients are aware of their memory deficit. Are AD
patients sufficiently aware of their memory deficits that they can
accurately monitor and assess the likely accuracy of their memories?
Groups of AD patients and older controls provided confidence ratings
in order to judge the likely accuracy of recognition judgments and
source judgments about who spoke something earlier. AD patients were
strikingly unaware of the accuracy of their memories. Even when AD
patients were given extra exposure to the encoding material so that
their recognition performance and source identification performance
was comparable to that of an older control group, AD patients were
unable with confidence ratings to distinguish between correct and
incorrect responses.
7
Does executive attention mediate the relationship
between working memory capacity and fluid intelligence? (1:55 -
2:20)
Thomas S. Reddick
Georgia Institute of Technology
Abstract: Abundant correlational
research suggests that working memory capacity (WMC) is strongly
related to fluid intelligence. Experimental studies have
consistently shown a link between WMC and executive attention.
However, relatively few studies have addressed whether executive
attention mediates the WMC and fluid intelligence relationship. We
administered multiple measures of WMC, executive attention, and
fluid intelligence to a diverse sample of 586 young adults.
Correlations and confirmatory factor analyses revealed that all of
the cognitive abilities were strongly interrelated. Critically,
structural equation modeling and mediation analyses indicated that
executive attention partially mediated the relationship between WMC
and fluid intelligence. The results suggest that individual
differences in the ability to control attention are an important
aspect of variation in higher-order cognition and reasoning.
8
Context effects on tempo preference for familiar
songs (2:20 - 2:45)
Matthew A. Rashotte and Douglas Wedell
University of South Carolina
Abstract: Three experiments explored
the degree to which familiar musical samples are subject to two
types of context effects: contrast on tempo judgments and
assimilative shifts of pleasantness judgments. In Experiments 1 and
2, participants listened to different tempo samples of the same
Beatles song, with tempo manipulated while holding the pitch
constant to create fast and slow tempo contexts. Consistent with
contextual contrast, tempo was judged faster for target clips in the
slow versus fast tempo context. Consistent with assimilation of
ideals, a slower tempo was preferred in the slow versus fast tempo
context. In Experiment 3, generalization of effects was gauged by
having participants listen to four different Beatles songs, with
context manipulated for only one of the songs. Differential
generalization supported the hypothesis that different processes may
underlie these two contextual effects. The powerful influence of
context in music is discussed.
9
Revisiting McGeoch and McDonald (1931): Similarity
and retroactive interference 80 years later (2:45 - 3:10)
Nathan A. Foster and Lili Sahakyan
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Abstract: In a seminal article by McGeoch
and McDonald (1931), retroactive interference (RI) increased when
the similarity between the original learning and the interpolated
learning increased – an effect that is widely cited in textbooks on
memory. We re-examined this effect using free recall as well as
using ordered recall to approximate the anticipation method used by
McGeoch and McDonald. We kept the target list constant, and
manipulated whether the second list contained items that were
similar to the target list or unrelated to it. In Experiment 1,
similar items were bidirectionally associated to the target list
based on free association norms (e.g., salt-pepper). In Experiment
2, similar items were the synonyms of the target list (e.g.,
rich-wealthy). Results across both experiments yielded consistent
findings, suggesting that similarity affects RI differently
depending on how memory is tested.
10
The effect of color on cognitive performance: A
first look at Mehta & Zhu (2009) (3:30 - 3:55)
Kenneth M. Steele
Appalachian State University
Abstract: “Color Psychology” is defined as
the influence of color on psychological functioning. Mehta and Zhu
(2009, Science, 323, 1226-1229) reported several studies that
demonstrated effects of red and blue on a series of cognitive tasks.
Red was hypothesized to induce a state of avoidance motivation which
was predicted to improve performance on a detail-oriented task. Blue
was hypothesized to induce a state of approach motivation which was
predicted to increase use of risky, creative strategies in
problem-solving tasks. The current study replicated the procedure of
their Study 1a (with 172 ASU students) to determine whether the same
results would be obtained. Background colors and anagrams were as
specified by Mehta and Zhu. The hypothesized color by word-type
interaction was not obtained. Additional concerns about the study
will be discussed.
11
Ironic effects of monitoring for misinformation in
popular history films (3:55 - 4:20)
Sharda Umanath, Andrew C. Butler, and Elizabeth J. Marsh
Duke University
Abstract: Many history educators use
popular films as teaching aids in the classroom, but sometimes these
films contain major historical inaccuracies. One common classroom
exercise is for students to attempt to identify these inaccuracies
in the film. We investigated whether such a monitoring task is an
effective method for reducing the acquisition of false knowledge. In
two experiments, subjects studied texts about various historical
topics and watched clips from corresponding popular films. Each clip
depicted a piece of information that was consistent with the
corresponding text and a piece of information that contradicted the
text (i.e., misinformation). Half the subjects received instructions
to monitor for inaccuracies in the films. One week later, they took
a test on the historical texts. Relative to only studying the texts,
watching the film clips increased correct recall of information from
the texts that was accurately depicted in the films, but it also
increased (false) recall of misinformation from the films.
Monitoring instructions had the ironic effect of increasing
subjects’ acquisition of misinformation. However, when they were
given feedback about the inaccuracies in the films, the acquisition
of misinformation was substantially reduced.
12
Atypical performance on the Stroop color-word task
among college undergraduates: Implications for reading proficiency and
academic outcomes (3:20 - 4:45)
Sara C. Wrenn and Alan Goble
Bennett College
Abstract: Decades of research indicate that
robust Stroop interference effects are ubiquitous among literate
populations, while reduced or lacking interference effects are
associated with effortful reading and poor comprehension (MacLeod,
1991). The present study attempts to verify the existence of
atypical Stroop performance among college students, and to explore
the relationship between Stroop color-word task performance and
measures of reading proficiency and academic outcomes. Undergraduate
students taking entry-level psychology courses completed the Stroop
color-word task and gave consent for the researchers to access their
scores on the ACCUPLACER English test and their GPAs. Preliminary
group-level analyses showed no significant Stroop interference
effect; t(20) = 1.51, p = .15; 50% of participants failed to display
typical interference in response to incongruent color-word stimuli.
Additional analyses will examine the relationship between task
performance, ACCUPLACER scores, and GPA. Results will be discussed
in light of the implications and limitations of the present study.
|