Psychology Commons^™

Mental Scanning In Auditory Imagery For Songs, Andrea R. Halpern

Faculty Journal Articles

Four experiments examined how people operate on memory representations of familiar songs. The tasks were similar to those used in studies of visual imagery. In one task, subjects saw a one-word lyric from a song and then saw a second lyric; then they had to say if the second lyric was from the same song as the first. In a second task, subjects mentally compared pitches of notes corresponding to song lyrics. In both tasks, reaction time increased as a function of the distance in beats between the two lyrics in the actual song, and in some conditions reaction time …

The Effects Of Levels Of Processing On Retention Of Word Meaning, Dorothy A. Flannagan

Master's Theses

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of the three encoding techniques of rote memory, semantic, and self-reference, on short-term and long-term retention levels of unfamiliar vocabulary words and their meanings. Seventy-two college students participated in the experiment, with 24 students in each encoding group. All participants viewed 20 target words and their definitions, and were exposed to each word for 30 seconds. Each group was given instructions designed to promote a type of encoding specific to their group. After a five-minute distractor task, subjects were given a list of the target words and were tested on …

Endurance And Affiliation : Traits As A Priori Self Schemata In Memory, Nancy Mackay Bruckner

Master's Theses

This study investigated the hypotheses that subjects' scores on the trait of endurance would have s. positive, significant correlation with their recall of endurance-related adjectives, and that subjects' scores on the trait of affiliation would have a positive, significant correlation with their recall of affiliation-related words. One hundred forty-five male and female undergraduates from the University of Richmond answered questions from the Affiliation and Endurance scales of the Personality Research Form (Jackson, 1967). As a separate task subjects decided whether or not each of fortyeight adjectives described themselves. Sixteen of these adjectives referred to endurance, sixteen to affiliation, and sixteen …

Spatial And Temporal Response Patterns On The Eight-Arm Radial Maze, Robert H.I. Dale

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Six maze-experienced hooded rats were timed during five trials on which they collected water from all arms of an eight-arm radial maze, then made five more choices. All subjects frequently exhibited a “task-completion pause:” The subjects rarely spent more than 1 sec in the center of the maze between choices until they had entered all eight arms, then stopped in the center of the maze. In contrast, the time spent in each arm gradually increased until all of the water had been obtained, then decreased slightly. Four subjects began every trial by choosing eight consecutive adjacent arms. The task-completion pause …

The Accuracy Of Beliefs About Retrieval Cues, Paula T. Hertel, L. J. Anooshian, P. W. Ashbrook

Psychology Faculty Research

We investigated the accuracy of predictions about semantic, environmental, and phonological cues for remembering. Subjects rated the pleasantness of 10 words in each of four rooms, predicted the number of words that they would recall with and without one of the three types of cues, and then were tested for free or cued recall. Consistent with their predictions, subjects who received semantic cues recalled more words than did subjects in the free-recall group. The subjects in the other cuing conditions did not benefit from the cues; furthermore, they overestimated the value of phonological cues, and they believed that environmental cues …

Confusing Memories For Verbal And Nonverbal Communication, Paula T. Hertel, Alice Narvaez

Psychology Faculty Research

Emotion portrayed nonverbally in videotaped conversations impaired memory for the specific meaning of utterances. Subjects produced more recognition (Experiment 1) or recall (Experiment 2) errors that were consistent with the emotional versions they had viewed than errors reflecting other emotions. In Experiment 1, this effect on recognition memory depended neither on the type of orienting task for nonverbal behaviors (attention to surface characteristics vs. interpretations) nor on the length of the retention interval. In Experiment 2, the number of emotional errors in recall was slightly dependent on the reported moods of the viewers. These and other outcomes suggest that emotional …

Memory Observed: Remembering In Natural Contexts: By U. Neisser (Book Review), Steven S. Braddon

Psychology Faculty Publications

Book review by Steven S. Braddon.

Neisser, Ulric, selector. Memory Observed: Remembering in Natural Contexts. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman, 1982. ISBN 9780716713715; 9780716713722 (pbk.)

Effects Of Encoding Variety And Concurrent-Task Practice On The Transfer And Retention Of Complex Skill, Peter S. Winne

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The present study investigated the effects of dual-task practice and the variety of problems solved during practice on (a) the acquisition of procedural and declarative skills and the development of concurrent-task skills, and (b) the utilization and maintenance of two types of strategies. Strategies were defined as the use of different mixes of skills pertaining to procedures and specific declarative solutions. Two tasks--mental arithmetic and trigrams--were used to examine problem-solving skills and strategies both immediately following practice and again under delayed conditions. Eighty subjects were randomly assigned to one of four practice conditions by factorially combining practice mode (single- or …

Effects Of Integrating Functions Of Left And Right Hemispheres On Recall Memory, Jaclyn Jean Trost

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Bonuses And Bribes: Mood Effects In Memory, A. K. Boggiano, Paula T. Hertel

Psychology Faculty Research

Free recall of emotionally positive, neutral, and negative adjectives was used as an indirect assessment of the effects of reward on expectations about intrinsic interest. Reward for performing later activities described as interesting (a "bonus" orientation) produced recall of a greater number of emotionally positive adjectives, whereas reward for the same activities described as boring (a "bribe" orientation) produced recall of a larger number of negative adjectives. A cued-expectancy analysis suggests that reward serves to polarize initial attitude about forthcoming tasks; these polarized attitudes, like moods, influence the nature of words retrieved from memory.

Remembering Reactions And Facts: The Influence Of Subsequent Information, Paula T. Hertel

Psychology Faculty Research

Memory for reactions and judgments about a biographical passage was examined following the presentation of subsequent information relevant to the passage. Experiment 1 demonstrated that reaction memory shifted as a function of the type of subsequent information when 3 weeks separated it from the memory test, but not when testing was immediate or when the information was delivered just prior to the delayed test. These results were obtained again in Experiment 2 and contrasted to shifts in memory for· passage facts. Misleading factual information influenced memory for passage facts most when it was delivered just before the delayed recognition test. …

Normative Data On The Auditory Memory Test Battery, Mary Clare Mountain

Dissertations and Theses

This study examined the means and standard deviations for the Auditory Memory Test Battery (Burford, 1976) using a sample of normal second, third, and fourth grade children. The study also compared span and sequence scores, low and high SES scores, and an individual's test scores with teacher judgment of intelligence group. A brief examination of the AMTB as used with LD children was also performed but not included in the statistical analysis.

Developmental Changes In Context Effects And Picture Recognition Memory, Nancy Hancock

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Memory For Crossed And Nested Classifications, John Ernest Garwood

Dissertations and Theses

Memory for crossed and nested classifications was investigated. Two experimental groups were exposed to stimuli which could be organized by both a crossed and nested classification. The stimuli consisted of nine drawings in a 3 x 3 matrix. Each drawing is characterized by attributes on five dimensions. The nested classification requires four dimensions to organize the nine drawings, while the crossed classification requires two dimensions. Of the five dimensions, three are unique to the nested classification, one is unique to the crossed classification, and one is common to both classifications. Subjects were presented the stimuli so that either the crossed …

The Study Of The Differential Effects Of Visual And Auditory Presentation On Logical Reasoning, Jacob Lauterstein Driesen

Dissertations and Theses

A fundamental task in reasoning is to form some internal representation of the premises that allows the relations between them to be determined. Whether this process is visual or auditory is the subject of a long-standing controversy.

This controversy seems to have reached a stalemate. Another approach is to determine where in the brain reasoning is done. A way of doing this involves looking at differences in the processing and storage of visual and auditory information within the brain. Brooks used this approach in his experiments. His results suggested that a subject who receives spatial information by of the ear …

Memory For Persons, Encounters And Sex, William Sturgill

Student Work

Recognition of previously seen persons and recall of the circumstances of their encounter were tested in a situation' where subjects were unaware of the subsequent recognition task. Subjects encountered four: persons, one of each sex. in. two separate encounters. Prior to a lineup one week later, only 51 subjects (N = 145) failed to' recall either the number and/or the sex of the persons encountered, while only 28. correctly recalled both the number and sex and that it was two different persons in each encounter. Results from the lineup confirmed, previous suggestions that subjects (N = 155) are better able …

Recognition And Attractiveness As A Function Of Sex And Race, Evelyn Elizabeth Hamilton Schroder

Student Work

The present experiment replicated and refined.tests of. recognition memory for the human face. Three subject groups were used: White American females, White American males and Black African Malawian males. In part one, eighty monochromatic slides of Black and White American college seniors of both sexes were shown as (original) stimuli and then shown again with eighty new slides in a paired comparison task.

An analysis of variance performed on the recognition scores revealed the following results: (a) A main effect for groups of slides with American females generating significantly fewer errors than the African males; (b) A main effect for …

Closed-Loop Theory And The Partial Recall Hypothesis : Explanations Of The Sources Of Information About Knowledge In Memory, Thomas Beverly Watkins

Master's Theses

Examples of information about knowledge in memory are described, and two conceptualizations of the source of such information--the partial recall hypothesis and the closed-loop theory--are reviewed. Wearing (1970) conducted a study to support the closed-loop theory using 60 CVC pairs in a paired-associate task with recall measure and confidence ratings. An attempt is made to replicate and extend some of his findings. Some are replicated, except for one finding with which he supported closed-loop theory. With support for closed-loop theory thus reduced, the partial recall hypothesis seems more plausible.

Anticholinesterase Action And Electroconvulsive Shock-Induced Disruption Of Taste-Illness Association, Terry J. Debriere

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Electroconvulsive shock (ECS) interpolated temporally between the pairing of a novel taste and an induced gustatory illness prevents the taste from being associated with the illness (Kral, 1971). Physostigmine has been shown to protect against retrograde amnesic effects of ECS on learning of a passive avoidance task (Davis, Thomas, and Adams, 1971). Physostigmine protection of ECS induced disruption of a conditioned taste aversion was investigated using a 2 (physostigmine vs. saline) x 2 (ECS vs. sham shock) x 2 (conditioned vs. nonconditioned) x 2 (conditioning day vs. test day) factorial design with repeated measures over the last factor. Results indicated …

Effectiveness Of Experimenter-Supplied And Subject-Originated First Letter And Descriptive Sentence Mnemonics In Learning Word Pairs, Michael B. Pines

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Auditory And Visual Sensory Stores: A Recognition Task, James Barr Richardson

Dissertations and Theses

A probe-stimulus recognition technique was used to test hypothesized differences in visual and auditory sensory memory storage. Lists of alphabetical letters were presented visually or auditorially, each followed by a visual or auditory probe. Performance on the auditory lists was predicted to be better than on the visual lists. Moreover, auditory lists followed by a visual probe (AV) were expected to show a decrement in performance in comparison to auditory list-auditory probe tasks (AA). Visual lists followed by an auditory probe (VA) were likewise expected to result in a decrement in performance in comparison to visual list-visual probe tasks (VV). …

Short-Term Memory For Auditory Digit Sequences As A Function Of Systematic Manipulation Of Encoding Technique, Digit Duration, And Interdigit Interval, John G. Miscik

Student Work

The experiment tested whether short term retention for auditory digit sequences could be improved by efficient encoding techniques (ET) and increases in either digit duration (DD) or interdigit interval (IDI). All three hypotheses received strong support from the data. In addition, analysis of interactions between length of retention interval (RI) and DD, IDI, and ET led to the conclusions that longer DD and IDI permit increased resistance to forgetting during RI, while efficient ET improves retention regardless of RI.

State-Dependent Learning As A Function Of The Temporal Relationship Between Noncontingent Footshock And Electroconvulsive Shock, T. Scott Shutt

All Master's Theses

Rats were given a noncontingent footshock followed at various intervals by electroconvulsive shock. Twentyfour hours later they were trained on a non-shock passive avoidance task and tested for retention 72 hours later. When the interval between NCFS and ECS was short the animals showed an amnesia which reduced as the interval was lengthened. An interval of .5 seconds produced the most pronounced amnesia and intervals greater than 10 seconds produced virtually no amnesia. The results were consistent with a state dependent retrieval failure hypothesis.

The Role Of Interference And Trace Decay In The Retention Of A Simple Psychomotor Task, Stephen David Southall

Master's Theses

The purpose of the present study was to try to distinguish between the interference theory and trace decay theory and to try to establish whether one or a combination of the two best accounts for the forgetting shown in motor short-term memory (STM). The experiment was a seven by three factorial design with repeated measures on the second factor. The first factor was number of prior responses which the S experienced on the linear slide apparatus, and the number of responses ranged from zero through six. The second factor, length of the retention interval between practice and recall, had values …

Semantic Differential Relationships As A Determinant Of Clustering, Burr R. Beckwith

All Master's Theses

In the past, clustering research has focused primarily on the effect of pre-experimental associations and/or conceptual relationships on clustering in free recall. The present study marks a departure from this trend in that it was designed to determine under what conditions SD relationships among task-items would mediate clustering.

Effects Of Category-Relevance, Retention Measure, And Category-Affiliation Upon Retention Of The Aging, Gary M. Tyson

Master's Theses

The present investigation represents an attempt to further explore several parameters of short-term memory as a function of the relevance of appropriateness of the verbal materials utilized. It is the author's contention that due to changing patterns of interests and experiences accompanying chronological aging, certain types of verbal material vary with respect to their relevance for use with aging populations. In regard to parameters of short-term memory, the present study contains provisions for exploring efficiency of retention as a function of the retention measure; and category•affiliated as opposed to randomly-selected words. A more complete and integrated formulation is presented in …

The Effect Of Electroconvulsive Shock Following One-Trial Avoidance Learning In The Rat, Richard H. Lovely

All Master's Theses

It is hypothesized that (1) If rats are given electroconvulsive shock, following a footshock to condition an avoidance response, they will display initial retrograde amnesia and that this amnesia will diminish over time as manifested by recovery of the avoidance response; (2) This recovery is not a pure function of time but involves re-exposure to the original learning situation.

Meaningfulness And Similarity As Determinants Of Verbal Retention, Walter S. Heins

All Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the relationships and interaction between two factors--meaningfulness (m) and similarity (s) as these factors affect the retention and recall of high and low m consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) trigrams.

A Consideration Of The Relationship Between Memory As Measured By The Stanford-Binet And Reading Achievement As Measured By The California Reading Achievement Test At The Fifth Grade Level, Alfred Owen Fonkalsrud

Student Work

In the remote past the reading of written and printed symbols had Its origin when man first began to use pictures and other characters to send messages and to record events. It occurred very slowly and took a lot of effort to change from picture writing to the use of letters In representing specific sounds.

The Egyptians as early as twenty-five centuries before Christ had analysed words and syllables into sounds and had developed a series of symbols to represent them. As a result of the ingenuity of the Semites these sounds and symbols were the beginning of the Phoenician …